corgi

English

WOTD – 1 March 2022

Etymology

PIE word
*ḱwṓ

A Cardigan Welsh corgi, the larger of the two corgi breeds.

A Pembroke Welsh corgi.

Borrowed from Welsh corgi, a compound of cor (“dwarf”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off”)) + gi (the soft mutation of ci (“dog”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓ (“dog”), perhaps from *peḱ- (“livestock; wealth”)).

The rare plural form corgwn is borrowed from Welsh corgwn.

Pronunciation

• Singular:
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔːɡi/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

  • (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔɹɡi/

  • Audio (GA)

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)ɡi
  • Hyphenation: cor‧gi
• Plural (corgwn):
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔːɡuːn/
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔɹɡun/
  • Hyphenation: cor‧gwn

Noun

corgi (plural corgis or corgies or (rare) corgwn)

1. Short for Welsh corgi (“a type of herding dog originating from Wales, having a small body, short legs, and fox-like features such as large ears; two separate breeds are recognized: the Cardigan Welsh Corgi and the Pembroke Welsh Corgi”).
   • 1966 July 14, S. M. Lampson, “Sturdy Farm Dogs from Wales”, in John Adams, editor, Country Life, volume 140, London: George Newnes […], OCLC 472261612, page 69:

     By this time the Pembrokeshire—the short-tailed corgwn—were increasing in popularity very rapidly. The Cardiganshire variety lagged behind their more numerous cousins, but, even so, almost all the larger shows of this country had classes […]

   • 2015 July 27, Katharine Whitehorn, “Need we follow all the news?”, in The Guardian‎^[1], London: Guardian News & Media, ISSN 0261-3077, OCLC 229952407, archived from the original on 9 March 2016:

     [W]hich news item do we have to worry about and have a view on? Not, presumably, the fact that the Queen is going cool on corgies; probably not how space exploration is getting on; townies can maybe skip the fates of either cows or badgers.

   • 2016, Janet Vorwald Dohner, “Herding Dogs”, in Deborah Burns and Lisa H. Hiley, editors, Farm Dogs: A Comprehensive Breed Guide to 93 Guardians, Herders, Terriers, and Other Canine Working Partners, North Adams, Mass.: Storey Publishing, →ISBN, page 200, column 1:

     While larger, longer corgwn with tails were found in the lowland and hill farms of central and northern Cardiganshire, in the south a shorter, lighter corgi was more common.

Usage notes

• Some breed authorities prescribe the etymologically consistent Welsh plural form corgwn. Nonetheless, the English plural form corgis is considerably more common.

Alternative forms

• corgy

Hyponyms

• Cardigan Welsh corgi
• Pembroke Welsh corgi

Derived terms

• borgi
• dorgi

Translations

short for Welsh corgi — See also translations at Welsh corgi

• Breton: korgi
• Bulgarian: корги (korgi)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 哥基 (go¹ gei¹)

  Mandarin: 柯基犬 (kējīquǎn), 威尔士矮脚狗 (Wēi'ěrshì ǎijiǎogǒu)

• Dutch: corgi (nl) m
• Esperanto: kimra ŝafhundo
• Finnish: corgi (fi)
• French: corgi (fr) m
• Hebrew: קורגי‎

• Irish: corchú m
• Italian: corgi m
• Japanese: コーギー (kōgī)
• Korean: 코기 (kogi)
• Macedonian: корги n (korgi)
• Malay: anjing corgi
• Russian: ко́рги (ru) m (kórgi)
• Spanish: corgi m
• Turkish: korgi
• Ukrainian: коргі (korhi)
• Vietnamese: chó Corgi
• Welsh: corgi m

Further reading

• Welsh Corgi on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• orgic

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Dutch

Etymology

From English corgi, from Welsh corgi, a compound of cor (“dwarf”) and ci (“dog”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔr.ɡi/
• Hyphenation: cor‧gi

Noun

corgi m (plural corgi's)

1. corgi, Welsh corgi (dog)

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Finnish

Etymology

From English corgi, from Welsh corgi, a compound of cor (“dwarf”) and ci (“dog”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkorɡi/, [ˈko̞rɡi]

Noun

corgi

1. corgi, Welsh corgi (dog)

Declension

Inflection of corgi (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative		corgi	corgit
genitive		corgin	corgien
partitive		corgia	corgeja
illative		corgiin	corgeihin
		singular	plural
nominative		corgi	corgit
accusative	nom.	corgi	corgit
	gen.	corgin
genitive		corgin	corgien
partitive		corgia	corgeja
inessive		corgissa	corgeissa
elative		corgista	corgeista
illative		corgiin	corgeihin
adessive		corgilla	corgeilla
ablative		corgilta	corgeilta
allative		corgille	corgeille
essive		corgina	corgeina
translative		corgiksi	corgeiksi
instructive		—	corgein
abessive		corgitta	corgeitta
comitative		—	corgeineen

Possessive forms of corgi (type risti)
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	corgini	corgimme
2nd person	corgisi	corginne
3rd person	corginsa

Synonyms

• walesinpaimenkoira, walesincorgi

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French

Etymology

From English corgi, from Welsh corgi, a compound of cor (“dwarf”) and ci (“dog”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔʁ.ɡi/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

corgi m (plural corgis)

1. corgi, Welsh corgi (dog)

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Italian

Etymology

From English corgi, from Welsh corgi, a compound of cor (“dwarf”) and ci (“dog”).

Noun

corgi m

1. corgi, Welsh corgi (dog)

Anagrams

• grico

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Spanish

Etymology

From English corgi, from Welsh corgi, a compound of cor (“dwarf”) and ci (“dog”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkoɾɡi/, [ˈkoɾ.ɣ̞i]

Noun

corgi m (plural corgis)

1. corgi, Welsh corgi (dog)

Derived terms

• corgi galés
• corgi galés de Cardigan
• corgi galés de Pembroke

 

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Welsh

Etymology

From cor (“dwarf”) +‎ ci (“dog”) (gi is the soft mutation of ci (“dog”))

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔrɡi/
• Rhymes: -ɔrɡi

Noun

corgi m (plural corgwn or corgïaid)

1. corgi, Welsh corgi (dog)
2. (sometimes figuratively) cur

Derived terms

• corgïan (diminutive)

Descendants

• → English: corgi

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
corgi	gorgi	nghorgi	chorgi
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “corgi”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies