Reconstruction:Gaulish/bodwa

This Gaulish entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Gaulish

Etymology

Affirmed indirectly by immediately derived personal names Bodua in Gaulish and Boduia presumably in Latin and derived itself from Proto-Celtic *bodwos (“fighting”).^[1] The ascertainment and development of its semantics is partly difficult but the relation to the Irish raven battle goddess Badb, with Old Irish badb being an evident and sufficiently early cognate, can not be discarded anyways. The proper noun *Catubodua of the corresponding Gaulish deity is relatable but was derived separately from Proto-Celtic.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈbod.wa]

Noun

*bodwa f

A female fighter.
(mythology) A female raven or crow related to war.
(uncommon, by extension) A female raven or crow.

Declension

declension of Gaulish/bodwa (Transalpine)

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	*bodā	*bodās
Vocative	*bodā	*bodās
Accusative	bodan¹, bodim²	*bodās
Genitive	bodās¹, bodiās²	*bodanom
Dative	*bodī	*bodābo
Instrumental	bodia¹, bodī²	*bodābi
Locative	*bodī	*bodābo

¹ early forms, ² late forms

References

^ Koch, John (2019), Common Ground and Progress on the Celtic of the South-Western Inscriptions, Aberystwyth: Wales University, p. 43

"bodua" in Delamarre, Xavier (2003), Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise - Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental, Paris: Errance

[1] Koch, John (2019), Common Ground and Progress on the Celtic of the South-Western Inscriptions, Aberystwyth: Wales University, p. 43

[1]