Possible translations of the "whale"
in Breton

Kindly supplied by Mr P Gouez, University of Wales, (where else?!), Swansea:

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A

balen [ ba:len]
Other realisations of this word:
balam [ 'ba:la~m]
balem [ 'ba:lem]
balum [ 'ba:lym]

NB [e] not pronounced like the french sound [e]
[b] stands for the Schwa sound
[a~] stands for the nasal vowel, as in the french word "mangé"

Singular form : ar valen / ar valam ... (the whale, it is a feminine noun, and undergoes a mutation in the singular form)

Plural form : balened (whales) ar balened (the whales, no mutation)
balamed ...

B

morvil [ 'morvil] or [morvil]

This word does not seem to be part of the oral tradition. However, it is an attested word in old breton, and can also be found in modern literary pieces of work.

Return to Etymology of Whale

Andrew L. Graham, asi00@keele.ac.uk