Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic/krouk-

This Proto-Celtic 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.

Proto-Celtic

Etymology

Unknown. Many conflicting etymologies are available; see Lucht (2007) for them.

Delamarre prefers a comparison to Proto-Germanic *hraukaz (“pile, heap”).

Noun

*krouk- gender unattested

1. heap, pile

Inflection

Feminine ā-stem
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*kroukā	*kroukai	*kroukās
vocative	*kroukā	*kroukai	*kroukās
accusative	*kroukam	*kroukai	*kroukāms
genitive	*kroukās	*kroukous	*kroukom
dative	*kroukāi	*kroukābom	*kroukābos
locative	*kroukai	*?	*?
instrumental	*?	*kroukābim	*kroukābis

Masculine o-stem
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*kroukos	*kroukou	*kroukoi
vocative	*krouke	*kroukou	*kroukoi
accusative	*kroukom	*kroukou	*kroukoms
genitive	*kroukī	*kroukous	*kroukom
dative	*kroukūi	*kroukobom	*kroukobos
locative	*kroukei	*?	*?
instrumental	*kroukū	*kroukobim	*kroukūis

Reconstruction notes

The gender of this word is gravely ambiguous; feminine in Goidelic, masculine in Brittonic (which can come from either the masculine or neuter gender), and both masculine and feminine derivatives appear in Romance languages. Matasović prefers an original o-stem with the feminine forms being a derived collective, while Lucht takes the feminines as primary.

Descendants

• Proto-Brythonic: *krʉg m
  • Old Breton: cruc
    • Breton: krug (“heap, pile”)
  • Old Cornish: cruc
    • Cornish: cruk
  • Middle Welsh: cruc
    • Welsh: crug
• Old Irish: crúach f
  • Middle Irish: crúach
    • Irish: cruach
    • Scottish Gaelic: cruach
    • Manx: creagh
• Gaulish: *croc-
  • → French: Crucq (name of a village in Lot-et-Garonne, and a derived surname)
  • → French: (Béarnais) cruque (“heap, pile”), (Landais) croque (“skull, head”)
  • → Franco-Provençal: (Lyonnais) cuchon
  • → Occitan: cruc, cruca (“top of the head, occiput”)