bugail

Welsh

Etymology

From Middle Welsh bugeil, from Proto-Brythonic *bʉgöl, from Proto-Celtic *boukolyos, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷowkólos, from *gʷṓws (“cow”) + *kʷel- (“to revolve, turn around”).

Cognates include Cornish bugel (“shepherd”), Breton bugel (“child”), Irish buachaill (“boy”), Scottish Gaelic buachaille (“herder”), Manx bochilley (“shepherd”) and Ancient Greek βουκόλος (boukólos, “cowherd”) (whence English bucolic).

Pronunciation

• (North Wales, standard, colloquial) IPA^(key): /ˈbɪɡai̯l/
  • (North Wales, colloquial) IPA^(key): /ˈbɪɡɛl/
• (South Wales, standard) IPA^(key): /ˈbiːɡai̯l/, /ˈbɪɡai̯l/
  • (South Wales, colloquial) IPA^(key): /ˈbiːɡɛl/, /ˈbɪɡɛl/

Usage notes

• Despite being written as u, the vowel here is /ɪ/ in north Wales.

Noun

bugail m (plural bugeiliaid)

1. shepherd, pastor

Derived terms

• bugail gwyddau (“gooseherd”)
• bugeilio (“to shepherd”)
• bugeiliol (“pastoral”)
• ffon y bugail (“shepherd's crook; a name for the plants shepherd's rod and henbane”)
• mynawyd y bugail (“peppermint scented geranium”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of bugail

radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
bugail	fugail	mugail	unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

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