Coping with an expanding vocabulary: the lexicographical contribution to Welsh

Abstract

The Welsh language, as a lesser-used language with English as an immediate neighbour, has inevitably borrowed much of its vocabulary from that language (or its precursors) as well as inheriting a considerable vocabulary from Latin via Brythonic. Welsh lexicography dates back to at least the 15th-century bardic glossaries and the first Welsh dictionary was printed in the mid-16th century. Most Welsh dictionaries are bilingual with either Latin or English, and Welsh lexicographers have been surprisingly influential in the development of the lexicon with many of their neologisms being adopted into the modern lexicon. Modern prescriptive lexicography and terminology have tended to promote what some linguists deride as a ‘purist’ approach but which has in fact proved to be a practical solution which has succeeded in expanding the vocabulary in a way acceptable to many speakers. Inevitably, since all are fully bilingual, Welsh speakers in Wales have continued to borrow vocabulary extensively from English.