Caer Explained

Caer (in Welsh pronounced as /kɑːɨr/; cair or kair) is a placename element in Welsh meaning "stronghold", "fortress", or "citadel",[1] roughly equivalent to an Old English suffix (-ceaster) now variously written as ,, and .[2]

In modern Welsh orthography, caer is usually written as a prefix, although it was formerly—particularly in Latin—written as a separate word. The Breton equivalent is kêr, which is present in many Breton placenames as the prefix Ker-.

Etymology

The term is thought to have derived from the Brittonic *kagro- and to be cognate with cae ("field, enclosed piece of land").[3] Although stone castles were largely introduced to Wales by the invading Normans, "caer" was and remains used to describe the settlements around some of them as well. An example is the Roman fort at Caernarfon, formerly known in Welsh as Welsh: Caer Seiont from its position on the Seiont; the later Edwardian castle and its community were distinguished as Welsh: Caer yn Arfon ("fort in Arfon", the latter being a district name (Cantref Arfon) from "ar Fôn", "(land) opposite Môn or Anglesey"). However, the modern names of the Roman fort and Edwardian castle themselves are now Welsh: Segontiwm or Welsh: Castell Caernarfon, while the communities carry on the name caer.

Note that the term is not believed to be related to the Irish cathair ("city"), which is instead derived from Proto-Celtic *katrixs, *catarax ("fortification").[4] [5]

Britain

Gildas's account of the Saxon invasions of Britain claimed that there were 28 fortified Roman cities (Latin: [[civitas]]) on the island, without listing them. The History of the Britons traditionally attributed to Nennius includes a list of the 28, all of which are called "caer".[6] Controversy exists over whether this list includes only Roman cities or a mixture of Roman cities and non-Roman settlements.[7] Some of the place names that have been proposed include:

Wales

The element caer, sometimes anglicized as car, is found in several place-names in Wales such as:

England

The Cumbric language was spoken in Northern England until the Medieval era in which the element caer ("fort") was used in naming places. It also appears in Cornish place-names as Ker-.

Caer is also found in Welsh exonyms for English cities.

Scotland

Cumbric and Pictish were Brittonic languages spoken in Scotland until around the 12th century, and caer ("fort") was a place-naming element in both languages.

In fiction

See also

Notes and References

  1. Carlisle, Nicholas. Topographical Dictionary of the Dominion of Wales, "Glossary", p. xxx. W. Bulmer & Co. (London), 1811.
  2. Allen, Grant. "Casters and Chesters" in The Cornhill Magazine, Vol. XLV, pp. 419 ff. Smith, Elder, & Co. (London), 1882.
  3. Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru, vol. 1, p. 384.
  4. Book: Ebel, Hermann Wilhelm. The Development of Celtic Linguistics, 1850-1900: Celtic studies. April 6, 2001. Taylor & Francis. 9780415226998. Google Books.
  5. Book: Stifter, David. Sengoidelc: Old Irish for Beginners. June 12, 2006. Syracuse University Press. 9780815630722. Google Books.
  6. "JTK". "Civitas" in Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia, Vol. I, p. 451. ABC-CLIO (Sta. Barbara), 2006.
  7. Breeze, Andrew. "Historia Brittonum" and Britain's Twenty-Eight Cities at Journal of Literary Onomastics. 2016.
  8. Veprauskas, Michael. "The Problem of Caer Guorthigirn" at Vortigern Studies. 1998.
  9. Williams, Robert. "A History of the Parish of Llanfyllin" in Collections Historical & Archaeological Relating to Montgomeryshire, Vol. III, p. 59. J. Russell Smith (London), 1870.
  10. Roman Britain Organisation. "Mediomanum?" at Roman Britain . 2010.
  11. News: Deacon . Thomas . How the suburbs of Cardiff got their names . 15 May 2021 . Wales Online . 29 May 2020.
  12. Web site: Place Names . 15 May 2021.
  13. Carmarthen . 5 . 355 . 1.
  14. Book: Jones . Gwilym . Roberts . Tomos. 1996. Enwau Lleoedd Môn : The Place-Names of Anglesey. Bangor, Wales . University of Wales Press . 122. 0-904567-71-0.
  15. Book: Owen . Hywel Wyn . The Place-Names of Wales . 15 February 2015 . University of Wales Press . 9781783161669 . 15 May 2021.
  16. Book: Morgan . Thomas . The Place-Names of Wales . 1912 . Second and revised . 16 May 2021.
  17. Web site: James . Alan . The Brittonic Language in the Old North . Scottish Place Name Society.
  18. A. D. Mills, A Dictionary of British Place Names (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), s.v.
  19. Book: Simon . Taylor . Markus . Gilbert . The Place-names of Fife . 2006 . Shaun Tyas . 9781900289771 . Illustrated.
  20. Book: Watson . W.J. . Taylor . Simon . The Celtic Place-Names of Scotland . 2011 . Birlinn LTD . 9781906566357 . reprint.
  21. Book: Hall . Mark A . Driscoll . Stephen T . Geddess . Jane . Pictish Progress: New Studies on Northern Britain in the Early Middle Ages . 11 November 2010 . Brill . 9789004188013 . 30 June 2019.
  22. Web site: Fife Place-name Data :: Kirkcaldy. fife-placenames.glasgow.ac.uk.

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