In this episode we discover the Celtic roots of words for kingdom, rich and related things in Germanic, Romance and other languages.

The Proto-Celtic word rīgyom* means kingdom, and comes from Proto-Indo-European h₃rḗǵs (king). Related words in Proto-Celtic include rīxs (king) and *rīganī (queen) [source]

Related in the modern Celtic languages include:

• rí [ɾˠiː] = king and banríon [bˠau(n̪ˠ)ˈɾˠiːnʲ] = queen in Irish
• rìgh [r̪ʲi] = king and banrigh [bãũn̪r̪ʲɪ] = queen in Scottish Gaelic
• ree [ɾiː] = king and benrein = queen in Manx
• rhi [r̥iː] = king and rhiain (woman, girl, queen, lady) in Welsh
• ri = king in Cornish
• ri [ˈʁiː] = king in Breton

More details of words for king, queen and related things in Celtic languages can be found in the Celtiadur post Kings and Queens.

The Proto-Celtic word rīgyom* (kingdom) was borrowed into Proto-Germanic as rīkiją (rulership, goverment, authority, realm, kingdom), and is the root of such words as rijk (realm, kingdom, empire, state) in Dutch, Reich (empire, state, realm) in German, říše (realm, empire, kingdom) in Czech, and rike* (realm, kingdom, empire, nation) in Swedish [source].

The Proto-Celtic word rīxs* (king) was borrowed into Proto-Germanic as rīkijaz (kingly, royal, noble, mighty, powerful, rich), which became rich in English, ryk (rich, wealthy) in Afrikaans, ricco (rich, wealthy, affluent) in Italian, and rikas* (rich, wealthy, opulent, plentiful) in Finnish [source].

The Proto-Celtic word rīxs* (king) also found its way into names such as Friedrich and Heinrich in German, Henrik in Dutch (and other languages), and Roderick, Frederick, Henry and Richard** in English [source].

Other words from PIE root h₃rḗǵs* (king) include rey (king) and reina (queen) in Spanish, रानी (rānī – queen, princess) in Hindi, and royal, regal, viceroy and maybe realm** in English [source].

Incidentally, the continents of America (initially it referred just to South America, then to North America as well) were named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci, and the name Amerigo comes ultimately from the Proto-Germanic name Amalarīks, from amalą (hard work, stuggle) and rīks* (king, ruler), from Proto-Celtic rīxs* (king) [source].

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