Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic/kīkos

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

Alternative forms

• *kīkā (feminine ā-stem)

Etymology

Assumed to be of expressive/imitative origin, common for female body parts (cf. unrelated English tit, German Zitze (“teat”)).

The masculine gender of the Brythonic forms and potential evidence of the Old Irish daughter form being a neuter s-stem leads Matasović (2009) to propose possibly reconstructing the Proto-Celtic form as an s-stem neuter.

Noun

*kīkos n

1. breast

Declension

Neuter s-stem
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*kīkos	*kīkese?	*kīkesa
vocative	*kīkos	*kīkese?	*kīkesa
accusative	*kīkos	*kīkese?	*kīkesa
genitive	*kīkesos	*kīkesous?	*kīkesom
dative	*kīkesē	*kīkesbom	*kīkesbos
locative	*kīkesi	*?	*?
instrumental	*kīkesē	*kīkesbim	*kīkesbis

Derived terms

• Proto-Brythonic: *kig (“meat”)
  • Breton: kig m
  • Old Cornish: cic
    • Cornish: kig
  • Middle Welsh: kic
    • Welsh: cig m (“meat”)
• Old Irish: cích (“breast”)
  • Middle Irish: cích f
    • Irish: cíoch
    • Manx: keeagh
    • Scottish Gaelic: cìoch