The word Caer seems to have been a very ancient name for a city or town. We probably see this word in a great number of Welsh names, Carmarthen, Carnarvon, Carlisle, &c. This word seems also to be the origin of Cairo, in Egypt; Carthage or town of the horse;[136] the cirthe of the Numidians, and the Caere of the Etruscan. "Inde Turnus Rutilique, diffisi rebus, ad florentes Etruscorum opes Mezentiumque eorum regem, confugiunt; qui Caere, opulento tum oppido imperitans—haud gravatim socia arma Rutulis junxit."—Liv. lib. 1. 2. Here we hear of the word before the foundation of Rome.
But the affinity between the Hebrew and British is much more obvious, than that between the Hebrew and English. There are about one hundred and eighty British words in the foregoing table, which are clearly the same as the Hebrew; and there is no way to account for the fact, but by supposing them to be all derived from the same primitive tongue.
The resemblance between the Welsh, Latin and English may be observed in the following.
| Welsh. | Latin. | English. |
|---|---|---|
| Y'sgol | schola | school |
| Y'spelio | spolio | spoil |
| Y'sprid | spiritus | spirit |
| Y'stad | status | state |
| Y'stod | stadium | furlong |
The old Britons however might have borrowed these words from the Romans, during their government of the Island; as the English did many of theirs at a later period.
The same remark will not apply to the following:
| Welsh. | Latin. | Irish. | English. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guin | vinum | fin | wine |
| Guyl | vigilæ | feil | watch |
| Gur | vir | fearr | man |
| Guynt | ventus | wind | |
| Gual | vallum | wall | |
| Armoric. | |||
| Gosper | vesper | feaskor | guespor |
| Eng. | |||
| Guedhar | weather | ||
| Guerth | virtus | worth | |
| Guylht | wild |
In this table, we see the different nations begin the same word with a different consonant. The ancient Latin v was pronounced as our w; vinum, winum; hence the English wine. So in the following:
| Latin. | English. |
|---|---|
| Via | way |
| Venio, ventum | went |
| Vellus | wool |
| Vespa | wasp |
| Volvo | wallow |
| Volo | will[137] |
That the Welsh should pronounce gu, where we pronounce w, may seem strange; yet such is the fact, and an anatomist will readily assign the reason. The French, in the same manner, use g where we write and pronounce w.