English affixes in Welsh

Summary

Affix function number of borrowed affixes

Description

The information is taken from Weinreich (1953:32). The borrowing is explicitly argued to be indirect, i.e. these English affixes entered Welsh as part of complex loanwords from where they spread to native Welsh stems. See also discussion of this case of affix borrowing in Gardani (2008:76–78, 2012:87–88).

1 nominal inflection affix

  • -s ‘plural’, e.g. sêr-s (stars-plural) ‘stars’, ‎gwdihŵ-s (owl-plural) ‘owls’ (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-s#Welsh ［accessed: 10.10.2025］). The use in hybrid formations is clearly attested, although it might be marginal. As can be seen in the example, -s is attested both with collective nouns (sêr ‘stars’) and with count nouns (‎gwdihŵ ‘owl’).