You have to go pretty far back (to proto-Celtic, it looks like) to find a linguistic ancestor for the word “gull” that doesn’t just mean “that specific bird.”
But in proto-Celtic, it looks like “weilanna” probably meant “wailer.” As in, “one who wails,” though we don’t know exactly what the suffix “-anna” means. A similar word in that language would’ve been “wailos,” which even though it sounds similar seems to have been unrelated to our modern term “wolf,” as it comes from a different proto-indo-european root.
Anyway, the word “gull” does refer to the sounds that it makes more than anything else. So in figuring out what a landgull, airgull, and firegull might be, we need to find something noisy. Or just something annoying, given the derisive connotation of “wail.”
Edit: This is, of course, assuming that we’re looking for different existing types of animals to be these creatures, rather than just (for instance) creating new, elemental forms of gulls; or “reskinning” seagulls with different elements; or inventing all-new animals to fill those roles.
Sorry for being unclear–proto-Celtic calls wolves “wailos” for the same reason as they call gulls “weilanna,” because of the noise, yes. The coincidence is that the modern word “wolf” sounds like the proto-Celtic word “wailos.”
You have to go pretty far back (to proto-Celtic, it looks like) to find a linguistic ancestor for the word “gull” that doesn’t just mean “that specific bird.”
But in proto-Celtic, it looks like “weilanna” probably meant “wailer.” As in, “one who wails,” though we don’t know exactly what the suffix “-anna” means. A similar word in that language would’ve been “wailos,” which even though it sounds similar seems to have been unrelated to our modern term “wolf,” as it comes from a different proto-indo-european root.
Anyway, the word “gull” does refer to the sounds that it makes more than anything else. So in figuring out what a landgull, airgull, and firegull might be, we need to find something noisy. Or just something annoying, given the derisive connotation of “wail.”
Edit: This is, of course, assuming that we’re looking for different existing types of animals to be these creatures, rather than just (for instance) creating new, elemental forms of gulls; or “reskinning” seagulls with different elements; or inventing all-new animals to fill those roles.
Wailos or wailer is wolf, is that because they “wail” (howl?) Or is that just a coincidence?
Sorry for being unclear–proto-Celtic calls wolves “wailos” for the same reason as they call gulls “weilanna,” because of the noise, yes. The coincidence is that the modern word “wolf” sounds like the proto-Celtic word “wailos.”
It’s probably the result of a taboo. It’s why people say “bear” (the brown one) or “medved” (the honey knower) instead of “arth” or “ursus”.
Interesting. I knew about “bear” but I did not know about “medved” as another minced-taboo. Thanks for that.