Without going into great detail, in Mod. Welsh there are two words that are pronounced the same: _Cymru_ `Wales' and _Cymry_ `welsh people' both [k@mri] (@ = schwa, as in, e.g., American English _come_, and the final [-i] is pronounced in North Wales as a retracted sound that doesn't occur in English. In Middle Welsh, there was only one word, spelled (before standardised spelling) _Kymmry_ amongst several other variants. It could mean either or both `Welsh People' and `Wales', presumably also people of Northern England and Southern Scotland of this same ethno-linguistic group too; hence Cumbria, Cumberland, &c. _Kymmry_ is first attested in poetry praising King Cadwallon of Gwynedd (North Wales) who flourished in the first half of the 7th century AD. Etymologically it would go back to a Celtic preform _*Com-brogi+_ meaning `People of the Same Country' or `... living inside the Same Borders'. That's the old nominative pl. The nominative sg., Celtic _*Com-brogos_ survives as _Cymro_ `Welshman' and the feminine derivative _*Com-brogissa+_ survives as _Cymraes_ `Welshwoman'. The language name _Cymraeg_ would go back to a notional preform _*Com-brogica+_. AS the last two forms probably involve suffixes borrowed from Latin, they could not possibly predate the Roman occupation of Britain which began in AD 43. On Wed, 27 Oct 1993, Lawrence Greening wrote: > Sorry for the English, but I'll keep this message short and to the point. > > I was wondering if somebody could tell me the etymology of the word > "Cymru" (which to the best of my knowledge means Wales). > > Any help would be greatly appreciated. > > Diolch. > > > Lawrence Greening > greening@morgan.ucs.mun.ca > > >