Written and published by Linden Alexander Pentecost, published in the UK, no AI was used in creating this article; this article and its content have never been published before, and were only completed on the 7th of August 2025; older versions of this article before it was completed contained significantly less detail than this final form contains - so in a sense, this new version of the article makes the earlier published version on this page appear quite basic and lacks in most of the detail present in this final version (published on the 7th of August 2025). Note that the title was also changed for this final version. Note also I have published many other, unrelated articles recently.  In this article I discuss the word clwàideac (1), which is of course also in the name of this website, and so is relevant to that too, but furthermore, I discuss in detail this word, the Skye word, other examples of Scottish Gaelic words for "snowflake", underlying initial consonant root patterns, underlying "rhythm" root patterns, and possible etymological connections between these words, and Afro-Asiatic and Uralic words. At the end of the article are references, comments and the URL of this page is typed in for reference purposes. Note also that this article is unrelated to any of my other very extensive published work on Gaelic dialects, pre-Gaelic language and other topics, which is published throughout different publications and forms. The article in front of you is just one tiny piece of this greater work, but is not equivalent or the same as any of my other publications, nor are any of them the same as each other nor do they contain the same information and aspects to these topics. This article was published on this website, www.clwaideac-na-cuinne.co.uk, and like all articles on this website is only published on this website, all my articles and books are only published in the places they are published and not in more than one place. This article contains a total of 3253 words. This article contains the following sub-sections (not including this paragraph and the title, and the contents below):

I. On the form clwàideac and the Skye forms lòineag and lòindeag, and introduction
II. A table of several (thirteen) but not by any means all, of the Scottish Gaelic dialect words for "snowflake"

III. Identifying underlying phonetic patterns and fossilised root words, in relation to the words in the table above, possible ancient population differences (in language) and other points

IV. Possible Afro-Asiatic connections to Gaelic words for "snowflake"
V. An etymological connection between some of these forms and Proto-Finnic *lumi, Finnish lumi - "snow" and a Proto-Uralic form, and other links; and references

I. On the form clwàideac and the Skye forms lòineag and lòindeag, and introduction

I have previously discussed and published an awful lot of about possible pre-Indo-European, extra-Indo-European or para-Indo-European words and elements within Celtic and other Indo-European languages. Until this article I had not discussed in detail the different words for "snowflake", as these words in Scottish Gaelic do, I think, give very good examples of pre-Indo-European elements and underlying structures that may well pre-date Gaelic as we know it. Words for "snowflake" in Scottish Gaelic dialects seem exceptionally diverse and to show this range of extra-Celtic phonetic and root variations better than in "most", but not all, other Gaelic word variants across different dialects - hence these words for "snowflake" are very interesting examples of this phenomena and help to serve more generally as an introduction to pre-IE language within Gaelic. The name of this website includes the word Clwàideac, which is Ardnamurchan Gaelic for "snowflake". The words for "snowflake" in Scottish Gaelic dialects are also particularly interesting in that their variations do not align with sound changes and differences that one would expect to see between one Gaelic dialect and another. These words may also be indicative that the original languages of Scotland, especially Western and Highland Scotland, may have had variations similar in difference to those seen between these words, unlike the more recently recorded Gaelic dialects of Scotland, which despite their sometimes large differences, share to a large degree the same words and grammar, and are somewhat mutually intelligible. These words for "snowflake" on the other hand show what are possibly entirely different root words connected to different parts of Scotland. On this page/in this article, I will present the suggestion that words for "snowflake" in Scottish Gaelic dialects may provide some kind of evidence for a pre-Gaelic or pre-Indo-European language. Note that I have only included a limited number of words for "snowflake" in Gaelic dialects in this article.
Firstly, these words for "snowflake" are not exactly etymological equivalents of each other, and from dialect to dialect, there are some changes in the meaning of these different words. The Ardnamurchan Gaelic form, clwàideac (1) contains the broad velarised L ([l̪ˠ]) sound followed by a [w], the whole sound can be written [l̪ˠw] in the International Phonetic Alphabet. The words for "snowflake" on the Isle of Skye, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach, closely match the standard Gaelic spelling form lòineag. In these two examples, the Ardnamurchan clw is equivalent to the initial broad velarised L in the Skye form lòineag. The form lòindeag is also found on Skye.
These two forms are not all that different from each other, but we can already see that the sound differences do not match the ordinary sound differences between words in Gaelic dialects. For example, it is normal for the Skye broad velarised L to be equivalent to the broad velarised Lw sound of Ardnamurchan Gaelic, but it is not a normal sound difference for the broad velarised L of Skye Gaelic is equivalent to the Ardnamurchan [kʰl̪ˠw], where there is an extra [kʰ] at the beginning of this word. The main point being that the broad velarised L does not typically yield any [kʰl̪ˠ] sounds, and yet the Ardnamurchan form clwàideac (1) does show a [kʰl̪ˠw] rather than just a [l̪ˠw] as being equivalent to the [l̪ˠ] in the Skye form.

II. A table of several (thirteen) but not by any means all, of the Scottish Gaelic dialect words for "snowflake"

Below is a table showing some (but not by any means all) the Scottish Gaelic dialect words for "snowflake.

III. Identifying underlying phonetic patterns and fossilised root words, in relation to the words in the table above, possible ancient population differences (in language) and other points

This is related to something I have discussed in detail elsewhere, albeit in a different way and with regard to different words, and as a slightly different concept, but - essentially, I think that within some Celtic and Germanic languages, the initial consonant clusters in words had symbolic meanings, and may have acted as both classifiers and verbal indicators of motion, type of motion and state. Sometimes these consonant clusters seem to make sense on their own as possessing symbolic meaning, and can, like many other words in western Europe, be compared to words found in Afro-Asiatic languages - the links are I think, in fact, quite staggering, and whilst I have myself published a lot of things about this, I am not the first by any means to discuss similarities in these languages; although others have tended to focus on specific connections with Semitic languages, which have not been my main focus when it comes to Afro-Asiatic and Indo-European. Although I have indeed done a fair bit of work connecting Semitic languages to West IE languages, and I also make comments on Proto-Semitic and Hebrew connections to these words for "snowflake" (and Uralic connections to these words for "snowflake") in this article. What I am discussing in this section, and to a degree in other sections is the possibility that these words for "snowflake" may contain both consonant roots (like radicals), roots with vowels and "syllabic roots", which I will discuss in detail.
These different consonants at the beginnings of these Gaelic words for "snowflake", may be an example of a similar process to this. Sometimes I think it may be that the consonant clusters themselves in these words carry individual phonetic meaning, but in the case of these examples for "snowflake", it also seems to me, that there are longer root words concealed within these words. For example, the forms: clàdan (1), clédeac (1), claédzeag (1) and clwàideac (1), from Islay, Eigg, Jura and Ardnamurchan respectively, seem to show a basic root, something like *klVd- plus different Celtic or pre-Celtic derivational suffixes, forming these words for "snowflake". The Arran form cuileag (1) may also be related, but shows a root more like *kVl-, with a vowel between the *k and *l (note that this phonetic root rendering does not take Gaelic "broad" and "slender" consonants into account, which is not to say that this is not relevant here, just that the broad-slender rules do not seem to consistently apply across this range of words, implying perhaps that the original roots did not have these distinctions). The other Jura form, clàbhïdan (1), also shows evidence of a similar, but again different *klV- root being used. Perhaps this could be reconstructed as *klav- or *klavid-, plus again a derivational suffix. Note however that towards the end of this section I discuss in detail how these derivational suffixes may in fact be particular and connect to this idea of "syllabic roots" also being present behind these words; furthermore this is relevant in relation to the discussion on Afro-Asiatic connections and the Hebrew word sheleg later in this article. Note that despite my comments here on consonant clusters in relation to this, to some extent, these are only one and perhaps not the main aspect to understanding the roots of these words.

The forms beginning with orthographic sl-, for example the other Arran form, as well as the Barra and Eriskay forms, could be said as coming from a different, but somehow related root, something like *slV(g)-, again with different variations.
The Lewis form pleideag  (1) and Harris form blédeag (1), could, on the other hand, be described as having a phonetic root something like *plVd-, again plus a derivative suffix. 

The Skye forms, lòineag and lòindeag (1) could perhaps be described as coming from a different root, something like *lon(d)-, again plus a derivational suffix. Note again that in terms of "syllabic roots", the addition of the suffixes on the *plVd- and *lon(d)- roots may form syllabic roots.

Some of the examples in the table above, also show that two forms can be used simultaneously in the same area, possibly relating to differences and connections in ancient populations. For example, the Jura forms claédzeag (1) and clàbhïdan (1) show that one of the words for "snowflake", i.e. the latter, as implied, is more distinctive and unique, implying perhaps that two ancient populations existed on Jura, the one from which clàbhïdan (1) comes from, judging by this word, may have become linguistically distinct early on from those using the words for "snowflake" with the *klVd- root, including the Jura form claédzeag (1) and also several of the other examples given with this *klVd- root, whereas the form clàbhïdan (1) shows a similar, but distinct root, as implied, and so may indicate that one population on Jura became linguistically distinctive, or was linguistically distinctive, even from a deeply prehistoric, e.g. early Mesolithic or Upper Paleolithic period population (there is some circumstantial evidence of Upper-Paleolithic human presence in Southwest Argyll; and it is also possible, but not proven, that there were people here before then). Another example of these possible population differences is the way in which one of the Arran forms, slead (1), shows a similarity to the Barra and Eriskay forms - although the Barra and Eriskay forms are closer. Could this imply that one of the ancient populations was connected specifically to Barra and Eriskay, with a related, but different population, with a related but more distinguished word for "snowflake", was also on Arran? Perhaps the Arran population became distinguished before the Barra and Eriskay populations did. Another example is the way in which the Lewis and Harris forms are very similar, but again different, showing perhaps that these areas represented a different area of populations; all of these suggestions align with my previous research on ancient linguistic differences across Western Scotland, of which I have primarily discussed many different details of, across different publications.

Furthermore, and something I have not discussed much elsewhere - one thing that many of these words have in a common, is a similar rhythm and structure beneath the phonetic roots visible on the surface, what I term an underlying "syllabic root". For example, regardless of the initial consonant or consonant cluster, many of these words contain, what can be simplified as a variant of the vowels "e" or "a", followed by a [djag] or sometimes [lag] sound. Of course this is in part formed by the derivational suffixes - but could it also be so that there is a hidden meaning or root behind these similarities in the sound and rhythm of some of these words? Furthermore, if these suffixes are both Gaelic and pre-Gaelic, did the suffixes have more specific meanings? Did they help to form particular forms of derived word, did they have semantic meaning and grammatical context in relation to the preceding sounds in these words? This can, in a sense be classed as an underlying syllabic root, the way in which it coincides with the consonant roots and clusters is not fully understood by me. I also discuss "syllabic roots" (which can also be called "prosodic roots" or "rhythmic roots", theoretically, as there is not yet  an officially accepted linguistic term for this) in the next section of this article. The idea of a "syllabic root", "rhythmic root" or "prosodic root" is that in addition to roots that consists of consonants, or consonants and vowels, there may be "roots" that relate to less-specific consonants, but which "sound" similar anyway and have a similar rhythm, as can be seen across many of these Scottish Gaelic words for "snowflake", despite that, simultaneously, many of them contain different more consonant-based roots within them. 

IV. Possible Afro-Asiatic connections to Gaelic words for "snowflake"

It can be seen that some of the examples mentioned, and what their root forms could be reconstructed as, do bare a similarity to some Semitic words for "snow", for example to Hebrew sheleg - "snow", the root of which is reconstructed as *ṯalg- in Proto-Semitic, according to Wiktionary. The form sheleg in particular shows similarity to some of the possible roots in Gaelic words for "snowflake", for example the -leg in sheleg bares a similarity to the [-djag] or [-lag] elements in some of the Gaelic words, similarly the first part of the word, plus the -l, shel- bares a similarity to the Gaelic words with the initial orthographic sl- consonant cluster, plus, when taken generally, the different "roots" and structures within the Gaelic words, often, as a whole, show a resemblance to the Hebrew word. Often from my research the "radicals", triconsonantal root words and biconsonantal root words in some Afro-Asiatic languages can relate to root words in Indo-European languages, but this example shows that this concept of "syllabic roots" may also be relevant here. Are "syllabic roots" perhaps one of the main keys to understanding the pre-Gaelic and pre-IE root words and grammatical structures visible in Gaelic words today? Can this idea of "syllabic roots" within Gaelic words, help to show an underlying structure of pre-Gaelic grammar, vocabulary and prosody within and across different Goidelic languages today? Note that I have discussed and published an awful lot elsewhere on links between Celtic languages and Afro-Asiatic (and to other language families). I feel perhaps that within Scottish Gaelic dialects, the "earlier languages" within it, may have different word divisions also. This is relevant when considering how Old Irish words were "formed", and I feel that in a sense, in order to see more of the structure of earlier languages, we must take these words apart again and see how they relate to prosody and rhythm in dialets and in ancient words, and not just to the written language. The idea here being that the "syllabic root" in these words, sounds something like *-edag or *-elag, or *-adag or *alag with the addition of initial consonant roots 

V. An etymological connection between some of these forms and Proto-Finnic *lumi, Finnish lumi - "snow" and a Proto-Uralic form, and other links; and references

Certainly some of the forms of these words, such as the Skye forms lòineag and lòindeag (1), bare some similarity to a root found in Finnish as lumi - "snow". If this suggestion holds merit, then it could be possible that the Skye forms lòineag and lòindeag (1) contain this same root, with the liquid L, followed by a vowel and then a nasal. In the case of lòineag and lòindeag (1) the -eag may be a suffix, perhaps with lòin- having an original meaning of "snow", and the -eag suffix deriving a thing or piece of snow, i.e. a snowflake. However, connecting the entirely of these Scottish Gaelic words for "snowflake" to the Finnish word lumi is unrealistic, and so it might be suggested that many of these words for "snowflake" actually could contain multiple, separate root words, albeit often sharing an underlying two-syllable structure and rhythm. 

The South Uist Gaelic word flinneadh - "sleet" as well as the more general Gaelic word flinne both seem to show a similarity to Finnish lumi as well, albeit perhaps with the addition of a migratory initial [f]. Proto-Uralic *ĺomćV (2) also shows specific similarity to forms like lòineag and lòindeag and arguably pertains to this *lon(d)- root. Could it be that the relevant root here is *lond- and that the "d" is connected to the [djag] - [lag] root also connected to Hebrew sheleg? See my BookofDunBarra article, titled: 18: Some Pre-Indo-European etymologies of South Uist Gaelic for some other information about flinneadh; the web address of the aforementioned BookofDunBarra article is: https://www.bookofdunbarra.co.uk/website-articles-10-19/18-some-pre-indo-european-etymologies-of-south-uist-gaelic . I have also discussed much more about South Uist Gaelic and its potential pre-IE and pre-Gaelic influences in other publications, not mentioned here.