Cardiff also known as Caerdydd means 'fort (of the river) Taf', Caer meaning 'fort' and Taf the name of the river.
But where do the words Cardiff, Caerdydd come from…mmm
OK Caerdydd, The earlier form was Caerdyf, which dates to the early 6th century, the word Caerdyf contains two place-name elements. The first being the Welsh caer, meaning 'fort, stronghold or enclosure' and by the word Taf, a river-name in its genitive form Tyf, mutated to Dyf - 'fort (of the river) Taf'.
Other place names around Wales are also influenced by the word Caer, such as Caerphilly, Caerleon and Caernarfon.
The earliest recorded form of Cardiff was in 1477, this being the anglicised pronunciation of Caerdyf, as you can see the pronunciation of Caerdydd demonstrates the sounds of the consonants between the f and dd in the Welsh language.
Other place names around Cardiff also contain the 'Taf' river as an element of their name, such as Llandaf (Llan Daf c.1400). The Welsh llan which originally meant 'enclosed land' signifies a church, so that Llandaf would mean 'church by the Taf', but there may have been an earlier Christian settlement here dating from the late 7th century.
Ok a little home work for you now, what other place names begin with the word Car, I can think of a few, but lets see what you can come up with? And if you can! write in the comments box.
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Hello, here's a quote from an interesting book, the text of which is here: http://troedyrhiw-greenmeadow.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/celt-druid-and-culdee.html
"In the old British language a temple or sanctuary was called a 'caer', a sacred fenced enclosure. The stone circles or caers of Britain were therefore, essentially temples and held so sacred by the people that reverent behaviour in their vicinity was universal.
Joshua, it will be remembered, by God's command, erected a circle
at Gilgal (circle) immediately upon the arrival of the chosen
People in the Promised Land.
The British 'caer' has no connection with 'castra.' ..."
Caer probably very similar to 'cathair' in Irish pronounced almost very similar to caer, in fact we have a placename 'cahir' in Ireland from the same word....all meaning city, town
amazing!!! Thank u so much for posting :)