ONlwSG

builionn f. [ˈb̥uliəᵰ̪] (builghionn) in the sense ‘loaf’, along with Ir. builín (builbhín) ‘idem’, is tentatively derived from Old Norse by O’Rahilly (1942c, 200), comparing [OIce.] bylmingr ‘a sort of bread’ (Zoëga 1910); so also Greene (1976, 80), eDIL^˄, Sayers (1994, 4), Vendryes (1996), Mac Mathúna (2001, 77) and McDonald (2009, 348). However, the nasal [m] of ON bulmingr, bylmingr m. ‘ash-baked bread (oskebakt brød)’ (NO) would not be expected to yield a fricative in Gaelic. MacBain (1911), on the other hand, suggests a derivation from OFr. *boulange ‘a ball-shaped loaf’, the supposed basis of Fr. boulanger ‘baker’; rather, Fr. boulanger is formed on OFr. boulenc ‘baker’, which in turn is formed on AN *bolla ‘a small loaf’ (FEW 15/1, 176 (b), s.v. *bolla), but this would not seem to account for the fricative in Gaelic either. A number of related forms are found:

A. Early Gaelic
The form bulḃing (i.e. *builḃing) occurs in the late 11th/early 12th-century tale Aislinge Meic Con Glinne (CELT edn, line 1054).

B. Irish
B 1. builbhin, builbhín, builbhean
LASID I, 76, gives builbhin (-[in´]) (occasionally builbhín (-[iːn´])) for Donegal (cf. O’Rahilly 1942c, 200: builbhín, Donegal), and builbhin (-[in´], -[ən´]) and builbhean (-[ăn]) for Ulster.

B 2. builín
In O’Begly 1732; O’Brien 1768: builìn [sic], tri chéd bhuilin ‘300 loaves’; O’Reilly 1817: (Gaelic script) builín, (Roman script) builin; Dinneen 1904; O’Rahilly 1942c, 200: Munster, Connacht; and Ó Dónaill 1977. LASID I, 76, gives mainly builín for the west of Ireland. O’Rahilly (ibid., fn 1) takes Dinneen’s boillín to be a misspelling of builín.

B 3. buileán
In O’Brien 1768; O’Reilly 1817: (Gaelic script) buileán, (Roman script) builean; and Dinneen 1904. Lhuyd 1707 omits the lengthmark: builean, da chead bhuilin ‘200 loaves’.

B 4. bulóg
In O’Begly 1732: bulóg arain; O’Reilly 1817: (Gaelic script) bulóg, (Roman script) bulog; Dinneen 1904. LASID I, 76, gives mainly bulóg for the south of Ireland. O’Rahilly (ibid., fn 1) takes Dinneen’s bollóg to be a misspelling of bulóg, although in modern usage bollóg is the preferred form (Ó Dónaill 1977).

C. Manx
E.g. O’Rahilly 1942c, 200: bwilleen; for phonetic transcriptions, see Broderick 1984 II, 51, and LASID I, 76.

D. Scottish Gaelic
D 1. builbhin
In Lhuyd 1700, 156: XV.27: boylvin (Argyllshire), XV.36: (gen.) krakin na wylvin, although his editor John Lorne Campbell (p. 243) transcribes this as builbheann, craiceann a’ bhuilbhinn, hence AFB^˄’s builbheann, with a spelling pronunciation /bɯlɯvəN/.

D 2. builghionn
In Robertson 1908, 337: Wester Ross, where slender gh is heard; so also O’Rahilly 1942c, 200 fn 5; the form is marked as obsolete in HSS 1828, MacLeod & Dewar 1831 and Dwelly 1911.

D 3. builionn
(i) builionn (HSS 1828; MacLeod & Dewar 1831; MacEachen 1842; MacBain 1911; Dwelly 1911; 

Given as buileann in AFB^˄.

MacLennan 1925: [boolion]; O’Rahilly 1942c, 200; McDonald 1972: South Uist);
(ii) buillion (Faclan bhon t-Sluagh^˄: Harris) is taken to be for builionn;
(iii) builin, bulin (Shaw 1780), builean (Mac Farlane 1795) and buileann (MacFarlane 1815; Armstrong 1825: also written builionn; Dwelly 1911: see builionn; Dieckhoff 1932: [bulˈiəN]) may be attempts to represent what generally came to be spelt builionn, although some may represent a reduced form of builionn, if M^cAlpine’s (1832, s.v. builionn) [bu’l´-unn] is credible;
(iv) muilionn 

Given as muileann in AFB^˄.

(McDonald 1972: South Uist) for builionn, with b ~ m alternation;
(v) buileann, a modern orthographically hypercorrected form of builionn, is found for example in AFB^˄, with a spelling pronunciation /buləN/; so also LearnGaelic^˄, although the accompanying recording gives a pronuncation [ˈb̥uliəᵰ̪].

D 4. builig
In Ó Murchú 1989, 300: /bulɩɡ´/, /bûlɩɡ´/; probably the same form as intimated in Lhuyd 1700, 156: XV.27: bwllygi (Inverness-shire), although his editor John Lorne Campbell (p. 243) transcribes this as builleag.

EG bulḃing (A) yields Ir. builbhin (B 1) (with occasional analogous assimilation to the diminutive suffixes -ín, -an), which yields builín (B 2) (with lengthening of the second syllable compensating for the loss of the epenthetic vowel + fricative, falling together with the diminutive suffix -ín), and buileán (B 3) (substituting the diminutive suffix -án). EG bulḃing also yields Mx bwilleen (C): O’Rahilly (1942c, 200) points out that the Manx word is stressed on the second syllable, ‘which testifies to the former existence of another consonant after l [, yielding the long vowel which attracts the stress, while] from an original builín we should expect Mx *bwillin, with stress on the first syllable.’ Further, EG bulḃing yields SG builbhin (D 1) in Argyllshire, but builghionn (D 2) (with phonemic interchange between fricatives bh and gh) and a reduced form builionn (D 3) to the north and west. In Argyllshire, reduction of builbhin may be indicated by forms such as builin, bulin, builean and buileann (D 3(iii)).

EG bulḃing is perhaps a reflex of AN bullion (> MEng. bullion, EScots bulȝeon) in the sense ‘ingot’, perhaps expressive of a particular shape of loaf prevalent at one time. On borrowing, AN bullion might formally yield EG *builġiong, 

A development not proposed in Risk’s (1970; 1974) analysis of French loan-words in Irish.

with palatalised ġ (?as [j] rather than [ʝ]) representing original i, 

Note also the potential analogy with OG bairġen ‘bread, loaf’ (eDIL^˄).

and with final -ng a reflex of a nasalised -on, but why -ng and not -n(n) is unclear. EG bulḃing may be a normalised dative form, with ḃ replacing ġ by assimilation to initial b-, although the fricative was subsequently frequently lost. Final -g of SG builig (D 4) constitutes a variant reflex of earlier -ng. The final syllable of Ir. bollóg (bulóg) (B 4), on the other hand, has been adapted to the diminutive suffix -óg. For loaf names indicative of shape, cf. EG tort ‘bread, loaf’, a truncation of Lat. torta pānis ‘a twist of bread’.