All Topics  
Insular Celtic languages

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Insular Celtic languages
 
 
  Topics Insular Celtic languages Topic Home

The term Insular Celtic
Celtic languages

The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic", a branch of the greater Indo-European languages language family. The term "Celtic" was used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, having much earlier been used by Greek and Roman writers to describe tribes in central Gaul....
 refers to those Celtic languages which originated in the British Isles
British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include Great Britain and Ireland, and numerous smaller islands....
, in contrast to the Continental Celtic languages
Continental Celtic languages

The Continental Celtic languages is a modern name for the Celtic languages, now all extinct, that originated and were spoken on the continent of Europe ....
 of mainland Europe
Continental Europe

Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands and, at times, peninsulas....
 and Anatolia
Anatolia

Anatolia or Asia Minor is a region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. It is a geographic region bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Aegean Sea to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Iranian plateau to the east and southeast....
. All surviving Celtic languages are from the insular Celtic group. Continental Celtic languages are extinct. The six Celtic languages of modern times can be divided into:

"Insular Celtic hypothesis" is a theory that the Brythonic and Goidelic languages evolved
Historical linguistics

Historical linguistics is the study of language change. It has five main concerns:* to describe and account for observed changes in particular languages;...
 together in those islands, having a common ancestor more recent than any shared with the Continental Celtic languages
Continental Celtic languages

The Continental Celtic languages is a modern name for the Celtic languages, now all extinct, that originated and were spoken on the continent of Europe ....
 such as Celtiberian
Celtiberian language

Celtiberian is an extinct language Indo-European language of the Celtic languages branch spoken by the Celtiberians in an area of the Iberian Peninsula lying...
, Gaulish
Gaulish language

The Gaulish language is the Celtic language that was spoken in Gaul before the Vulgar Latin of the late Roman Empire became dominant in Roman Gaul....
, Galatian and Lepontic
Lepontic language

Lepontic is an extinct Celtic languages language that was spoken in parts of Rhaetia and Cisalpine Gaul between 700 BC and 400 BC. Sometimes called Cisalpine Celtic, it is considered a dialect of the Gaulish language and thus a Continental Celtic language ....
, among others, all of which are long extinct.

The proponents of the Insular Celtic hypothesis (such as Cowgill 1975; McCone 1991, 1992; and Schrijver 1995) point to shared innovations among Insular Celtic languages, including inflected preposition
Inflected preposition

In some languages, an inflected preposition, or conjugated preposition, is a word formed from the contraction of a preposition with a personal pronoun....
s, shared use of certain verbal particles, VSO
Verb Subject Object

Verb Subject Object is a term in linguistic typology. It represents one type of languages when classifying languages according to the sequence of these constituents in neutral expressions: Ate Sam oranges....
 word order, and the differentiation of absolute and conjunct verb endings
Dependent and independent verb forms

In the Goidelic languages, dependent and independent verb forms are distinct verb forms used either with a preceding grammatical particle or, usually, without one ....
 as found extensively in Old Irish and to a small extent in Middle Welsh (see Proto-Celtic language#Morphology
Proto-Celtic language

The Proto-Celtic language, also called Common Celtic, is the putative ancestor of all the known Celtic languages. Its lexis can be confidently reconstructed on the basis of the comparative method of historical linguistics....
).






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Insular Celtic languages'
Start a new discussion about 'Insular Celtic languages'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


The term Insular Celtic
Celtic languages

The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic", a branch of the greater Indo-European languages language family. The term "Celtic" was used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, having much earlier been used by Greek and Roman writers to describe tribes in central Gaul....
 refers to those Celtic languages which originated in the British Isles
British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include Great Britain and Ireland, and numerous smaller islands....
, in contrast to the Continental Celtic languages
Continental Celtic languages

The Continental Celtic languages is a modern name for the Celtic languages, now all extinct, that originated and were spoken on the continent of Europe ....
 of mainland Europe
Continental Europe

Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands and, at times, peninsulas....
 and Anatolia
Anatolia

Anatolia or Asia Minor is a region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. It is a geographic region bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Aegean Sea to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Iranian plateau to the east and southeast....
. All surviving Celtic languages are from the insular Celtic group. Continental Celtic languages are extinct. The six Celtic languages of modern times can be divided into:
  • the Goidelic languages (Irish
    Irish language

    Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic languages of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people....
    , Manx
    Manx language

    Manx , also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Goidelic languages spoken on the Isle of Man. The last native speaker, Ned Maddrell, died in 1974, but in recent years it has been the subject of language revival efforts, and it is now the medium of education at the , a primary school for four- to eleven-year-olds in St....
    , and Scottish Gaelic
    Scottish Gaelic language

    Scottish Gaelic is a member of the Goidelic languages branch of Celtic languages. This branch also includes the Irish language and Manx language languages....
    ); and
  • the Brythonic languages (Breton
    Breton language

    The Breton language is a Celtic languages spoken by some of the inhabitants of Brittany in France....
    , Cornish
    Cornish language

    The Cornish language is one of the Brythonic group of Celtic languages. The language continued to function as a community language in parts of Cornwall until the late 18th century, and there have been attempts to revive the language since the early 20th century....
     and Welsh
    Welsh language

    Welsh ]], is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, in England by some along the Welsh Marches and in the Welsh settlement in Argentina in the Chubut Valley in Argentina Patagonia....
    ).


Insular Celtic hypothesis

The "Insular Celtic hypothesis" is a theory that the Brythonic and Goidelic languages evolved
Historical linguistics

Historical linguistics is the study of language change. It has five main concerns:* to describe and account for observed changes in particular languages;...
 together in those islands, having a common ancestor more recent than any shared with the Continental Celtic languages
Continental Celtic languages

The Continental Celtic languages is a modern name for the Celtic languages, now all extinct, that originated and were spoken on the continent of Europe ....
 such as Celtiberian
Celtiberian language

Celtiberian is an extinct language Indo-European language of the Celtic languages branch spoken by the Celtiberians in an area of the Iberian Peninsula lying...
, Gaulish
Gaulish language

The Gaulish language is the Celtic language that was spoken in Gaul before the Vulgar Latin of the late Roman Empire became dominant in Roman Gaul....
, Galatian and Lepontic
Lepontic language

Lepontic is an extinct Celtic languages language that was spoken in parts of Rhaetia and Cisalpine Gaul between 700 BC and 400 BC. Sometimes called Cisalpine Celtic, it is considered a dialect of the Gaulish language and thus a Continental Celtic language ....
, among others, all of which are long extinct.

The proponents of the Insular Celtic hypothesis (such as Cowgill 1975; McCone 1991, 1992; and Schrijver 1995) point to shared innovations among Insular Celtic languages, including inflected preposition
Inflected preposition

In some languages, an inflected preposition, or conjugated preposition, is a word formed from the contraction of a preposition with a personal pronoun....
s, shared use of certain verbal particles, VSO
Verb Subject Object

Verb Subject Object is a term in linguistic typology. It represents one type of languages when classifying languages according to the sequence of these constituents in neutral expressions: Ate Sam oranges....
 word order, and the differentiation of absolute and conjunct verb endings
Dependent and independent verb forms

In the Goidelic languages, dependent and independent verb forms are distinct verb forms used either with a preceding grammatical particle or, usually, without one ....
 as found extensively in Old Irish and to a small extent in Middle Welsh (see Proto-Celtic language#Morphology
Proto-Celtic language

The Proto-Celtic language, also called Common Celtic, is the putative ancestor of all the known Celtic languages. Its lexis can be confidently reconstructed on the basis of the comparative method of historical linguistics....
). They assert that a partition that lumps the Brythonic languages and Gaulish (P-Celtic) on one side and the Goidelic languages with Celtiberian (Q-Celtic) on the other may be a superficial one (i.e. owing to a language contact
Language contact

Language contact occurs when speakers of distinct speech varieties interact. The study of language contact is called contact linguistics....
 phenomenon), as the identical sound shift ( to ) could have occurred independently in the predecessors of Gaulish and Brythonic, or have spread through language contact
Language contact

Language contact occurs when speakers of distinct speech varieties interact. The study of language contact is called contact linguistics....
 between those two groups.

The family tree of the Insular Celtic languages is thus as follows:

  • Insular Celtic
    • Goidelic
      Goidelic languages

      The Goidelic languages, , historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from the south of Ireland, through the Isle of Man, to the north of Scotland....
      • Primitive Irish
        Primitive Irish language

        Primitive Irish is the oldest known form of the Goidelic languages, known only from fragments, mostly personal names, inscribed on stone in the ogham alphabet in Ireland and western Great Britain up to about the 6th century....
        , ancestral to:
        • Old Irish
          Old Irish language

          Old Irish is the name given to the oldest form of the Irish language, or, rather, the Goidelic languages, for which extensive written texts are possessed....
          , ancestral to:
          • Middle Irish
            Middle Irish language

            Middle Irish is the name given by historical linguistics to the Goidelic languages used from the 10th to 12th centuries; it is therefore a contemporary of late Old English and early Middle English....
            , ancestral to:
            • Irish
              Irish language

              Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic languages of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people....
            • Scottish Gaelic
              Scottish Gaelic language

              Scottish Gaelic is a member of the Goidelic languages branch of Celtic languages. This branch also includes the Irish language and Manx language languages....
            • Manx
              Manx language

              Manx , also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Goidelic languages spoken on the Isle of Man. The last native speaker, Ned Maddrell, died in 1974, but in recent years it has been the subject of language revival efforts, and it is now the medium of education at the , a primary school for four- to eleven-year-olds in St....
    • Brythonic
      Brythonic languages

      The Brythonic languages form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic languages language family, the other being Goidelic. The name Brythonic was derived by Wales Celtic studies Sir John Rhys from the Welsh language word Brython, meaning an indigenous Brython as opposed to an Anglo-Saxons or Gaels....
      • Pictish
        Pictish language

        Pictish is a term used for the extinct language or languages thought to have been spoken by the Picts, the people of northern and central Scotland in the Early Middle Ages....
         (possibly)
      • British
        British language (Celtic)

        British was an ancient P-Celtic language spoken in much of southern and central Britain, up to the central lowlands of Scotland. It is not known when the British language arrived ? times from the Neolithic to the Iron Age have been suggested....
        • Cumbric
          Cumbric language

          Cumbric was the Brythonic languages Celtic languages, sometimes considered to be a dialect of Welsh language, spoken in the Hen Ogledd in what is now northern England and southern Scottish Lowlands Scotland, the area anciently referred to as Cumbria....
           (extinct)
        • Old Welsh
          Old Welsh language

          Old Welsh is the label attached to the Welsh language from the time it developed from the Brythonic language, generally thought to be in the period between the middle of the 6th century and the middle of the 7th century, until the early 12th century when it developed into Middle Welsh language....
          , ancestral to
          • Middle Welsh
            Middle Welsh language

            Middle Welsh is the label attached to the Welsh language of the 12th to 14th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period....
            , ancestral to:
            • Welsh
              Welsh language

              Welsh ]], is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, in England by some along the Welsh Marches and in the Welsh settlement in Argentina in the Chubut Valley in Argentina Patagonia....
        • Southwestern Brythonic
          Southwestern Brythonic language

          Southwestern Brythonic is the reconstructed protolanguage representing one of two dialects into which the Brythonic languages split following the Battle of Deorham in A.D....
          , ancestral to:
          • Breton
            Breton language

            The Breton language is a Celtic languages spoken by some of the inhabitants of Brittany in France....
          • Cornish
            Cornish language

            The Cornish language is one of the Brythonic group of Celtic languages. The language continued to function as a community language in parts of Cornwall until the late 18th century, and there have been attempts to revive the language since the early 20th century....


The following table lists cognates showing the development of Proto-Celtic * to in Gaulish and the Brythonic languages but to in the Goidelic languages.
Proto-Celtic Gaulish Welsh Cornish Breton Irish Scottish Gaelic Manx English gloss
*k?ennos pennos pen penn penn ceann ceann kione "head"
*k?etwar- petuarios pedwar peswar pevar ceathair ceithir kiare "four"
*k?enk?e pinpetos pump pymp pemp cúig còig queig "five"
*k?eis pis pwy piw piv cé (older cia) cò/cia quoi "who"


A significant difference between Goidelic and Brythonic languages is the transformation of *an, am to a denasalised vowel with lengthening, é, before an originally voiceless stop or fricative, cf. Old Irish éc "death", écath "fish hook", dét "tooth", cét "hundred" vs. Welsh angau, angad, dant, and cant. Otherwise:
  • the nasal is retained before a vowel, jod, w, m, and a liquid:
    • Old Irish ban "woman" (< banom)
    • Old Irish gainethar "he/she is born" (< gan-je-tor)
    • Old Irish ainb "ignorant" (< anwiss)
  • the nasal passes to en before another n:
    • Old Irish benn "peak" (< banno) (vs. Welsh bann)
    • Middle Irish ro-geinn "finds a place" (< ganne) (vs. Welsh gannaf)
  • the nasal passes to in, im before a voiced stop
    • Old Irish imb "butter" (vs. Breton aman(en)n, Cornish amanyn)
    • Old Irish ingen "nail" (vs. Old Welsh eguin)
    • Old Irish tengae "tongue" (vs. Welsh tafod)
    • Old Irish ing "strait" (vs. Middle Welsh eh-ang "wide")