Proto-Celtic language - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Proto-Celtic language, also called Common Celtic, is the reconstructed ancestor language of all the known Celtic languages

Celtic languages

The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...

. Its lexis

Lexis (linguistics)

In linguistics, a lexis is the total word-stock or lexicon having items of lexical, rather than grammatical, meaning. This notion contrasts starkly with the Chomskian proposition of a “Universal Grammar” as the prime mover for language...

can be confidently reconstructed on the basis of the comparative method

Comparative method

In linguistics, the comparative method is a technique for studying the development of languages by performing a feature-by-feature comparison of two or more languages with common descent from a shared ancestor, as opposed to the method of internal reconstruction, which analyzes the internal...

of historical linguistics

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...

. Proto-Celtic is a branch of the Western Indo-European languages, with the other branches Italic languages

Italic languages

The Italic subfamily is a member of the Indo-European language family. It includes the Romance languages derived from Latin , and a number of extinct languages of the Italian Peninsula, including Umbrian, Oscan, Faliscan, and Latin.In the past various definitions of "Italic" have prevailed...

, Germanic languages

Germanic languages

The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...

and the Balto-Slavic group. The exact relationships between these branches are under discussion. The Hallstatt culture

Hallstatt culture

The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Central European culture from the 8th to 6th centuries BC , developing out of the Urnfield culture of the 12th century BC and followed in much of Central Europe by the La Tène culture.By the 6th century BC, the Hallstatt culture extended for some...

, on the western fringes of the Urnfield in the early 1st millennium BC

1st millennium BC

The 1st millennium BC encompasses the Iron Age and sees the rise of many successive empires, and spanned from 1000 BC to 1 BC.The Neo-Assyrian Empire, followed by the Achaemenids. In Greece, Classical Antiquity begins with the colonization of Magna Graecia and peaks with the rise of Hellenism. The...

, may be the archaeological correlate of the first distinguishable Proto-Celtic language.

The reconstruction of Proto-Celtic is currently being undertaken. While Continental Celtic presents much substantiation for phonology

Phonology

Phonology is, broadly speaking, the subdiscipline of linguistics concerned with the sounds of language. That is, it is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use...

, and some for morphology

Morphology (linguistics)

In linguistics, morphology is the identification, analysis and description, in a language, of the structure of morphemes and other linguistic units, such as words, affixes, parts of speech, intonation/stress, or implied context...

, recorded material is still too scanty to allow a secure reconstruction of syntax

Syntax

In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....

. Although some complete sentences are recorded in Gaulish

Gaulish language

The Gaulish language is an extinct Celtic language that was spoken by the Gauls, a people who inhabited the region known as Gaul from the Iron Age through the Roman period...

and Celtiberian

Celtiberian language

Celtiberian is an extinct Indo-European language of the Celtic branch spoken by the Celtiberians in an area of the Iberian Peninsula lyingbetween the headwaters of the Duero, Tajo, Júcar and Turia rivers and the Ebro river...

, the oldest substantial Celtic literature

Literature

Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...

is found in Old Irish

Old Irish language

Old Irish is the name given to the oldest form of the Goidelic languages for which extensive written texts are extant. It was used from the 6th to the 10th centuries, by which time it had developed into Middle Irish....

, the earliest recorded of the Insular Celtic languages

Insular Celtic languages

Insular Celtic languages are those Celtic languages that originated in the British Isles, in contrast to the Continental Celtic languages of mainland Europe and Anatolia. All surviving Celtic languages are from the Insular Celtic group; the Continental Celtic languages are extinct...

Consonants

The phonological changes from Proto-Indo-European

Proto-Indo-European language

The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...

to Proto-Celtic consonant

Consonant

In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are , pronounced with the lips; , pronounced with the front of the tongue; , pronounced with the back of the tongue; , pronounced in the throat; and ,...

s may be summarised as follows. (An asterisk [*] prior to a letter or word designates that the phoneme

Phoneme

In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....

or lexeme

Lexeme

A lexeme is an abstract unit of morphological analysis in linguistics, that roughly corresponds to a set of forms taken by a single word. For example, in the English language, run, runs, ran and running are forms of the same lexeme, conventionally written as RUN...

is not attested but is a hypothetical, reconstructed form).

Palatovelars merge with the plain velars:
- } > }
- } > }
- } > }
Aspirated stops lose their aspiration and merge with the voiced stops:
- } > }
- } > }
- } > }
- } > }
} > } except after }
} > }, } > }

PIE	Proto-Celtic	Example
}	}	} > } 'father'
}	}	} > } 'three'
}	}	} > } 'sing' } > } 'hundred'
}	}	} > } 'four'
}	}	} > } 'deep'
}	}	} > } 'see'
}	}	} > } 'to glue' } > } 'jaw'
}	}	} > } 'woman'
}	}	} > } 'carry'
}	}	} > } 'suck'
}	}	} > } 'take' } > } 'sickness'
}	}	} > } 'kill, wound'
}	}	} > } 'old'
}	}	} > } 'mother'
}	}	} > } 'nephew'
}	}	} > } 'lick'
}	}	} > } 'king'
}	}	} > } 'young'
}	}	} > } 'dominion'

In contrast to the parent language, Proto-Celtic does not use aspiration

Aspiration (phonetics)

In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies either the release or, in the case of preaspiration, the closure of some obstruents. To feel or see the difference between aspirated and unaspirated sounds, one can put a hand or a lit candle in front of one's mouth, and say pin ...

as a feature

Feature (linguistics)

A feature is a concept applied to several fields of linguistics, typically involving the assignment of binary or unary conditions which act as constraints.-In phonology:...

for distinguishing phoneme

Phoneme

In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....

s. So the Proto-Indo-European voiced aspirated stops }, }, } merged with }, }, }. The voiced aspirate labiovelar } did not merge with }, though: plain } became } in Proto-Celtic, while aspirated } became }. Thus, PIE } 'woman' became Old Irish ben and Welsh benyw, but PIE } 'to kill, to wound' became Old Irish gonaid and Welsh gwanu.

Proto-Indo-European } was lost in Proto-Celtic, apparently going through the stages } (as in the table above) and } (perhaps attested by the toponym Hercynia

Hercynia

Hercynia may refer to:*The Hercynian Forest.*a range of mountains mentioned in several classical sources, in apparently various regions of Europe....

if this is of Celtic origin) before being lost completely word-initially and between vowels. Adjacent to consonants, Proto-Celtic } underwent different changes: the clusters

Consonant cluster

In linguistics, a consonant cluster is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. In English, for example, the groups and are consonant clusters in the word splits....

} and } became } and } respectively already in Proto-Celtic. PIE } became Old Irish s and Brythonic f; while argues there was an intermediate stage } (in which } remained an independent phoneme until after Proto-Insular Celtic had diverged into Goidelic and Brythonic), finds it more economical to believe that } remained unchanged in PC, that is, the change } to } did not happen when } preceded. (Similarly, Grimm's law

Grimm's law

Grimm's law , named for Jacob Grimm, is a set of statements describing the inherited Proto-Indo-European stops as they developed in Proto-Germanic in the 1st millennium BC...

did not apply to *p, t, k after *s in Germanic

Proto-Germanic language

Proto-Germanic , or Common Germanic, as it is sometimes known, is the unattested, reconstructed proto-language of all the Germanic languages, such as modern English, Frisian, Dutch, Afrikaans, German, Luxembourgish, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, and Swedish.The Proto-Germanic language is...

Proto-Celtic	Old Irish	Welsh
} > } 'shine'	las-aid	llach-ar
} > } 'seven'	secht	saith
} or } 'heel'	seir	ffêr

In Gaulish

Gaulish language

The Gaulish language is an extinct Celtic language that was spoken by the Gauls, a people who inhabited the region known as Gaul from the Iron Age through the Roman period...

and the Brythonic languages

Brythonic languages

The Brythonic or Brittonic languages form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family, the other being Goidelic. The name Brythonic was derived by Welsh Celticist John Rhys from the Welsh word Brython, meaning an indigenous Briton as opposed to an Anglo-Saxon or Gael...

, a new } sound has arisen as a reflex of the Proto-Indo-European } phoneme. Consequently one finds Gaulish petuar[ios], Welsh

Welsh language

Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

pedwar "four", compared to Old Irish

Old Irish language

*cethair and Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

quattuor. Insofar as this new /p/ fills the space in the phoneme inventory which was lost by the disappearance of the equivalent stop in PIE, we may think of this as a chain shift

Chain shift

In phonology, a chain shift is a phenomenon in which several sounds move stepwise along a phonetic scale. The sounds involved in a chain shift can be ordered into a "chain" in such a way that, after the change is complete, each phoneme ends up sounding like what the phoneme before it in the chain...

.

The terms P-Celtic and Q-Celtic are useful when we wish to group the Celtic languages according to the way they handle this one phoneme. However a simple division into P- and Q-Celtic may be untenable, as it does not do justice to the evidence of the ancient Continental Celtic languages

Continental Celtic languages

The Continental Celtic languages are the Celtic languages, now extinct, that were spoken on the continent of Europe, as distinguished from the Insular Celtic languages of Britain and Ireland. The Continental Celtic languages were spoken by the people known to Roman and Greek writers as Keltoi,...

. The large number of unusual shared innovations among the Insular Celtic languages

Insular Celtic languages

are often also presented as evidence against a P-Celtic vs Q-Celtic division, but they may instead reflect a common substratum

Substratum

In linguistics, a stratum or strate is a language that influences, or is influenced by another through contact. A substratum is a language which has lower power or prestige than another, while a superstratum is the language that has higher power or prestige. Both substratum and superstratum...

influence from the pre-Celtic languages of Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall and Wales,http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/288/5469/1158, in which case they would be irrelevant to Celtic language classification.

Q-Celtic languages may also have /p/ in loan words, though in some early borrowings from Welsh into Irish /k/ was used by sound substitution, as in Gaelic Cothrige, an early form of "Padraig"

Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick was a Romano-Briton and Christian missionary, who is the most generally recognized patron saint of Ireland or the Apostle of Ireland, although Brigid of Kildare and Colmcille are also formally patron saints....

. Gaelic póg "kiss" was a later borrowing (from the second word of the Latin phrase osculum pacis "kiss of peace") at a stage where p was borrowed directly as p, without substituting c.

Vowels

The Proto-Celtic vowel system is highly comparable to that reconstructed for Proto-Indo-European

Proto-Indo-European language

The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...

by Antoine Meillet

Antoine Meillet

Paul Jules Antoine Meillet was one of the most important French linguists of the early 20th century. Meillet began his studies at the Sorbonne, where he was influenced by Michel Bréal, Ferdinand de Saussure, and the members of the Année Sociologique. In 1890 he was part of a research trip to the...

. The following changes are known:

Epenthesis in syllabic sonorants.
- *a is inserted after a syllabic
  Syllabic consonant
  A syllabic consonant is a consonant which either forms a syllable on its own, or is the nucleus of a syllable. The diacritic for this in the International Phonetic Alphabet is the under-stroke, ⟨⟩...
  
  sonorant
  Sonorant
  In phonetics and phonology, a sonorant is a speech sound that is produced without turbulent airflow in the vocal tract; fricatives and plosives are not sonorants. Vowels are sonorants, as are consonants like and . Other consonants, like or , restrict the airflow enough to cause turbulence, and...
  
  if a laryngeal
  Laryngeal theory
  The laryngeal theory is a generally accepted theory of historical linguistics which proposes the existence of one, or a set of three , consonant sounds termed "laryngeals" that appear in most current reconstructions of the Proto-Indo-European language...
  
  and an obstruent
  Obstruent
  An obstruent is a consonant sound formed by obstructing airflow, causing increased air pressure in the vocal tract, such as [k], [d͡ʒ] and [f]. In phonetics, articulation may be divided into two large classes: obstruents and sonorants....
  
  follow: *RHC > *RaHC.
- *i is inserted after syllabic liquids when followed by a stop: *l̥T > *liT, *r̥T > *riT
- *a is inserted before the remaining syllabic nasals: *m̥ > *am, *n̥ > *am
- *a is inserted before the remaining syllabic liquids: *l̥ > *al, *r̥ > *ar
Any remaining laryngeals between consonants become *a.
Laryngeals merge with a neighbouring vowel, where *h₂ changes neighbouring *e into *a, and h₃ changes it into *o. When the laryngeal follows the vowel, the vowel is lengthened.
Long diphthong
Diphthong
A diphthong , also known as a gliding vowel, refers to two adjacent vowel sounds occurring within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: That is, the tongue moves during the pronunciation of the vowel...

s are shortened by shortening the first element:
- *ēi > *ei, *ēu > *eu
- *āi > *ai, *āu > *au
- *ōi > *oi, *ōu > *ou
Loss of long mid vowels:
- *ē > *ī
- *ō > *ū in final syllables, > *ā elsewhere
Loss of diphthongs beginning with *e:
- *ei > *ē
- *eu > *ou
*uwa > *owa

PIE	Proto-Celtic	Example
}	}	} > } 'river'
}	}	} > } 'brother'
}	}	} > } 'old'
} (any laryngeal between consonants)	}	} > } 'father'
}	}	} > } 'true'
}	}	} > } 'wheel'
}	in final syllable, }	} > } 'nephew'
}	elsewhere, }	} > } 'gift'
}	}	} > } 'world'
}	}	} > } 'number'
}	}	} > } 'blind' } > } 'age'
}	}	} > } 'god'
}	}	} > } 'one'
}	before ,	} > } 'young'
}	elsewhere, }	} > } 'stream'
}	}	} > } 'mystery'
}	}	} > } 'silent'
}; }	}	} > } 'people' } > }
}	before stops, }	} > } 'wide'
}	before other consonants, }	} > } 'rooster'
	before stops, }	} > } 'act of bearing; mind'
	before other consonants, }	} > } 'dead'
}	}	} > } 'subdue'
}	}	} > } 'tooth'
}	before obstruents, }	} > } 'lordship'
}	before sonorants, }	} > } 'hand'
}	before obstruents, }	} > } 'betrayal'
}	before sonorants, }	} > } 'grain'
}	} (presumably same distribution as above)	(none?)
}	} or } (presumably same distribution as above)	probably } > } 'knowing'

The vowel } is the so-called "schwa indogermanicum", now interpreted as a laryngeal between two consonants.

Nouns

The morphology

Morphology (linguistics)

(structure) of noun

Noun

In linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition .Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other kinds of...

s and adjective

Adjective

In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....

s demonstrates no arresting alterations from the parent language. Proto-Celtic is believed to have had nouns in three genders

Grammatical gender

Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...

, three numbers

Grammatical number

In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....

and five to eight cases. The genders were the normal masculine, feminine and neuter, the three numbers were singular, plural and dual. The number of cases is a subject of contention: while Old Irish may have only five, the evidence from Continental Celtic is considered rather unambiguous despite appeals to archaic retentions or morphological leveling

Morphological leveling

In linguistics, morphological leveling is the generalization of an inflection across a paradigm or between words. For example, the extension of the form is to persons such as I is and they is in some dialects of English is leveling, by analogy with a more frequent form, as is the reanalysis of...

. These cases were nominative, vocative, accusative, dative, genitive, ablative, locative and instrumental

Instrumental case

The instrumental case is a grammatical case used to indicate that a noun is the instrument or means by or with which the subject achieves or accomplishes an action...

.

Nouns fall into nine or so declensions, depending on the stem. There are *o-stems, *ā-stems, *i-stems, *u-stems, dental stems, velar stems, nasal stems, *r-stems and *s-stems.

*o-stem nouns

wiros 'man' (masculine)

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	*wiros	*wirou	*wiroi
Vocative	*wire	*wirou	*wirūs
Accusative	*wirom	*wirou	*wirūs
Genitive	*wiri	*wirūs	*wirom
Dative	*wirūi	*wirobom	*wirobo
Ablative	*wirū	*wirobim	*wirobi
Instrumental	*wirū	*wirobim	*wirūs
Locative	*wirei	*wirou	*wirobi

dūnom 'stronghold' (neuter)

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	*dūnom	*dūnou	*dūnā
Vocative	*dūnom	*dūnou	*dūnā
Accusative	*dūnom	*dūnou	*dūnā
Genitive	*dūni	*dūnūs	*dūnom
Dative	*dūnūi	*dūnobom	*dūnobo
Ablative	*dūnū	*dūnobim	*dūnobi
Instrumental	*dūnū	*dūnobim	*dūnūs
Locative	*dūnei	*dūnou	*dūnobi

*ā-stem nouns

E.g. *alisā 'alder tree' (feminine?)

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	*alisā	*alisai	*alisās
Vocative	*alisa	*alisai	*alisās
Accusative	*alisām	*alisai	*alisās
Genitive	*alisās	*alisajous	*alisānom
Dative	*alisāi	*alisābom	*alisābo
Ablative	*alisī	*alisābim	*alisābi
Instrumental	*alisī	*alisābim	*alisābi
Locative	*alisāi	*alisābim	*alisābi

E.g. *kumbās 'coombe

Cirque

Cirque may refer to:* Cirque, a geological formation* Makhtesh, an erosional landform found in the Negev desert of Israel and Sinai of Egypt*Cirque , an album by Biosphere* Cirque Corporation, a company that makes touchpads...

' (masculine)

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	*kumbā	*kumbai	*kumbās
Vocative	*kumba	*kumbai	*kumbās
Accusative	*kumbām	*kumbai	*kumbās
Genitive	*kumbās	*kumbajous	*kumbānom
Dative	*kumbāi	*kumbābom	*kumbābo
Ablative	*kumbī	*kumbābim	*kumbābi
Instrumental	*kumbī	*kumbābim	*kumbābi
Locative	*kumbāi	*kumbābim	*kumbābi

*u-stem nouns

E.g. *matus 'he-bear' (masculine)

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	*matus	*matou	*matowes
Vocative	*matu	*matou	*matowes
Accusative	*matum	*matou	*matūs
Genitive	*matous	*matowou	*matujom
Dative	*matou	*matoubom	*matoubo
Ablative	*matū	*matoubim	*matoubi
Instrumental	*matū	*matoubim	*matoubi
Locative	*matū	*matoubim	*matoubi

E.g. *dānu 'valley river' (neuter?)

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	*dānu	*dānou	*dānwā
Vocative	*dānu	*dānou	*dānwā
Accusative	*dānu	*dānou	*dānwā
Genitive	*dānous	*dānowou	*dānujom
Dative	*dānou	*dānoubom	*dānoubo
Ablative	*dānū	*dānoubim	*dānoubi
Instrumental	*dānū	*dānoubim	*dānoubi
Locative	*dānū	*dānoubim	*dānoubi

*i-stems

E.g. *albis 'alp' (masculine?)

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	*albis	*albī	*albejes
Vocative	*albis	*albī	*albejes
Accusative	*albim	*albī	*albīs
Genitive	*albeis	*albjous	*albjom
Dative	*albei	*albibom	*albibo
Ablative	*albī	*albibim	*albibi
Instrumental	*albī	*albibim	*albibi
Locative	*albī	*albibim	*albibi

E.g. *rīganīs 'queen' (feminine)

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	*rīganīs	*rīganī	*rīganes
Vocative	*rīganīs	*rīganī	*rīganes
Accusative	*rīganīm	*rīganī	*rīganīs
Genitive	*rīganos	*rīganou	*rīganom
Dative	*rīganei	*rīganībom	*rīganībo
Ablative	*rīganī	*rīganībim	*rīganībi
Instrumental	*rīganī	*rīganībim	*rīganībi
Locative	*rīganī	*rīganībim	*rīganībi

E.g. *blawi 'hair' (neuter?)

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	*blawi	*blawī	*blawjā
Vocative	*blawi	*blawī	*blawjā
Accusative	*blawi	*blawī	*blawjā
Genitive	*blaweis	*blawjous	*blawjom
Dative	*blawei	*blawibom	*blawibo
Ablative	*blawī	*blawibim	*blawibi
Instrumental	*blawī	*blawibim	*blawibi
Locative	*blawī	*blawibim	*blawibi

Velar and dental stems

Before the *-s of the nominative singular, a velar consonant was neutralised to *-x-: *rīg- "king" > *rīxs. Likewise, final *-d became *-t-: *druwid- "druid" > *druwits.

E.g. rīxs 'king' (masculine)

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	*rīxs	*rīge	*rīges
Vocative	*rīxs	*rīge	*rīges
Accusative	*rīgem	*rīge	*rīgas
Genitive	*rīgos	*rīgou	*rīgom
Dative	*rīgei	*rīgobom	*rīgobo
Ablative	*rīgī	*rīgobim	*rīgobi
Instrumental	*rīge	*rīgobim	*rīgobi
Locative	*rīgi	*rīgobim	*rīgobi

E.g. *druwits 'druid' (masculine)

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	*druwits	*druwide	*druwides
Vocative	*druwits	*druwide	*druwides
Accusative	*druwidem	*druwide	*druwidas
Genitive	*druwidos	*druwidou	*druwidom
Dative	*druwidei	*druwidobom	*druwidobo
Ablative	*druwidī	*druwidobim	*druwidobi
Instrumental	*druwide	*druwidobim	*druwidobi
Locative	*druwidi	*druwidobim	*druwidobi

E.g. *karnuxs 'carnyx

Carnyx

The carnyx was a wind instrument of the Iron Age Celts, used between c. 300 BC to 200 AD. It was a type of bronze trumpet, held vertically, the mouth styled in the shape of a boar's, or other animal's, head. It was used in warfare, probably to incite troops to battle and intimidate opponents...

' (masculine?)

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	*karnuxs	*karnuke	*karnukes
Vocative	*karnuxs	*karnuke	*karnukes
Accusative	*karnukem	*karnuke	*karnukas
Genitive	*karnukos	*karnukou	*karnukom
Dative	*karnukei	*karnukobom	*karnukobo
Ablative	*karnukī	*karnukobim	*karnukobi
Instrumental	*karnuke	*karnukobim	*karnukobi
Locative	*karnuki	*karnukobim	*karnukobi

E.g. *dants 'tooth' (masculine)

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	*dants	*dante	*dantes
Vocative	*dants	*dante	*dantes
Accusative	*dantem	*dante	*dantas
Genitive	*dantos	*dantou	*dantom
Dative	*dantei	*dantobom	*dantobo
Ablative	*dantī	*dantobim	*dantobi
Instrumental	*dante	*dantobim	*dantobi
Locative	*danti	*dantobim	*dantobi

Nasal stems

Generally, nasal stems end in *-on-, this becomes *-ū in the nominative singular: *abon-- "river" > *abū.

E.g. *abū 'river' (feminine)

Number	Nominative	Vocative	Accusative	Genitive	Dative	Ablative	Instrumental	Locative
Singular	*abū	*abū	*abonem	*abonos	*abonei	*abonī	*abone	*aboni
Dual	*abone	*abone	*abone	*abonou	*abonobom	*abonobim	*abonobim	*abonobim
Plural	*abones	*abones	*abonas	*abonom	*abonobo	*abonobi	*abonobi	*abonobi

E.g. *kangsmã 'step' (masculine)

Number	Nominative	Vocative	Accusative	Genitive	Dative	Ablative	Instrumental	Locative
Singular	*kangsmã	*kangsmã	*kangsmanem	*kangsmanos	*kangsmanei	*kangsmanī	*kangsmane	*kangsmani
Dual	*kangsmane	*kangsmane	*kangsmane	*kangsmanou	*kangsmanobom	*kangsmanobim	*kangsmanobim	*kangsmanobim
Plural	*kangsmanes	*kangsmanes	*kangsmanas	*kangsmanom	*kangsmanobo	*kangsmanobi	*kangsmanobi	*kangsmanobi

*s-stem nouns

Generally, *s-stems end in *-es-, which becomes *-os in the nominative singular: *teges- 'house' > *tegos.

E.g. *tegos 'house' (masculine)

Number	Nominative	Vocative	Accusative	Genitive	Dative	Ablative	Instrumental	Locative
Singular	*tegos	*tegos	*tegesem	*tegesos	*tegesei	*tegesī	*tegese	*tegesi
Dual	*tegese	*tegese	*tegese	*tegesou	*tegesobom	*tegesobim	*tegesobim	*tegesobim
Plural	*tegeses	*tegeses	*tegesas	*tegesom	*tegesobo	*tegesobi	*tegesobi	*tegesobi

*r-stem nouns

r-stems are rare and principally confined to names of relatives. Typically they end in *-ter-, which becomes *-tīr in the nominative and *-tr- in all other cases aside from the accusative: *φater- 'father' > *φatīr, *φatros.

E.g. *φatīr 'father' (masculine)

Number	Nominative	Vocative	Accusative	Genitive	Dative	Ablative	Instrumental	Locative
Singular	*φatīr	*φatīr	*φater	*φatros	*φatrei	*φatrī	*φatre	*φatri
Dual	*φatre	*φatre	*φatre	*φatrou	*φatrobom	*φatrobim	*φatrobim	*φatrobim
Plural	*φatres	*φatres	*φatras	*φatrom	*φatrobo	*φatrobi	*φatrobi	*φatrobi

E.g. *mātīr 'mother' (feminine)

Number	Nominative	Vocative	Accusative	Genitive	Dative	Ablative	Instrumental	Locative
Singular	*mātīr	*mātīr	*māter	*mātros	*mātrei	*mātrī	*mātre	*mātri
Dual	*mātre	*mātre	*mātre	*mātrou	*mātrobom	*mātrobim	*mātrobim	*mātrobim
Plural	*mātres	*mātres	*mātras	*mātrom	*mātrobo	*mātrobi	*mātrobi	*mātrobi

Verbs

From comparison between early Old Irish and Gaulish forms it seems that Continental and Insular Celtic verbs were to develop differently and so the study of Irish and Welsh may have unduly weighted past opinion of proto-Celtic verbal morphology. It can be inferred from Gaulish and Celtiberian as well as Insular Celtic that the proto-Celtic verb had at least three moods:

indicative — seen in e.g. 1st sg. Gaulish delgu ("I hold") Old Irish tongu ("I swear")
imperative
Imperative mood
The imperative mood expresses commands or requests as a grammatical mood. These commands or requests urge the audience to act a certain way. It also may signal a prohibition, permission, or any other kind of exhortation.- Morphology :...

— seen in e.g. 3rd sg. Celtiberian usabituz, Gaulish appisetu
subjunctive
Subjunctive mood
In grammar, the subjunctive mood is a verb mood typically used in subordinate clauses to express various states of irreality such as wish, emotion, possibility, judgment, opinion, necessity, or action that has not yet occurred....

— seen in e.g. 3rd sg. Gaulish buetid ("may he be") Celtiberian asekati

and four tenses:

present
Present tense
The present tense is a grammatical tense that locates a situation or event in present time. This linguistic definition refers to a concept that indicates a feature of the meaning of a verb...

— seen in e.g. Gaulish uediíu-mi ("I pray") Celtiberian zizonti ("they sow")
preterite
Preterite
The preterite is the grammatical tense expressing actions that took place or were completed in the past...

— seen in e.g. 3rd sg. Gaulish sioxti, Lepontic KariTe
imperfect — perhaps in Celtiberian kombalkez, atibion
future
Future tense
In grammar, a future tense is a verb form that marks the event described by the verb as not having happened yet, but expected to happen in the future , or to happen subsequent to some other event, whether that is past, present, or future .-Expressions of future tense:The concept of the future,...

— seen in e.g. 3rd sg. Gaulish bissiet, Old Irish bieid ("he shall be")

A probable optative mood

Optative mood

The optative mood is a grammatical mood that indicates a wish or hope. It is similar to the cohortative mood, and closely related to the subjunctive mood....

also features in Gaulish (tixsintor) and an infinitive

Infinitive

In grammar, infinitive is the name for certain verb forms that exist in many languages. In the usual description of English, the infinitive of a verb is its basic form with or without the particle to: therefore, do and to do, be and to be, and so on are infinitives...

(with a characteristic ending -unei) in Celtiberian.

Dating

The date when Proto-Celtic became a separate language is controversial. In the past an association with particular archaeological cultures had been assumed, then the method of glottochronology

Glottochronology

Glottochronology is that part of lexicostatistics dealing with the chronological relationship between languages....

was used. Both are not satisfactory for many reasons. In the last decade or so a number of groups have addressed this question using modern computation

Computation

Computation is defined as any type of calculation. Also defined as use of computer technology in Information processing.Computation is a process following a well-defined model understood and expressed in an algorithm, protocol, network topology, etc...

al methods, with differing results. Gray and Atkinson estimated a date of 6100 BP

Before Present

Before Present years is a time scale used in archaeology, geology, and other scientific disciplines to specify when events in the past occurred. Because the "present" time changes, standard practice is to use AD 1950 as the origin of the age scale, reflecting the fact that radiocarbon...

(4100 BCE) while Forster and Toth suggest a date of 8100 BP (6100 BCE), but such early dates are not generally accepted. Both these dates are subject to considerable estimating uncertainty, perhaps +/-1500 years. In the Paleolithic Continuity Theory

Paleolithic Continuity Theory

The Paleolithic Continuity Theory , since 2010 relabelled as the Paleolithic Continuity Paradigm , is a hypothesis suggesting that the Proto-Indo-European language can be traced back to the Upper Paleolithic, several millennia earlier than the Chalcolithic or at the most Neolithic estimates in other...

Celtic is proposed to have emerged from the Iberian

Iberian Peninsula

The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...

refuge after the Last Glacial Maximum

Last Glacial Maximum

The Last Glacial Maximum refers to a period in the Earth's climate history when ice sheets were at their maximum extension, between 26,500 and 19,000–20,000 years ago, marking the peak of the last glacial period. During this time, vast ice sheets covered much of North America, northern Europe and...

, but this theory is not generally accepted.

Proto-Celtic may have been spoken to as late as 800 BCE, see Celtic languages

Celtic languages

The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...

External links

The Leiden University

Leiden University

Leiden University , located in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, leader of the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years' War. The royal Dutch House of Orange-Nassau and Leiden University still have a close...

has compiled etymological dictionaries of various IE languages, a project supervised by Alexander Lubotsky and which includes a Proto-Celtic dictionary by Ranko Matasović. Unfortunately, those dictionaries published by Brill in the Leiden series have been removed from the University databases for copyright reasons. However, somebody has made an Excel file from Matasović's dictionary and uploaded on Google Docs.

Alternatively, a reference for Proto-Celtic vocabulary

Vocabulary

A person's vocabulary is the set of words within a language that are familiar to that person. A vocabulary usually develops with age, and serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge...

is provided by the University of Wales

University of Wales

The University of Wales was a confederal university founded in 1893. It had accredited institutions throughout Wales, and formerly accredited courses in Britain and abroad, with over 100,000 students, but in October 2011, after a number of scandals, it withdrew all accreditation, and it was...

at the following sites:

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