Celtic Branch of the Indo-European Family

Introduction

Celtic Warrior

Celtic Art

Celtic languages descended from a common ancestral language called Proto-Celtic, a member of the Indo-European language family. The Celts were the first Indo-European people to spread across Europe. They appeared in south-central Europe around the 5th century B.C. and spread throughout most of the European continent, reaching the Black Sea and Asia Minor, Spain, Italy, and Britain. Today, however, Celtic languages are limited to a few areas in the British Isles, on the peninsula of Brittany in France, and in emigrant communities in the U.S., Canada, and Australia.

There are two groups of Celtic languages.

Continental Celtic (Gaulish)
Celtic dialects spoken on the European continent are called Continental Celtic, or Gaulish. Little is known about Gaulish, except for a few hundred inscriptions and references in Latin literature. It is assumed that Gaulish was similar to Latin which made it relatively easy for the Gauls to learn Latin and and to stop using their own language. When Gaul was overrun by the Germanic Franks, Gaulish was probably already near extinction. This may be the reason why modern French is based on Latin and Frankish, rather than on Gaulish.
Insular Celtic
Insular Celtic refers to the dialects that were spoken in the British Isles and in Brittany. There were probably two waves of Celtic invasion into the British Isles.
- The first wave came to Ireland in the 4th century B.C. It resulted in a type of Celtic known as Goidelic (better known as Gaelic). It later reached Scotland and the Isle of Man.
- The second invasion was into southern England and Wales, and later into Brittany. It produced a type of Celtic known as Brythonic (or British). The Anglo-Saxon invasions in the 5th century A.D. pushed the British Celts to the west and to the north which caused the Celtic dialects to become separate languages. In Cornwall and Devon, they developed into Cornish, and in Wales they evolved into Welsh.

Brittany Flag

Cornwall

Wales
Wales

Ireland
Irland

Scotland

Status
There were 7 Insular Celtic languages of which 6 are spoken today as first and/or as second languages. They are listed below.

Brythonic
Breton No official status, but there is a strong nationalist movement for recognition.	532,000 1st language and 1.2 million 2nd language users	Brittany, France, and dispersed communities around the world
Cornish No official status. Became extinct in 1777 but is being revived. It is taught in some schools and in evening classes.	small number of 1st language speakers under 20 years of age; 500 or more 2nd language speakers.	Cornwall, Canada, Australia
Welsh Official minority language. 20% of the Welsh population speak the language, and 33% are able to understand it.	575,102 speakers, including 32,700 monolinguals, and 542,402 bilinguals	Wales, U.S., Canada, Australia
Goidelic
Gaelic, Hiberno-Scottish Based on 12th century Irish, it was used in Ireland until the 17th and in Scotland until the 18th century as a literary language.	extinct	Ireland, Scotland
Gaelic, Scottish No official status. In some communities it is primarily used in the home, in church, and for social purposes. In bilingual areas, it is used as the language of instruction in primary schools. There is a resurgence of interest in reviving the language.	62,175	Parts of Scotland and the Hebrides. Also spoken in Australia, Canada, and the U.S.
Gaelic, Irish National language. Used in all spheres of life.	355,000	Parts of Ireland. Also spoken in Brazil, Canada, United Kingdom, and the U.S.
Manx No official status. It became extinct in 1974 as a 1st language. There are efforts to revive it. Today, it is a 2nd language for several hundred speakers who learned it as adults. Children are taught Manx in play-groups. Used for some public functions.	extinct as 1st language; several hundred 2nd language speakers	Isle of Man

Structure

Sound System

Old man

The sound systems of Gaelic Irish and Gaelic Scottish share some common features. They share fewer features with Welsh and Cornish.

Grammar

Although there are many structural differences among the individual Celtic languages, they share some common features which include the following:

Initial consonant mutation
This means that the first consonant sound of a word may change, depending on grammatical context (see Irish and Welsh on this website).
Fusion of prepositions with personal pronouns (so-called inflected prepositions).
Verb-Subject-Object word order.
Two grammatical genders: masculine and feminine.
Definite but no indefinite article.
Vigesimal counting system, i.e., counting by twenties, as in French

Vocabulary

Celtic Dog

cross

Although Celtic languages have borrowed many words from English and French, their vocabulary is predominantly Gaelic. Here are some common phrases in four Celtic languages.

Do you see any similarities among them?
Which languages appear to share more similarities?

.	Welsh	Breton	Irish Gaelic	Scots Gaelic
please	*os gwelwch yn dda*	*mar plij*	*le do thoil*	*mas e do thoil e*
thank you	*diolch*	*trugarez*	*go raibh maith agat*	*tapadh leat*
hello	*s'mae?*	*salud*	*dia duit*	*awricht*
good-bye	*hwyl*	*kenavo*	*slán*	*mar sin leat*
yes/no	*ie/na*	*ya/nann*	*sea/ni héa*	*tha/chan eil*

Take a look at the cardinal numerals 1-10 in four Celtic languages. Which ones look closer to each other?

.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Welsh	un	dau	tri	pedwar	pump	chwech	saith	wyth	naw	deg
Breton	unan	daou	tri	pewar	pemp	c'hwec'h	seizh	eizh	nav	dek
Irish Gaelic	aon	dó	tri	ceathair	cúig	sé	seacht	ocht	naoi	deich
Scots Gaelic	aon	dà	trì	ceithir	cóig	sia	seachd	ochd	naoi	deich

Writing

ogham

Celtic languages were originally written with the Ogham alphabet. It consisted of 25 letters. About 500 Ogham inscriptions dating back to the 4th-7th centuries A.D. have been found in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and England. Linguists think that the Ogham alphabet was used primarily for record keeping.

Ogham letters consisted of one to five perpendicular or angled strokes, meeting or crossing a center line. The form of the letters allowed them to be carved on wood or stone. Each letter was named after a tree or a plant, e.g.,

	beith	birch
	dair	oak

Today, all Celtic languages are written with adapted versions of the Latin alphabet. Take a look at Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human rights in four Gaelic languages. Do you see any differences in their orthographic conventions?

Welsh

Breton
UHDR Breton

Irish Gaelic
UHDR Irish Gaelic

Scots Gaelic
UHDR Scots Gaelic

Translation
Article 1
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Resources

Resources for the study of Celtic languages
Celtic Language Links
Celtic Languages Sites
Language Study Resources on the WWW
North American Association for Celtic Language Teachers
Celtic Grammars and Textbooks

Click on the name of the language to learn more about it on this website

Irish
Welsh