Proto-Celtic language
The Proto-Celtic language, also called Common Celtic, is the reconstructed ancestor language of all the known Celtic languages. Its lexis can be confidently reconstructed on the basis of the comparative method of historical linguistics. Proto-Celtic is a branch of the Western Indo-European languages, along with the other branches Italic, Germanic, Hellenic, Indo-Iranian, Albanian and Balto-Slavic. The exact relationships between these branches are under discussion. The earliest archaeological culture that may justifiably be considered as Proto-Celtic is the Late Bronze Age Urnfield culture of Central Europe from the last quarter of the second millennium BC.[1] By the Iron Age Hallstatt culture of around 800 BC, these people had become fully Celtic.[1]
The reconstruction of Proto-Celtic is currently being undertaken. While Continental Celtic presents much substantiation for its phonology, and some for morphology, recorded material is too scanty to allow a secure reconstruction of syntax. Although some complete sentences are recorded in Gaulish and Celtiberian, the oldest substantial Celtic literature is found in Old Irish, the earliest recorded of the Insular Celtic languages.
Sound changes from Proto-Indo-European
The phonological changes from Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Celtic may be summarised as follows.[2] The changes are roughly in chronological order, with changes that operate on the outcome of earlier ones appearing later in the list.
Late Proto-Indo-European
These changes were shared by several other Indo-European branches.
- *e is colored by an adjacent laryngeal consonant:
- eh₂, h₂e > ah₂, h₂a
- eh₃, h₃e > oh₃, h₃o
- Palatovelars merge with the plain velars:
- ḱ > k
- ǵ > g
- ǵʰ > gʰ
- Epenthetic *a is inserted after a syllabic sonorant if a laryngeal and another sonorant follow (R̥HR > RaHR)
- Laryngeals are lost:
- before a following vowel (HV > V)
- following a vowel in syllables before the accent (VHC´ > VC´)
- following a vowel with compensatory lengthening, otherwise (VH > V̄)
- between plosives in noninitial syllables (CHC > CC)
- Two adjacent dentals become *ss (TT > ss)
Italo-Celtic
The following sound changes are shared with the Italic languages in particular, and can be used in support of the Italo-Celtic hypothesis.[3]
- Dybo's rule: long close vowels are shortened (or a laryngeal is lost) before resonant + stressed vowel.
- īR´ / ? *iHR´ > iR´
- ūR´ / ? *uHR´ > uR´
- Possibly, postconsonantal laryngeals are lost before pretonic close vowels:
- CHiC´ > CiC´
- CHuC´ > CuC´
- Development of initial stress, following the previous two changes.
- Possibly, vocalization of laryngeals to *ī between a *CR cluster and consonantal *j (CRHjV > CRījV)
- Syllabic laryngeals become *a (CHC > CaC)
- Syllabic resonants before a voiced unaspirates stop become *Ra (R̥D > RaD)
- *m is assimilated or lost before a glide:
- mj > nj
- mw > w
- *p assimilates to *kʷ when another *kʷ follows later in the word (p…kʷ > kʷ…kʷ)
- sr > θr, word-medially -ðr-
- sVs > ss, sTVs > Ts
One change shows non-exact parallels in Italic: the vocalization of syllabic resonants next to laryngeals depending on the environment. Similar developments appear in Italic, but for the syllabic nasals *m̥, *n̥, the result is Proto-Italic *əm, *ən (> Latin em ~ im, en ~ in).
- Word-initially, HR̥C > aRC
- Before voiceless stops, CR̥HT > CRaT
- CR̥HV > CaRHV
- CR̥HC > CRāC
Early Proto-Celtic
- Sequences of velar and *w merge into the labiovelars (it is uncertain if this preceded or followed the next change; that is, whether gw > b or gw > gʷ):
- kw > kʷ
- gw > gʷ
- gʰw > gʷʰ
- gʷ > b
- Aspirated stops lose their aspiration and merge with the voiced stops (except that this counterfeeds the previous change, so *gʷʰ > *gʷ doesn't result in a merger):
- bʰ > b
- dʰ > d
- gʰ > g
- gʷʰ > gʷ
- *e before a resonant and *a (but not *ā) becomes *a as well (eRa > aRa): *ǵʰelH-ro > *gelaro > *galaro / *gérH-no > *gerano > *garano (Joseph's rule).
- Epenthetic *i is inserted after syllabic liquids when followed by a plosive:
- l̥T > liT
- r̥T > riT
- Epenthetic *a is inserted before the remaining syllabic resonants:
- m̥ > am
- n̥ > an
- l̥ > al
- r̥ > ar
- All remaining nonsyllabic laryngeals are lost.
- ē > ī
- ō > ū in final syllables
- Long vowels are shortened before a syllable-final resonant (V:RC > VRC); this also shortens long diphthongs. (Osthoff's law)
Late Proto-Celtic
- Plosives become *x before a different plosive or *s (C₁C₂ > xC₂, Cs > xs)
- p > b before liquids (pL > bL)
- p > w before nasals (pN > wN)
- p > ɸ (except possibly after *s)
- ō > ā
- ew > ow
- uwa > owa
Examples
| PIE | Proto-Celtic | Example | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proto-Celtic | Old Irish | Welsh | ||
| *p | *ɸ | *ph₂tḗr > *ɸatīr 'father' | athir | cf. edrydd "home" (< *ɸatrijo-) |
| *t | *t | *tréi̯es > *trīs 'three' | trí | tri |
| *k, ḱ | *k | *kh₂n̥-e- > *kan-o- 'sing' *ḱm̥tom > *kantom 'hundred' |
canaid cét /kʲeːd/ |
canu cant |
| *kʷ | *kʷ | *kʷetu̯r̥es > *kʷetwares 'four' | ceth(a)ir | pedwar |
| *b | *b | *dʰub-no- > *dubnos 'deep, world' | domun | dwfn |
| *d | *d | *derḱ- > *derk- 'see' | derc "eye" | dyrch "sight" |
| *g, ǵ | *g | *gleh₁i- > *gli-na- 'to glue' *ǵen-u- > *genu- 'jaw' |
glen(a)id "(he) sticks fast" giun, gin "mouth" |
glynu "adhere" gên "jaw" |
| *gʷ | *b | *gʷenh₂ > *bena 'woman' | ben | benyw "female" |
| *bʰ | *b | *bʰére- > *ber-o- 'carry' | berid "(he) carries" | adfer "to restore", cymeryd "to take"[4] |
| *dʰ | *d | *dʰeh₁i- > *di-na- 'suck' | denait "they suck" | dynu, denu |
| *gʰ, ǵʰ | *g | *gʰh₁bʰ-(e)i- > *gab-i- 'take' *ǵʰelH-ro- > *galaro- 'sickness' |
ga(i)bid "(he) takes" galar |
gafael "hold" galar "grief" |
| *gʷʰ | *gʷ | *gʷʰn̥- > *gʷan-o- 'kill, wound' | gonaid "(he) wounds, slays" | gwanu "stab" |
| *s | *s | *sen-o- > *senos 'old' | sen | hen |
| *m | *m | *méh₂tēr > *mātīr 'mother' | máthir | cf. modryb "aunt" |
| *n | *n | *h₂nép-ōt- > *neɸūts 'nephew' | niad | nai |
| *l | *l | *leiǵʰ- > *lig-e/o- 'lick' | ligid "(he) licks" | llyo, llyfu |
| *r | *r | *h₃rēǵ-s > *rīgs 'king' | rí (gen. ríg) | rhi |
| *j | *j | *h₂i̯uh₁n-ḱós > *juwankos 'young' | óac | ieuanc |
| *w | *w | *h₂u̯l̥h₁tí- > *wlatis 'rulership' | flaith | gwlad "country" |
| PIE | Proto-Celtic | Example | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proto-Celtic | Old Irish | Welsh | ||
| *a, h₂e | *a | *h₂ep-h₃ōn- > *abū (acc. *abonen) 'river' | aub | afon |
| *ā, *eh₂ | *ā | *bʰréh₂tēr > *brātīr 'brother' | bráthir | brawd |
| *e, h₁e | *e | *sen-o- > *senos 'old' | sen | hen |
| *H (any laryngeal H between consonants)[5] | *a | *ph₂tḗr > *ɸatīr 'father' | athir | cf. edrydd "home" |
| *ē, eh₁ | *ī | *u̯eh₁-ro- > *wīros 'true' | fír | gwir |
| *o, Ho, h₃e | *o | *Hroth₂o- > *rotos 'wheel' | roth | rhod |
| *ō, eh₃ | in final syllable, *k | *h₂nép-ōt- > *neɸūts 'nephew' | niæ | nai |
| elsewhere, *ā | *deh₃no- > *dāno- 'gift' | dán | dawn | |
| *i | *i | *gʷih₃-tu- > *bitus 'world' | bith | byd |
| *ī, iH | *ī | *rīmeh₂ > *rīmā 'number' | rím | rhif |
| *ai, h₂ei, eh₂i | *ai | *kaikos > *kaikos 'blind' *seh₂itlo- > *saitlo- 'age' |
cáech "one-eyed" — |
coeg "empty, one-eyed" hoedl |
| *(h₁)ei, ēi, eh₁i | *ei | *deiwos > *deiwos 'god' | día | duw |
| *oi, ōi, h₃ei, eh₃i | *oi | *oinos > *oinos 'one' | óen oín; áen aín | un |
| *u | before wa, o | *h₂i̯uh₁n-ḱós > early *juwankos > late *jowankos 'young' | óac | ieuanc |
| elsewhere, *u | *srutos > *srutos 'stream' | sruth | ffrwd | |
| *ū, uH | *k | *ruHneh₂ > *rūnā 'mystery' | rún | rhin |
| *au, h₂eu, eh₂u | *au | *tausos > *tausos 'silent' | táue "silence" < *tausijā | taw |
| *(h₁)eu, ēu, eh₁u; *ou, ōu, h₃eu, eh₃u |
*ou | *teuteh₂ > *toutā 'people' *gʷeh₃-u-s > *bows 'cow' |
túath bó |
tud MW bu, biw |
| *l̥ | before stops, *li | *pl̥th₂nós > *ɸlitanos 'wide' | lethan | llydan |
| before other consonants, *al | *kl̥h₁- > *kaljākos 'rooster' | cailech (Ogam gen. caliaci) | ceiliog | |
| *r̥ | before stops, *ri | *bʰr̥ti- > *briti- 'act of bearing; mind' | breth, brith | bryd |
| before other consonants, *ar | *mr̥u̯os > *marwos 'dead' | marb | marw | |
| *m̥ | *am | *dm̥-nh₂- > *damna- 'subdue' | MIr damnaid "he ties, fastens, binds" | — |
| *n̥ | *an | *h₃dn̥t- > *danton 'tooth' | dét /dʲeːd/ | dant |
| *l̥H | before obstruents, *la | *h₂u̯lh₁tí- > *wlatis 'lordship' | flaith | gwlad "country" |
| before sonorants, *lā | *pl̥Hmeh₂ > *ɸlāmā 'hand' | lám | llaw | |
| *r̥H | before obstruents, *ra | *mr̥Htom > *mratom 'betrayal' | mrath | brad |
| before sonorants, *rā | *ǵr̥Hnom > *grānom 'grain' | grán | grawn | |
| *m̥H | *am/mā (presumably same distribution as above) |
*dm̥h₂-i̯e/o- > *damje/o- 'to tame' | daimid "endures, suffers; submits to, permits", fodam- | goddef "endure, suffer" |
| *n̥H | *an or *nā (presumably same distribution as above) |
probably *ǵn̥h₃to- > *gnātos 'known' | gnáth | gnawd "customary" |
Phonological reconstruction
Consonants
The following consonants have been reconstructed for Proto-Celtic:
| Type | Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | labialised | ||||||||
| Plosive | b | t | d | k | ɡ | kʷ | ɡʷ | ||
| Nasal | m | n | |||||||
| Fricative | ɸ | s | |||||||
| Approximant | l | j | w | ||||||
| Trill | r | ||||||||
In contrast to the parent language, Proto-Celtic does not use aspiration as a feature for distinguishing phonemes. So the Proto-Indo-European voiced aspirated stops *bʰ, *dʰ, *gʰ/ǵʰ merged with *b, *d, *g/ǵ. The voiced aspirate labiovelar *gʷʰ did not merge with *gʷ, though: plain *gʷ became *b in Proto-Celtic, while aspirated *gʷʰ became *gʷ. Thus, PIE *gʷen- 'woman' became Old Irish ben and Welsh benyw, but PIE *gʷʰn̥- 'to kill, to wound' became Old Irish gonaid and Welsh gwanu.
Proto-Indo-European *p was lost in Proto-Celtic, apparently going through the stages *ɸ (as in the table above) and *h (perhaps attested by the toponym Hercynia if this is of Celtic origin) before being lost completely word-initially and between vowels. Adjacent to consonants, Proto-Celtic *ɸ underwent different changes: the clusters *ɸs and *ɸt became *ɸs and *ɸt respectively already in Proto-Celtic. PIE *sp- became Old Irish s (lenited f-, exactly as for PIE *sw-) and Brythonic f; while Schrijver 1995, p. 348 argues there was an intermediate stage *sɸ- (in which *ɸ remained an independent phoneme until after Proto-Insular Celtic had diverged into Goidelic and Brythonic), McCone 1996, pp. 44–45 finds it more economical to believe that *sp- remained unchanged in PC, that is, the change *p to *ɸ did not happen when *s preceded. (Similarly, Grimm's law did not apply to *p, t, k after *s in Germanic.)
| Proto-Celtic | Old Irish | Welsh |
|---|---|---|
| *laɸs- > *laɸs- 'shine' | las-aid | llach-ar |
| *seɸtam > *seɸtam 'seven' | secht | saith |
| *sɸeret- or *speret- 'heel' | seir | ffêr |
In Gaulish and the Brythonic languages, a new *p sound has arisen as a reflex of the Proto-Indo-European *kʷ phoneme. Consequently, one finds Gaulish petuar[ios], Welsh pedwar "four", compared to Old Irish *cethair and Latin 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.
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. The large number of unusual shared innovations among the 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 influence from the pre-Celtic languages of Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall and Wales,, or simply continuing contact between the insular languages; in either case they would be irrelevant to Celtic language classification in the genetic sense.
Q-Celtic languages may also have /p/ in loan words, though in early borrowings from Welsh into Primitive Irish /kʷ/ was used by sound substitution due to a lack of a /p/ phoneme at the time:
- Latin Patricius "Saint Patrick"' > Welsh > Primitive Irish Qatrikias > Old Irish Cothrige, later Padraig;
- Latin presbyter "priest" > early form of word seen in Old Welsh premter primter > Primitive Irish qrimitir > Old Irish cruimther.
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 by Antoine Meillet. The following monophthongs have been reconstructed:
Type Front Central Back long short long short long short Close /iː/ /i/ /uː/ /u/ Mid /eː/ /e/ /o/ Open /aː/ /a/
The following diphthongs have also been reconstructed:
| Type | With -i | With -u |
|---|---|---|
| With e- | ei | |
| With a- | ai | au |
| With o- | oi | ou |
Morphology
Nouns
The morphology (structure) of nouns and adjectives demonstrates no arresting alterations from the parent language. Proto-Celtic is believed to have had nouns in three genders, three numbers 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:[6] while Old Irish may have only five, the evidence from Continental Celtic is considered rather unambiguous despite appeals to archaic retentions or morphological leveling. These cases were nominative, vocative, accusative, dative, genitive, ablative, locative and instrumental.
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
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *makkʷos | *makkʷou | *makkʷoi |
| Vocative | *makkʷe | *makkʷou | *makkʷūs |
| Accusative | *makkʷom | *makkʷou | *makkʷūs |
| Genitive | *makkʷī | *makkʷūs | *makkʷom |
| Dative | *makkʷūi | *makkʷobom | *makkʷobos |
| Ablative | *makkʷū | *makkʷobim | *makkʷobis |
| Instrumental | *makkʷū | *makkʷobim | *makkʷūs |
| Locative | *makkʷei | *makkʷou | *makkʷobis |
- dūnom 'stronghold' (neuter)
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *dūnom | *dūnou | *dūnā |
| Vocative | *dūnom | *dūnou | *dūnā |
| Accusative | *dūnom | *dūnou | *dūnā |
| Genitive | *dūnī | *dūnūs | *dūnom |
| Dative | *dūnūi | *dūnobom | *dūnobos |
| Ablative | *dūnū | *dūnobim | *dūnobis |
| Instrumental | *dūnū | *dūnobim | *dūnūs |
| Locative | *dūnei | *dūnou | *dūnobis |
*ā-stem nouns
E.g. *ɸlāmā 'hand' (feminine) (Old Irish lám ~ Welsh llaw)
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *ɸlāmā | *ɸlāmai | *ɸlāmās |
| Vocative | *ɸlāmā | *ɸlāmai | *ɸlāmās |
| Accusative | *ɸlāmām | *ɸlāmai | *ɸlāmās |
| Genitive | *ɸlāmās | *ɸlāmajous | *ɸlāmom |
| Dative | *ɸlāmāi | *ɸlāmābom | *ɸlāmābos |
| Ablative | *ɸlāmī | *ɸlāmābim | *ɸlāmābis |
| Instrumental | *ɸlāmī | *ɸlāmābim | *ɸlāmābis |
| Locative | *ɸlāmāi | *ɸlāmābim | *ɸlāmābis |
E.g. *wolkās 'hawker' (masculine) (Gallic Latinised Volcae)
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *wolkās | *wolkai | *wolkās |
| Vocative | *wolkā | *wolkai | *wolkās |
| Accusative | *wolkām | *wolkai | *wolkās |
| Genitive | *wolkās | *wolkajous | *wolkom |
| Dative | *wolkāi | *wolkābom | *wolkābos |
| Ablative | *wolkī | *wolkābim | *wolkābis |
| Instrumental | *wolkī | *wolkābim | *wolkābis |
| Locative | *wolkāi | *wolkābim | *wolkābis |
*i-stems
E.g. *sūlis 'sight, view, eye' (feminine) (Brittonic sulis ~ Old Irish súil)
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *sūlis | *sūlī | *sūlīs |
| Vocative | *sūli | *sūlī | *sūlīs |
| Accusative | *sūlim | *sūlī | *sūlīs |
| Genitive | *sūleis | *sūljous | *sūljom |
| Dative | *sūlei | *sūlibom | *sūlibos |
| Ablative | *sūlī | *sūlibim | *sūlibis |
| Instrumental | *sūlī | *sūlibim | *sūlibis |
| Locative | *sūlī | *sūlibim | *sūlibis |
E.g. *mori 'body of water, sea' (neuter) (Gallic Mori- ~ Old Irish muir ~ Welsh môr)
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *mori | *morī | *morjā |
| Vocative | *mori | *morī | *morjā |
| Accusative | *mori | *morī | *morjā |
| Genitive | *moreis | *morjous | *morjom |
| Dative | *morei | *moribom | *moribos |
| Ablative | *morī | *moribim | *moribis |
| Instrumental | *morī | *moribim | *moribis |
| Locative | *morī | *moribim | *moribis |
*u-stem nouns
E.g. *bitus 'world, existence' (masculine) (Gallic Bitu- ~ Old Irish bith ~ Welsh byd ~ Breton bed)
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *bitus | *bitou | *bitowes |
| Vocative | *bitu | *bitou | *bitowes |
| Accusative | *bitum | *bitou | *bitūs |
| Genitive | *bitous | *bitowou | *bitowom |
| Dative | *bitou | *bitubom | *bitubos |
| Ablative | *bitū | *bitubim | *bitubis |
| Instrumental | *bitū | *bitubim | *bitubis |
| Locative | *bitū | *bitubim | *bitubis |
E.g. *dānu 'valley river' (neuter?)
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *dānu | *dānou | *dānwā |
| Vocative | *dānu | *dānou | *dānwā |
| Accusative | *dānu | *dānou | *dānwā |
| Genitive | *dānous | *dānowou | *dānowom |
| Dative | *dānou | *dānubom | *dānubos |
| Ablative | *dānū | *dānubim | *dānubis |
| Instrumental | *dānū | *dānubim | *dānubis |
| Locative | *dānū | *dānubim | *dānubis |
Velar and dental stems
Before the *-s of the nominative singular, a velar consonant was fricated to *-x and *-ɣ̊ : *rīg- "king" > *rīɣ̊s. Likewise, final *-d devoiced to *-d̥-: *druwid- "druid" > *druwid̥s.[7]
E.g. *rīxs 'king' (masculine) (Gallic -rix; Old Irish rí; Welsh rhi)
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *rīxs | *rīge | *rīges |
| Vocative | *rīxs | *rīge | *rīges |
| Accusative | *rīgam | *rīge | *rīgās |
| Genitive | *rīgos | *rīgou | *rīgom |
| Dative | *rīgei | *rīgobom | *rīgobos |
| Ablative | *rīgī | *rīgobim | *rīgobis |
| Instrumental | *rīge | *rīgobim | *rīgobis |
| Locative | *rīgi | *rīgobim | *rīgobis |
E.g. *druwid̥s 'druid' (masculine) (Gallic druis; Old Irish druí)
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *druwid̥s | *druwide | *druwides |
| Vocative | *druwid̥s | *druwide | *druwides |
| Accusative | *druwidem | *druwide | *druwidās |
| Genitive | *druwidos | *druwidou | *druwidom |
| Dative | *druwidei | *druwidobom | *druwidobos |
| Ablative | *druwidī | *druwidobim | *druwidobis |
| Instrumental | *druwide | *druwidobim | *druwidobis |
| Locative | *druwidi | *druwidobim | *druwidobis |
E.g. *karnuxs 'carnyx' (masculine?)
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *karnuxs | *karnuke | *karnukes |
| Vocative | *karnuxs | *karnuke | *karnukes |
| Accusative | *karnukam | *karnuke | *karnukās |
| Genitive | *karnukos | *karnukou | *karnukom |
| Dative | *karnukei | *karnukobom | *karnukobos |
| Ablative | *karnukī | *karnukobim | *karnukobis |
| Instrumental | *karnuke | *karnukobim | *karnukobis |
| Locative | *karnuki | *karnukobim | *karnukobis |
E.g. *karants 'friend' (masculine) (Gallic carant-; Old Irish cara; Welsh câr, ceraint)
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *karants | *karante | *karantes |
| Vocative | *karants | *karante | *karantes |
| Accusative | *karantam | *karante | *karantās |
| Genitive | *karantos | *karantou | *karantom |
| Dative | *karantei | *karantobom | *karantobos |
| Ablative | *karantī | *karantobim | *karantobis |
| Instrumental | *karante | *karantobim | *karantobis |
| Locative | *karanti | *karantobim | *karantobis |
Nasal stems
Generally, nasal stems end in *-on-, this becomes *-ū in the nominative singular: *abon-- "river" > *abū.
E.g. *abū 'river' (feminine) (Welsh afon, Old Breton aven, Gaelic abhainn)
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *abū | *abone | *abones |
| Vocative | *abū | *abone | *abones |
| Accusative | *abonam | *abone | *abonās |
| Genitive | *abonos | *abonou | *abonom |
| Dative | *abonei | *abnobom | *abnobos |
| Ablative | *abonī | *abnobim | *abnobis |
| Instrumental | *abone | *abnobim | *abnobis |
| Locative | *aboni | *abnobim | *abnobis |
E.g. *anumã 'name' (neuter) (Gaulish anuan-; Old Irish ainm; Old Welsh anu; Welsh enw)
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *anumã | *anumane | *anumanes |
| Vocative | *anumã | *anumane | *anumanes |
| Accusative | *anumanam | *anumane | *anumanās |
| Genitive | *anumanos | *anumanou | *anumanom |
| Dative | *anumanei | *anumanobom | *anumanobos |
| Ablative | *anumanī | *anumanobim | *anumanobis |
| Instrumental | *anumane | *anumanobim | *anumanobis |
| Locative | *anumani | *anumanobim | *anumanobis |
*s-stem nouns
Generally, *s-stems end in *-es-, which becomes *-os in the nominative singular: *teges- 'house' > *tegos.
E.g. *tegos 'house' (masculine), Gaelic "teach/tigh"; Welsh tŷ.
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *tegos | *tegese | *tegeses |
| Vocative | *tegos | *tegese | *tegeses |
| Accusative | *tegesam | *tegese | *tegesās |
| Genitive | *tegesos | *tegesou | *tegesom |
| Dative | *tegesei | *tegesobom | *tegesobos |
| Ablative | *tegesī | *tegesobim | *tegesobis |
| Instrumental | *tegese | *tegesobim | *tegesobis |
| Locative | *tegesi | *tegesobim | *tegesobis |
*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: *ɸater- 'father' > *ɸatīr, *ɸatros.
E.g. *ɸatīr 'father' (masculine)
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *ɸatīr | *ɸatere | *ɸateres |
| Vocative | *ɸatīr | *ɸatere | *ɸateres |
| Accusative | *ɸateram | *ɸatere | *ɸaterās |
| Genitive | *ɸatros | *ɸatrou | *ɸatrom |
| Dative | *ɸatrei | *ɸatrebom | *ɸatrebos |
| Ablative | *ɸatrī | *ɸatrebim | *ɸatrebis |
| Instrumental | *ɸatre | *ɸatrebim | *ɸatrebis |
| Locative | *ɸatri | *ɸatrebim | *ɸatrebis |
E.g. *mātīr 'mother' (feminine)
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *mātīr | *mātere | *māteres |
| Vocative | *mātīr | *mātere | *māteres |
| Accusative | *māteram | *mātere | *māterās |
| Genitive | *mātros | *mātrou | *mātrom |
| Dative | *mātrei | *mātrebom | *mātrebos |
| Ablative | *mātrī | *mātrebim | *mātrebis |
| Instrumental | *mātre | *mātrebim | *mātrebis |
| Locative | *mātri | *mātrebim | *mātrebis |
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 — seen in e.g. 3rd sg. Celtiberian usabituz, Gaulish appisetu
- subjunctive — seen in e.g. 3rd sg. Gaulish buetid "may he be", Celtiberian asekati
and four tenses:
- present — seen in e.g. Gaulish uediíu-mi "I pray", Celtiberian zizonti "they sow"
- preterite — seen in e.g. 3rd sg. Gaulish sioxti, Lepontic KariTe
- imperfect — perhaps in Celtiberian kombalkez, atibion
- future — seen in e.g. 3rd sg. Gaulish bissiet, Old Irish bieid "he shall be"
A probable optative mood also features in Gaulish (tixsintor) and an infinitive (with a characteristic ending -unei) in Celtiberian.[8][9]
Verbs were formed by adding suffixes to a verbal stem. The stem might be thematic or athematic, an open or a closed syllable.
- Example conjugations
Scholarly reconstructions [2][10][11][12] may be summarised in tabular format.
- Conjugation like *bere/o- ‘bear, carry, flow’
| Person | Pres | Impf | Fut | Pst | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Act | Pss | Act | Pss | Act | Pss | Act | Pss | ||
| Ind | 1.sg | *berū(mi) | *berūr | *berennem | *- | *bibrām | *bibrār | *bertū | *- |
| 2.sg | *beresi | *beretar | *berītū | *- | *bibrāsi | *bibrātar | *bertes | *- | |
| 3.sg | *bereti | *beretor | *bere(to) | *beretei | *bibrāti | *bibrātor | *bert | *brito | |
| 1.pl | *beromu(snīs) | *berommor | *beremmets | *- | *bibrāmes | *bibrāmmor | *bertomu | *- | |
| 2.pl | *berete | *beredwe | *beretes (OI) ~ *bere-swīs (B) | *- | *bibrāte | *bibrādwe | *bertete | *- | |
| 3.pl | *beronti | *berontor | *berentets | *berentits (?) | *bibrānt | *bibrāntor | *bertont | *britūnts | |
| Sbj | 1.sg | *berām | *berār | *berānnem | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- |
| 2.sg | *berāsi | *berātar | *berātū | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | |
| 3.sg | *berāti | *berātor | *berā(to) | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | |
| 1.pl | *berāmes | *berāmmor | *berāmmets | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | |
| 2.pl | *berāte | *berādwe | *berātes (OI) ~ *berā-swīs (B) | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | |
| 3.pl | *berānti | *berāntor | *berāntets | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | |
| Imp | 1.sg | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- |
| 2.sg | *berī! | *beretar! | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | |
| 3.sg | *beret! | *beror! | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | |
| 1.pl | *beromu! | *berommor! | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | |
| 2.pl | *beretīs! | *beredwe! | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | |
| 3.pl | *beront! | *berontor! | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | |
| VN | (unmarked) | *berowon- | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | *' | *britu-s |
| Ptple | (unmarked) | *beront- | *beromno- | *- | *beretejo- | *- | *- | *bertjo- | *brito- |
- Conjugation like *mārā- ‘greaten, magnify, enlarge’
| Person | Pres | Impf | Fut | Pst | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Act | Pss | Act | Pss | Act | Pss | Act | Pss | ||
| Ind | 1.sg | *mārāmi | *mārār | *mārānnem | *- | *māriswāmi | *māriswār | *mārātsū | *- |
| 2.sg | *mārāsi | *mārātar | *mārātū | *- | *māriswāsi | *māriswātar | *mārātssi | *- | |
| 3.sg | *mārāti | *mārātor | *mārā(to) | *mārātei | *māriswāti | *māriswātor | *mārātsti | *- | |
| 1.pl | *mārāmu(snīs) | *mārāmmor | *mārāmmets | *- | *māriswāmos | *māriswāmmor | *mārātsomu | *- | |
| 2.pl | *mārāte | *mārādwe | *mārātes (OI) ~ *mārā-swīs (B) | *- | *māriswāte | *māriswādwe | *mārātsete | *- | |
| 3.pl | *mārānti | *mārāntor | *mārāntets | *mārāntits (?) | *māriswānti | *māriswāntor | *mārātsont | *mārātūnts (?) | |
| Sbj | 1.sg | *mārām | *māror | *māronnem | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- |
| 2.sg | *mārosi | *mārotar | *mārotū | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | |
| 3.sg | *māroti | *mārotor | *māro(to) | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | |
| 1.pl | *māromes | *mārommor | *mārommets | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | |
| 2.pl | *mārote | *mārodwe | *mārotes (OI) ~ *māro-swīs (B) | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | |
| 3.pl | *māronti | *mārontor | *mārontets | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | |
| Imp | 1.sg | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- |
| 2.sg | *mārā! | *mārātrīs! | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | |
| 3.sg | *mārāt! | *mārār! | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | |
| 1.pl | *mārāmu! | *mārāmmor! | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | |
| 2.pl | *mārātīs! | *mārādwe! | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | |
| 3.pl | *mārānt! | *mārāntor! | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | |
| VN | (unmarked) | *mārāwon- | *- | *- | *- | *- | *- | *' | *mārātu-s |
| Ptple | (unmarked) | *mārānt- | *mārāmno- | *- | *mārātejo- | *- | *- | *mārātjo- | *mārāto- |
Dating
Proto-Celtic is mostly dated to roughly 800 BC (Hallstatt C), see Celtic languages.
In the first decade of the 21st century a number of scholars addressed this question using computational methods, with differing results. Gray and Atkinson estimated a date of 6100 BP (4100 BC) while Forster and Toth[13] suggest a date of 3200 BC ±1500 years for the arrival of Celtic in Britain, but such early dates are not generally accepted.
See also
- Pre-Celtic
- Italo-Celtic
- Beaker culture
- Urnfield
- Halstatt culture
- La Tène culture
- Goidelic substrate hypothesis
- Ligures
- Azilian
References
Notes
- 1 2 Chadwick with Corcoran, Nora with J.X.W.P. (1970). The Celts. Penguin Books. pp. 28–33.
- 1 2 Matasović 2009.
- ↑ Schrijver 2015, pp. 196–197.
- ↑ Welsh adfer 'to restore' < *ate-ber-, cymeryd < obsolete cymer < MW cymeraf < *kom-ber- (with -yd taken from the verbal noun cymryd < *kom-britu).
- ↑ However, according to Hackstein (2002) *CH.CC > Ø in unstressed medial syllables. Thus, H can disappear in weak cases while being retained in strong cases, e.g. IE nom.sg. *dʰugh₂tḗr vs. gen.sg. *dʰugtr-os ‘daughter’ > early PCelt. *dugater- ~ dugtr-. This then led to a paradigmatic split, resulting in Celtiberian gen.sg. tuateros, nom.pl. tuateres vs. Gaulish duxtir (< *dugtīr). (Zair 2012: 161, 163).
- ↑ Pedersen, Holger (1913). Vergleichende Grammatik der keltischen Sprachen, 2. Band, Bedeutungslehre (Wortlehre). Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. ISBN 3-525-26119-5.
- ↑ passim in Whitley Stokes D.C.L., Hon VII. Celtic Declension. “Transactions of the Philological Society” Volume 20, Issue 1, pages 97–201, November 1887
- ↑ Stefan Schumacher, Die keltischen Primärverben: Ein vergleichendes, etymologisches und morphologisches Lexikon (Innsbruck: Institut für Sprachen und Literaturen der Universität, 2003).
- ↑ Pierre-Yves Lambert, La Langue gauloise: Description linguistique, commentaire d'inscriptions choisies (Paris: Errance, 2003).
- ↑ Alexander MacBain, 1911, xxxvi-xxxvii; An etymological dictionary of the Gaelic language; Stirling: Eneas MacKay
- ↑ Alan Ward, A Checklist of Proto-Celtic Lexical Items (1982, revised 1996), 7-14.
- ↑ Examples of attested Gaulish verbs at http://www.angelfire.com/me/ik/gaulish.html
- ↑ Forster, Peter; Toth, Alfred (2003). "Toward a phylogenetic chronology of ancient Gaulish, Celtic, and Indo-European". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 100: 9079–9084. Bibcode:2003PNAS..100.9079F. doi:10.1073/pnas.1331158100. PMC 166441. PMID 12837934.
Bibliography
- Cowgill, Warren (1975). "The origins of the Insular Celtic conjunct and absolute verbal endings". In H. Rix. Flexion und Wortbildung: Akten der V. Fachtagung der Indogermanischen Gesellschaft, Regensburg, 9.–14. September 1973. Wiesbaden: Reichert. pp. 40–70.
- Evans, D. Simon (1964). A Grammar of Middle Welsh. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.
- Forster, Peter; Toth, Alfred (July 2003). "Toward a phylogenetic chronology of ancient Gaulish, Celtic, and Indo-European". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 100 (15): 9079–84. Bibcode:2003PNAS..100.9079F. doi:10.1073/pnas.1331158100. PMC 166441. PMID 12837934.
- Gray, Russell D.; Atkinson, Quintin D. (November 2003). "Language-tree divergence times support the Anatolian theory of Indo-European origin". Nature 426 (6965): 435–9. Bibcode:2003Natur.426..435G. doi:10.1038/nature02029. PMID 14647380.
- Hackstein, Olav (2002). "Uridg. *CH.CC > *C.CC". Historische Sprachforschung 115: 1–22.
- Lane, George S. (1933). "The Germano-Celtic Vocabulary". Language: 244–264. doi:10.2307/409353.
- Matasović, Ranko (2009). Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic. Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series, 9. Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN 978-90-04-17336-1.
- McCone, Kim (1996). Towards a Relative Chronology of Ancient and Medieval Celtic Sound Change. Maynooth: Department of Old and Middle Irish, St. Patrick's College. ISBN 0-901519-40-5.
- Pedersen, Holger (1913). Vergleichende Grammatik der keltischen Sprachen. 2. Band, Bedeutungslehre (Wortlehre). Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. ISBN 3-525-26119-5.
- Schrijver, Peter (1994). "The Celtic adverbs for 'against' and 'with' and the early apocope of *-i". Ériu 45: 151–89.
- Schrijver, Peter (1995). Studies in British Celtic Historical Phonology. Amsterdam: Rodopi. ISBN 90-5183-820-4.
- Schrijver, Peter (2015). "Pruners and trainers of the Celtic family tree: The rise and development of Celtic in light of language contact". Proceedings of the XIV International Congress of Celtic Studies, Maynooth 2011. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. pp. 191–219.
- Thurneysen, Rudolf (1946). A Grammar of Old Irish. Tr. D. A. Binchy and Osborn Bergin. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.
- Zair, Nicholas (2012). The Reflexes of the Proto-Indo-European Laryngeals in Celtic. Leiden: Brill.
External links
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For a list of words relating to Proto-Celtic language, see the Proto-Celtic language category of words in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
The Leiden University 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. Alternatively, a reference for Proto-Celtic vocabulary is provided by the University of Wales at the following sites:
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