Celtic Language

The Celtic languages form a group of Indo-European Langues separate in two branches. Among the Celtic languages spoken today, and after the recognition in July 2002 of the Cornique like minority Language by the authorities of the the United Kingdom, the Breton language, spoken in France by 300 000 speakers, remains the only Celtic language still spoken not to have an official statute in its cultural zone.

Celtic continental

Celtic islander

The languages of this group come very from Great Britain and Ireland. Two sub-groups there are distinguished:

Group Gaelic (or goidelic)

the Irish Gaelic (which derives from the Vieil Irish, an important literary idiom, spoken between the 8th century and the 10th century), first national language of Ireland;
the Scottish Gaelic, one of the national languages of the Scotland;
the Mannois, one of the national languages of the Island of Man.

One mentions sometimes the Shelta, the language of the Irish nomads (Irish Travellers) like a Celtic language, but this fastening is unsuitable: indeed, if it is exact that the vocabulary of this language presents strong funds resulting from Irish Gaelic, the grammar of this language is based on English, which in fact rather a Germanic language with strong lexical contribution Gaelic.

Group brittonic

The brittonic Langues (term invented at the 19th century) derive from the Breton Langue ancient spoken in the island about Brittany by the Bretons, as of before the Roman conquest until the Invasion saxonne, and about its bursting in several dialects, then languages, a little on the model of Latin and the Romance languages.

The britonnic languages are generally reduced to three:

the Welsh, national language of the Wales; at the beginning of the Moyen-âge one also spoke about the shapes of old Welsh elsewhere in the British Isles
the Cornique, spoken as Community language in Cornouailles until the end about the 18th century (this language was regarded as extinct, but she knows a revival nowadays);
the Breton , language of the Brittany with French, close cousin of cornic the ─ it is thus classified like insular Celtic language. Although a historical influence of the Gaulois on the Breton one is possible, one could not really prove it. The assertion of filiation between Breton and Gallic was often the fact of a political claim wanting to prove the seniority of Breton in France.

One should not however forget:

the cambrien in the Gododdin, the Rheged and the Strathclyde, kingdoms of the Scotland and the England of north, until the Middle Ages. The literature of Aneurin and Taliesin, poets of these regions is often comparable with Welsh literature, wrongly at least geographically, since Welsh is in the beginning only the name given to Breton of Wales;

Other cases are mentioned by the specialists:

according to an assumption of T.F. O' Rahilly, the Ivernique in the Leinster in Ireland, spoken in Antiquity;
the Gaulois is regarded today as belonging brittonic to the group,
the Picte, if as well is as there existed only one language picte, is also regarded by certain researchers (others see a preceltic language there) as a brittonic language, but the question still is very discussed.

Taxonomy of the Celtic languages

The diagram presented above represents only one taxonomic possibility. The division of the modern Celtic languages in two categories, Gaelic and brittonic, is certain. But a number of celticists defends an assumption according to which the brittonique one and the Gallic one would set up a group with share (the Celtic-p languages ), leaving the celtibère and Gaelic in a Celtic-Q group . This classification rests primarily on the treatment of the *k^w inherited the Indo-European : into Celtic-p this Phonème becomes /p/, while in Celtic-Q residence/k^w/. One illustrates this difference by the words for “head”: PEN into Breton, ceann in Irish (where C /k/ note).

The opponents with the assumption of the Celtic islander answer that the evolution of the k^w in /p/ is rather surface and mutual comprehension would not prevent in any case. They regard as deeper the characteristics of the Celtic islander: the bent prepositions , the consonant shifts or the syntactic order VSO (see low).

One formerly classified the Celtic languages with the Italic Langues in a family known as italo-Celtic for various reasons of proximity (use of Désinence S pronominal within the nominal inflections sets of themes, for example). This taxonomy is however now null and void. They are only coincidences or effects of linguistic Interférence.

Characteristics of the modern Celtic languages

Although there exists a considerable diversity within the Celtic languages, one notes several common features which distinguish them from the close languages:

the Consonant shift (by Lenition, Eclipsis , Voicing, etc) important of the initial consonants after various function words;
of the Preposition S bent;
the syntactic order prone Verb object not marked (especially in the gaelic languages and the old forms of the brittonic languages);
of the particle S préverbales (in the brittonic languages);
the grammatical existence of two kind (there were of them three into brittonic and old-Irish);
formation of the Genitive by the Affixing;
a Definite article without Indefinite article in glance (except into Breton);
a vigesimal Numeration partly (at base 20).

For example:

Ná vat mac year bhacaigh is ní bhacfaidh mac year bhacaigh leat (this sentence in Irish is also a Virelangue).

Word for word: not disturbs-not with wire the beggar and not will disturb wire the beggar with .
Translation: “Does not disturb the son of the beggar and the son of the beggar will not be caught any with you. ”

Notes:

bhacaigh /waki/ (Genitive of bacach ) is the result of the Lénition of bacaigh ;
leat is the second nobody with the Singulier of the preposition the ;
to notice order VSO of the second part of the sentence, with the negative particles ná and ní .

rear Pedwar bymtheg rear bedwar hugain (Welsh).

Word for word: four out of fifteen out of four twenty . Translation: “ninety”.

Notes:

to notice the vigesimal System;
bymtheg is the assuaged form of pymtheg , like bedwar for pedwar .

Known Celtic words

Jean Markale written (“the Celtic woman”, p.37) that approximately 1.200 Celtic words are known, of which 200 were transmitted to French. Are quoted as examples: level, yew, ball, plowshare, hive, tray, boat, way, mile, moor, strike, rock, tank, nozzle, bulge, to break, change, border, small and thickly .

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