Gaulish is an extinct Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire . In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Switzerland, Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine ). In a wider sense, it also comprises varieties of Celtic that were spoken across much of central Europe (" Noric "), parts of the Balkans , and Anatolia (" Galatian "), which are thought to have been closely related. The more divergent Lepontic of Northern Italy has also sometimes been subsumed under Gaulish.
63-714: Together with Lepontic and the Celtiberian spoken in the Iberian Peninsula , Gaulish is a member of the geographic group of Continental Celtic languages . The precise linguistic relationships among them, as well as between them and the modern Insular Celtic languages , are uncertain and a matter of ongoing debate because of their sparse attestation . Gaulish is found in some 800 (often fragmentary) inscriptions including calendars, pottery accounts, funeral monuments, short dedications to gods, coin inscriptions, statements of ownership, and other texts, possibly curse tablets . Gaulish
126-673: A "ten-night festival of ( Apollo ) Grannus ", decamnoctiacis Granni , is mentioned in a Latin inscription from Limoges . A similar formation is to be found in the Coligny calendar, in which mention is made of a trinox[...] Samoni "three-night (festival?) of (the month of) Samonios". As is to be expected, the ancient Gaulish language was more similar to Latin than modern Celtic languages are to modern Romance languages. The ordinal numerals in Latin are prīmus / prior , secundus / alter (the first form when more than two objects are counted,
189-736: A composite model, in which the Continental and Insular varieties are seen as part of a dialect continuum , with genealogical splits and areal innovations intersecting. Though Gaulish personal names written by Gauls in Greek script are attested from the region surrounding Massalia by the 3rd century BC, the first true inscriptions in Gaulish appeared in the 2nd century BC. At least 13 references to Gaulish speech and Gaulish writing can be found in Greek and Latin writers of antiquity. The word "Gaulish" ( gallicum ) as
252-565: A group of women (often thought to be a rival group of witches), but the exact meaning of the text remains unclear. The Coligny calendar was found in 1897 in Coligny , France, with a statue identified as Mars . The calendar contains Gaulish words but Roman numerals, permitting translations such as lat evidently meaning days, and mid month. Months of 30 days were marked matus , "lucky", months of 29 days anmatus , "unlucky", based on comparison with Middle Welsh mad and anfad , but
315-552: A language term is first explicitly used in the Appendix Vergiliana in a poem referring to Gaulish letters of the alphabet. Julius Caesar says in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico of 58 BC that the Celts/Gauls and their language are separated from the neighboring Aquitani and Belgae by the rivers Garonne and Seine / Marne , respectively. Caesar relates that census accounts written in Greek script were found among
378-632: A late survival in Armorica and language contact of some form with the ascendant Breton language ; however, it has been noted that there is little uncontroversial evidence supporting a relatively late survival specifically in Brittany whereas there is uncontroversial evidence that supports the relatively late survival of Gaulish in the Swiss Alps and in regions in Central Gaul. Drawing from these data, which include
441-557: A legal or magical-religious nature, the three longest being the Larzac tablet , the Chamalières tablet and the Lezoux dish . The most famous Gaulish record is the Coligny calendar , a fragmented bronze tablet dating from the 2nd century AD and providing the names of Celtic months over a five-year span; it is a lunisolar calendar trying to synchronize the solar year and the lunar month by inserting
504-675: A list of names. (K.01.01.A) An inscription in the Latin alphabet in the Celtiberian sanctuary of Peñalba de Villastar , in the current municipality of Villastar , Teruel province. (K.03.03) Other translations, which differ dramatically from this and from each other, may be found in P. Sims-Williams' treatment of the Celtic languages in The Indo-European Languages . A bronze plaque found in Torrijo del Campo, Teruel province in 1996, using
567-496: A reduplicated infinitive form in ti-za-unei if from * d i-d h 1 -mn-ei "to place." Celtiberian syntax is considered to have the basic order subject–object–verb . Another archaic Indo-European feature is the use of the relative pronoun jos and the repetition of enclitised conjunctions such as k e . One of four bronze plaques found in Botorrita , this text was written in eastern Celtiberian script . The other side consists of
630-431: A special purpose, such as an imperative, emphasis, contrast, and so on. Also, the verb may contain or be next to an enclitic pronoun or with "and", "but", etc. According to J. F. Eska, Gaulish was certainly not a verb-second language, as the following shows: Whenever there is a pronoun object element, it is next to the verb, as per Vendryes' Restriction . The general Celtic grammar shows Wackernagel's rule , so putting
693-613: A stop + s became ss , and a nasal + velar became ŋ + velar. The lenis plosives seem to have been voiceless, unlike in Latin, which distinguished lenis occlusives with a voiced realization from fortis occlusives with a voiceless realization, which caused confusions like Glanum for Clanum , vergobretos for vercobreto , Britannia for Pritannia . The alphabet of Lugano used in Cisalpine Gaul for Lepontic: The alphabet of Lugano does not distinguish voicing in stops: P represents /b/ or /p/ , T
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#1732837486145756-671: A thirteenth month every two and a half years. There is also a longish (11 lines) inscribed tile from Châteaubleau that has been interpreted as a curse or alternatively as a sort of wedding proposal. Many inscriptions are only a few words (often names) in rote phrases, and many are fragmentary. It is clear from the subject matter of the records that the language was in use at all levels of society. Other sources contribute to knowledge of Gaulish: Greek and Latin authors mention Gaulish words, personal and tribal names, and toponyms . A short Gaulish-Latin vocabulary (about 20 entries headed De nominib[us] Gallicis ) called " Endlicher's Glossary "
819-489: Is paraphyletic : no evidence suggests the two shared any common innovation separately from Insular Celtic . According to Ranko Matasovic in the introduction to his 2009 Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic : "Celtiberian...is almost certainly an independent branch on the Celtic genealogical tree, one that became separated from the others very early." Celtiberian has a fully inflected relative pronoun ios (as does, for instance, Ancient Greek), an ancient feature that
882-404: Is an s - subjunctive , gabiseti "he shall take" (Old Irish gabid ), robiseti , auseti . Compare Umbrian ferest "he/she/it shall make" or Ancient Greek δείξῃ deiksēi (aorist subj.) / δείξει deiksei (future ind.) "(that) he/she/it shall show". Celtiberian was a Celtic language that shows the characteristic sound changes of Celtic languages such as: Final *-m
945-488: Is directly attested in nearly 200 inscriptions dated from the 2nd century BC to the 1st century AD, mainly in Celtiberian script , a direct adaptation of the northeastern Iberian script , but also in the Latin alphabet . The longest extant Celtiberian inscriptions are those on three Botorrita plaques , bronze plaques from Botorrita near Zaragoza , dating to the early 1st century BC, labeled Botorrita I, III and IV (Botorrita II
1008-418: Is evidently an account or a calculation and contains quite different ordinals: Other Gaulish numerals attested in Latin inscriptions include * petrudecametos "fourteenth" (rendered as petrudecameto , with Latinized dative-ablative singular ending) and * triconts "thirty" (rendered as tricontis , with a Latinized ablative plural ending; compare Irish tríocha ). A Latinized phrase for
1071-558: Is for /d/ or /t/ , K for /g/ or /k/ . Z is probably for /t/ . U /u/ and V /w/ are distinguished in only one early inscription. Θ is probably for /t/ and X for /g/ (Lejeune 1971, Solinas 1985). The Eastern Greek alphabet used in southern Gallia Narbonensis . Latin alphabet (monumental and cursive) in use in Roman Gaul : G and K are sometimes used interchangeably (especially after R). Ꟈ / ꟈ , ds and s may represent /ts/ and/or /dz/ . X, x
1134-409: Is for [x] or /ks/ . Q is only used rarely ( Sequanni, Equos ) and may represent an archaism (a retained *k ), borrowings from Latin, or, as in Latin, an alternate spelling of -cu- (for original /kuu/ , /kou/ , or /kom-u/ ). Ꟈ is the letter tau gallicum , the Gaulish affricate. The letter ꟉꟉ / ꟊꟊ occurs in some inscriptions. Gaulish had some areal (and genetic, see Indo-European and
1197-626: Is in Latin ). Shorter and more fragmentary is the Novallas bronze tablet . Under the P/Q Celtic hypothesis , and like its Iberian relative Gallaecian , Celtiberian is classified as a Q Celtic language, putting it in the same category as Goidelic and not P-Celtic like Gaulish or Brittonic . Under the Insular/Continental Celtic hypothesis , Celtiberian and Gaulish are grouped together as Continental Celtic languages but this grouping
1260-606: Is not a verb-final language, it is not surprising to find other "head-initial" features: Celtiberian language Celtiberian or Northeastern Hispano-Celtic is an extinct Indo-European language of the Celtic branch spoken by the Celtiberians in an area of the Iberian Peninsula between the headwaters of the Douro , Tagus , Júcar and Turia rivers and the Ebro river. This language
1323-400: Is preserved in Celtiberian (and Lepontic), a further indication of these dialects' conservatism. It is generally fronted to -n in Gaulish (exceptional cases, for instance on the Larzac tablet , are probably due to influence from Latin): boustom "stable." An -n- stem can be seen in melmu nom.sg. < *-ōn, melmunos gen. sg. (from Botorrita III, probably a name). It is notable that
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#17328374861451386-557: Is preserved in a 9th-century manuscript (Öst. Nationalbibliothek, MS 89 fol. 189v). French now has about 150 to 180 known words of Gaulish origin , most of which concern pastoral or daily activity. If dialectal and derived words are included, the total is about 400 words. This is the highest number among the Romance languages . Gaulish inscriptions are edited in the Recueil des inscriptions gauloises (RIG), in four volumes, comprising text (in
1449-889: Is the nominative singular masculine of the relative pronoun from Proto-Indo-European *yo- (Sanskrit ya- , Greek hos ), which shows up in Old Irish only as the aspiration for leniting relative verb forms. Line 7 has the accusative singular io-m and the dative singular io-mui of the same root. The Indo-European third person verbal ending system seems to be evident, though the exact meaning of many verbs remains unclear: primary singular active * -ti in ambitise-ti (Botorrita I, A.5), '(that someone) builds around > encloses' from *h₂m̥b i-dʰingʰ-s-e-ti, and auzeti , secondary * -t > /θ/ written <z> in terbere-z (SP.02.08, B-4) and perhaps kombalke-z ; primary plural active *- nti in ara-nti (Z.09.24, A-4) and zizonti "they sow" (or perhaps "they give" with assimilation of
1512-597: The Balkans and Anatolia . Their precise linguistic relationships are uncertain due to fragmentary evidence. The Gaulish varieties of central and eastern Europe and of Anatolia (called Noric and Galatian , respectively) are barely attested, but from what little is known of them it appears that they were quite similar to those of Gaul and can be considered dialects of a single language. Among those regions where substantial inscriptional evidence exists, three varieties are usually distinguished. The relationship between Gaulish and
1575-598: The English language , through the influence of Old French . It is estimated that during the Bronze Age , Proto-Celtic started splitting into distinct languages, including Celtiberian and Gaulish. Due to the expansion of Celtic tribes in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, closely related forms of Celtic came to be spoken in a vast arc extending from Britain and France through the Alpine region and Pannonia in central Europe, and into parts of
1638-582: The Helvetii . He also notes that as of 53 BC the Gaulish druids used the Greek alphabet for private and public transactions, with the important exception of druidic doctrines, which could only be memorised and were not allowed to be written down. According to the Recueil des inscriptions gauloises nearly three quarters of Gaulish inscriptions (disregarding coins) are in the Greek alphabet. Later inscriptions dating to Roman Gaul are mostly in Latin alphabet and have been found principally in central France. Latin
1701-616: The La Tène period, was found in Port , near Biel/Bienne , with its blade inscribed with ΚΟΡΙϹΙΟϹ ( Korisios ), probably the name of the smith. The diphthongs all transformed over the historical period. Ai and oi changed into long ī and eu merged with ou , both becoming long ō . Ei became long ē . In general, long diphthongs became short diphthongs and then long vowels. Long vowels shortened before nasals in coda . Other transformations include unstressed i became e , ln became ll ,
1764-645: The Latin , Greek , and Etruscan alphabets ) written on public monuments, private instrumentum , two calendars, and coins. The longest known Gaulish text is the Larzac tablet , found in 1983 in l'Hospitalet-du-Larzac , France. It is inscribed in Roman cursive on both sides of two small sheets of lead. Probably a curse tablet ( defixio ), it clearly mentions relationships between female names, for example aia duxtir adiegias [...] adiega matir aiias (Aia, daughter of Adiega... Adiega, mother of Aia) and seems to contain incantations regarding one Severa Tertionicna and
1827-512: The Celtic god of metalwork . Furthermore, there is a statue of a seated goddess with a bear , Artio , found in Muri bei Bern , with a Latin inscription DEAE ARTIONI LIVINIA SABILLINA , suggesting a Gaulish Artiū "Bear (goddess)". Some coins with Gaulish inscriptions in the Greek alphabet have also been found in Switzerland, e.g. RIG IV Nos. 92 ( Lingones ) and 267 ( Leuci ). A sword, dating to
1890-617: The Gaulish language. Spindle whorls were apparently given to girls by their suitors and bear such inscriptions as: A gold ring found in Thiaucourt seems to express the wearers undying loyalty to her lover: Inscriptions found in Switzerland are rare. The most notable inscription found in Helvetic parts is the Bern zinc tablet , inscribed ΔΟΒΝΟΡΗΔΟ ΓΟΒΑΝΟ ΒΡΕΝΟΔΩΡ ΝΑΝΤΑΡΩΡ ( Dobnorēdo gobano brenodōr nantarōr ) and apparently dedicated to Gobannus ,
1953-484: The Gaulish t-preterit, formed by merging an old third-person singular imperfect ending -t - to a third-person singular perfect ending -u or -e and subsequent affixation to all forms of the t-preterit tense. Similarly, the s-preterit is formed from the extension of -ss (originally from the third person singular) and the affixation of -it to the third-person singular (to distinguish it as such). Third-person plurals are also marked by addition of -s in
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2016-581: The Mediterranean for high quality. Massalia initially chose neutrality during the Civil War between Caesar and the Senate, but sided with Caesar's opponents after the arrival of Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus . The city was besieged in 49 BC and eventually had to surrender to Caesar's army. Massalia lost most of its inland territory in the aftermath of this defeat. During the Roman and Late Antique periods,
2079-637: The Roman campaign in Gaul in the 1st Century BC. The ruins of Massalia still exist in the contemporary city of Marseille , which is considered the oldest city of France and one of Europe's oldest continuously inhabited settlements. Massalia was established ca. 600 BC by Ionian Greek settlers from Phocaea , in Western Anatolia . After the capture of Phocaea by the Persians in 545 BC, a new wave of settlers fled towards
2142-400: The authors meant by those terms), though at first these only concerned the upper classes. For Galatia (Anatolia), there is no source explicitly indicating a 5th-century language replacement: Despite considerable Romanization of the local material culture, the Gaulish language is held to have survived and coexisted with spoken Latin during the centuries of Roman rule of Gaul. The exact time of
2205-556: The city as a bastion of Greek civilisation in barbarian lands, and as a loyal ally of Rome. A genetic study conducted in 2011 found that 4% of the inhabitants of Provence belong to the haplogroup E-V13 lineage, which is especially frequent among Phocaeans (19%), and that 17% of the Y-chromosomes in Provence may be attributed to Greek colonization. According to the authors, these results suggest "a Greek male elite-dominant input into
2268-522: The city, then known as Massilia in Latin, remained a major center of maritime trade. It became a civitas within the Roman Empire at the latest ca. 300 AD. Massalia was ruled as an oligarchic republic by a closed aristocracy initially descending from the original settlers. An assembly of 600 timouchoi , whose membership was conditioned to the involvement in trading activities, elected 15 magistrates, 3 of them with executive power. The Greeks used
2331-637: The colony. A creation myth telling the meeting between the Greeks and the local population is given by Aristotle and Pompeius Trogus (see founding myth of Marseille ). After the middle of the 6th century BC, Massalia became an important trading post of the western Mediterranean area. It grew into creating colonies of its own on the sea coast of Gallia Narbonensis during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, including Agathe (late 5th–early 4th c. BC), Olbia [ fr ] (ca. 325), Tauroentium (early 3rd c.), Antipolis and Nikaia (ca. mid-3rd c.). Massalia
2394-657: The controversial Italo-Celtic hypothesis) similarity to Latin grammar, and the French historian Ferdinand Lot argued that this helped the rapid adoption of Vulgar Latin in Roman Gaul. Gaulish had seven cases : the nominative , vocative , accusative , genitive , dative , instrumental and the locative case . Greater epigraphical evidence attests common cases (nominative and accusative) and common stems (-o- and -a- stems) than for cases less frequently used in inscriptions or rarer -i-, -n- and -r- stems. The following table summarises
2457-448: The difference between -n and -m relies on the length of the preceding vowel, with longer vowels taking -m over -n (in the case of -anom this is a result of its innovation from -a-om ). Gaulish verbs have present, future, perfect, and imperfect tenses; indicative, subjunctive, optative and imperative moods; and active and passive voices. Verbs show a number of innovations as well. The Indo-European s-aorist became
2520-513: The dominancy over the Gulf of Lion , and the fall of Carthage in 146 probably led to the intensification of trade between the Greek colony and the Celtiberians . Archaeological evidence, in the form of amphora fragments, indicate that the Greeks were producing wine in the region (Provence) soon after they settled. By the time the Romans reached the area in 125 BC, the wine produced there had a reputation across
2583-615: The eastern Celtiberian script. Massalia Massalia ( Greek : Μασσαλία , romanized : Massalía ; Latin : Massilia ) was an ancient Greek colony ( apoikia ) on the Mediterranean coast, east of the Rhône . Settled by the Ionians from Phocaea in 600 BC, this apoikia grew up rapidly, and its population set up many outposts for trading in modern-day Spain, Corsica and Liguria. Massalia persisted as an independent colony until
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2646-408: The final language death of Gaulish is unknown, but it is estimated to have been about the sixth century AD. The language shift was uneven in its progress and shaped by sociological factors. Although there was a presence of retired veterans in colonies, these did not significantly alter the linguistic composition of Gaul's population, of which 90% was autochthonous; instead, the key Latinizing class
2709-414: The genitive singular -o- stem ends in -o in Celtiberian, unlike the rest of Celtic (and Italic) where this ending is -ī There is also a potential Vocative case, however this is very poorly attested, with only an ambiguous -e ending for o-stem nouns being cited in literature. Forms of the masculine singular relative pronoun *yo- can be found in the first Botorrita plaque : The form io-s in line 10
2772-504: The inherited genitive singular -as is attested but was subsequently replaced by -ias as in Insular Celtic. The expected genitive plural -a-om appears innovated as -anom (vs. Celtiberian -aum ). There also appears to be a dialectal equivalence between -n and -m endings in accusative singular endings particularly, with Transalpine Gaulish favouring -n , and Cisalpine favouring -m . In genitive plurals
2835-602: The initial do the medial <z>), secondary * -nt perhaps in atibio-n (Z.09.24, A-5), middle voice *- nto in auzanto (Z.09.03, 01) and perhaps esianto (SP.02.08 A-2). A third person imperative *-tо̄d > -tuz perhaps is seen in da-tuz "he must give" (Bronze plaque of Torrijo del Campo), usabituz , bize-tuz (Botorrita I A.5) and dinbituz 'he must build' < *dʰingʰ-bī-tōd. A possible third person singular subjunctive -a-ti may be asekati , and another in -e-ti may be seen in auzeti < * aw-d h 1 -e-ti "he may bestow." From
2898-712: The mapping of substrate vocabulary as evidence, Kerkhof argues that we may "tentatively" posit a survival of Gaulish speaking communities "at least into the sixth century" in pockets of mountainous regions of the Central Massif , the Jura , and the Swiss Alps . According to Recueil des inscriptions gauloises more than 760 Gaulish inscriptions have been found throughout France, with the notable exception of Aquitaine , and in northern Italy. Inscriptions include short dedications, funerary monuments, proprietary statements, and expressions of human sentiments, but also some longer documents of
2961-493: The meaning could here also be merely descriptive, "complete" and "incomplete". The pottery at La Graufesenque is the most important source for Gaulish numerals. Potters shared furnaces and kept tallies inscribed in Latin cursive on ceramic plates, referring to kiln loads numbered 1 to 10: The lead inscription from Rezé (dated to the 2nd century, at the mouth of the Loire , 450 kilometres (280 mi) northwest of La Graufesenque )
3024-489: The other Celtic languages is also debated. Most scholars today agree that Celtiberian was the first to branch off from other Celtic. Gaulish, situated in the centre of the Celtic language area, shares with the neighboring Brittonic languages of Britain, as well as the neighboring Italic Osco-Umbrian languages , the change of the Indo-European labialized voiceless velar stop /kʷ/ > /p/ , while both Celtiberian in
3087-489: The plural instrumental had begun to encroach on the dative plural (dative atrebo and matrebo vs. instrumental gobedbi and suiorebe ), and in the modern Insular Languages , the instrumental form is known to have completely replaced the dative. For o-stems, Gaulish also innovated the pronominal ending for the nominative plural -oi and genitive singular -ī in place of expected -ōs and -os still present in Celtiberian ( -oś, -o ). In a-stems,
3150-581: The prestige language of their urban literate elite. Bonnaud maintains that Latinization occurred earlier in Provence and in major urban centers, while Gaulish persisted longest, possibly as late as the tenth century with evidence for continued use according to Bonnaud continuing into the ninth century, in Langres and the surrounding regions, the regions between Clermont , Argenton and Bordeaux , and in Armorica . Fleuriot, Falc'hun, and Gvozdanovic likewise maintained
3213-424: The preterit. Most Gaulish sentences seem to consist of a subject–verb–object word order: Some, however, have patterns such as verb–subject–object (as in living Insular Celtic languages) or with the verb last. The latter can be seen as a survival from an earlier stage in the language, very much like the more archaic Celtiberian language . Sentences with the verb first can be interpreted, however, as indicating
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#17328374861453276-406: The proverbs Ἐκ Μασσαλίας ἥκεις ("you are coming out of Massalia") and Ἐς Μασσαλίαν πλεύσειας ("you might sail to Massalia") in reference to those living an effeminate and soft life, apparently because the men of Massalia were wearing fancy long perfumed robes and tying their hair up, which other Greeks interpreted as signs of disgrace. The Romans on the other hand had a more positive view of
3339-644: The reconstructed endings for the words * toṷtā "tribe, people", * mapos "boy, son", * ṷātis "seer", * gutus "voice", and * brātīr "brother". In some cases, a historical evolution is attested; for example, the dative singular of a-stems is -āi in the oldest inscriptions, becoming first * -ăi and finally -ī as in Irish a -stem nouns with attenuated ( slender ) consonants: nom. lámh "hand, arm" (cf. Gaul. lāmā ) and dat. láimh (< * lāmi ; cf. Gaul. lāmāi > * lāmăi > lāmī ). Further,
3402-490: The same root, we may have a truncated form of an athematic active third person singular aorist if auz is from * auzaz < * aw-d h 1 - t . Also from the same root, an example of the genitive plural of the present active participle ending - nt-om may be found on the Novallas bronze tablet in audintum < *awd eh 1 -nt-ōm. Possible infinitive form -u-nei perhaps from * -mn-ei may be seen in ambi-tinko-unei (Botorrita I A.5), and in ta-unei ‘to give’,
3465-406: The second form only when two, alius , like alter means "the other", the former used when more than two and the latter when only two), tertius, quārtus, quīntus, sextus, septimus, octāvus, nōnus , and decimus . An inscription in stone from Alise-Sainte-Reine (first century AD) reads: A number of short inscriptions are found on spindle whorls and are among the most recent finds in
3528-521: The south and Goidelic in Ireland retain /kʷ/ . Taking this as the primary genealogical isogloss , some scholars divide the Celtic languages into a " q-Celtic " group and a " p-Celtic " group, in which the p-Celtic languages Gaulish and Brittonic form a common "Gallo-Brittonic" branch. Other scholars place more emphasis on shared innovations between Brittonic and Goidelic and group these together as an Insular Celtic branch. Sims-Williams (2007) discusses
3591-478: The verb at the beginning of the clause or sentence. As in Old Irish and traditional literary Welsh, the verb can be preceded by a particle with no real meaning by itself but originally used to make the utterance easier. According to Eska's model, Vendryes' Restriction is believed to have played a large role in the development of Insular Celtic verb-subject-object word order. Other authorities such as John T. Koch , dispute that interpretation. Considering that Gaulish
3654-457: Was first written in Greek script in southern France and in a variety of Old Italic script in northern Italy. After the Roman conquest of those regions, writing shifted to Latin script . During his conquest of Gaul, Caesar reported that the Helvetii were in possession of documents in the Greek script, and all Gaulish coins used the Greek script until about 50 BC. Gaulish in Western Europe
3717-562: Was known in ancient times for its explorers: Euthymenes travelled to the west African coast in the late 6th century BC, and Pytheas explored northwestern Europe in the late 4th century BC. The colony remained a faithful ally of Rome during all of the Punic Wars (264–146 BC). The retreat of Carthage from the Iberian coast after its defeat in the Second Punic War (218–201) gave Massalia
3780-477: Was not preserved by the other Celtic languages, and the particles -kue 'and' < * kʷe (cf. Latin - que , Attic Greek τε te ), nekue 'nor' < * ne-kʷe (cf. Latin neque ), ekue 'also, as well' < * h₂et(i)-kʷe (cf. Lat. atque , Gaulish ate , OIr. aith 'again'), ve "or" (cf. Latin enclitic -ve and Attic Greek ἤ ē < Proto-Greek *ē-we ). As in Welsh , there
3843-453: Was quickly adopted by the Gaulish aristocracy after Roman conquest to maintain their elite power and influence, trilingualism in southern Gaul being noted as early as the 1st century BC. Early references to Gaulish in Gaul tend to be made in the context of problems with Greek or Latin fluency until around AD 400, whereas after c. 450 , Gaulish begins to be mentioned in contexts where Latin has replaced "Gaulish" or "Celtic" (whatever
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#17328374861453906-490: Was supplanted by Vulgar Latin . It is thought to have been a living language well into the 6th century. The legacy of Gaulish may be observed in the modern French language and the Gallo-Romance languages , in which 150–400 words , mainly referring to pastoral and daily activities, are known to be derived from the extinct Continental Celtic language. Following the 1066 Norman Conquest , some of these words have also entered
3969-505: Was the coopted local elite, who sent their children to Roman schools and administered lands for Rome. In the fifth century, at the time of the Western Roman collapse, the vast majority (non-elite and predominantly rural) of the population remained Gaulish speakers, and acquired Latin as their native speech only after the demise of the Empire, as both they and the new Frankish ruling elite adopted
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