Proto-Celtic | |
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PC, Common Celtic | |
Reconstruction of | Celtic languages |
Region | Central or Western Europe |
Era | ca. 1300–800 BC |
Reconstructed ancestor |
Part of a series on |
Indo-European topics |
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Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing, but has been partly reconstructed through the comparative method. Proto-Celtic is generally thought to have been spoken between 1300 and 800 BC, after which it began to split into different languages. Proto-Celtic is usually associated with the Urnfield or Hallstatt cultures. Celtic languages share common features with Italic languages that are not found in other branches of Indo-European, suggesting the possibility of an earlier Italo-Celtic linguistic unity.
Proto-Celtic is currently being reconstructed, by necessity relying on later Celtic languages. Though Continental Celtic presents much substantiation for Proto-Celtic phonology, and some for its morphology, recorded material is too scanty to allow a secure reconstruction of syntax, though some complete sentences are recorded in the Continental Gaulish and Celtiberian. So the main sources for reconstruction come from Insular Celtic languages with the oldest literature found in Old Irish[1] and Middle Welsh,[2] dating back to authors flourishing in the 6th century AD.
Dating
Proto-Celtic is mostly dated to the Late Bronze Age, ca. 1200–900 BC.[3] The Proto-Celtic word for 'iron', traditionally reconstructed as *īsarnom, in particular, has long been taken as an indication that the divergence into individual Celtic languages did not start until the Iron Age (8th century BC at the latest), but Schumacher[4] and Schrijver[5] propose to date Proto-Celtic as early as the 13th century BC, the time of the Canegrate culture, in northwest Italy, and the Urnfield culture in Central Europe, implying that the divergence may have already started in the Bronze Age.
Sound changes from Proto-Indo-European
The phonological changes from Proto-Indo-European (PIE) to Proto-Celtic (PC) may be summarized as follows.[6] The changes are roughly in chronological order, with changes that operate on the outcome of earlier ones appearing later in the list.
Late PIE
These changes are 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 into 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, resulting in compensatory lengthening, thus (VH > V̄)
- between plosives in non-initial syllables (CHC > CC)
- Two adjacent dentals become two adjacent sibilants (TT > ss)
Italo-Celtic
The following sound changes are shared with the Italic languages in particular, and are cited in support of the Italo-Celtic hypothesis.[7]
- Dybo's rule: long close vowels are shortened (or a laryngeal is lost) before resonant + stressed vowel.
- īR´ / ? *iHR´ > iR´
- ūR´ / ? *uHR´ > uR´
- Possibly, post-consonantal laryngeals are lost when before pre-tonic 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 unaspirated 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)
- sVs > ss, sTVs > Ts
One change shows non-exact parallels in Italic: 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 PC
- 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, but Schumacher 2004 argues on p. 372 that this change came first; moreover, it is also found in Proto-Italic, and thus arguably belongs to the previous section):
- 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 PC
- 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 | PC | Example | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
PC | Old Irish | Welsh | ||
*p | *ɸ | *ph₂tḗr > *ɸatīr 'father' | athir | cf. edrydd "home" (< *ɸatrijo-) |
*t | *t | *tréyes > *trīs 'three' | trí | tri |
*k, ḱ | *k | *kh₂n̥-e- > *kan-o- 'sing' *ḱm̥tom > *kantom 'hundred' |
canaid cét /kʲeːd/ |
canu cant |
*kʷ | *kʷ | *kʷetwr̥es > *kʷetwares 'four' | ceth(a)ir | pedwar |
*b | *b | *h₂ébōl > *abalom 'apple' | uball | afal |
*d | *d | *derḱ- > *derk- 'see' | derc "eye" | drych "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 | OW ben |
*bʰ | *b | *bʰére- > *ber-o- 'carry' | berid "(he) carries" | adfer "to restore", cymeryd "to take"[8] |
*dʰ | *d | *dʰeh₁i- > *di-na- 'suck' | denait "they suck" | dynu, denu |
*gʰ, ǵʰ | *g | *gʰh₁bʰ-(e)y- > *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 | *leyǵʰ- > *lig-e/o- 'lick' | ligid "(he) licks" | llyo, llyfu |
*r | *r | *h₃rēǵ-s > *rīgs 'king' | rí (gen. ríg) | rhi |
*j | *j | *h₂yuh₁n-ḱós > *juwankos 'young' | óac | ieuanc |
*w | *w | *h₂wl̥h₁tí- > *wlatis 'rulership' | flaith | gwlad "country" |
PIE | PC | Example | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
PC | 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)[9] | *a | *ph₂tḗr > *ɸatīr 'father' | athir | cf. edrydd "home" |
*ē, eh₁ | *ī | *weh₁-ro- > *wīros 'true' | fír | gwir |
*o, Ho, h₃e | *o | *Hroth₂o- > *rotos 'wheel' | roth | rhod |
*ō, eh₃ | in final syllable, *ū | *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 | *deywos > *deiwos 'god' | día | duw |
*oi, ōi, h₃ei, eh₃i | *oi | *oynos > *oinos 'one' | óen oín; áen aín | un |
*u | before wa, o | *h₂yuh₁n-ḱós > early *juwankos > late *jowankos 'young' | óac | ieuanc |
elsewhere, *u | *srutos > *srutos 'stream' | sruth | ffrwd | |
*ū, uH | *ū | *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 | *tewteh₂ > *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 | *mr̥wos > *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 | *h₂wlh₁tí- > *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-ye/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 (PC):
Type Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar plain labialized Plosive t k kʷ Plosive b d ɡ ɡʷ Nasal m n Fricative ɸ s x Approximant l j w Trill r
Allophones of plosives
PC stops allophonically manifest similarly to those in English. Voiceless stop phonemes /t k/ were aspirated word-initially except when preceded by /s/, hence aspirate allophones [tʰ kʰ]. And unaspirated voiced stops /b d ɡ/ were devoiced to [p t k] word-initially.[10][11]
This allophony may be reconstructed to PC from the following evidence:[10][11]
- Modern Celtic languages like Welsh, Breton, and all modern Goidelic languages have such plosive aspiration and voice allophony already attested.
- Several old Celtic languages (such as Old Irish, Old Welsh, and Lepontic) used letters for voiceless stop phonemes to write both voiceless stop phonemes and their voiced counterparts, especially non-word-initially.
- The Celtiberian Luzaga's Bronze has the curious spelling of an accusative determiner sdam, where the d is clearly meant to spell [t]. This implies that Celtiberian /d/ had a voiceless allophone [t].
Evolution of plosives
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) voiced aspirate stops *bʰ, *dʰ, *gʰ/ǵʰ, merge with *b, *d, *g/ǵ in PC. The voiced aspirate labiovelar *gʷʰ did not merge with *gʷ, though: plain *gʷ became PC *b, while aspirated *gʷʰ became *gʷ. Thus, PIE *gʷen- 'woman' became Old Irish and Old Welsh ben, but PIE *gʷʰn̥- 'to kill, wound' became Old Irish gonaid and Welsh gwanu.
PIE *p is lost in PC, apparently going through the stages *ɸ (possibly a stage *[pʰ])[10] and *h (perhaps seen in the name Hercynia if this is of Celtic origin) before being completely lost word-initially and between vowels. Next to consonants, PC *ɸ underwent different changes: the clusters *ɸs and *ɸt became *xs and *xt respectively already in PC. 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, and the same exception occurred again in the High German consonant shift.)
Proto-Celtic Old Irish Welsh *laɸs- > *laxs- 'shine' las-aid llach-ar *seɸtam > *sextam 'seven' secht saith *sɸeret- or *speret- 'heel' seir ffêr
In Gaulish and the Brittonic languages, the Proto-Indo-European *kʷ phoneme becomes a new *p sound. Thus, Gaulish petuar[ios], Welsh pedwar "four", but Old Irish cethair and Latin quattuor. Insofar as this new /p/ fills the gap in the phoneme inventory which was left 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 for grouping Celtic languages based on the way they handle this one phoneme. But a simple division into P- / Q-Celtic may be untenable, as it does not do justice to the evidence of the ancient Continental Celtic languages. The many unusual shared innovations among the Insular Celtic languages are often also presented as evidence against a P- vs Q-Celtic division, but they may instead reflect a common substratum influence from the pre-Celtic languages of Britain and Ireland,[1], or simply continuing contact between the insular languages; in either case they would be irrelevant to the genetic classification of Celtic languages.
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 Pádraig;
- 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 PC vowel system is highly comparable to that reconstructed for PIE by Antoine Meillet. The following monophthongs are reconstructed:
The following diphthongs have also been reconstructed:
Type With -i With -u With a- ai au With o- oi ou
Morphology
Nouns
The morphological (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 masculine, feminine and neuter; the numbers were singular, plural and dual. The number of cases is a subject of contention:[12] while Old Irish may have only five, the evidence from Continental Celtic is considered[by whom?] 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 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, Cornish leuv, Old Breton lom)
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) (Gaulish 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) (Gaulish 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 : *rīg- "king" > *rīxs. Likewise, final *-d devoiced to *-t-: *druwid- "druid" > *druwits.[13]
E.g. *rīxs 'king' (masculine) (Gaulish -rix; Old Irish rí; Middle Welsh rhi, Old Breton ri,[14]Germanic *-riks, as seen in Haimariks, ancestor of the name "Henry" and related forms)
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. *druwits 'druid' (masculine) (Gaulish druis; Old Irish druí; Middle Welsh dryw "druid; wren", Old Cornish druw)
Case | Singular | Dual | Plural |
---|---|---|---|
Nominative | *druwits | *druwide | *druwides |
Vocative | *druwits | *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) (Gaulish carant-; Old Irish cara; Welsh câr "kinsman; friend", pl. ceraint, Breton kar "relative", pl. kerent)
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, Breton (obs.) aven, Scottish 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. *anman 'name' (neuter) (Gaulish anuan-; Old Irish ainm; Breton anv; Welsh enw)
Case | Singular | Dual | Plural |
---|---|---|---|
Nominative | *anman | *anmane | *anmanes |
Vocative | *anman | *anmane | *anmanes |
Accusative | *anmanam | *anmane | *anmanās |
Genitive | *anmanos | *anmanou | *anmanom |
Dative | *anmanei | *anmanobom | *anmanobos |
Ablative | *anmanī | *anmanobim | *anmanobis |
Instrumental | *anmane | *anmanobim | *anmanobis |
Locative | *anmani | *anmanobim | *anmanobis |
*s-stem nouns
Generally, *s-stems end in *-es-, which becomes *-os in the nominative singular: *teges- 'house' > *tegos.
E.g. *tegos 'house' (masculine), Old Irish teg, tech, dative tigh; Welsh tŷ, Breton ti.
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 |
Pronouns
Peter Schrijver reconstructs the following third-person pronouns in Proto-Celtic.[15]
Case | Singular | Plural | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | ||
Nominative | *es, *ēs | *sī | *ed | *eyes |
Accusative | *em | *seyam? *sīm? | ? | |
Genitive | *esyo | *esyās | *esyo | *ēsom? *esom? |
Dative Instrumental Locative |
*e(s)yōi | *esyāi | *e(s)yōi | *ēbis |
Verbs
From comparison between early Old Irish and Gaulish forms it seems that Continental and Insular Celtic verbs developed differently and so the study of Irish and Welsh may have unduly weighted past opinion of Proto-Celtic verb morphology.[citation needed] 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.[16][17]
Verbs were formed by adding suffixes to a verbal stem. The stem might be thematic or athematic, an open or a closed syllable.
Future formations
One major formation of the future in Celtic, the s-future. It is a descendant of the Proto-Indo-European (h₁)se-desirative, with i-reduplication in many verbs. The Old Irish a- and s-future come from here.
Subjunctive formations
Only one subjunctive suffix existed in Proto-Celtic, -(a)se-. It was a descendant of the subjunctive of a Indo-European sigmatic thematic formation *-seti. Primary subjunctive formations in Proto-Celtic generally use the e-grade of the verb root, even if the present stem uses the zero-grade.
Example conjugations
Scholarly reconstructions [6][18][19][20] may be summarised in tabular format.[dubious ]
Person | Present | Imperfect | Future | Past | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Active | Medio- passive |
Active | Medio- passive |
Active | Medio- passive |
Active | Medio- passive | ||
Indicative | 1st sg. | *berū | *berūr | *berennem | — | *bibrām | *bibrār | *bertū | — |
2nd sg. | *beresi | *beretar | *berītū | — | *bibrāsi | *bibrātar | *bertes | — | |
3rd sg. | *bereti | *beretor | *bere(to) | *beretei | *bibrāti | *bibrātor | *bert | *brito | |
1st pl. | *beromos(i) | *berommor | *beremmets | — | *bibrāmes | *bibrāmmor | *bertomu | — | |
2nd pl. | *beretes(i) | *beredwe | *beretes (Goidelic) *bere-swīs (Brythonic) |
— | *bibrāte | *bibrādwe | *bertete | — | |
3rd pl. | *beronti | *berontor | *berentets | *berentits (?) | *bibrānt | *bibrāntor | *bertont | *britūnts | |
Subjunctive | 1st sg. | *berasū | *berār | *berānnem | — | — | — | — | — |
2nd sg. | *berasesi | *berātar | *berātū | — | — | — | — | — | |
3rd sg. | *beraseti | *berātor | *berā(to) | — | — | — | — | — | |
1st pl. | *berasomos(i) | *berāmmor | *berāmmets | — | — | — | — | — | |
2nd pl. | *berasetes(i) | *berādwe | *berātes (Goidelic) *berā-swīs (Brythonic) |
— | — | — | — | — | |
3rd pl. | *berasonti | *berāntor | *berāntets | — | — | — | — | — | |
Imperative | 2nd sg. | *bere | *beretar | — | — | — | — | — | — |
3rd sg. | *beret | *beror | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
1st pl. | *beromos | *berommor | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
2nd pl. | *beretīs | *beredwe | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
3rd pl. | *beront | *berontor | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Verbal noun | *berowon- | — | — | — | — | — | — | *britu-s | |
Participle | *beront- | *beromno- | — | *beretejo- | — | — | *bertjo- | *brito- |
Person | Present | Imperfect | Future | Past | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Active | Medio- passive |
Active | Medio- passive |
Active | Medio- passive |
Active | Medio- passive | ||
Indicative | 1st sg. | *mārāmi | *mārār | *mārānnem | — | *māriswāmi | *māriswār | *mārātsū | — |
2nd sg. | *mārāsi | *mārātar | *mārātū | — | *māriswāsi | *māriswātar | *mārātssi | — | |
3rd sg. | *mārāti | *mārātor | *mārā(to) | *mārātei | *māriswāti | *māriswātor | *mārātsti | — | |
1st pl. | *mārāmos | *mārāmmor | *mārāmmets | — | *māriswāmos | *māriswāmmor | *mārātsomu | — | |
2nd pl. | *mārāte | *mārādwe | *mārātes (Goidelic) *mārā-swīs (Brythonic) |
— | *māriswāte | *māriswādwe | *mārātsete | — | |
3rd pl. | *mārānti | *mārāntor | *mārāntets | *mārāntits (?) | *māriswānti | *māriswāntor | *mārātsont | *mārātūnts (?) | |
Subjunctive | 1st sg. | *mārasū | *māror | *māronnem | — | — | — | — | — |
2nd sg. | *mārasesi | *mārotar | *mārotū | — | — | — | — | — | |
3rd sg. | *māraseti | *mārotor | *māro(to) | — | — | — | — | — | |
1st pl. | *mārasomos(i) | *mārommor | *mārommets | — | — | — | — | — | |
2nd pl. | *mārasetes | *mārodwe | *mārotes (Goidelic) *māro-swīs (Brythonic) |
— | — | — | — | — | |
3rd pl. | *mārasonti | *mārontor | *mārontets | — | — | — | — | — | |
Imperative | 2nd sg. | *mārā | *mārātrīs | — | — | — | — | — | — |
3rd sg. | *mārāt | *mārār | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
1st pl. | *mārāmos | *mārāmmor | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
2nd pl. | *mārātīs | *mārādwe | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
3rd pl. | *mārānt | *mārāntor | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Verbal noun | *mārāwon- | — | — | — | — | — | — | *mārātu-s | |
Participle | *mārānt- | *mārāmno- | — | *mārātejo- | — | — | *mārātjo- | *mārāto- |
See also
- Pre-Celtic
- Italo-Celtic
- Beaker culture
- Urnfield
- Hallstatt culture
- La Tène culture
- Goidelic substrate hypothesis
- Ligures
- Azilian
References
Notes
- ^ Celtic literature at britannica.com, accessed 7 February 2018
- ^ Rhys, John (1905). Evans, E. Vincent (ed.). "The Origin of the Welsh Englyn and Kindred Metres". Y Cymmrodor. London: Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion. XVIII.
- ^ Koch, John T. (2020). Celto-Germanic Later Prehistory and Post-Proto-Indo-European vocabulary in the North and West, pp. 45–48.
- ^ Schumacher, Stefan (2004). Die keltischen Primärverben. Ein vergleichendes, etymologisches und morphologisches Lexikon (in German). Innsbruck, Austria: Institut für Sprachen und Literaturen der Universität Innsbruck. p. 85. ISBN 3-85124-692-6.
- ^ Schrijver, Peter (2016). "17. Ancillary study: Sound Change, the Italo-Celtic Linguistic Unity, and the Italian Homeland of Celtic". In Koch, John T.; Cunliffe, Barry (eds.). Celtic from the West 3: Atlantic Europe in the Metal Ages – Questions of Shared Language. Oxford, UK: Oxbow Books. pp. 489–502. ISBN 978-1-78570-227-3. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
- ^ a b 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 PC *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).
- ^ a b c Eska, Joseph F. (March 12, 2018). "Laryngeal Realism and the Prehistory of Celtic". Transactions of the Philological Society. Wiley. 116 (3): 320–331. doi:10.1111/1467-968x.12122. ISSN 0079-1636.
- ^ a b Eska, Joseph (January 26, 2021). "Laryngeal Realism and early Insular Celtic orthography". North American Journal of Celtic Studies. 3 (1): 1–17. ISSN 2472-7490. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
- ^ Pedersen, Holger (1913). Vergleichende Grammatik der keltischen Sprachen, 2. Band, Bedeutungslehre (Wortlehre). Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. ISBN 978-3-525-26119-4.
- ^ 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
- ^ (borrowed into)
- ^ Schrijver, Peter (1997). Studies in the History of Celtic Pronouns and Particles. Maynooth studies in Celtic linguistics. Department of Old Irish, National University of Ireland. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-901519-59-7.
- ^ Stefan Schumacher, Die keltischen Primärverben: Ein vergleichendes, etymologisches und morphologisches Lexikon (Innsbruck: Institut für Sprachen und Literaturen der Universität, 2004).
- ^ Pierre-Yves Lambert, La langue gauloise: Description linguistique, commentaire d'inscriptions choisies (Paris: Errance, revised ed. 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
Bibliography
- Cowgill, Warren (1975). "The origins of the Insular Celtic conjunct and absolute verbal endings". In H. Rix (ed.). 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.
- Hackstein, Olav (2002). "Uridg. *CH.CC > *C.CC". Historische Sprachforschung. 115: 1–22.
- Lane, George S. (1933). "The Germano-Celtic Vocabulary". Language. 9 (3): 244–264. doi:10.2307/409353. JSTOR 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 978-0-901519-40-5.
- Pedersen, Holger (1913). Vergleichende Grammatik der keltischen Sprachen. 2. Band, Bedeutungslehre (Wortlehre). Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. ISBN 978-3-525-26119-4.
- 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 978-90-5183-820-6.
- 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
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. 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: