| Insular Celtic | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution: | Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany |
| Genetic classification: | Indo-European Celtic Insular Celtic |
| Subdivisions: | |
The Insular Celtic hypothesis concerns the origin of the Celtic languages. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Cornwall ( Kernow ˈkɛɹnɔʊ is the most southwesterly county of England, on the Peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar Brittany (Breizh bʁejs Bretagne; Gallo: Bertaèyn) is a former independent Celtic kingdom and Duchy, now incorporated into List of language familiesA language family is a group of Languages related by descent from a common ancestor called the Proto-language of that family The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic" a branch of the greater Indo-European Language family. The Brythonic languages (or Brittonic languages or British languages) form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family the other being The Goidelic languages, (also sometimes called particularly in colloquial situations the Gaelic languages or collectively Gaelic) historically formed a Dialect The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic" a branch of the greater Indo-European Language family. The six Celtic languages of modern times can be divided into:
- the Goidelic languages (Irish, Manx, and Scottish Gaelic); and
- the Brythonic languages (Breton, Cornish and Welsh). The Goidelic languages, (also sometimes called particularly in colloquial situations the Gaelic languages or collectively Gaelic) historically formed a Dialect Irish (ga ''Gaeilge'' is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish. Manx ( Gaelg or Gailck, ɡilk or) also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Goidelic language once spoken on the Isle Scottish Gaelic ( Gàidhlig) is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. The Brythonic languages (or Brittonic languages or British languages) form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family the other being The Breton language ( Brezhoneg) formerly often called Armoric or Armorican, is a Celtic language spoken by some of the inhabitants of Brittany For the Cornish-English dialect see West Country dialects and List of Cornish dialect words. Welsh ( cy Cymraeg or cy y Gymraeg, kəmˈrɑːɨɡ and {{IPA|[ə ɡəmˈrɑːɨɡ]}}, is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic
The term "Insular" refers to the place of origin of these languages, namely the British Isles, in contrast to the (now extinct) Continental Celtic languages of mainland Europe and Anatolia. The British Isles (Irish variously Na hOileáin Bhriotanacha, Oileáin Iarthair Eorpa, Éire agus an Bhreatain Mhór; Ellanyn Goaldagh Eileanan The Continental Celtic languages is a modern name for the Celtic languages, now all extinct that originated and were spoken on the continent of Europe (as opposed to the Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the Continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black There is a theory that the Brythonic and Goidelic languages evolved together in those islands, having a common ancestor more recent than any shared with the Continental Celtic languages such as Celtiberian, Gaulish, Galatian and Lepontic, among others, all of which are long extinct. Historical linguistics (also called diachronic linguistics) is the study of language change A group of organisms is said to have common descent if they have a common Ancestor. The Continental Celtic languages is a modern name for the Celtic languages, now all extinct that originated and were spoken on the continent of Europe (as opposed to the Celtiberian (also known as northeastern Hispano-Celtic) is an extinct Indo-European language of the Celtic branch spoken by the Celtiberians Gaulish or Gallic is the name given to the Celtic language that was spoken in Gaul before the Vulgar Latin of the late Roman Empire became Lepontic is an extinct Celtic language that was spoken in parts of Rhaetia and Cisalpine Gaul (today's Northern Italy) between 700 In Biology and Ecology, extinction is the cessation of existence of a Species or group of taxa.
The proponents of the Insular Celtic hypothesis (such as Cowgill 1975; McCone 1991, 1992; and Schrijver 1995) point to shared innovations among Insular Celtic languages, including inflected prepositions, shared use of certain verbal particles, VSO word order, and the differentiation of absolute and conjunct verb endings as found extensively in Old Irish and to a small extent in Middle Welsh (see Proto-Celtic language#Morphology). In some languages an inflected preposition, or conjugated preposition, is a word formed from the contraction of a Preposition with a Personal pronoun Verb Subject Object ( VSO) is a term in Linguistic typology. It represents one type of languages when classifying languages according to the sequence of these Phonological reconstruction Consonants The phonological changes from Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Celtic Consonants may be summarised as follows They assert that a partition that lumps the Brythonic languages and Gaulish (P-Celtic) on one side and the Goidelic languages with Celtiberian (Q-Celtic) on the other may be a superficial one (i. The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic" a branch of the greater Indo-European Language family. The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic" a branch of the greater Indo-European Language family. e. owing to a language contact phenomenon), as the identical sound shift (Q to P) could have occurred independently in the predecessors of Gaulish and Brythonic. Language contact occurs when speakers of distinct speech varieties interact
The family tree of the Insular Celtic languages is thus as follows:
- Insular Celtic
- Goidelic
- Primitive Irish, ancestral to:
- Old Irish, ancestral to:
- Middle Irish, ancestral to:
- Old Irish, ancestral to:
- Primitive Irish, ancestral to:
- Brythonic
- Pictish (possibly)
- British
- Cumbric (extinct)
- Old Welsh, ancestral to
- Middle Welsh, ancestral to:
- Southwestern Brythonic, ancestral to:
- Goidelic
References
- Cowgill, Warren (1975). The Goidelic languages, (also sometimes called particularly in colloquial situations the Gaelic languages or collectively Gaelic) historically formed a Dialect Primitive Irish is the oldest known form of the Goidelic languages, known only from fragments mostly personal names inscribed on stone in the Ogham alphabet in Old Irish is the name given to the oldest form of the Irish language, or rather the Goidelic languages, for which extensive written texts are possessed Middle Irish is the name given by historical philologists to the Goidelic language used from the 10th to 12th centuries it is therefore a contemporary Irish (ga ''Gaeilge'' is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish. Scottish Gaelic ( Gàidhlig) is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. Manx ( Gaelg or Gailck, ɡilk or) also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Goidelic language once spoken on the Isle The Brythonic languages (or Brittonic languages or British languages) form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family the other being Pictish is a term used for the Extinct language or languages thought to have been spoken by the Picts, the people of northern and central Scotland Cumbric was the Brythonic Celtic language, often considered to be a Dialect of Welsh, spoken in Northern England and southern Old Welsh (Hen Gymraeg is the label attached to the Welsh language from the time it developed from the Brythonic language generally thought to be in the period Middle Welsh (Cymraeg Canol is the label attached to the Welsh language of the 12th to 14th centuries of which much more remains than for any earlier Welsh ( cy Cymraeg or cy y Gymraeg, kəmˈrɑːɨɡ and {{IPA|[ə ɡəmˈrɑːɨɡ]}}, is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic The Breton language ( Brezhoneg) formerly often called Armoric or Armorican, is a Celtic language spoken by some of the inhabitants of Brittany For the Cornish-English dialect see West Country dialects and List of Cornish dialect words. Warren Cowgill (1929 — 1985 / ˡkowgɪl/ was a professor of linguistics at Yale University and the Encyclopædia Britannica ’s authority on Indo-European "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, 40–70. ISBN 3-920153-40-5.
- McCone, Kim (1991). "The PIE stops and syllabic nasals in Celtic". Studia Celtica Japonica 4: 37–69.
- McCone, Kim (1992). "Relative Chronologie: Keltisch", in R. Beekes, A. Lubotsky, and J. Weitenberg (eds. ): Rekonstruktion und relative Chronologie: Akten Der VIII. Fachtagung Der Indogermanischen Gesellschaft, Leiden, 31. August–4. September 1987. Institut für Sprachwissenschaft der Universität Innsbruck, 12–39. ISBN 3-85124-613-6.
- Schrijver, Peter (1995). Studies in British Celtic historical phonology. Amsterdam: Rodopi. ISBN 90-5183-820-4.
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