Common Brittonic ( Welsh : Brythoneg ; Cornish : Brythonek ; Breton : Predeneg ), also known as British , Common Brythonic , or Proto-Brittonic , is a Celtic language historically spoken in Britain and Brittany from which evolved the later and modern Brittonic languages .
45-522: The Carvetii ( Common Brittonic : * Carwetī ) were a Brittonic Celtic tribe living in what is now Cumbria , in North-West England during the Iron Age, and were subsequently identified as a civitas (canton) of Roman Britain . The suffix carv- is related to Welsh carw , Breton karv and Irish carow ('deer'). Richard von Kienle has proposed the translation " those who belong to
90-537: A genitive construction similar to construct state , prepositions with fused inflected pronouns ("conjugated prepositions" or "prepositional pronouns"), and oblique relatives with pronoun copies. Such resemblances were noted as early as 1621 with regard to Welsh and the Hebrew language . The hypothesis that the Insular Celtic languages had features from an Afro-Asiatic substratum (Iberian and Berber languages)
135-506: A list of changes which affected both branches of Insular Celtic but for which there is no evidence that they should be dated to a putative Proto-Insular Celtic period. These are: The Insular Celtic verb shows a peculiar feature unknown in any other attested Indo-European language : verbs have different conjugational forms depending on whether they appear in absolute initial position in the sentence (Insular Celtic having verb–subject–object or VSO word order) or whether they are preceded by
180-509: A now lost substrate. This was suggested by Jongeling (2000). Ranko Matasović (2012) likewise argued that the "Insular Celtic languages were subject to strong influences from an unknown, presumably non-Indo-European substratum" and found the syntactic parallelisms between Insular Celtic and Afro-Asiatic languages to be "probably not accidental". He argued that their similarities arose from "a large linguistic macro-area, encompassing parts of NW Africa, as well as large parts of Western Europe, before
225-672: A particle -d (from an older * -t ). Continental Celtic languages cannot be shown to have any absolute/conjunct distinction. However, they seem to show only SVO and SOV word orders, as in other Indo-European languages. The absolute/conjunct distinction may thus be an artifact of the VSO word order that arose in Insular Celtic. Insular Celtic, unlike Continental Celtic , shares some structural characteristics with various Afro-Asiatic languages which are rare in other Indo-European languages. These similarities include verb–subject–object word order , singular verbs with plural post-verbal subjects,
270-616: A preverbal particle . The situation is most robustly attested in Old Irish , but it has remained to some extent in Scottish Gaelic and traces of it are present in Middle Welsh as well. Forms that appear in sentence-initial position are called absolute , those that appear after a particle are called conjunct (see Dependent and independent verb forms for details). The paradigm of the present active indicative of
315-496: A radical restructuring of the vowel system. Notes: Through comparative linguistics , it is possible to approximately reconstruct the declension paradigms of Common Brittonic: Notes: Notes: Notes: Brittonic-derived place names are scattered across Great Britain, with many occurring in the West Country ; however, some of these may be pre-Celtic. The best example is perhaps that of each (river) Avon , which comes from
360-464: A semantically degraded form of * esti "is", while Schrijver (1994) has argued it is derived from the particle * eti "and then", which is attested in Gaulish. Schrijver's argument is supported and expanded by Schumacher (2004), who points towards further evidence, viz., typological parallels in non-Celtic languages, and especially a large number of verb forms in all Brythonic languages that contain
405-545: A strong partition between the Brittonic languages with Gaulish ( P-Celtic ) on one side and the Goidelic languages with Celtiberian (Q-Celtic) on the other, may be superficial, owing to a language contact phenomenon. They add the identical sound shift ( /kʷ/ to /p/ ) could have occurred independently in the predecessors of Gaulish and Brittonic, or have spread through language contact between those two groups. Further,
450-404: A variety of non-past times, and context indicates the time. The sense can be completely tenseless, for example when asserting that something is always true or always happens. This verb form has erroneously been termed 'future' in many pedagogical grammars. A correct, neutral term 'INDEF1' has been used in linguistics texts. In Middle Welsh, the distinction is seen most clearly in proverbs following
495-490: Is a form of Insular Celtic , descended from Proto-Celtic , a theorized parent language that, by the first half of the first millennium BC, was diverging into separate dialects or languages. Pictish is linked, likely as a sister language or a descendant branch. Evidence from early and modern Welsh shows that Common Brittonic was significantly influenced by Latin during the Roman period , especially in terms related to
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#1732772656599540-552: Is no written evidence of Venutius being of the Carvetii; and that the archaeological evidence and the persistence of the name 'Luguvalos' at what was to become 'Carlisle', may point to the Carvetii being a pro-Roman tribe based in the Solway Plain with a centre at Carlisle, while Venutius may have led an anti-Roman, non-Carvetiian, tribe elsewhere, probably in the upper-Eden valley south of Penrith. Common Brittonic It
585-608: Is now lost. One was in Old Penrith, (the Voreda Roman fort) north of the present Penrith , on a tombstone. The others were on two milestones: one at Frenchfield (north of Brocavum ), and the other at Langwathby in Cumbria, both also near Penrith. Higham and Jones, in 1985, suggested that the combination of the first two inscriptions mentioned above "allows us to infer the existence of the 'civitas Carvetiorum', or canton of
630-748: Is the theory that these languages evolved together in those places, having a later common ancestor than any of the Continental Celtic languages such as Celtiberian , Gaulish , Galatian , and Lepontic , among others, all of which are long extinct. This linguistic division of Celtic languages into Insular and Continental contrasts with the P/Q Celtic hypothesis . The proponents of the Insular hypothesis (such as Cowgill 1975; McCone 1991, 1992; and Schrijver 1995) point to shared innovations among these – chiefly: The proponents assert that
675-647: Is the transformation of * an , * am to a denasalised vowel with lengthening, é , before an originally voiceless stop or fricative, cf. Old Irish éc "death", écath "fish hook", dét "tooth", cét "hundred" vs. Welsh angau , angad , dant , and cant . Otherwise: In order to show that shared innovations are from a common descent it is necessary that they do not arise because of language contact after initial separation. A language area can result from widespread bilingualism , perhaps because of exogamy , and absence of sharp sociolinguistic division. Ranko Matasović has provided
720-599: The Firth of Forth . Cumbric disappeared in the 12th century, and in the far south-west, Cornish probably became extinct in the 18th century, though its use has since been revived . O'Rahilly's historical model suggests a Brittonic language in Ireland before the introduction of the Goidelic languages , but this view has not found wide acceptance. Welsh and Breton are the only daughter languages that have survived fully into
765-682: The Italic languages had a similar divergence between Latino-Faliscan , which kept /kʷ/ , and Osco-Umbrian , which changed it to /p/ . Some historians, such as George Buchanan in the 16th century, had suggested the Brythonic or P-Celtic language was a descendant of the Picts' language. Indeed, the tribe of the Pritani has Qritani (and, orthographically orthodox in modern form but counterintuitively written Cruthin) (Q-Celtic) cognate forms. Under
810-568: The church and Christianity . By the sixth century AD, the languages of the Celtic Britons were rapidly diverging into Neo-Brittonic : Welsh , Cumbric , Cornish , Breton , and possibly the Pictish language . Over the next three centuries, Brittonic was replaced by Scottish Gaelic in most of Scotland, and by Old English (from which descend Modern English and Scots ) throughout most of modern England as well as Scotland south of
855-560: The 21st century. Cornish fell out of use in the 1700s but has since undergone a revival . Cumbric and Pictish are extinct and today spoken only in the form of loanwords in English, Scots , and Scottish Gaelic . The early Common Brittonic vowel inventory is effectively identical to that of Proto-Celtic. /ɨ/ and /ʉ/ have not developed yet. By late Common Brittonic, the New Quantity System had occurred, leading to
900-652: The Brigantian queen Cartimandua and later (69 A.D.) an important British resistance leader in the 1st century, may have been a Carvetian. The series of marching camps set up by the Roman governor Quintus Petillius Cerialis , in his campaign in the early 70s, stretched away from Stanwick, across the Stainmore Pass towards the Eden Valley, suggesting that the Carvetii were the "centre of Venutius' power base and
945-701: The Brittonic aβon[a] , "river" (transcribed into Welsh as afon , Cornish avon , Irish and Scottish Gaelic abhainn , Manx awin , Breton aven ; the Latin cognate is amnis ). When river is preceded by the word, in the modern vein, it is tautological . Examples are: Basic words tor , combe , bere , and hele from Brittonic are common in Devon place-names. Tautologous, hybrid word names exist in England, such as: Insular Celtic languages Insular Celtic languages are
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#1732772656599990-440: The Carvetii, and the existence of its own council or governing body." The capital of the Carvetii is presumed to have been Luguvalium ( Carlisle ), the only walled town known in the region. Higham and Jones suggest, given the location of the inscriptions, and given that the best land in the area was nearby, and also given the existence of a large (7 acres, 3 ha.) enclosed settlement site a couple of miles south-east of Penrith in
1035-461: The Eden Valley, that Clifton Dykes was the "logical location for the 'caput Carvetiorum' " ('the centre of the Carvetii'). In other words, despite the later importance of Carlisle as the centre of activity once the Romans had invaded (and the likely place where tribal councils would take place), the Eden Valley "was the heartland of the area concerned." The Brougham area, with its seeming importance in
1080-429: The Insular hypothesis, the family tree of the insular Celtic languages is thus as follows: Irish Scottish Gaelic Manx † Pictish † Cumbric Welsh Breton Cornish This table lists cognates showing the development of Proto-Celtic */kʷ/ to /p/ in Gaulish and the Brittonic languages but to /k/ in the Goidelic languages. A significant difference between Goidelic and Brittonic languages
1125-494: The Old Irish verb beirid "carry" is as follows; the conjunct forms are illustrated with the particle ní "not". In Scottish Gaelic this distinction is still found in certain verb-forms across almost all verbs (except for a very few). This is a VSO language. The example given in the first column below is the independent or absolute form, which must be used when the verb is in clause-initial position (or preceded in
1170-529: The Roman fort at Brocavum. Rivet and Smith suggest that the name 'Carvetii' may refer to the British word 'carvos', meaning 'deer' or 'stag', and that this could have associations with the horned god Belatucadrus mentioned above. The Roman fort at Stanwix , on the north side of the River Eden, was one component of what was to become Carlisle. The other seems to have been a major settlement of people south of
1215-830: The Romanised towns and their descendants, and later from church use. By 500–550 AD, Common Brittonic had diverged into the Neo-Brittonic dialects: Old Welsh primarily in Wales, Old Cornish in Cornwall, Old Breton in what is now Brittany, Cumbric in Northern England and Southern Scotland, and probably Pictish in Northern Scotland. The modern forms of Breton and Welsh are the only direct descendants of Common Brittonic to have survived fully into
1260-468: The arrival of the speakers of Indo-European, including Celtic". The Afro-Asiatic substrate theory, according to Raymond Hickey , "has never found much favour with scholars of the Celtic languages". The theory was criticised by Kim McCone in 2006, Graham Isaac in 2007, and Steve Hewitt in 2009. Isaac argues that the 20 points identified by Gensler are trivial, dependencies, or vacuous. Thus, he considers
1305-402: The clause by certain preverbal particles). Then following it is the dependent or conjunct form which is required when the verb is preceded in the clause by certain other preverbal particles, in particular interrogative or negative preverbal particles. In these examples, in the first column we have a verb in clause-initial position. In the second column a negative particle immediately precedes
1350-455: The cult of Belatucadrus , its strategic position in the Eden Valley with its route to the east across Stainmore , its nearby history as a meeting place with three henges, as well as with "the presumed pre-Roman tribal capital at Clifton Dykes", may have been the settlement focus of the Carvetii, at least before the Roman military campaigns in the AD 70s. Indeed, this might account for the building of
1395-613: The deer ". Historical speculation has the Carvetii occupying the Solway Plain , the area immediately south of Hadrian's Wall , the Eden Valley, and possibly the Lune Valley . The Setantii may have occupied North Lancashire and south Cumbria. The Carvetii are not mentioned in Ptolemy 's Geography , nor in any other classical text, and are known only from three Roman (third and fourth century AD) inscriptions, one of which
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1440-414: The final word has been rendered cuamiinai .) This text is often seen as: 'The affixed – Deuina, Deieda, Andagin [and] Uindiorix – I have bound'; else, at the opposite extreme, taking into account case-marking – -rix 'king' nominative, andagin 'worthless woman' accusative, dewina deieda 'divine Deieda' nominative/vocative – is: 'May I, Windiorix for/at Cuamena defeat [or 'summon to justice']
1485-401: The formula "X happens, Y does not happen" (Evans 1964: 119): The older analysis of the distinction, as reported by Thurneysen (1946, 360 ff.), held that the absolute endings derive from Proto-Indo-European "primary endings" (used in present and future tenses) while the conjunct endings derive from the "secondary endings" (used in past tenses). Thus Old Irish absolute beirid "s/he carries"
1530-708: The group of Celtic languages spoken in Brittany , Great Britain , Ireland , and the Isle of Man . All surviving Celtic languages are in the Insular group, including Breton, which is spoken on continental Europe in Brittany, France . The Continental Celtic languages , although once widely spoken in mainland Europe and in Anatolia , are extinct. Six Insular Celtic languages are extant (in all cases written and spoken) in two distinct groups: The Insular Celtic hypothesis
1575-410: The language differed little from that of Gaul . Comparison with what is known of Gaulish confirms the similarity. Pictish , which became extinct around 1000 years ago, was the spoken language of the Picts in Northern Scotland. Despite significant debate as to whether this language was Celtic, items such as geographical and personal names documented in the region gave evidence that this language
1620-515: The modern day. No documents in the language have been found, but a few inscriptions have been identified. The Bath curse tablets , found in the Roman feeder pool at Bath, Somerset ( Aquae Sulis ), bear about 150 names – about 50% Celtic (but not necessarily Brittonic). An inscription on a metal pendant (discovered there in 1979) seems to contain an ancient Brittonic curse: " Adixoui Deuina Deieda Andagin Uindiorix cuamenai ". (Sometimes
1665-488: The prime objective of the ... campaigns". Ross, however, challenges these assumptions. She argues that the very notion of 'tribe', in the sense of a geographically-defined unit, probably did not exist in the north; that there is no evidence either of the Brigantes holding power over the northern 'tribes', or of a Brigantian 'confederacy' of tribes; that there is no certain interpretation of the three inscriptions; that there
1710-566: The river, with an Agricolan fort (A.D.78-79), re-built in the second century, roughly where the present Carlisle Castle now is. A stone fort was built on the site around 200 A.D. The excavations in the Blackfriars and Lanes areas indicate a substantial vicus , or civilian settlement, associated with the several stages of this fort. The Carvetii may have been part of the neighbouring Brigantes confederation, and some, including Higham and Jones, have speculated that Venutius , first husband of
1755-451: The sentence. If the first word in the sentence was another particle, * (e)s came after that and thus before the verb, but if the verb was the first word in the sentence, * (e)s was cliticized to it. Under this theory, then, Old Irish absolute beirid comes from Proto-Celtic * bereti-s , while conjunct ní beir comes from * nī-s bereti . The identity of the * (e)s particle remains uncertain. Cowgill suggests it might be
1800-512: The time of 75–100 AD. The term Pritenic is controversial. In 2015, linguist Guto Rhys concluded that most proposals that Pictish diverged from Brittonic before c. 500 AD were incorrect, questionable, or of little importance, and that a lack of evidence to distinguish Brittonic and Pictish rendered the term Pritenic "redundant". Common Brittonic vied with Latin after the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD, at least in major settlements. Latin words were widely borrowed by its speakers in
1845-418: The verb, which makes the verb use the verb form or verb forms of the dependent conjugation. The verb forms in the above examples happen to be the same with any subject personal pronouns, not just with the particular persons chosen in the example. Also, the combination of tense–aspect–mood properties inherent in these verb forms is non-past but otherwise indefinite with respect to time, being compatible with
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1890-642: The worthless woman, [oh] divine Deieda.' A tin/lead sheet retains part of nine text lines, damaged, with likely Brittonic names. Local Roman Britain toponyms (place names) are evidentiary, recorded in Latinised forms by Ptolemy 's Geography discussed by Rivet and Smith in their book of that name published in 1979. They show most names he used were from the Brittonic language. Some place names still contain elements derived from it. Tribe names and some Brittonic personal names are also taken down by Greeks and, mainly, Romans. Tacitus 's Agricola says that
1935-522: Was first proposed by John Morris-Jones in 1899. The theory has been supported by several linguists since: Henry Jenner (1904); Julius Pokorny (1927); Heinrich Wagner (1959); Orin Gensler (1993); Theo Vennemann (1995); and Ariel Shisha-Halevy (2003). Others have suggested that rather than the Afro-Asiatic influencing Insular Celtic directly, both groups of languages were influenced by
1980-536: Was most closely aligned with the Brittonic branch of Celtic languages. The question of the extent to which this language was distinguished, and the date of divergence, from the rest of Brittonic, was historically disputed. Pritenic (also Pretanic and Prittenic ) is a term coined in 1955 by Kenneth H. Jackson to describe a hypothetical Roman-era (1st to 5th centuries) predecessor to the Pictish language. Jackson saw Pritenic as having diverged from Brittonic around
2025-580: Was thought to be from * bʰereti (compare Sanskrit bharati "s/he carries"), while conjunct beir was thought to be from * bʰeret (compare Sanskrit a-bharat "s/he was carrying"). Today, however, most Celticists agree that Cowgill (1975), following an idea present already in Pedersen (1913, 340 ff.), found the correct solution to the origin of the absolute/conjunct distinction: an enclitic particle, reconstructed as * es after consonants and * s after vowels, came in second position in
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