Continental Celtic languages
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Continental Celtic | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution: |
Formerly continental Europe; Asia Minor |
| Genetic classification: |
Indo-European Celtic Continental Celtic |
| Subdivisions: | |
The Continental Celtic languages are those Celtic languages, now all extinct, that originated and were spoken on the continent of Europe (as opposed to the Insular Celtic languages that originated in the British Isles, and of which six are still spoken). Although it is likely that Celts spoke dozens of different languages and dialects across Europe in pre-Roman times, only five such languages are actually attested:
- Lepontic (7th to 3rd century BC)
- Gaulish (3rd century BC to 2nd century AD)
- Galatian (3rd century BC to 4th century AD)
- Celtiberian (1st century BC)
- Noric (1st or 2nd century? Only two fragmentary texts preserved.)
Lepontic is generally considered a dialect of Gaulish, and Galatian may be as well.
The term Continental Celtic is used in contrast to Insular Celtic. While most researchers agree that Insular Celtic is a distinct branch of Celtic[citation needed], having undergone common linguistic innovations, there is no evidence that the Continental Celtic languages can be similarly grouped. Instead, the term Continental Celtic is paraphyletic and refers simply to non-Insular Celtic languages. Since little material has been preserved in any of the Continental Celtic languages, historical linguistic analysis based on the comparative method is difficult to perform.
