| Proto-Celtic | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution: |
Europe |
| Linguistic classification: | Indo-European
|
| Subdivisions: | |
|
The Proto-Celtic language, also called Common Celtic, is the reconstructed ancestor language of all the known Celtic languages. Its lexis can be confidently reconstructed on the basis of the comparative method of historical linguistics. Proto-Celtic is a branch of the Western Indo-European languages, with the other branches Italic languages, Germanic languages and the Balto-Slavic group. The exact relationships between these branches are under discussion. The earliest archaeological culture that may justifiably be considered as Proto-Celtic is the Late Bronze Age Urnfield culture of central Europe from the last quarter of the second millenium BC.[1] By the Iron Age Hallstatt culture of around 800 BC these people had become fully Celtic.[1]
The reconstruction of Proto-Celtic is currently being undertaken. While Continental Celtic presents much substantiation for phonology, and some for morphology, recorded material is still too scanty to allow a secure reconstruction of syntax. Although some complete sentences are recorded in Gaulish and Celtiberian, the oldest substantial Celtic literature is found in Old Irish, the earliest recorded of the Insular Celtic languages.
The phonological changes from Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Celtic consonants may be summarised as follows. (An asterisk [*] prior to a letter or word designates that the phoneme or lexeme is not attested but is a hypothetical, reconstructed form).
| PIE | Proto-Celtic | Example |
|---|---|---|
| *p | *ɸ | *ph₂tēr > *ɸatīr 'father' |
| *t | *t | *treyes > *trīs 'three' |
| *k, ḱ | *k | *kan- > *kan- 'sing' *ḱm̥tom > *kantom 'hundred' |
| *kʷ | *kʷ | *kʷetwr̥ > *kʷetwar 'four' |
| *b | *b | *dʰub-no- > *dubno- 'deep' |
| *d | *d | *derk- > *derk- 'see' |
| *g, ǵ | *g | *gli- > *gli- 'to glue' *ǵenu- > *genu- 'jaw' |
| *gʷ | *b | *gʷen- > *ben- 'woman' |
| *bʰ | *b | *bʰer- > *ber- 'carry' |
| *dʰ | *d | *dʰeh₁- > *dī- 'suck' |
| *gʰ, ǵʰ | *g | *gʰabʰ- > *gab- 'take' *ǵʰelH-ro- > *galaro- 'sickness' |
| *gʷʰ | *gʷ | *gʷʰn̥- > *gʷan- 'kill, wound' |
| *s | *s | *seno- > *seno- 'old' |
| *m | *m | *meh₂tēr > *mātīr 'mother' |
| *n | *n | *nepōt- > *neɸūt- 'nephew' |
| *l | *l | *ligʰ- > *lig- 'lick' |
| *r | *r | *rēǵ-s > *rīgs 'king' |
| *y | *y | *yuwn̥ko- > *yuwanko- 'young' |
| *w | *w | *wlati- > *wlati- 'dominion' |
In contrast to the parent language, Proto-Celtic does not use aspiration as a feature for distinguishing phonemes. So the Proto-Indo-European voiced aspirated stops *bʰ, *dʰ, *gʰ/ǵʰ merged with *b, *d, *g/ǵ. The voiced aspirate labiovelar *gʷʰ did not merge with *gʷ, though: plain *gʷ became *b in Proto-Celtic, while aspirated *gʷʰ became *gʷ. Thus, PIE *gʷen- 'woman' became Old Irish ben and Welsh benyw, but PIE *gʷʰn̥- 'to kill, to wound' became Old Irish gonaid and Welsh gwanu.
Proto-Indo-European *p was lost in Proto-Celtic, apparently going through the stages *ɸ (as in the table above) and *h (perhaps attested by the toponym Hercynia if this is of Celtic origin) before being lost completely word-initially and between vowels. Adjacent to consonants, Proto-Celtic *ɸ underwent different changes: the clusters *ɸs and *ɸt became *xs and *xt respectively already in Proto-Celtic. PIE *sp- became Old Irish s 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.)
| 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 Brythonic languages, a new *p sound has arisen as a reflex of the Proto-Indo-European *kʷ phoneme. Consequently one finds Gaulish petuar[ios], Welsh pedwar "four", compared to Old Irish *cethair and Latin quattuor. Insofar as this new /p/ fills the space in the phoneme inventory which was lost 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 when we wish to group the Celtic languages according to the way they handle this one phoneme. However a simple division into P- and Q-Celtic may be untenable, as it does not do justice to the evidence of the ancient Continental Celtic languages. The large number of unusual shared innovations among the Insular Celtic languages are often also presented as evidence against a P-Celtic vs Q-Celtic division, but they may instead reflect a common substratum influence from the pre-Celtic languages of Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall and Wales,[1], in which case they would be irrelevant to Celtic language classification.
Q-Celtic languages may also have /p/ in loan words, though in some early borrowings from Welsh into Irish /k/ was used by sound substitution, as in Gaelic Cothrige, an early form of "Padraig". 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.
The Proto-Celtic vowel system is highly comparable to that reconstructed for Proto-Indo-European by Antoine Meillet. The following changes are known:
| PIE | Proto-Celtic | Example |
|---|---|---|
| *a, h₂e | *a | *h₂ebon- > *abon- 'river' |
| *ā, *eh₂ | *ā | *bʰreh₂tēr > *brātīr 'brother' |
| *e, h₁e | *e | *seno- > *seno- 'old' |
| *"ə" (any laryngeal H between consonants) | *a | *ph₂tēr > *ɸatīr 'father' |
| *ē, eh₁ | *ī | *wērh₁o- > *wīro- 'true' |
| *o, Ho, h₃e | *o | *rotos > *rotos 'wheel' |
| *ō, eh₃ | in final syllable, *ū | *nepōt- > *neɸūt- 'nephew' |
| elsewhere, *ā | *deh₃no- > *dāno- 'gift' | |
| *i | *i | *gʷitu- > *bitu- 'world' |
| *ī, iH | *ī | *rīmeh₂ > *rīmā 'number' |
| *ai, h₂ei, eh₂i | *ai | *kaikos > *kaikos 'blind' *seh₂itlo- > *saitlo- 'age' |
| *(h₁)ei, ēi, eh₁i | *ē | *deiwos > *dēwos 'god' |
| *oi, ōi, h₃ei, eh₃i | *oi | *oinos > *oinos 'one' |
| *u | before wa, o | *yuwn̥kos > *yowankos 'young' |
| elsewhere, *u | *srutos > *srutos 'stream' | |
| *ū, uH | *ū | *ruHneh₂ > *rūnā 'mystery' |
| *au, h₂eu, eh₂u | *au | *tausos > *tausos 'silent' |
| *(h₁)eu, ēu, eh₁u; *ou, ōu, h₃eu, eh₃u |
*ou | *teuteh₂ > *toutā 'people' *gʷōu- > *bou- |
| *l̥ | before stops, *li | *pl̥th₂nos > *ɸlitanos 'wide' |
| before other consonants, *al | *kl̥yākos > *kalyākos 'rooster' | |
| *r̥ | before stops, *ri | *bʰr̥ti- > *briti- 'act of bearing; mind' |
| before other consonants, *ar | *mr̥wos > *marwos 'dead' | |
| *m̥ | *am | *dm̥-na- > *damna- 'subdue' |
| *n̥ | *an | *dn̥t- > *dant- 'tooth' |
| *l̥H | before obstruents, *la | *wl̥Hti- > *wlati- 'lordship' |
| before sonorants, *lā | *pl̥Hmeh₂ > *ɸlāmā 'hand' | |
| *r̥H | before obstruents, *ra | *mr̥Htom > *mratom 'betrayal' |
| before sonorants, *rā | *ǵr̥Hnom > **grānom 'grain' | |
| *m̥H | *am/mā (presumably same distribution as above) |
(none?) |
| *n̥H | *an or *nā (presumably same distribution as above) |
probably *gn̥h₃to- > *gnato- 'knowing' |
The vowel *"ə" is the so-called "schwa indogermanicum", now interpreted as a laryngeal between two consonants.
The morphology (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 the normal masculine, feminine and neuter, the three numbers were singular, plural and dual. The number of cases is a subject of contention:[2] while Old Irish may have only five, the evidence from Continental Celtic is considered 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 the stem. There are *o-stems, *ā-stems, *i-stems, *u-stems, dental stems, velar stems, nasal stems, *r-stems and *s-stems.
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *wiros | *wirou | *wiroi |
| Vocative | *wire | *wirou | *wirūs |
| Accusative | *wirom | *wirou | *wirūs |
| Genitive | *wiri | *wirūs | *wirom |
| Dative | *wirūi | *wirobom | *wirobo |
| Ablative | *wirū | *wirobim | *wirobi |
| Instrumental | *wirū | *wirobim | *wirūs |
| Locative | *wirei | *wirou | *wirobi |
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *dūnom | *dūnou | *dūnā |
| Vocative | *dūnom | *dūnou | *dūnā |
| Accusative | *dūnom | *dūnou | *dūnā |
| Genitive | *dūni | *dūnūs | *dūnom |
| Dative | *dūnūi | *dūnobom | *dūnobo |
| Ablative | *dūnū | *dūnobim | *dūnobi |
| Instrumental | *dūnū | *dūnobim | *dūnūs |
| Locative | *dūnei | *dūnou | *dūnobi |
E.g. *alisā 'alder tree' (feminine?)
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *alisā | *alisai | *alisās |
| Vocative | *alisa | *alisai | *alisās |
| Accusative | *alisām | *alisai | *alisās |
| Genitive | *alisās | *alisajous | *alisānom |
| Dative | *alisāi | *alisābom | *alisābo |
| Ablative | *alisī | *alisābim | *alisābi |
| Instrumental | *alisī | *alisābim | *alisābi |
| Locative | *alisāi | *alisābim | *alisābi |
E.g. *kumbās 'coombe' (masculine)
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *kumbā | *kumbai | *kumbās |
| Vocative | *kumba | *kumbai | *kumbās |
| Accusative | *kumbām | *kumbai | *kumbās |
| Genitive | *kumbās | *kumbajous | *kumbānom |
| Dative | *kumbāi | *kumbābom | *kumbābo |
| Ablative | *kumbī | *kumbābim | *kumbābi |
| Instrumental | *kumbī | *kumbābim | *kumbābi |
| Locative | *kumbāi | *kumbābim | *kumbābi |
E.g. *matus 'he-bear' (masculine)
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *matus | *matou | *matowes |
| Vocative | *matu | *matou | *matowes |
| Accusative | *matum | *matou | *matūs |
| Genitive | *matous | *matowou | *matujom |
| Dative | *matou | *matoubom | *matoubo |
| Ablative | *matū | *matoubim | *matoubi |
| Instrumental | *matū | *matoubim | *matoubi |
| Locative | *matū | *matoubim | *matoubi |
E.g. *dānu 'valley river' (neuter?)
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *dānu | *dānou | *dānwā |
| Vocative | *dānu | *dānou | *dānwā |
| Accusative | *dānu | *dānou | *dānwā |
| Genitive | *dānous | *dānowou | *dānujom |
| Dative | *dānou | *dānoubom | *dānoubo |
| Ablative | *dānū | *dānoubim | *dānoubi |
| Instrumental | *dānū | *dānoubim | *dānoubi |
| Locative | *dānū | *dānoubim | *dānoubi |
E.g. *albis 'alp' (masculine?)
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *albis | *albī | *albejes |
| Vocative | *albis | *albī | *albejes |
| Accusative | *albim | *albī | *albīs |
| Genitive | *albeis | *albjous | *albjom |
| Dative | *albei | *albibom | *albibo |
| Ablative | *albī | *albibim | *albibi |
| Instrumental | *albī | *albibim | *albibi |
| Locative | *albī | *albibim | *albibi |
E.g. *rīganīs 'queen' (feminine)
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *rīganīs | *rīganī | *rīganes |
| Vocative | *rīganīs | *rīganī | *rīganes |
| Accusative | *rīganīm | *rīganī | *rīganīs |
| Genitive | *rīganos | *rīganou | *rīganom |
| Dative | *rīganei | *rīganībom | *rīganībo |
| Ablative | *rīganī | *rīganībim | *rīganībi |
| Instrumental | *rīganī | *rīganībim | *rīganībi |
| Locative | *rīganī | *rīganībim | *rīganībi |
E.g. *blawi 'hair' (neuter?)
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *blawi | *blawī | *blawjā |
| Vocative | *blawi | *blawī | *blawjā |
| Accusative | *blawi | *blawī | *blawjā |
| Genitive | *blaweis | *blawjous | *blawjom |
| Dative | *blawei | *blawibom | *blawibo |
| Ablative | *blawī | *blawibim | *blawibi |
| Instrumental | *blawī | *blawibim | *blawibi |
| Locative | *blawī | *blawibim | *blawibi |
Before the *-s of the nominative singular, a velar consonant was neutralised to *-x-: *rīg- "king" > *rīxs. Likewise, final *-d became *-t-: *druwid- "druid" > *druwits.
E.g. rīxs 'king' (masculine)
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *rīxs | *rīge | *rīges |
| Vocative | *rīxs | *rīge | *rīges |
| Accusative | *rīgem | *rīge | *rīgas |
| Genitive | *rīgos | *rīgou | *rīgom |
| Dative | *rīgei | *rīgobom | *rīgobo |
| Ablative | *rīgī | *rīgobim | *rīgobi |
| Instrumental | *rīge | *rīgobim | *rīgobi |
| Locative | *rīgi | *rīgobim | *rīgobi |
E.g. *druwits 'druid' (masculine)
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *druwits | *druwide | *druwides |
| Vocative | *druwits | *druwide | *druwides |
| Accusative | *druwidem | *druwide | *druwidas |
| Genitive | *druwidos | *druwidou | *druwidom |
| Dative | *druwidei | *druwidobom | *druwidobo |
| Ablative | *druwidī | *druwidobim | *druwidobi |
| Instrumental | *druwide | *druwidobim | *druwidobi |
| Locative | *druwidi | *druwidobim | *druwidobi |
E.g. *karnuxs 'carnyx' (masculine?)
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *karnuxs | *karnuke | *karnukes |
| Vocative | *karnuxs | *karnuke | *karnukes |
| Accusative | *karnukem | *karnuke | *karnukas |
| Genitive | *karnukos | *karnukou | *karnukom |
| Dative | *karnukei | *karnukobom | *karnukobo |
| Ablative | *karnukī | *karnukobim | *karnukobi |
| Instrumental | *karnuke | *karnukobim | *karnukobi |
| Locative | *karnuki | *karnukobim | *karnukobi |
E.g. *dants 'tooth' (masculine)
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | *dants | *dante | *dantes |
| Vocative | *dants | *dante | *dantes |
| Accusative | *dantem | *dante | *dantas |
| Genitive | *dantos | *dantou | *dantom |
| Dative | *dantei | *dantobom | *dantobo |
| Ablative | *dantī | *dantobim | *dantobi |
| Instrumental | *dante | *dantobim | *dantobi |
| Locative | *danti | *dantobim | *dantobi |
Generally, nasal stems end in *-on-, this becomes *-ū in the nominative singular: *abon-- "river" > *abū.
E.g. *abū 'river' (feminine)
| Number | Nominative | Vocative | Accusative | Genitive | Dative | Ablative | Instrumental | Locative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | *abū | *abū | *abonem | *abonos | *abonei | *abonī | *abone | *aboni |
| Dual | *abone | *abone | *abone | *abonou | *abonobom | *abonobim | *abonobim | *abonobim |
| Plural | *abones | *abones | *abonas | *abonom | *abonobo | *abonobi | *abonobi | *abonobi |
E.g. *kangsmã 'step' (masculine)
| Number | Nominative | Vocative | Accusative | Genitive | Dative | Ablative | Instrumental | Locative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | *kangsmã | *kangsmã | *kangsmanem | *kangsmanos | *kangsmanei | *kangsmanī | *kangsmane | *kangsmani |
| Dual | *kangsmane | *kangsmane | *kangsmane | *kangsmanou | *kangsmanobom | *kangsmanobim | *kangsmanobim | *kangsmanobim |
| Plural | *kangsmanes | *kangsmanes | *kangsmanas | *kangsmanom | *kangsmanobo | *kangsmanobi | *kangsmanobi | *kangsmanobi |
Generally, *s-stems end in *-es-, which becomes *-os in the nominative singular: *teges- 'house' > *tegos.
E.g. *tegos 'house' (masculine)
| Number | Nominative | Vocative | Accusative | Genitive | Dative | Ablative | Instrumental | Locative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | *tegos | *tegos | *tegesem | *tegesos | *tegesei | *tegesī | *tegese | *tegesi |
| Dual | *tegese | *tegese | *tegese | *tegesou | *tegesobom | *tegesobim | *tegesobim | *tegesobim |
| Plural | *tegeses | *tegeses | *tegesas | *tegesom | *tegesobo | *tegesobi | *tegesobi | *tegesobi |
E.g. *φatīr 'father' (masculine)
| Number | Nominative | Vocative | Accusative | Genitive | Dative | Ablative | Instrumental | Locative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | *φatīr | *φatīr | *φater | *φatros | *φatrei | *φatrī | *φatre | *φatri |
| Dual | *φatre | *φatre | *φatre | *φatrou | *φatrebom | *φatrebim | *φatrebim | *φatrebim |
| Plural | *φatres | *φatres | *φatras | *φatrom | *φatrebo | *φatrebi | *φatrebi | *φatrebi |
E.g. *mātīr 'mother' (feminine)
| Number | Nominative | Vocative | Accusative | Genitive | Dative | Ablative | Instrumental | Locative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | *mātīr | *mātīr | *māter | *mātros | *mātrei | *mātrī | *mātre | *mātri |
| Dual | *mātre | *mātre | *mātre | *mātrou | *mātrebom | *mātrebim | *mātrebim | *mātrebim |
| Plural | *mātres | *mātres | *mātras | *mātrom | *mātrebo | *mātrebi | *mātrebi | *mātrebi |
From comparison between early Old Irish and Gaulish forms it seems that Continental and Insular Celtic verbs were to develop differently and so the study of Irish and Welsh may have unduly weighted past opinion of proto-Celtic verbal morphology. It can be inferred from Gaulish and Celtiberian as well as Insular Celtic that the proto-Celtic verb had at least three moods:
and four tenses:
A probable optative mood also features in Gaulish (tixsintor) and an infinitive (with a characteristic ending -unei) in Celtiberian.[3][4]
The date when Proto-Celtic became a separate language is controversial. In the past an association with particular archaeological cultures had been assumed, then the method of glottochronology was used. Both are not satisfactory for many reasons. In the last decade or so a number of groups have addressed this question using modern computational methods, with differing results. Gray and Atkinson estimated a date of 6100 BP (4100 BCE) while Forster and Toth suggest a date of 8100 BP (6100 BCE), but such early dates are not generally accepted. Both these dates are subject to considerable estimating uncertainty, perhaps +/-1500 years. In the Paleolithic Continuity Theory Celtic is proposed to have emerged from the Iberian refuge after the Last Glacial Maximum, but this theory is not generally accepted.
Proto-Celtic may have been spoken to as late as 800 BCE, see Celtic languages.
| For a list of words relating to Proto-Celtic language, see the Proto-Celtic language category of words in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
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. Unfortunately, those dictionaries published by Brill in the Leiden series have been removed from the University databases for copyright reasons. However, somebody has made an Excel file from Matasović's dictionary and uploaded on Google Docs.
Alternatively, a reference for Proto-Celtic vocabulary is provided by the University of Wales at the following sites: