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British language (Celtic)

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This article is about the ancient, now extinct British language. For the dialect of English, please refer to British English.

British was an ancient Celtic language spoken in much of southern and central Britain, up to the central lowlands of Scotland.[#endnote_gaelic]

Contents

History

Very little is known about British, as there are no written texts in Britain about the language [[Citing sources citation needed]]. An important discussion about the language was given by Kenneth Jackson in his book, Language and History in Early Britain, published in 1953. The British language changed in structure after the Roman period and evolved into Common Brittonic, spoken over the whole of Britain. However, with the Anglo-Saxon invasions and progressive occupation of what became England, the Celtic languages were mainly restricted to the west and south-west. However, languages derived from British have continued to be spoken in Britain to the present day. Surprisingly few British words have been adopted into modern English.

One source of information about the language in Britain is the names of British chieftains on coins in the pre-Roman period. Apparently-British names continued to be used in the early Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms.

Place-names are another type of evidence. The place names of Roman Britain were discussed by Rivet and Smith in their book of that name published in 1979. They show that the majority of names used were derived from British. English place names still contain elements derived from British in a few cases.

Rare inscriptions in British survive - there is an inscription on a metal pendant discovered in 1979 in Bath (Lambert 2003, Tomlin 1987):

Adixovi Devina Devada Andagin Vindiorix Cvam Vnai
In the post-Roman period, inscriptions in Ogham, some of which are in British, demonstrate the evolution of the British language towards Old Welsh (Sims-Williams).

Continental European knowledge of the tongue is found in Latin or Ancient Greek texts; even then, it is limited to a few names of people and places. Comparison with Continental Celtic languages, specifically Gaulish, shows that it was very similar to other Celtic languages of the time.

British had always competed with Latin since the Roman invasion of AD 43, at least, in major settlements. A number of Latin words were borrowed by British speakers. The Anglo-Saxon invasions several centuries later marked the beginning of a decline in the language, as the language known as English spread through much of Britain. By AD 700, British was mainly spoken in Cumbria, Cornwall and Wales possibly together with parts of Scotland. Its descendants today are Cornish, Welsh and Breton. (For more information, see Cornish language and Welsh language.)

Place names

British survives today in English place names and river names. The best example is perhaps that of the River(s) Avon, which comes from the British abona "river" (compare Welsh afon, Cornish avon, Cumbric, avan Irish abhainn, Manx awin).

Glossary of some known British words

Notes

  1. ↑  - Language in the British Isles

References

 

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