Gaulish language
From Freepedia
| Language classification |
|---|
| Indo-European Celtic |
Gaulish is the name given to the Celtic language that was spoken in Gaul before the Vulgar Latin of the late Roman Empire became dominant in Roman Gaul. The language is known from several hundred inscriptions on stone, on ceramic vessels and other artefacts, and on coins, and occasionally on metal (lead, and on one occasion zinc). They are found in the entire area of Roman Gaul, i.e., mostly in the area of modern France, as well as parts of Switzerland, Italy, Germany and Belgium (Meid 1994).
Gaulish is paraphyletically grouped with Celtiberian, Lepontic, and Galatian as Continental Celtic.
Contents |
Phonology
- vowels:
- short: a, e, i, o u
- long ā, ē, ī, (ō), ū
- semivowels: w, y
- occlusives:
- voiceless: p, t, k
- voiced: b, d, g
- resonants
- nasals: m, n
- liquids r, l
- sibilant: s
- affricate: ts
[χ] is an allophone of /k/ before /t/.
Orthography
The alphabet of Lugano used in Gallia Cisalpina for Lepontic:
- AEIKLMNOPRSTΘUVXZ
The alphabet of Lugano does not distinguish voiced and unvoiced occlusives, i.e. P represents /b/ or /p/, T is for /t/ or /d/, K for /g/ or /k/. Z is probably for /ts/. U /u/ and V /w/ are distinguished. Θ is probably for /t/ and X for /g/.
The Eastern Greek alphabet used in southern Gallia Transalpina:
- αβγδεζηθικλμνξοπρστυχω
χ is used for [χ], θ for /ts/, ου for /u/, /ū/, /w/, η and ω for both long and short /e/, /ē/ and /o/, /ō/, while ι is for short /i/ and ει for /ī/. Note that the Sigma in the Eastern Greek alphabet looks like a C (lunate sigma).
Latin alphabet (monumental and cursive) in use in Roman Gaul:
- ABCDÐEFGHIKLMNOPQRSTUVXZ
- abcdðefghiklmnopqrstuvxz
G and K are sometimes used interchangeably. Ð/ð, ds and s may represent /ts/. X, x is for [χ] or /ks/. EV can be used interchangeably with OV (e.g. L-3, L-12). Q is only used rarely (e.g. Sequanni, Equos) and may be an archaism. Ð and ð are used here to represent the letter Tau Gallicum (Eska 1998), which has not yet been added to Unicode. In contrast to Ð the central bar extends right across the glyph.
Sound laws
- Gaulish changed PIE voiceless labiovelars kw to p (hence P-Celtic), a development also observed in Brythonic (as well as Greek and some Italic languages), while the other Celtic, 'Q-Celtic', retained the labiovelar. Thus the Gaulish word for "son" was mapos (Delmarre 2003 pp. 216-217), contrasting with Primitive Irish maqi (Sims-Williams 2003 pp.430-431). Similarly one Gaulish word for "horse" was epos while Old Irish has ech, both derived from Indo-European *ekuos (Delmarre 2003 pp.163-164)
- Voiced labiovelar gw became w, e. g. uediiumi < gwediūmi "I pray".
- PIE tst became /ts/, spelled ð, e.g. neððamon from *nedz-tamo.
- PIE ew became ow, and later ō, e.g. *teutā > touta, tota.
Grammar
There was some areal (or genetic, see Italo-Celtic) similarity to Latin grammar, and the French historian A. Lot argued that this helped the rapid adoption of Latin in Roman Gaul.
Cases
Gaulish has six or seven cases (Lambert 2003 pp.51-67). In common with Latin it has nominative, vocative, accusative, genitive and dative; where Latin has an ablative, Gaulish has an instrumental and may also have a locative. There is more evidence for common cases (nominative and accusative) and for common stems (-o- and -a- stems) than there is for cases less frequently used in inscriptions, or rarer stems such as -i-, -n- and occlusive. The following table summarizes the case endings which are most securely known. A blank means that the form is unattested.
| Case | -a stem | -o stem |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | Epona | Maponos |
| Vocative | Epona | Mapone |
| Accusative | Eponin | Maponon |
| Genitive | Eponias | Maponi |
| Dative | Eponai | Maponu |
| Instrumental | Eponia | Maponu |
| Locative | Mapone |
| Case | -a stem | -o stem |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | Eponias | Maponi |
| Vocative | ||
| Accusative | Eponas | Maponus |
| Genitive | Eponanon | Maponon |
| Dative | Eponabo | Maponobo |
| Instrumental | Maponus | |
| Locative |
In some cases a historical evolution is known, for example the dative singular of -a- stems is -ai in the oldest inscriptions, becoming first -e and finally -i.
Numerals
Ordinal numerals from the La Graufesenque graffiti
- cintux[so (Welsh cyntaf, Old Irish cétnae, Breton kentañ = "first")
- allos (Welsh ail, OIr aile = other, Breton all ="other")
- tritios (Welsh trydydd, OIr treide)
- pentuar[ios (Welsh pedwerydd, OIr cethramad)
- pinpetos (Ml Welsh pymhet (now pumed), OIr cóiced)
- suexos (maybe mistaken for suextos, Welsh chweched, OIr seissed)
- sextametos (Welsh seithfed, OIr sechtmad)
- oxtumeto[s (Welsh wythfed, OIr ochtmad)
- namet[os (Welsh nawfed, OIr nómad, Breton navet)
- decametos, decometos (Welsh degfed, OIr dechmad, Celtiberian dekametam)
Corpus
The Gaulish corpus is edited in the Receuil des Inscriptions Gauloises (R.I.G.), in four volumes:
- Vol. 1: Inscriptions in the Greek alphabet, edited by Michel Lejeune (items G-1 –G-281)
- Vol. 2.1: Inscriptions in the Etruscan alphabet (Lepontic, items E-1 – E-6), and inscriptions in the Latin alphabet in stone (items L1 – L-16), edited by Michel Lejeune
- Vol. 2.2: inscriptions in the Latin alphabet on instruments (ceramic, lead, glass etc.), edited by Pierre-Yves Lambert (items L-18 – L-139)
- Vol. 3: The calendars of Coligny (73 fragments) and Villards d'Heria (8 fragments), edited by Paul-Marie Duval and Georges Pinault
- Vol. 4: inscriptions on coins, edited by Jean-Baptiste Colbert de Beaulieu and Brigitte Fischer (338 items)
The longest known Gaulish text was found in 1983 in L'Hospitalet-du-Larzac (43°58′ N 3°12′ E) in Aveyron. It is inscribed in Latin cursive script on two small sheets of lead. The content is a magical incantation regarding one Severa Tertionicna and a coven of witches (mnas brictas "magical women"), but the exact meaning of the text remains undeciphered.
The Coligny calendar was found in Coligny near Lyons, France with a statue identified as Apollo. The Coligny Calendar is a lunisolar calendar that divides the year into two parts with the months underneath. SAMON "summer" and GIAMON "winter". The date of SAMON- xvii is identified as TRINVX[tion] SAMO[nii] SINDIV.
Another major text is the lead tablet of Chamalières (L-100), written on lead in Latin cursive script, in twelve lines, apparently a curse or incantation addressed to the god Maponos. It was buried near a spring.
The graffito of La Graufesenque, Millau ([1] 44° 05′ 36″ N, 3° 05′ 33″ E), inscribed in Latin cursive on a ceramic plate, is our most important source for Gaulish numerals. It was probably written in a ceramic factory, referring to furnaces numbered one to ten.
A number of short inscriptions are found on whorls. They are among the latest testimonies of Gaulish. These whorls were apparently presented to young girls by their suitors, and bear inscriptions such as moni gnatha gabi / buððutton imon (L-119) "my girl, give my a kiss" and geneta imi / daga uimpi (L-120) approx. "I am a pretty girl".
Inscriptions found in Switzerland are rare, but a lot of modern placenames are derived from Gaulish names. There is a statue of a seated goddess with a bear found in Muri near Berne, with a Latin inscription DEAE ARTIONI LIVINIA SABILLINA, suggesting a Gaulish Artiyon- "bear goddess". A number of coins with Gaulish inscriptions in the Greek alphabet have been found in Switzerland, e.g. RIG IV Nrs. 92 (Ligones) and 267 (Leuci). A sword dating to the La Tène period was found in Port near Bienne, its blade inscribed with KORICIOC, probably the name of the smith. The most notable inscription found in Helvetic parts is the Berne Zinc tablet, inscribed ΔΟΒΝΟΡΗΔΟ ΓΟΒΑΝΟ ΒΡΕΝΟΔΩΡ ΝΑΝΤΑΡΩΡ, and apparently dedicated to Gobannus, the Gallo-Roman god of smithcraft.
History
The earliest Continental Celtic inscriptions, dating to as early as the 6th century BC, are in Lepontic (sometimes considered a dialect of Gaulish), found in Gallia Cisalpina and were written in a form of the Old Italic alphabet. Inscriptions in the Greek alphabet from the 3rd century BC have been found in the area near the mouths of the Rhone, while later inscriptions dating to Roman Gaul are mostly in the Latin alphabet.
Gregory of Tours wrote in the 6th century that some people in his area could still speak Gaulish.
References
- Delamarre, X. (2003). Dictionnaire de la Langue Gauloise (2nd ed.). Paris: Editions Errance. ISBN 2-287772-237-6
- Eska, Joseph F. (1998) "Tau Gallicum". Studia Celtica 32
- Lambert, Pierre-Yves (2003) La language gauloise (2nd ed.) Paris: Editions Errance. ISBN 2-87772-224-4
- Meid, Wolfgang (1994) Gaulish Inscriptions. Budapest: Archaeolingua. ISBN 963-846-06-6
- Sims-Williams, Patrick (2003) The Celtic Inscriptions of Britain: phonology and chronology, c.400-1200 Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 1-4051-0903-3
See also
External links
- L.A. Curchin, "Gaulish language"
- Gaulish language on TIED
- The Coligny Calendar
- All Saints Day: Coligny Calendar
- two sample inscriptions on TITUS
