Formerly widespread in much of Europe and central Anatolia; today Cornwall, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Brittany, the Isle of Man, Chubut Province (Y Wladfa), and Nova Scotia
Linguistic classification
Indo-European
Italo-Celtic?
Celtic
Proto-language
Proto-Celtic
Subdivisions
Celtiberian †
(?) Gallaecian †
Lepontic †
Cisalpine Gaulish †
Transalpine Gaulish †
(?) Noric (unclassified) †
Brittonic
Goidelic
ISO 639-2 / 5
cel
Linguasphere
50= (phylozone)
Glottolog
celt1248
Distribution of Celtic speakers:
Hallstatt culture area, 6th century BC
Maximal Celtic expansion, c. 275 BC
Lusitanian area; Celtic affiliation unclear
Areas where Celtic languages were spoken in the Middle Ages
Areas where Celtic languages remain widely spoken today
The Celtic languages (/ˈkɛltɪk/KEL-tik) are a group of related languages descended from Proto-Celtic. They form a branch of the Indo-European language family.[1] The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707,[2] following Paul-Yves Pezron, who made the explicit link between the Celts described by classical writers and the Welsh and Breton languages.[3]
During the first millennium BC, Celtic languages were spoken across much of Europe and central Anatolia. Today, they are restricted to the northwestern fringe of Europe and a few diaspora communities. There are six living languages: the four continuously living languages Breton, Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Welsh, and the two revived languages Cornish and Manx. All are minority languages in their respective countries, though there are continuing efforts at revitalisation. Welsh is an official language in Wales and Irish is an official language of Ireland and of the European Union. Welsh is the only Celtic language not classified as endangered by UNESCO. The Cornish and Manx languages became extinct in modern times. They have been the object of revivals and now each has several hundred second-language speakers.
Irish, Manx and Scottish Gaelic form the Goidelic languages, while Welsh, Cornish and Breton are Brittonic. All of these are Insular Celtic languages, since Breton, the only living Celtic language spoken in continental Europe, is descended from the language of settlers from Britain. There are a number of extinct but attested continental Celtic languages, such as Celtiberian, Galatian and Gaulish. Beyond that there is no agreement on the subdivisions of the Celtic language family. They may be divided into P-Celtic and Q-Celtic.
The Celtic languages have a rich literary tradition. The earliest specimens of written Celtic are Lepontic inscriptions from the 6th century BC in the Alps. Early Continental inscriptions used Italic and Paleohispanic scripts. Between the 4th and 8th centuries, Irish and Pictish were occasionally written in an original script, Ogham, but Latin script came to be used for all Celtic languages. Welsh has had a continuous literary tradition from the 6th century AD.
^"The Celtic languages: An Overview", Donald MacAulay, The Celtic Languages, ed. Donald MacAulay, Cambridge University Press, 1992, 3.
^Cunliffe, Barry W. 2003. The Celts: a very short introduction. pg.48
Celticlanguages (/ˈkɛltɪk/ KEL-tik) are a group of related languages descended from Proto-Celtic. They form a branch of the Indo-European language family...
Insular Celticlanguages are the group of Celticlanguages spoken in Brittany, Great Britain, Ireland, and the Isle of Man. All surviving Celticlanguages are...
of the two branches of the Insular Celticlanguage family; the other is Goidelic. It comprises the extant languages Breton, Cornish, and Welsh. The name...
The Continental Celticlanguages are the now-extinct group of the Celticlanguages that were spoken on the continent of Europe and in central Anatolia...
or Celtic peoples (/ˈkɛltɪk/ KEL-tick) were a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia, identified by their use of Celticlanguages and...
The Celtic nations or Celtic countries are a cultural area and collection of geographical regions in Northwestern Europe where the Celticlanguages and...
languages (Irish: teangacha Gaelacha; Scottish Gaelic: cànanan Goidhealach; Manx: çhengaghyn Gaelgagh) form one of the two groups of Insular Celtic languages...
languages, but these numbers declined sharply throughout the Anglo-Saxon period (between the fifth and eleventh centuries), when Brythonic languages were...
conclude to a group of closely related languages termed Celticlanguages. Linguistic classification of languages by the Tree Method, or Genetic Method...
the P-Celtic speakers of Great Britain, to complement Goidel; hence the adjective Brythonic refers to the group of languages. "Brittonic languages" is a...
Indo-European Paleohispanic language. There has been support for either a connection with the ancient Italic languages or Celticlanguages. It is known from only...
The languages of Scotland belong predominantly to the Germanic and Celticlanguage families. The main language now spoken in Scotland is English, while...
the languages of the Celtic Britons were rapidly diverging into Neo-Brittonic: Welsh, Cumbric, Cornish, Breton, and possibly the Pictish language. Over...
insular Celticlanguage allied to the Q-Celtic (Goidelic) languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx). Pictish was one of the Pre-Indo-European languages, a...
ancient peoples whose language is uncertain, but have cultural and stylistic similarities with speakers of Celticlanguages. Celtic art is a difficult term...
Gallaecian or Northwestern Hispano-Celtic is an extinct Celticlanguage of the Hispano-Celtic group. It was spoken by the Gallaeci in the northwest of...
continental Celtic peoples, such as the Gauls and Celtiberians, did not survive their conquest by the Roman Empire, the loss of their Celticlanguages and their...
(modern) Celticlanguages Proto-CelticlanguageCeltic music Celtic nations Celtic F.C., a Scottish professional football club based in Glasgow Celtic F.C...
cultural output relating to the Celtic-speaking peoples (i.e. speakers of Celticlanguages). This ranges from linguistics, literature and art history, archaeology...
Cisalpine Celticlanguages of northern Italy include the Lepontic language and the Cisalpine Gaulish language. Transalpine Celtic refers to Celticlanguages on...
the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places particular emphasis on promoting the Celticlanguages of those nations. It also advocates...
also be termed "Celtic" because it is written and recorded in a Celticlanguage, regardless of musical style. Many of the Celticlanguages have experienced...
Walter W (1888), An Etymological Dictionary the English Language [4]. Celts and CelticLanguages This article includes a language-related list of lists....
Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celticlanguage group spoken in Brittany, part of modern-day France. It is the only Celticlanguage still widely in use...
The Celtic deities are known from a variety of sources such as written Celtic mythology, ancient places of worship, statues, engravings, religious objects...
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