Tartessian
Spoken in	Southwest Iberian Peninsula
Extinct	after 5th century BC
Language family	unclassified
Language codes
ISO 639-3	txr
Tartessian language in the context of paleohispanic languages
This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters.

Approximate extension of the area under Tartessian influence.

Herdade da Abobada (Almodôvar). Museu da Rainha D. Leonor, Beja

Fonte Velha (Bensafrim, Lagos)

The Tartessian language is the extinct Paleohispanic language of inscriptions in the Southwestern script found in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula: mainly in the south of Portugal (Algarve and southern Alentejo), but also in Spain (south of Extremadura and western Andalusia). There are 95 of these inscriptions with the longest having 82 readable signs. Around one-third of them have been found in Early Iron Age necropolises or other Iron Age burial sites associated with rich complex burials. It is usual to date them from the 7th century BC and consider the southwestern script to be the most ancient paleohispanic script with characters most closely resembling specific Phoenician letter forms found in inscriptions dated to c. 825 BC.

Meaning of the name[link]

Researchers use the term "Tartessian" to refer to the language as attested on the stelae written in the southwestern script (Untermann 1997, Koch 2010, &c.), but some researchers would prefer to reserve the term Tartessian for the language of the core Tartessian zone, attested for these researchers with some graffiti (Correa 2009, p. 277; de Hoz 2007, p. 33; 2010, pp. 362–364) like the Huelva graffiti (Untermann 1997, pp. 102–103; Mederos and Ruiz 2001) and may be with some stelae (Correa 2009, p. 276): for example Villamanrique de la Condesa (J.52.1). These researchers consider that the language of the inscriptions found outside the core Tartessian zone would be either a different language (Villar 2000, p. 423; Rodríguez Ramos 2009, p. 8; de Hoz 2010, p. 473) or maybe a Tartessian dialect (Correa 2009, p. 278), and so they would prefer to identify the language of the stelae with a different title, namely "southwestern" (Villar 2000; de Hoz 2010) or "south-Lusitanian" (Rodríguez Ramos 2009). There is general agreement that the core area of Tartessos is around Huelva extending to the valley of the Guadalquivir, while the area under Tartessian influence is much wider (Koch 2010 2011 - see maps). Three of the 95 stelae plus some graffiti, belong to the core area: Alcala del Rio (J.53.1), Villamanrique de la Condesa (J.52.1) and Puente Genil (J.51.1). Four have also been found in the Middle Guadiana (in Extremadura) and the rest have been found in the south of Portugal (Algarve and Lower Alentejo) where the Greek and Roman sources locate the Pre-Roman Cempsi and Saefs, Cynetes and the Celtici peoples.

History[link]

The most confident dating is for the Tartessian inscription (J.57.1) in the necropolis at Medellin, Badajoz, Spain to 650/625 BC.^[1] Further confirmatory dates for the Medellin necropolis include painted ceramics of the 7th-6th centuries BC.^[2]

In addition a graffito on a Phoenician sherd dated to the early to mid 7th century BC and found at the Phoenician settlement of Doña Blanca near Cadiz has been identified as Tartessian, but is only two signs long. The reading of the graffito is ]tetu[ or perhaps ]tute[ and it doesn't show the syllable-vowel redundancy characteristic of the southwestern script (Correa and Zamora 2008).

The script used in the mint of Salacia (Alcácer do Sal, Portugal) from around 200 BC may be related to the Tartessian script, though it has no syllable-vowel redundancy; violations of this are known, but it is not clear if the language of this mint corresponds with the language of the stelae (de Hoz 2010).

The Turdetani of the Roman period are generally considered the heirs of the Tartessian culture. Strabo mentions that "The Turdetanians are ranked as the wisest of the Iberians; and they make use of an alphabet, and possess records of their ancient history, poems, and laws written in verse that are six thousand years old, as they assert."^[3] It is not known when Tartessian ceased to be spoken, but Strabo (writing c. 7 BC) records that "The Turdetanians ... and particularly those that live about the Baetis, have completely changed over to the Roman mode of life, not even remembering their own language any more."^[4]

Writing[link]

Possible sound values of the Southwestern script (Rodríguez Ramos 2000)

As discussed above, Tartessian inscriptions are in the Southwestern script, also known as the Tartessian or South-lusitanian script. Like all the paleohispanic scripts, with the exception of the Greco-Iberian alphabet, Tartessian uses syllabic glyphs for plosive consonants and alphabetic letters for other consonants. Thus it is a mixture of an alphabet and a syllabary, a system called a semi-syllabary. Some researchers believe these scripts are descended solely from the Phoenician alphabet, others that the Greek alphabet had an influence as well.

The Tartessian script is very similar to the southeastern Iberian script, both in the shapes of the signs and in their values. The main difference is that southeastern Iberian script does not redundantly mark the vocalic values of syllabic characters. This was discovered by Ulrich Schmoll and allows the classification of most of the characters into vowels, consonants and syllabic characters. Unlike the northeastern Iberian script the decipherment of the southeastern Iberian script and specially the southwestern script is not still closed, because there are a significant group of signs without consensus value among the researchers that study this script (Correa 1989, Untermann 1990, Correia 1996, Rodríguez Ramos 2002; de Hoz 2010). Nevertheless, it is commonly accepted that Tartessian did not distinguish between voiced and unvoiced consonants—[t] from [d], [p] from [b], or [k] from [ɡ].

Classification attempts[link]

Tartessian is usually treated as unclassified (Correa 2009, Rodríquez Ramos 2002, de Hoz 2010) though several researchers have tried to relate Tartessian with known families of languages:

• Anatolian:
  • Positive: S. Wikander (1966) proposed that the formulaic expression bare nabe keenti/keeni, was parallel to the Lycian form sijenii found in funerary inscriptions and equivalent to Latin situs est. This would be the PIE root *k´ei- 'to lie' (cfr. Greek keimai, Sanskrit śéte) with a suffix equal to that of the Hittite type ijannai verbs. According to Wikander, the flexion keenti/keeni indicate respectively the singular and the plural as in the Anatolian conjugation *-hi. Also in nabe we should recognize the PIE ending *- bhi, which indicates the locative case. Another element of the alleged Anatolian affinity is an ending -el that would indicate the genitive case.
  • Negative: Rodríguez Ramos (2002) refuses the Anatolian hypothesis, because he argues that the morpheme -ti is incompatible with Anatolian phonetics.

• Celtic:
  • Unclassified language with Celtic features: Some Tartessian features are interpreted as Celtic or Indo-European, but the largest part of the language remains inexplicable from the Celtic or Indoeuropean point of view.
    • Positive: Correa (1989, 251) identified some Indo-European or Celtic names and elements in the Tartessian inscriptions and suggested the possible adscription of the Tartessian language to the Celtic family. Untermann (1997) added other names and elements with possible Indo-European or Celtic interpretation. Ballester (2004) thought some Tartessian elements have a Celtic character. Villar in 2004 suggested that Tartessian inscriptions contain items of 'an early Gaulish' within a non-Celtic and probably non-Indo-European matrix language making the point that the Celtic in the Tartessian inscriptions shows some linguistic features more akin with those in Gaulish than in Celtiberian.
    • Negative: Correa (1995, p. 612) in later works abandoned this hypothesis, mainly for the absence in Tartessian of the expected nominal declination of a Celtic or western Indo-European language. Rodríguez Ramos (2002, 90-91) refuses the Celtic hypothesis, because he argues that the vocalism of the anthroponyms found in the inscriptions is incompatible with Celtic phonetics. Although he doesn't reject the Indo-European hypothesis, he still considers it as highly unlikely. De Hoz (401-402) points to the absence of significant evidence of Indo-European verbal inflection and indicates that the supposed Indo-European evidence in southwestern inscriptions are scarce and the result of conflicting segmentations based only on the possibility of getting something apparently Indo-European, leaving behind extensive waste that cannot be interpreted in the same way. In addition, agrees with previous Rodriguez Ramos (2002, 90-91) arguments about vocalism and points out that the structure of syllables and words are not identified at all with what we would expect in an Indo-European language.
  • Fully Celtic language with non-Celtic borrowings: Tartessian language is interpreted as a fully Celtic language, so the Tartessian inscriptions can be translated.
    • Positive: Koch (2010 and 2011) claims that much of the Tartessian corpus can be interpreted as Celtic, with forms possibly of sufficient density to support the conclusion that Tartessian was a Celtic language, rather than a non-Celtic language containing a relatively small proportion of Celtic names and loanwords. Koch (2011 p. 2) claims that Francisco Villar now maintains that Tartessian is a language in the Celtic family. Kaufman (2012) agrees on the Celtic classification of Tartessian in his workshop "Notes on the decipherment of Tartessian as Celtic" delivered at the 14th Spring Reconstruction Workshop in Ann Arbor.^[5] Koch maintains he has achieved valid segmentations and has established Indo-European inflections such as for the verb stem naŕk^ee- which he thinks means the equivalent of "rest in peace" from Indo-European *(s)ner- 'bind, fasten with thread or cord' (cf. Greek for 'grow stiff, numb, dead') and the possible Common Celtic verb stem *lag- (cf.Old Irish laigid meaning 'lies down')' from Indo-European *leg^h meaning 'lie', e.g. for present 3rd plural active:
      • naŕk^eeni (J.1.2, J.7.2)
      • naŕk^eentⁱi (J.12.1, J.16.1, J.18.1, J.19.2)
      • naŕk^eenii (J.2.1)
      • naŕken (J.7.5)
      • lakⁱintⁱi (J.12.4) (suggested pronunciation laginti)
      • lak^eentⁱi (J.53.1)
      • ]ntⁱi at the end a fragmentary inscription (Monto Novo do Castelinho)
    • Negative: A critical view of Koch's work that considers it is not really convincing and that points out inconsistencies, in form and content, and ad hoc solutions, but recognizes that it is a strong vote for the Celtic hypothesis, can be found at Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2011.09.57.^[6]

Texts[link]

Examples from the Tartessian inscriptions (Untermann's numbering system or location name if newer in brackets references the inscriptions in the examples, e.g. (J.19.1) or (Mesas do Castelinho)):

• Mesas do Castelinho (Almodôvar) – longest Tartessian text known at present with 82 signs (80 of which have an identifiable phonetic value) and complete with substitution of well-known Tartessian formula b^aare naŕk^ee[n--] in damaged portion: (Guerra 2009)

1) tⁱilek^uurk^uuark^aast^aab^uut^eeb^aantⁱileb^ooiirerob^aarenaŕk^e[en---]aφiuu

2) lii^*eianiit^aa

3) eanirak^aalt^eet^aao

4) b^eesaru?an

Notes:

• tⁱilek^uur is proposed as a personal name.
• [en---] depends on the Indo-European inflection that applies in this case to the damaged portion containing the well-known Tartessian formula b^aare naŕk^ee[n---]. This formula contains two groups of Tartessian stems that appear to be inflected as verbs: naŕk^ee, naŕk^een, naŕk^eeii, naŕk^eenii, naŕk^eentⁱi, naŕk^eenai and b^aare, b^aaren, b^aareii and b^aarentⁱi from considering other inscriptions. (Guerra 2009)

• Fonte Velha (Bensafrim) (J.53.1):

'lok^oob^ooniirab^oot^ooaŕaiaik^aalt^eelok^onanenaŕ[-]ek^aa?ⁱiśiink^oolob^ooiit^eerob^aareb^eet^easiioonii (Untermann 1997)

• Herdade da Abobada (Almodôvar) (J.12.1)

ir´ualk^uusie : naŕk^eentⁱimub^aat^eerob^aare?^aat^aaneat^ee (Untermann 1997)

See also[link]

• Arganthonios
• Celtiberian language
• Gallaecian language
• Hispano-Celtic languages
• Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula
• Continental Celtic languages

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Ballester, Xaverio (2004): «Hablas indoeuropeas y anindoeuropeas en la Hispania prerromana», Estudios de lenguas y epigrafía antiguas – ELEA 6, pp. 107–138.
• Broderick, George (2010): «Das Handbuch der Eurolinguistik», Die vorrömischen Sprachen auf der iberischen Halbinsel, ISBN 3-447-05928-1, pp. 304–305
• Correa, José Antonio (1989): «Posibles antropónimos en las inscripciones en escritura del S.O. (o Tartesia)» Veleia; 6, pp. 243–252.
• Correa, José Antonio (1995): «Reflexiones sobre la epigrafía paleohispánica del suroeste de la Península Ibérica», Tartessos 25 años después, pp. 609–618.
• Correa, José Antonio (2009): «Identidad, cultura y territorio en la Andalucía prerromana a través de la lengua y la epigrafía», Identidades, culturas y territorios en la Andalucía prerromana, eds. F. Wulff Alonso y M. Álvarez Martí-Aguilar, Málaga, pp. 273–295.
• Correa, José Antonio, Zamora, José Ángel (2008): «Un graffito tartessio hallado en el yacimiento del Castillo do Dona Blanca», Palaeohispanica 8, pp. 179–196.
• Correia, Virgílio-Hipólito (1996): «A escrita pré-romana do Sudoeste peninsular», De Ulisses a Viriato: o primeiro milenio a.c., pp. 88–94
• Guerra, Amilcar (2002): «Novos monumentos epigrafados com escrita do Sudoeste da vertente setentrional da Serra do Caldeirao», Revista portuguesa de arqueologia 5-2, pp. 219–231.
• Guerra, Amilcar (2009): «Novidades no âmbito da epigrafia pré-romana do sudoeste hispânico» in Acta Palaeohispanica X, Palaeohispanica 9, pp. 323–338.
• Hoz, Javier de (1995): «Tartesio, fenicio y céltico, 25 años después», Tartessos 25 años después, pp. 591–607.
• Hoz, Javier de (2007): «Cerámica y epigrafía paleohispánica de fecha prerromana», Archivo Español de Arqueología 80, pp. 29–42.
• Hoz, Javier de (2010): Historia lingüística de la Península Ibérica en la antigüedad: I. Preliminares y mundo meridional prerromano, Madrid, CSIC, coll. « Manuales y anejos de Emerita » (ISBN 978-84-00-09260-3, eISBN 978-84-00-09276-4).
• Koch, John T. (2010): «Celtic from the West Chapter 9: Paradigm Shift? Interpreting Tartessian as Celtic», Oxbow Books, Oxford, ISBN 978-1-84217-410-4 pp. 187–295.
• Koch, John T. (2011): «Tartessian 2: The Inscription of Mesas do Castelinho ro and the Verbal Complex. Preliminaries to Historical Phonology», Oxbow Books, Oxford, ISBN 978-1-907029-07-3 pp. 1–198.
• Mederos, Alfredo; Ruiz, Luis (2001): «Los inicios de la escritura en la penënsula ibérica. Grafitos en cerámicas del bronce final III y fenicias», Complutum 12, pp. 97–112.
• Mikhailova, T. A. (2010) Review: "J.T. Koch. Tartessian: Celtic in the South-West at the Dawn of history (Celtic Studies Publication XIII). Aberystwyth: Centre for advanced Welsh and Celtic studies, 2009" Вопросы языкознания 2010 №3; 140-155.
• Rodríguez Ramos, Jesús (2002): «Las inscripciones sudlusitano-tartesias: su función, lingua y contexto socioeconómico», Complutum 13, pp. 85–95.
• Rodríguez Ramos, Jesús (2009): «La lengua sudlusitana», Studia Indogermanica Lodziensia VI, pp. 83–98.
• Untermann, Jürgen, ed. (1997): Monumenta Linguarum Hispanicarum. IV Die tartessischen, keltiberischen und lusitanischen Inschriften; unter Mitwirkungen von Dagmar Wodtko. Wiesbaden: Ludwig Reichert.
• Untermann, Jürgen (2000): «Lenguas y escrituras en torno a Tartessos» en ARGANTONIO. Rey de Tartessos, Madrid, pp. 69–77.
• Villar, Francisco (2000): Indoeuropeos y no indoeuropeos en la Hispania prerromana, Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca (ISBN 978-84-78-00968-8).
• Villar, Francisco (2004): «The Celtic Language of the Iberian Peninsula», Studies in Baltic and Indo-European Linguistics in Honor of William R. Schmalstieg pp. 243–274.
• Wikander, Stig (1966): «Sur la langue des inscriptions Sud-Hispaniques», in Studia Linguistica 20, 1966, pp. 1–8.

Nicholas Ostler (born 20 May 1952) is a British scholar and author. Ostler studied at Balliol College, Oxford, where he received degrees in Greek, Latin, philosophy, and economics. He later studied under Noam Chomsky at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned his Ph.D. in linguistics and Sanskrit.

His 2005 book Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World documents the spread of language throughout recorded human history.

His 2007 book Ad Infinitum: A Biography of Latin looks specifically at the language of the Romans, both before and after the existence of their Empire. The story focuses on the rise, spread, and dominance of Latin, both among other languages of the Italian peninsula in the early part of the 1st millennium BC and among the languages of Western Europe in the Dark Ages and beyond, presenting the life of Latin as any biographer would present the life of his subject. With this book, Ostler provides a strong argument against the label 'dead language' so often assigned to Latin. However, the title, 'Ad Infinitum,' refers not to this, but to his thesis that the Latin-speaking world was unconscious of its own limits, looking always back to its centre, rather than outwards.

He is currently the chairman of the Foundation for Endangered Languages, and lives in Bath, England.

Works[link]

• Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World. HarperCollins: London and New York, 2005.

• Ad Infinitum: A Biography of Latin. HarperCollins in the UK, and Walker & Co. in the USA: London and New York, 2007.

• The Last Lingua Franca: English until the Return to Babel. Penguin in the UK, and Bloomsbury/Walker Books in the USA. London and New York, 2010. (ISBN 0802717713)

References[link]

• Author: Nicholas Ostler, Harper Collins. Retrieved January 21, 2007.
• Ostler, Nicholas. Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World. New York: Harper Perennial, 2005. ISBN 0-06-093572-3
• Author: Nicholas Ostler, AP Watt (literary agent). Retrieved July 26, 2010.

External links[link]

• Ostler official site

The six Celtic nations, as recognised by the Celtic League:

  Ireland

  Scotland

  Isle of Man

  Wales

  Cornwall

  Brittany

The Celtic nations are territories in Northern and Western Europe in which that area's own Celtic languages and some cultural traits have survived.^[1]

The term "nation" is used in its original sense to mean a people who share a common traditional identity and culture and are identified with a traditional territory or region. It is not synonymous with "sovereign state".

The six territories recognised as Celtic nations are Brittany (Breizh), Cornwall (Kernow), Ireland (Éire), the Isle of Man (Mannin), Scotland (Alba), and Wales (Cymru).^[1][2] Each of these regions has a Celtic language that is either still spoken or was spoken into modern times.^[3] In addition, areas of north-western Spain, particularly Galicia, Cantabria and Asturias, are sometimes identified as Celtic, due to the unique culture of the region. Unlike the others, however, no Celtic language has been spoken there in modern times.^[4][5][6] Before the expansions of the Roman Republic and Germanic tribes, a significant part of Europe was Celtic.^[7]

Six Celtic nations[link]

Each of the six nations has its own Celtic language. In Wales, Scotland, Brittany, and Ireland, these have been spoken continuously through time, while Cornwall and the Isle of Man have languages that were spoken into modern times but later died as spoken community languages.^[8][9][10] In both of the latter regions, however, revitalization movements have led to the adoption of these languages by adults and produced a number of native speakers.^[11][12]

Ireland, Wales, Brittany and Scotland contain areas where a Celtic language is used on a daily basis – in Ireland the area is called the Gaeltacht, Y Fro Gymraeg in Wales, and in Brittany Breizh-Izel.^[13][14] Generally these communities are in the west of their countries and in upland or island areas. The term Gàidhealtachd historically distinguished the Gaelic-speaking areas of Scotland (the Highlands) from the Lowland Scots-speaking areas. More recently, this term has also been adopted as the Gaelic name of the Highland council area, which includes non-Gaelic speaking areas. Hence, more specific terms such as sgìre Ghàidhlig ("Gaelic-speaking area") are now used.

In Wales, the Welsh language is a core curriculum (compulsory) subject, which all pupils study.^[15] Additionally, 20% of school children in Wales go to Welsh medium schools, where "they are taught entirely in the Welsh language".^[16] In the Republic of Ireland, all school children study Irish as one of the three core subjects up until the end of secondary school and 7.4% of primary school education is through Irish medium education which is part of the Gaelscoil movement.^[16]

Parts of the northern Iberian Peninsula, in particular Asturias, Galicia and Northern Portugal, are sometimes counted among the modern Celtic nations. This is largely due to the region's unique culture, which is distinct from that in some other areas of Spain and Portugal. Notably, the region's music features extensive use of bagpipes, an instrument common in modern Celtic music. As such musicians from Galicia and Asturias have participated in Celtic music festivals such as the Breton Festival des Cornemuses. Northern Portugal, part of ancient Gallaecia (Galicia, Minho, Douro and Tras-os-Montes), also has traditions quite similar to Galicia. However, unlike the traditional six nations, no Celtic language has been spoken in northern Iberia since probably the Early Middle Ages.^[17][18]

The chart below shows the population of each Celtic nation and the number of people in each nation that can speak Celtic languages. The total number of people residing in the Celtic nations is 18,584,000 people and, of these, the total number of people who can speak the Celtic languages is approximately 2,882,100.

The Celtic nations (as defined by the Celtic League and other Celtic nationalists)

Nation	Celtic name	Language	People	Population	Competent speakers	Percentage of population
[19] Ireland	Éire	Irish (Gaeilge)	Irish (Éireannaigh)	6,260,000	Republic: 1,774,437[20] Northern: 167,000[21]	Republic: 41.4%[20] Northern: 10.4%[21]
Wales	Cymru	Welsh (Cymraeg)	Welsh (Cymry)	3,000,000	750,000+ total: — Wales: 611,000 [22] — England: 150,000 [23] — Argentina: 5,000 [24] — USA: 2,500 [25] — Canada: 2,200 [26]	21.7%[27]
Brittany	Breizh	Breton (Brezhoneg)	Bretons (Breizhiz)	4,300,000	206,000[28]	5%[28]
Scotland	Alba	Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig)	Scots (Albannaich)	5,000,000	92,400[29]	1.2%[30]
Cornwall	Kernow	Cornish (Kernowek)	Cornish (Kernowyon)	500,000	2,000[31]	0.1%[32][33]
Isle of Man	Mannin Ellan Vannin	Manx (Gaelg)	Manx (Manninee)	84,000	1,700[34]	2.2%[35]

Of the languages above, three belong to the Goidelic or Gaelic branch (Irish, Manx, Scottish Gaelic) and three to the Brythonic or Brittonic branch (Welsh, Cornish, Breton). Their names for each other in each language shows some of the similarities and differences:^{[citation needed]}

Celtic identity[link]

Pipers at the
Festival Interceltique de Lorient

Formal cooperation between the Celtic nations is active in many contexts, including politics, languages, culture, music and sports:

The Celtic League is an inter-Celtic political organisation, which campaigns for the political, language, cultural and social rights, affecting one or more of the Celtic nations.^[37]

Established in 1917, the Celtic Congress is a non-political organisation that seeks to promote Celtic culture and languages and to maintain intellectual contact and close cooperation between Celtic peoples.^[38]

Festivals celebrating the culture of the Celtic nations include the Festival Interceltique de Lorient (Brittany), the Pan Celtic Festival (Ireland), the National Celtic Festival (Portarlington, Australia), the Celtic Media Festival (showcasing film and television from the Celtic nations), and the Eisteddfod (Wales).^{[6][39][40][41]}

Inter-Celtic music festivals include Celtic Connections (Glasgow), and the Hebridean Celtic Festival (Stornoway).^[42][43] Due to immigration, a dialect of Scottish Gaelic (Canadian Gaelic) is spoken by some on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, while a Welsh-speaking minority exists in the Chubut Province of Argentina. Hence, for certain purposes, such as the Festival Interceltique de Lorient– Galicia, Asturias and Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia are considered three of the nine Celtic nations.^[6]

Competitions are held between the Celtic nations in sports such as rugby union (Magners League – formerly known as the Celtic League) and athletics (Celtic Cup).^[44][45]

The Republic of Ireland enjoyed a period of rapid economic growth between 1995–2007, leading to the use of the phrase Celtic Tiger to describe the country.^[46][47] Aspirations for Scotland to achieve a similar economic performance to that of Ireland's led the Scotland First Minister Alex Salmond to set out his vision of a Celtic Lion economy for Scotland, in 2007.^[48]

Terminology[link]

The term "Celtic nations" derives from the linguistics studies of the 16th century scholar George Buchanan and the polymath Edward Lhuyd.^[49] As Assistant Keeper and then Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (1691–1709), Lhuyd travelled extensively in Great Britain, Ireland and Brittany in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Noting the similarity between the languages of Brittany, Cornwall and Wales, which he called "P-Celtic" or Brythonic, the languages of Ireland, the Isle of Mann and Scotland, which he called "Q-Celtic" or Goidelic, and between the two groups, Lhuyd published Archaeologia Britannica: an Account of the Languages, Histories and Customs of Great Britain, from Travels through Wales, Cornwall, Bas-Bretagne, Ireland and Scotland in 1707. His Archaeologia Britannica concluded that all six languages derived from the same root. Lhuyd theorised that the root language descended from the languages spoken by the Iron Age tribes of Gaul, whom Greek and Roman writers called Celtic.^[50] Having defined the languages of those areas as Celtic, the people living in them and speaking those languages became known as Celtic too. There is some dispute as to whether Lhuyd's theory is correct. Nevertheless, the term "Celtic" to describe the languages and peoples of Brittany, Cornwall and Wales, Ireland, the Isle of Mann and Scotland was accepted from the 18th century and is widely used today.^[49]

These areas of Europe are sometimes referred to as the "Celt belt" or "Celtic fringe" because of their location generally on the western edges of the continent, and of the states they inhabit (e.g. Brittany is in the northwest of France, Cornwall is in the south west of Great Britain, Wales in western Great Britain and the Gaelic-speaking parts of Ireland and Scotland are in the west of those countries).^[51][52] Additionally, this region is known as the "Celtic Crescent" because of the near crescent shaped position of the nations in Europe.^[53]

Territories of the ancient Celts[link]

The Celts in Europe, past and present:

  areas where Celtic languages are widely spoken

  the six most commonly recognised 'Celtic nations'

  maximum Celtic expansion, by the 3rd century BC

  core Hallstatt territory, by the 6th century BC

During the European Iron Age, the ancient Celts extended their territory to most of Western and Central Europe and part of Eastern Europe and central Anatolia.

The Continental Celtic languages were extinct by the Early Middle Ages, and the continental "Celtic cultural traits", such as an oral traditions and practices like the visiting of sacred wells and springs, largely disappeared or, in some cases, were translated and Christianized, as Christianity fought against "paganism".

Since they no longer have a living Celtic language, they are not included as 'Celtic nations'. Nonetheless, some of these countries have movements claiming a "Celtic identity"

Iberian Peninsula[link]

Iberian Peninsula at about 200 BC [1].

The Iberian Peninsula was an area heavily influenced by Celtic culture, particularly the ancient region of Gallaecia (the modern Spanish / N. Portuguese regions of Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, León, Minho, Douro, Tras-os-Montes / N. Portugal) and Old Castile. Some of the Celtic tribes recorded in these regions by the Romans were the Gallaeci, the Bracari, the Astures, the Cantabri, the Celtici, the Celtiberi. The Lusitanians might also have been Celtic - certainly their culture was Celtic dominant. Modern-day Galicians, Asturians, Cantabrians and northern Portuguese (in the Minho, Douro and Tras-os-Montes regions), claim a Celtic heritage or identity. Although the Celtic cultural traces are as difficult to analyse as in the other former Celtic countries of Europe, because of the extinction of Iberian Celtic languages in Roman times, Celtic heritage is attested in toponymics and language substratum, ancient texts, folklore and music.^[5][54] A final, late Celtic influence is also attributed to the fifth century Romano-Briton colony of Britonia in Galicia.

Tenth century Middle Irish mythical history Lebor Gabála Érenn (Irish: Leabhar Gabhála Éireann) credited Gallaecia as the point from where the Gallaic Celts sailed to conquer Ireland.

England[link]

Principal sites in Roman Britain, with indication of the Celtic tribes.

In Celtic languages, England is usually referred to as "Saxon-land" (Sasana, Pow Sows, Bro-Saoz etc.), and in Welsh as Lloegr (though the Welsh translation of English (language) also refers to the Saxon route: Saesneg, with the English people being referred to as "Saeson", or "Saes" in the singular). The mildly derogatory Scottish term Sassenach derives from this source. This is because the Celtic peoples of what is now England succumbed to the invading Saxons and were either driven out of their lands, killed or assimilated into the culture of Englalond. However, spoken Cumbric survived until the 12th century, Cornish until the 18th century, and Welsh within the Welsh Marches, notably in Archenfield, now part of Herefordshire, until the 19th century. Both Cumbria and Cornwall were traditionally Brythonic in culture and are considered so by many in England; Anglo-Saxon settlement in these areas was historically small. Cornwall existed as an independent state for some time after the foundation of England, and Cumbria originally retained a great deal of autonomy within the Kingdom of Northumbria. The unification of the Anglian kingdom of Northumbria with the Cumbric kingdom of Cumbria came about due to a political marriage between the Northumbrian King Oswiu and Queen Riemmelth. Though the Anglian settlement in Cumbria was as a whole minor, they settled in the Eden valley and along the north and south coasts. The placename Inglewood attests to the Anglian presence, even if it is, by and large, minor.

Movements of population between different parts of Great Britain over the last two centuries, with industrial development and changes in living patterns such as the growth of second home ownership, have greatly modified the demographics of these areas, including the Isles of Scilly off the coast of Cornwall, although Cornwall in particular retains unique cultural features, and a Cornish self-government movement is well established.^[55]

Remnants of Brythonic and Cumbric placenames are sometimes seen throughout spots in England but are more common in the West than the East, mainly in the traditionally Celtic areas of Cornwall and Cumbria. Elements such as caer 'fort' as in the Cumbrian city of Carlisle, pen 'hill' as in the Cumbrian town of Penrith and craig 'crag, rock' as in High Crag. The name 'Cumbria' is derived from the same root as Cymru, the Welsh name for Wales, meaning 'the land of comrades'. There is a current attempt to revive Cumbric and about 50 words of a reconstructed, hypothetical "Cumbric" exist.

Formerly Gaulish regions[link]

Repartition of Gaul ca. 54 BC

Most French people identify with the ancient Gauls and are well aware that they were a people that spoke Celtic languages and lived Celtic ways of life.^[56] Nowadays, the popular nickname Gaulois, "Gaulish people", is very often used to mean 'stock French people' to make the difference with the descendants of foreigners in France.

The French- and Arpitan-speaking Aosta Valley region in Italy also presents a casual claim of Celtic heritage.^[57] The Northern League autonomist party often exalts what it claims are the Celtic roots of all Northern Italy or Padania.^[58] Reportedly, Friuli also has an ephemeral claim to Celticity.^[59]

Walloons occasionally characterise themselves as "Celts", mainly in opposition to the "Teutonic" Flemish and "Latin" French identities.^[60] Others think they are Belgian, that is to say Germano-Celtic people different of the Gaulish-Celtic French.^[60]

The ethnonym "Walloon" derives from a Germanic word meaning "foreign", cognate with the words "Welsh" and "Vlach". The name of Belgium, home country of the Walloon people, is cognate with the Celtic tribal names Belgae and (possibly) the Irish legendary Fir Bolg.

Central and Eastern European regions[link]

Celtic tribes inhabited land in what is now southern Germany and Austria.^[61] Many scholars have associated the earliest Celtic peoples with the Hallstatt culture.^[62] Boii, Scordisci^[63] and the Vindelici^[64] are some of the tribes that inhabited Central Europe, including what is now Slovakia, Serbia, Croatia, Poland and the Czech Republic as well as Germany and Austria. The Boii gave their name to Bohemia.^[65] The Boii founded a city on the site of modern Prague, and some of its ruins are now a tourist attraction.^[66] There are claims among modern Czechs that the Czech people are as much descendants of the Boii as they are from the later Slavic invaders (as well as the historical Germanic peoples of Czech lands). This claim may not only be political: according to a 2000 study by Semino, 35.6% of Czechoslovak males have y-chromosome haplogroup R1b,^[67] which is common among Celts but rare among Slavs. Celts also founded Singidunum near present-day Belgrade, though the Celtic presence in modern day Serbian regions is limited to the far north (mainly including the historically at least partially Hungarian Vojvodina). The modern-day capital of Turkey, Ankara, was once the center of the Celtic culture in Central Anatolia, giving the name to the region—Galatia. The La Tène culture—named for a region in modern Switzerland—succeeded the Halstatt era in much of central Europe.^[68]

Celtic diaspora[link]

In other regions, people with a heritage from one of the Celtic nations also associate with the Celtic identity. In these areas, Celtic traditions and languages are significant components of local culture. These include the Permanent North American Gaeltacht in Tamworth, Ontario, Canada which is the only Irish Gaeltacht outside of Ireland, the Chubut valley of Patagonia with Welsh-speaking Argentines (known as Y Wladfa), Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, with Gaelic-speaking Canadians and southeast Newfoundland with Irish-speaking Canadians. Also at one point in the 1900s there were well over 12,000 Gaelic Scots from the Isle of Lewis living in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada, with place names that still exist today recalling those inhabitants.

Large swathes of the United States of America were subject to migration from Celtic peoples, or people from Celtic nations. Irish-speaking Irish Catholics congregated particularly in the East Coast cities of New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, while Scots and Ulster-Scots were particularly prominent in the Southern United States, including Appalachia.

A legend that became popular during the Elizabethan period claims that a Welsh prince named Madoc established a colony in North America in the late 12th century. The story continues that the settlers merged with local Indian tribes, who preserved the Welsh language and the Christian religion for hundreds of years.^[69] However, there is no contemporary evidence that Prince Madoc existed. An area of Pennsylvania known as the Welsh Tract was settled by Welsh Quakers, where the names of several towns still bear Welsh names, such as Bryn Mawr, Upper & Lower Gwynedd Townships and Bala Cynwyd. In the 19th century, Welsh settlers arrived in the Chubut River valley of Patagonia, Argentina and established a colony called "Y Wladfa"/"Colonia Galesa". Today, the Welsh language and Welsh tea houses are common in several towns, many of which have Welsh names. Dolavon and Trelew are examples of Welsh towns.

In his autobiography, the South African poet Roy Campbell recalled his youth in the Dargle Valley, near the city of Pietermaritzburg, where people spoke only Gaelic and Zulu.

In New Zealand, the southern regions of Otago and Southland were settled by the Free Church of Scotland. Many of the place names in these two regions (such as the main cities of Dunedin and Invercargill and the major river, the Clutha) have Scottish Gaelic names,^[70] and Celtic culture is still prominent in this area.^[71][72][73]

In addition to these, a number of people from Canada, the USA, Australia, South Africa and other parts of the former British Empire have formed various Celtic societies over the years.

See also[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• National Geographic, "The Celtic Realm". March, 2006.

External links[link]

• Celtic League
• Celtic League International
• Celtic League - American Branch
• The Celtic Realm
• Celtic-World.Net, - Various information on Celtic culture and music
• National Geographic Map: The Celtic RealmPDF (306 KB)
• Simon James Ancient Celts Page
• an article on Celtic Realms by Jim Gilchrist of The Scotsman
• The Celtic Nations Association

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