Proto-Celtic language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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 branchesItalic 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 millennium
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.
Sound changes from Proto-Indo-European
The phonological changes from Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Celtic may be summarised as
follows.
[2]
The changes are roughly in chronological order, with changes that operate on the
outcome of earlier ones appearing later in the list.
Late Proto-Indo-European
These changes were shared by several other Indo-European branches.
Palatovelars merge with the plain velars:
> k
> g
> g
Epenthetic *a is inserted after a syllabic sonorant if a laryngeal nd nohe onon
follow >
Laryngeals are lost following a vowel in syllables before the accent (VHC > VC)
Laryngeals are lost before a following vowel, colouring its quality:
he > e
he > a
he > o
HV > V
Laryngeals are lost after a preceding vowel, lengthening and colouring it:
eh >
eh >
eh >
>

Syllabic laryngeals between plosives in noninitial syllables are lost (CHC > CC)
All other syllabic laryngeals become *a (CHC > CaC)
Two adjacent dentals become *ss (TT > ss)
Early Proto-Celtic
Sequences of velar and *w merge into the labiovelars (it is uncertain if this preceded or
followed he nex chnge; h i, whehe gw > b o gw > g:
kw > k
gw > g
gw > g
g > b
Aspirated stops lose their aspiration and merge with the voiced stops (except that
this counterfeeds he peviou chnge, o *g > *g doen' eul in mege:
b > b
d > d
g > g
g > g
*e befoe eonn nd * bu no * become * well e > : *el-ro >
*gelaro > *galaro / *grH-no > *gerano > *garano. (Joseph's rule).
Epenthetic *i is inserted after syllabic liquids when followed by a plosive:
l > li
> i
Epenthetic *a is inserted before the remaining syllabic resonants:
m > m
n > n
l > l
>
All remaining nonsyllabic laryngeals are lost.
*p followed by *k le in he wod become *k ielf p...k > k...k
>
> in finl yllble
Long vowels are shortened before a syllable-final resonant (V:RC > VRC); this also
shortens long diphthongs. (Osthoff's law)
Late Proto-Celtic
Plosives become *x before a different plosive or *s (CC > xC, Cs > xs)
p > b before liquids (pL > bL)
p > w before nasals (pN > wN)
p > excep poibly fe *
>
ew > ow
uwa > owa

Examples
PIE
Proto-
Celtic
Example
Proto-Celtic Old Irish Welsh
*p * *ph > * 'father' athir
c.f. edrydd "home" (<
*ijo-)
*t *t *tryes > * 'three' tr tri
*k, *k
*khn -e- > *kan-o- 'sing'
*m om >
*kantom 'hundred'
can-
ct /ked/
can-
cant
*k *k
*kewe >
*kewoe 'four'
ceth(a)ir pedwar
*b *b
*dub-no- > *dubnos 'deep,
world'
domun dwfn
*d *d *de- > *derk- 'see'
(adcon-)dairc "(he) has seen"
< *dork-e-
Rhydderch (personal name)
*g, *g
*glehi- > *gli-na- 'to glue'
*en-u- > *genu- 'jaw'
glen(a)id "(he) sticks fast"
giun, gin "mouth"
glynu "adhere"
gn "jaw"
*g *b *genh > *bena 'woman' ben benyw "female"
*b *b *be- > *ber-o- 'carry' berid "(he) carries" beru "flow"
*d *d *dehi- > *di-na- 'suck' denait "they suck" dynu, denu
*g,

*g
*ghb-(e)i- > *gab-i- 'take'
*el-ro- > *galaro-
'sickness'
ga(i)bid "(he) takes"
galar
gafael "hold"
galar "grief"
*g *g
*gn - > *gn-o- 'kill,
wound'
gonaid "(he) wounds, slays" gwanu "stab"
*s *s *sen-o- > *senos 'old' sen hen
*m *m *mh > *m 'mother' mthir c.f. modryb "aunt"
*n *n
*hnp-- >
*ne 'nephew'
ni nai
*l *l *lei- > *lig-e/o- 'lick' ligid "(he) licks" llyu, llyfu
*r *r *h-s > *g 'king' r (gen. rg) rhi
*j *j
*hjuhn- >
*juwankos 'young'
ac ieuanc
*w *w
*hwl ht- >
*wlatis 'rulership'
flaith gwlad "country"
PIE Proto-Celtic
Example
Proto-Celtic Old Irish Welsh
*a, he *a
*hep-hn- >
*b (acc. *abonen)
'river'
aub afon
*, *eh *
*bh >
*b 'brother'
brthir brawd
*e, he *e *sen-o- > *senos 'old' sen hen
*H (any
laryngeal H between
consonants)
[3]

*a *ph > * 'father' athir c.f. edrydd "home"
*, eh *
*weh-ro- >
*wo 'true'
fr gwir
*o, Ho, he *o
*Hrotho- >
*rotos 'wheel'
roth rhod
*, eh in final syllable, *
*hnp-- >
*ne 'nephew'
ni nai
elsewhere, * *dehno- > *dno- 'gift' dn dawn
*i *i
*gih-tu- >
*bitus 'world'
bith byd
*, i *
*meh >
*m 'number'
rm rhif
*ai, hei, ehi *ai
*kaikos >
*kaikos 'blind'
*sehitlo- > *saitlo-
'age'
cech "one-
eyed"
-
coeg "empty, one-
eyed"
hoedl
*(hei, i, ehi *ei
*deiwos >
*deiwos 'god'
da duw
*oi, i, hei, ehi *oi *oinos > *oinos 'one' en on; en an un
*u
before wa, o
*hiuhn- > early
*juwankos > late
*jowankos 'young'
ac ieuanc
elsewhere, *u
*srutos >
*srutos 'stream'
sruth ffrwd
*, u *
*ruHneh >
*n 'mystery'
rn rhin
*au, heu, ehu *au
*tausos >
*tausos 'silent'
tue "silence" <
*uij
taw
*(heu, u, ehu;
*ou, u, heu, ehu
*ou
*teuteh >
*ou 'people'
*geh-u-s >
*bows 'cow'
tath
b
tud
bu, buw
*l before stops, *li
*pl hns >
*lino 'wide'
lethan llydan
before other
consonants, *al
*kl h- >
*kljko 'rooster'
cailech (Ogam
gen.CALIACI)
ceiliog
*
before stops, *ri
*b i- > *briti- 'act of
bearing; mind'
breth, brith bryd
before other
consonants, *ar
*m u o >
*marwos 'dead'
marb marw
*m *am
*dm -na- > *damna-
'subdue'
damnaid "he
tames"
-
*n *an
*hdn - >
*danton 'tooth'
dt /ded/ dant
*l
before obstruents,
*la
*hu lht- >
*wlatis 'lordship'
flaith gwlad "country"
before sonorants,
*l
*pl meh >
*lm 'hand'
lm llaw
*
before obstruents,
*ra
*m om >
*mratom 'betrayal'
mrath brad
before sonorants,
*
* nom >
*gnom 'grain'
grn gronyn, grawn
*m
*m/m
(presumably same
distribution as above)
(none?)

*n
*an or *n
(presumably same
distribution as above)
probably *gn hto- >
*gno 'known'
gnth gnawd "customary"


Phonological reconstruction
Consonants
The following consonants have been reconstructed for Proto-Celtic:
Table of consonant phonemes of Proto-Celtic

Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar (Plain) Labialised Velar
Plosive

b t d

k k
Nasal m n

Fricative

s

Approximant (Medial)

j

w
Lateral Approximant

l

Trill

r

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 *b, *d,
*g/ merged with *b, *d, *g/. The voiced aspirate labiovelar *g did not merge with *g,
though: plain *g became *b in Proto-Celtic, while aspirated *g became *g. Thus, PIE *gen-
'woman' became Old Irish ben and Welsh benyw, but PIE *gn - '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 * (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 * underwent different changes: theclusters *s and *t became *xs and *xt respectively
already in Proto-Celtic. PIE *sp- became Old Irish s (lenited f-, exactly as for PIE *sw-) and
Brythonic f; whileSchrijver 1995, p. 348 argues there was an intermediate stage *s- (in which
* remained an independent phoneme until after Proto-Insular Celtic had diverged into Goidelic
and Brythonic), McCone 1996, pp. 4445 finds it more economical to believe that *sp- remained
unchanged in PC, that is, the change *p to * 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
*l- > *laxs- 'shine' las-aid llach-ar
*em > *sextam 'seven' secht saith
*ee- or *speret- 'heel' seir ffr
In Gaulish and the Brythonic languages, a new *p sound has arisen as a reflex of the Proto-Indo-
European *k 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 commonsubstratum influence from the pre-Celtic languages of Ireland,
Scotland, Cornwall and Wales,[1], or simply continuing contact between the insular languages;
in either case they would be irrelevant to Celtic language classification in the genetic sense.
Q-Celtic languages may also have /p/ in loan words, though in early borrowings from Welsh
ino Pimiive Iih /k/ w ued by ound ubiuion due o lck of /p/ phoneme he
time:
Latin Patricius "Saint Patrick"' > Welsh > Primitive Irish QATRIKIAS > Old
Irish Cothrige, later Padraig;
Latin presbyter "priest" > early form of word seen in Old Welsh premter primter >
Primitive Irish QRIMITIR > Old Irish cruimther.
Gaelic pg "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.
Vowels
The Proto-Celtic vowel system is highly comparable to that reconstructed for Proto-Indo-
European by Antoine Meillet. The following monophthongs have been reconstructed:

Front Central Back
long short long short long short
Close /i/ /i/ /u/ /u/
Mid /e/ /e/

/o/
Open // /a/
The following diphthongs have also been reconstructed:

With -i With -u
With e- ei

With a- ai au
With o- oi ou
Morphology
Nouns
The morphology (structure) of nouns and adjectives demonstrates no arresting alterations from
the parent language. Proto-Celtic is believed to have had nouns in threegenders,
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:
[4]
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, *-stems, *i-
stems, *u-stems, dental stems, velar stems, nasal stems, *r-stems and *s-stems.
*o-stem nouns
makkos 'son' (masculine) (Old Irish mac ~ Welsh and Breton mab)
Case Singular Dual Plural
Nominative *makkos *makkou *makkoi
Vocative *makke *makkou *makks
Accusative *makkom *makkou *makks
Genitive *makk *makks *makkom
Dative *makki *makkobom *makkobos
Ablative *makk *makkobim *makkobis
Instrumental *makk *makkobim *makks
Locative *makkei *makkou *makkobis
dnom 'stronghold' (neuter)
Case Singular Dual Plural
Nominative *dnom *dnou *dn
Vocative *dnom *dnou *dn
Accusative *dnom *dnou *dn
Genitive *dn *dns *dnom
Dative *dni *dnobom *dnobos
Ablative *dn *dnobim *dnobis
Instrumental *dn *dnobim *dns
Locative *dnei *dnou *dnobis
*-stem nouns
E.g. *lm 'hand' (feminine) (Old Irish lm ~ Welsh llaw)
Case Singular Dual Plural
Nominative *lm *lmai *lms
Vocative *lm *lmai *lms
Accusative *lmm *lmai *lms
Genitive *lms *lmajous *lmom
Dative *lmi *lmbom *lmbos
Ablative *lm *lmbim *lmbis
Instrumental *lm *lmbim *lmbis
Locative *lmi *lmbim *lmbis
E.g. *wolks 'hawker' (masculine) (Gallic Volcae)
Case Singular Dual Plural
Nominative *wolks *wolkai *wolks
Vocative *wolk *wolkai *wolks
Accusative *wolkm *wolkai *wolks
Genitive *wolks *wolkajous *wolkom
Dative *wolki *wolkbom *wolkbos
Ablative *wolk *wolkbim *wolkbis
Instrumental *wolk *wolkbim *wolkbis
Locative *wolki *wolkbim *wolkbis
*i-stems
E.g. *slis 'sight, view, eye' (feminine) (Brittonic sulis ~ Old Irish sil)
Case Singular Dual Plural
Nominative *slis *sl *sls
Vocative *sli *sl *sls
Accusative *slim *sl *sls
Genitive *sleis *sljous *sljom
Dative *slei *slibom *slibos
Ablative *sl *slibim *slibis
Instrumental *sl *slibim *slibis
Locative *sl *slibim *slibis
E.g. *mori 'body of water, sea' (neuter) (Gallic Mori- ~ Old Irish muir ~ Welsh mr)
Case Singular Dual Plural
Nominative *mori *mor *morj
Vocative *mori *mor *morj
Accusative *mori *mor *morj
Genitive *moreis *morjous *morjom
Dative *morei *moribom *moribos
Ablative *mor *moribim *moribis
Instrumental *mor *moribim *moribis
Locative *mor *moribim *moribis
*u-stem nouns
E.g. *bitus 'world, existence' (masculine) (Gallic Bitu- ~ Old
Irish bith ~ Welsh byd ~ Breton bed)
Case Singular Dual Plural
Nominative *bitus *bitou *bitowes
Vocative *bitu *bitou *bitowes
Accusative *bitum *bitou *bits
Genitive *bitous *bitowou *bitowom
Dative *bitou *bitubom *bitubos
Ablative *bit *bitubim *bitubis
Instrumental *bit *bitubim *bitubis
Locative *bit *bitubim *bitubis
E.g. *dnu 'valley river' (neuter?)
Case Singular Dual Plural
Nominative *dnu *dnou *dnw
Vocative *dnu *dnou *dnw
Accusative *dnu *dnou *dnw
Genitive *dnous *dnowou *dnowom
Dative *dnou *dnubom *dnubos
Ablative *dn *dnubim *dnubis
Instrumental *dn *dnubim *dnubis
Locative *dn *dnubim *dnubis
Velar and dental stems
Before the *-s of the nominative singular, a velar consonant was fricated to *-x and *- : *rg-
"king" > *rs. Likewise, final *-d devoiced to *-d -: *druwid- "druid" > *druwid s.
[5]

E.g. *rs 'king' (masculine) (Gallic -rix; Old Irish r; Welsh rhi)
Case Singular Dual Plural
Nominative *rs *rge *rges
Vocative *rs *rge *rges
Accusative *rgam *rge *rgs
Genitive *rgos *rgou *rgom
Dative *rgei *rgobom *rgobos
Ablative *rg *rgobim *rgobis
Instrumental *rge *rgobim *rgobis
Locative *rgi *rgobim *rgobis
E.g. *druwid s 'druid' (masculine) (Gallic druis; Old Irish dru)
Case Singular Dual Plural
Nominative *druwid s *druwide *druwides
Vocative *druwid s *druwide *druwides
Accusative *druwidem *druwide *druwids
Genitive *druwidos *druwidou *druwidom
Dative *druwidei *druwidobom *druwidobos
Ablative *druwid *druwidobim *druwidobis
Instrumental *druwide *druwidobim *druwidobis
Locative *druwidi *druwidobim *druwidobis
E.g. *karnuxs 'carnyx' (masculine?)
Case Singular Dual Plural
Nominative *karnuxs *karnuke *karnukes
Vocative *karnuxs *karnuke *karnukes
Accusative *karnukam *karnuke *karnuks
Genitive *karnukos *karnukou *karnukom
Dative *karnukei *karnukobom *karnukobos
Ablative *karnuk *karnukobim *karnukobis
Instrumental *karnuke *karnukobim *karnukobis
Locative *karnuki *karnukobim *karnukobis
E.g. *karants 'friend' (masculine) (Gallic carant-; Old Irish cara; Welsh ceraint)
Case Singular Dual Plural
Nominative *karants *karante *karantes
Vocative *karants *karante *karantes
Accusative *karantam *karante *karants
Genitive *karantos *karantou *karantom
Dative *karantei *karantobom *karantobos
Ablative *karant *karantobim *karantobis
Instrumental *karante *karantobim *karantobis
Locative *karanti *karantobim *karantobis
Nasal stems
Generally, nasal stems end in *-on-, this becomes *- in the nominative singular: *abon--
"river" > *ab.
E.g. *ab 'river' (feminine) (Welsh afon, Old Breton aven, Gaelic abhainn)
Case Singular Dual Plural
Nominative *ab *abone *abones
Vocative *ab *abone *abones
Accusative *abonam *abone *abons
Genitive *abonos *abonou *abonom
Dative *abonei *abnobom *abnobos
Ablative *abon *abnobim *abnobis
Instrumental *abone *abnobim *abnobis
Locative *aboni *abnobim *abnobis
E.g. *anum 'name' (neuter) (Gallic anuan-; Old Irish ainm; Old Welsh anu)
Case Singular Dual Plural
Nominative *anum *anumane *anumanes
Vocative *anum *anumane *anumanes
Accusative *anumanam *anumane *anumans
Genitive *anumanos *anumanou *anumanom
Dative *anumanei *anumanobom *anumanobos
Ablative *anuman *anumanobim *anumanobis
Instrumental *anumane *anumanobim *anumanobis
Locative *anumani *anumanobim *anumanobis
*s-stem nouns
Generally, *s-stems end in *-es-, which becomes *-os in the nominative singular: *teges- 'house'
> *tegos.
E.g. *tegos 'house' (masculine), Gaelic "teach/tigh".
Case Singular Dual Plural
Nominative *tegos *tegese *tegeses
Vocative *tegos *tegese *tegeses
Accusative *tegesam *tegese *tegess
Genitive *tegesos *tegesou *tegesom
Dative *tegesei *tegesobom *tegesobos
Ablative *teges *tegesobim *tegesobis
Instrumental *tegese *tegesobim *tegesobis
Locative *tegesi *tegesobim *tegesobis
*r-stem nouns
r-stems are rare and principally confined to names of relatives. Typically they end in *-
ter-, which becomes *-tr in the nominative and *-tr- in all other cases aside from the
accusative: *ater- 'father' > *atr, *atros.
E.g. *atr 'father' (masculine)
Case Singular Dual Plural
Nominative *atr *atere *ateres
Vocative *atr *atere *ateres
Accusative *ateram *atere *aters
Genitive *atros *atrou *atrom
Dative *atrei *atrebom *atrebos
Ablative *atr *atrebim *atrebis
Instrumental *atre *atrebim *atrebis
Locative *atri *atrebim *atrebis
E.g. *mtr 'mother' (feminine)
Case Singular Dual Plural
Nominative *mtr *mtere *mteres
Vocative *mtr *mtere *mteres
Accusative *mteram *mtere *mters
Genitive *mtros *mtrou *mtrom
Dative *mtrei *mtrebom *mtrebos
Ablative *mtr *mtrebim *mtrebis
Instrumental *mtre *mtrebim *mtrebis
Locative *mtri *mtrebim *mtrebis
Verbs
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:
indicative seen in e.g. 1st sg. Gaulish delgu ("I hold") Old Irish tongu ("I swear")
imperative seen in e.g. 3rd sg. Celtiberian usabituz, Gaulish appisetu
subjunctive seen in e.g. 3rd sg. Gaulish buetid ("may he be") Celtiberian asekati
and four tenses:
present seen in e.g. Gaulish uediu-mi ("I pray") Celtiberian zizonti ("they sow")
preterite seen in e.g. 3rd sg. Gaulish sioxti, Lepontic KariTe
imperfect perhaps in Celtiberian kombalkez, atibion
future seen in e.g. 3rd sg. Gaulish bissiet, Old Irish bieid ("he shall be")
A probable optative mood also features in Gaulish (tixsintor) and an infinitive (with a
characteristic ending -unei) in Celtiberian.
[6][7]

Verbs were formed by adding suffixes to a verbal stem. The stem might
be thematic or athematic, an open or a closed syllable.
Example conjugations
Scholarly reconstructions
[2][8][9][10]
may be summarised in tabular format.
Conjugation like *bere/o- bear, carry, flow

Person
Pres Impf Fut Pst
Act Pss Act Pss Act Pss Act Pss
Ind 1.sg *ber(mi) *berr
*berenne
m
*-
*bibr
m
*bibrr *bert *-
2.sg *beresi *beretrs *bert *-
*bibrs
i
*bibrtr
s
*bertes *-
3.sg *bereti *beretor *bere(to) *beretei *bibrti *bibrtor *bert *brito
1.pl
*beromu(s
ns)
*beromm
or
*beremme
ts
*-
*bibr
mes
*bibrm
mor
*berto
mu
*-
2.pl *berete *beredwe
*beretes (
OI) ~
*bere-
sws (B)
*-
*bibrt
e
*bibrdw
e
*bertet
e
*-
3.pl *beronti
*beronto
r
*berentets
*berentits
(?)
*bibrn
t
*bibrnt
or
*berto
nt
*brit
nts
Sbj
1.sg *berm *berr
*bernne
m
*- *- *- *- *-
2.sg *bersi *bertrs *bert *- *- *- *- *-
3.sg *berti *bertor *ber(to) *- *- *- *- *-
1.pl *bermes
*bermm
or
*bermm
ets
*- *- *- *- *-
2.pl *berte
*berdw
e
*bertes (
OI) ~
*ber-
sws (B)
*- *- *- *- *-
3.pl *bernti
*bernto
r
*berntet
s
*- *- *- *- *-
Im
1.sg *- *- *- *- *- *- *- *-
p
2.sg *ber!
*beretrs
!
*- *- *- *- *- *-
3.sg *beret! *beror! *- *- *- *- *- *-
1.pl *beromu!
*beromm
or!
*- *- *- *- *- *-
2.pl *berets!
*beredwe
!
*- *- *- *- *- *-
3.pl *beront!
*beronto
r!
*- *- *- *- *- *-
VN
(unmark
ed)
*berowon- *- *- *- *- *- *'
*britu-
s
Ptp
le
(unmark
ed)
*beront-
*beromn
o-
*- *beretejo- *- *-
*bertjo
-
*brito-
Conjugation like *mr- greaten, magnify, enlarge

Person
Pres Impf Fut Pst
Act Pss Act Pss Act Pss Act Pss
Ind
1.sg *mrmi *mrr
*mrnn
em
*-
*mrbj

*mrbj
r
*mrts

*-
2.sg *mrsi
*mrtr
s
*mrt *-
*mrbis
i
*mrbit
rs
*mrts
si
*-
3.sg *mrti
*mrto
r
*mr(to
)
*mrtei
*mrbit
i
*mrbit
or
*mrts
ti
*-
1.pl
*mrmu
(sns)
*mrm
mor
*mrm
mets
*-
*mrbi
mmes
*mrbi
mmor
*mrts
omu
*-
2.pl *mrte
*mrd
we
*mrtes
(OI) ~
*mr-
sws(B)
*-
*mrbit
e
*mrbid
we
*mrts
ete
*-
3.pl *mrnti
*mrnt
or
*mrnte
ts
*mrnti
ts(?)
*mrbi
nt
*mrbin
tor
*mrts
ont
*mrt
nts(?)
Sbj
1.sg *mrm *mror
*mronn
em
*- *- *- *- *-
2.sg *mrosi
*mrotr
s
*mrot *- *- *- *- *-
3.sg *mroti
*mroto
r
*mro(to
)
*- *- *- *- *-
1.pl
*mrome
s
*mrom
mor
*mrom
mets
*- *- *- *- *-
2.pl *mrote
*mrod
we
*mrotes
(OI) ~
*mro-
sws(B)
*- *- *- *- *-
3.pl *mronti
*mront
or
*mronte
ts
*- *- *- *- *-
Im
p
1.sg *- *- *- *- *- *- *- *-
2.sg *mr!
*mrtr
s!
*- *- *- *- *- *-
3.sg *mrt! *mrr! *- *- *- *- *- *-
1.pl
*mrmu
!
*mrm
mor!
*- *- *- *- *- *-
2.pl *mrts!
*mrd
we!
*- *- *- *- *- *-
3.pl *mrnt!
*mrnt
or!
*- *- *- *- *- *-
VN
(unmar
ked)
*mrwo
n-
*- *- *- *- *- *'
*mrtu-
s
Ptp
le
(unmar
ked)
*mrnt-
*mrm
no-
*-
*mrtej
o-
*- *-
*mrtj
o-
*mrto-
Dating
Proto-Celtic is mostly dated to roughly 800 BC (Hallstatt C), see Celtic languages.
In the first decade of the 21st century a number of scholars addressed this question
using computational methods, with differing results. Gray and Atkinson estimated a date of
6100 BP (4100 BC) while Forster and Toth
[11]
suggest a date of 3200 BC 1500 years for the
arrival of Celtic in Britain, but such early dates are not generally accepted.