Proto-Celtic language

Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the reconstructed ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly reconstructed through the comparative method. Proto-Celtic is generally thought to have been spoken between 1300 and 800 BC, after which it began to split into different languages. Proto-Celtic is often associated with the Urnfield culture and particularly with the Hallstatt culture. Celtic languages share common features with Italic languages that are not found in other branches of Indo-European, suggesting the possibility of an earlier Italo-Celtic linguistic unity.

Proto-Celtic is currently being reconstructed through the comparative method by relying on later Celtic languages. Though Continental Celtic presents much substantiation for Proto-Celtic phonology, and some for its morphology, recorded material is too scanty to allow a secure reconstruction of syntax, though some complete sentences are recorded in the Continental Gaulish and Celtiberian. So, the main sources for reconstruction come from Insular Celtic languages with the oldest literature found in Old Irish and Middle Welsh, dating back to authors flourishing in the 6th century AD.

Dating

Proto-Celtic is usually dated to the Late Bronze Age, ca. 1200–900 BC. The fact that it is possible to reconstruct a Proto-Celtic word for 'iron' (traditionally reconstructed as ) has long been taken as an indication that the divergence into individual Celtic languages did not start until the Iron Age (8th century BC to 1st century BC); otherwise, descendant languages might have developed their own, unrelated words for the metal. However, Schumacher and Schrijver suggest a date for Proto-Celtic as early as the 13th century BC, the time of the Canegrate culture, in northwest Italy, and the Urnfield culture in Central Europe, implying that the divergence may have already started in the Bronze Age.

Sound changes from Proto-Indo-European

The phonological changes from Proto-Indo-European (PIE) to Proto-Celtic (PC) may be summarized as follows. The changes are roughly in chronological order, with changes that operate on the outcome of earlier ones appearing later in the list.

Late PIE

These changes are shared by several other Indo-European branches.

*e is colored by an adjacent laryngeal consonant:
eh₂, h₂e > ah₂, h₂a
eh₃, h₃e > oh₃, h₃o
Palatovelars merge into the plain velars:
ḱ > k
ǵ > g
ǵʰ > gʰ
Epenthetic *a is inserted after a syllabic sonorant if a laryngeal and another sonorant follow (R̥HR > RaHR)
Laryngeals are lost:
before a following vowel (HV > V)
following a vowel in syllables before the accent (VHC´ > VC´)
following a vowel before a consonant, or word finally, resulting in compensatory lengthening, thus (VHC > V̄C, VH# > V̄#)
between plosives in non-initial syllables (CHC > CC)
Two adjacent dentals become two adjacent sibilants (TT > TsT > ss)

Italo-Celtic

The following sound changes are shared with the Italic languages in particular, and are cited in support of the Italo-Celtic hypothesis.

Dybo's rule: long close vowels are shortened (or a laryngeal is lost) before resonant + stressed vowel. Note that something like Dybo's rule seems to have also operated in Germanic (Old English wer < *wiHró-).
īR´ / ? *iHR´ > iR´
ūR´ / ? *uHR´ > uR´
Possibly, post-consonantal laryngeals are lost when before pre-tonic close vowels:
CHiC´ > CiC´
CHuC´ > CuC´
Development of initial stress, following the previous two changes. But note that this seems to have been an areal feature, shared, for example with the Indo-European Germanic languages and the non-Indo-European Etruscan language.
Possibly, vocalization of laryngeals to *ī between a *CR cluster and consonantal *j (CRHjV > CRījV)
Syllabic laryngeals become *a (CHC > CaC)
Syllabic resonants before a voiced unaspirated stop become *Ra (R̩D > RaD)
*m is assimilated or lost before a glide:
mj > nj
mw > w
*p assimilates to *kʷ when another *kʷ follows later in the word (p...kʷ > kʷ...kʷ). But Matasovic points out that: A) this change may have occurred late in Celtic; B) it seems not to have operated on some words in Irish; and C) a similar assimilation (though in reverse) also occurred in Germanic.

One change shows non-exact parallels in Italic: vocalization of syllabic resonants next to laryngeals depending on the environment. Similar developments appear in Italic, but for the syllabic nasals *m̩, *n̩, the result is Proto-Italic *əm, *ən (> Latin em ~ im, en ~ in).

Word-initially, HR̩C > aRC
Before voiceless stops, CR̩HT > CRaT
CR̩HV > CaRHV
CR̩HC > CRāC

Early PC

Sequences of velar and *w merge into the labiovelars (it is uncertain if this preceded or followed the next change; that is, whether gw > b or gw > gʷ, but Schumacher 2004 argues on p. 372 that this change came first; moreover, it is also found in Proto-Italic, and thus arguably belongs to the previous section):
kw > kʷ
gw > gʷ
gʰw > gʷʰ
*gʷ merges into *b.
Aspirated stops lose their aspiration and merge with the voiced stops (except that this counterfeeds the previous change, so *gʷʰ > *gʷ doesn't result in a merger; that is, the change *gʷʰ > *gʷ must crucially happen after the sound change gʷ > b has been completed):
bʰ > b
dʰ > d
gʰ > g
gʷʰ > gʷ
*e before a resonant and *a (but not *ā) becomes *a as well (eRa > aRa): *ǵʰelH-ro > *gelaro > *galaro / *gérH-no > *gerano > *garano (Joseph's rule).
Epenthetic *i is inserted after syllabic liquids when followed by a plosive:
l̩T > liT
r̩T > riT
Epenthetic *a is inserted before the remaining syllabic resonants:
m̩ > am
n̩ > an
l̩ > al
r̩ > ar
All remaining nonsyllabic laryngeals are lost.
ē > ī
ō > ū in final syllables
Long vowels are shortened before a syllable-final resonant (V:RC > VRC); this also shortens long diphthongs. (Osthoff's law)

Late PC

Plosives become *x before a different plosive or *s (C₁C₂ > xC₂, Cs > xs)
p > b before liquids (pL > bL)
p > w before nasals (pN > wN)
p > ɸ (except possibly after *s)
ō > ā
ey > ē (but not in Celtiberian or Lepontic)
ew > ow
uwa > owa

Examples

{|class="wikitable"

!rowspan=2|PIE

!rowspan=2|PC

!colspan=7|Example

!PIE

!colspan=2|Proto-Celtic

!colspan=2|Old Irish

!colspan=2|Welsh

| father

|colspan=2|

| cf. home (< *ɸatrijo-)

| three

|colspan=2|

|

|

| sing hundred

|colspan=2|

| four

|colspan=2|

| apple

|colspan=2|

| see

| eye

| sight

|

| to glue jaw

| (he) sticks fast mouth

| adhere jaw

| woman

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|O.W.

| carry

| (he) carries

|

| to restore to take

| suck

| they suck

|colspan=2|

|

| take sickness

| (he) takes sickness

| hold grief

| kill, wound

| (he) wounds, slays

| stab

| old

|colspan=2|

| mother

|colspan=2|

| cf. aunt

| nephew

|colspan=2|

| lick

| (he) licks

|colspan=2|

| king

|colspan=2| (gen. )

|colspan=2|

| young

|colspan=2|

| rulership

|colspan=2|

| country

{|class="wikitable"

!colspan=2 rowspan=2|PIE

!rowspan=2|PC

!colspan=7|Example

!PIE

!colspan=2|PC

!colspan=2|Old Irish

!colspan=2|Welsh

|colspan=2|

| acc.

| river

|colspan=2|

| brother

|colspan=2|

| old

|colspan=2|

| between consonants

| father

|colspan=2|

| cf. home

|colspan=2|

| true

|colspan=2|

| wheel

|colspan=2|

|rowspan=2|

| in final syllable

| nephew

|colspan=2|

| elsewhere

| gift

|colspan=2|

| world

|colspan=2|

| number

|colspan=2|

|

| blind age

| —

| one-eyed —

| empty, one-eyed age

|colspan=2|

| god

|colspan=2|

| one

|colspan=2|

| rowspan=2|

| before

| >

| young

|colspan=2|

| elsewhere

| stream

|colspan=2|

| mystery

|colspan=2|

| silent

| silence ()

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2|;

|

| people cow

|colspan=2|

|colspan=2| M.W.

| rowspan=2 |

| before stops

| wide

|colspan=2|

| before other consonants

| rooster

|colspan=2| (Ogham gen. )

|colspan=2|

| rowspan=2 |

| before stops

| act of bearing; mind

|colspan=2|

| before other consonants

| dead

|colspan=2|

| subdue

| M.Ir.

| he ties, fastens, binds

|colspan=2|—

|colspan=2|

| tooth

|colspan=2|

| rowspan=2|

| before obstruents

| lordship

|colspan=2|

| country

| before sonorants

| hand

|colspan=2|

| rowspan=2|

| before obstruents

| betrayal

|colspan=2|

| before sonorants

| grain

|colspan=2|

| rowspan=2|(presumably with same distribution as above)

| to tame

| -

| endure, suffer

| ?

| known

| colspan=2|

| customary

Phonological reconstruction

Consonants

The following consonants have been reconstructed for Proto-Celtic (PC):

:{| class="wikitable"

! rowspan="2" |Manner

! rowspan="2" |Voicing

! rowspan="2" | Bilabial 

! rowspan="2" | Alveolar 

! rowspan="2" | Palatal 

! colspan="2" | Velar 

! |plain

! |labialized

|- style="text-align:center;"

! rowspan="2" | Plosive

!voiceless

|- style="text-align:center;"

!voiced

|- style="text-align:center;"

! colspan="2" | Fricative

|- style="text-align:center;"

! colspan="2" | Nasal

| |

|- style="text-align:center;"

! colspan="2" | Approximant

|- style="text-align:center;"

! colspan="2" | Trill

Allophones of plosives

Eska has recently proposed that PC stops allophonically manifest similarly to those in English. Voiceless stop phonemes were aspirated word-initially except when preceded by , hence aspirate allophones ; unaspirated voiced stops were devoiced to word-initially.

This allophony may be reconstructed to PC from the following evidence: 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 stem. There are *o-stems, *ā-stems, *i-stems, *u-stems, dental stems, velar stems, nasal stems, *r-stems and *s-stems.

*o-stem nouns

'son' (masculine) (Old Irish ~ Welsh, Cornish and Breton )

{|class="wikitable"

! Case

! Singular

! Dual

! Plural

! Nominative

| *makkʷos

| *makkʷou

| *makkʷoi

! Vocative

| *makkʷe

| *makkʷou

| *makkʷūs

! Accusative

| *makkʷom

| *makkʷou

| *makkʷūs

! Genitive

| *makkʷī

| *makkʷūs

| *makkʷom

! Dative

| *makkʷūi

| *makkʷobom

| *makkʷobos

! Ablative

| *makkʷū

| *makkʷobim

| *makkʷobis

! Instrumental

| *makkʷū

| *makkʷobim

| *makkʷūs

! Locative

| *makkʷei

| *makkʷou

| *makkʷobis

However, Celtiberian shows -o- stem genitives ending in -o rather than -ī: aualo "[son] of Avalos". Also note that the genitive singular does not match Proto-Indo-European's -osyo, which would have yielded -osjo.

dūnom 'stronghold' (neuter)

{|class="wikitable"

! Case

! Singular

! Dual

! Plural

! Nominative

| *dūnom

| *dūnou

| *dūnā

! Vocative

| *dūnom

| *dūnou

| *dūnā

! Accusative

| *dūnom

| *dūnou

| *dūnā

! Genitive

| *dūnī

| *dūnūs

| *dūnom

! Dative

| *dūnūi

| *dūnobom

| *dūnobos

! Ablative

| *dūnū

| *dūnobim

| *dūnobis

! Instrumental

| *dūnū

| *dūnobim

| *dūnūs

! Locative

| *dūnei

| *dūnou

| *dūnobis

As in the masculine paradigm, the genitive singular does not match Proto-Indo-European's -osyo, which would have yielded -osjo.

*ā-stem nouns

E.g. 'hand' (feminine) (Old Irish ; Welsh }, Cornish , Old Breton )

{|class="wikitable"

! Case

! Singular

! Dual

! Plural

! Nominative

| *ɸlāmā

| *ɸlāmai

| *ɸlāmās

! Vocative

| *ɸlāmā

| *ɸlāmai

| *ɸlāmās

! Accusative

| *ɸlāmām

| *ɸlāmai

| *ɸlāmās

! Genitive

| *ɸlāmās

| *ɸlāmajous

| *ɸlāmom

! Dative

| *ɸlāmāi

| *ɸlāmābom

| *ɸlāmābos

! Ablative

| *ɸlāmī

| *ɸlāmābim

| *ɸlāmābis

! Instrumental

| *ɸlāmī

| *ɸlāmābim

| *ɸlāmābis

! Locative

| *ɸlāmāi

| *ɸlāmābim

| *ɸlāmābis

*i-stems

E.g. 'sight, view, eye' (feminine) (Brittonic sulis ~ Old Irish )

{|class="wikitable"

! Case

! Singular

! Dual

! Plural

! Nominative

| *sūlis

| *sūlī

| *sūlīs

! Vocative

| *sūli

| *sūlī

| *sūlīs

! Accusative

| *sūlim

| *sūlī

| *sūlīs

! Genitive

| *sūleis

| *sūljous

| *sūljom

! Dative

| *sūlei

| *sūlibom

| *sūlibos

! Ablative

| *sūlī

| *sūlibim

| *sūlibis

! Instrumental

| *sūlī

| *sūlibim

| *sūlibis

! Locative

| *sūlī

| *sūlibim

| *sūlibis

E.g. 'body of water, sea' (neuter) (Gaulish Mori- ~ Old Irish ~ Welsh )

{|class="wikitable"

! Case

! Singular

! Dual

! Plural

! Nominative

| *mori

| *morī

| *moryā

! Vocative

| *mori

| *morī

| *moryā

! Accusative

| *mori

| *morī

| *moryā

! Genitive

| *moreis

| *moryous

| *moryom

! Dative

| *morei

| *moribom

| *moribos

! Ablative

| *morī

| *moribim

| *moribis

! Instrumental

| *morī

| *moribim

| *moribis

! Locative

| *morī

| *moribim

| *moribis

*u-stem nouns

E.g. 'world, existence' (masculine) (Gaulish Bitu- ~ Old Irish ~ Welsh ~ Breton )

{|class="wikitable"

! Case

! Singular

! Dual

! Plural

! Nominative

| *bitus

| *bitou

| *bitowes

! Vocative

| *bitu

| *bitou

| *bitowes

! Accusative

| *bitum

| *bitou

| *bitūs

! Genitive

| *bitous

| *bitowou

| *bitowom

! Dative

| *bitou

| *bitubom

| *bitubos

! Ablative

| *bitū

| *bitubim

| *bitubis

! Instrumental

| *bitū

| *bitubim

| *bitubis

! Locative

| *bitū

| *bitubim

| *bitubis

E.g. "rotisserie spit" (neuter)

{|class="wikitable"

! Case

! Singular

! Dual

! Plural

! Nominative

! Vocative

! Accusative

! Genitive

! Dative

! Ablative

! Instrumental

! Locative

Velar and dental stems

Before the *-s of the nominative singular, a velar consonant was fricated to *-x : "king" > . Likewise, final *-d devoiced to *-t-: "druid" > .

E.g. "king" (masculine)

{|class="wikitable"

! Case

! Singular

! Dual

! Plural

! Nominative

! Vocative

! Accusative

! Genitive

! Dative

! Ablative

! Instrumental

! Locative

E.g. "druid" (masculine)

{|class="wikitable"

! Case

! Singular

! Dual

! Plural

! Nominative

! Vocative

! Accusative

! Genitive

! Dative

! Ablative

! Instrumental

! Locative

E.g. "friend" (masculine)

{|class="wikitable"

! Case

! Singular

! Dual

! Plural

! Nominative

! Vocative

! Accusative

! Genitive

! Dative

! Ablative

! Instrumental

! Locative

Nasal stems

Generally, nasal stems end in *-on-; this becomes *-ū in the nominative singular: *abon- "river" > *abū.

E.g. "river" (feminine)

{|class="wikitable"

! Case

! Singular

! Dual

! Plural

! Nominative

! Vocative

! Accusative

! Genitive

! Dative

! Ablative

! Instrumental

! Locative

E.g. "name" (neuter)

{|class="wikitable"

! Case

! Singular

! Dual

! Plural

! Nominative

! Vocative

! Accusative

! Genitive

! Dative

! Ablative

! Instrumental

! Locative

*s-stem nouns

Generally,-stems contain an *-es-, which becomes *-os in the nominative singular: 'house' > .

E.g. "house" (neuter)

{|class="wikitable"

! Case

! Singular

! Dual

! Plural

! Nominative

! Vocative

! Accusative

! Genitive

! Dative

! Ablative

! Instrumental

! Locative

*r-stem nouns

r-stems are rare and principally confined to names of relatives. Typically they end in *-ter-, which becomes *-tīr in the nominative and *-tr- in all other cases aside from the accusative: *ɸater- 'father' > *ɸatīr, *ɸatros.

E.g. *ɸatīr 'father' (masculine)

{|class="wikitable"

! Case

! Singular

! Dual

! Plural

! Nominative

| *ɸatīr

| *ɸatere

| *ɸateres

! Vocative

| *ɸatīr

| *ɸatere

| *ɸateres

! Accusative

| *ɸateram

| *ɸatere

| *ɸaterās

! Genitive

| *ɸatros

| *ɸatrou

| *ɸatrom

! Dative

| *ɸatrei

| *ɸatrebom

| *ɸatrebos

! Ablative

| *ɸatrī

| *ɸatrebim

| *ɸatrebis

! Instrumental

| *ɸatre

| *ɸatrebim

| *ɸatrebis

! Locative

| *ɸatri

| *ɸatrebim

| *ɸatrebis

E.g. *mātīr 'mother' (feminine)

{|class="wikitable"

! Case

! Singular

! Dual

! Plural

! Nominative

| *mātīr

| *mātere

| *māteres

! Vocative

| *mātīr

| *mātere

| *māteres

! Accusative

| *māteram

| *mātere

| *māterās

! Genitive

| *mātros

| *mātrou

| *mātrom

! Dative

| *mātrei

| *mātrebom

| *mātrebos

! Ablative

| *mātrī

| *mātrebim

| *mātrebis

! Instrumental

| *mātre

| *mātrebim

| *mātrebis

! Locative

| *mātri

| *mātrebim

| *mātrebis

Pronouns

The following personal pronouns in Celtic can be reconstructed as follows:

{|class="wikitable"

!rowspan=2| Case

!colspan=2| First-person

!colspan=2| Second-person

! Singular

! Plural

! Singular

! Plural

! Nominative

! Accusative

! Genitive

| ?

The following third-person pronouns in Proto-Celtic may also be reconstructed.

Adjectives

Adjectives in Proto-Celtic had positive, comparative, superlative and equative degrees of comparison.

Superlative degree

The superlative was formed by simply attaching to the adjective stem. In some adjectives where the stem ends in *s, the suffix is truncated to by haplology.

Verbs were formed by adding suffixes to a verbal stem. The stem might be thematic or athematic, an open or a closed syllable.

Primary endings

The primary endings in Proto-Celtic were as follows. They were used to form the present, future, and subjunctive conjugations.

The seṭ nasal-infix presents were further subdivided into subcategories based on the root-final laryngeal. Traditionally two subclasses have long been accepted, the subclass (cited with a -ni- suffix) and (cited with a -na- suffix). nasal-infixed verbs were often leveled to act like verbs, being also cited with a -na- suffix; the only original difference between the two would have been the 3rd-person plural ending in *-nonti instead of *-nanti.

The nasal-infix seṭ verbs in Proto-Celtic underwent multiple levelings. First, the suffixal vowel in the plural forms was harmonized so that they would all be the short counterpart to the vowel in the singular forms. Then all the long vowels in the singular were shortened to make the suffix vowel identical in quality and length across all person-number combinations.

{|class="wikitable"

|+ Proto-Celtic preterite endings

! rowspan=2| Person and number

! colspan=2| Ending type

! Secondary endings

! Stative endings

! 1st

! 2nd

! 3rd

! 1st

! 2nd

! 3rd

t-preterite

The Old Irish t-preterite was traditionally assumed to be a divergent evolution from the s-preterite, but that derivation was challenged by Jay Jasanoff, who alleges that they were instead imperfects of Narten presents. Either derivation requires Narten ablaut anyway, leading to a stem vowel i in the singular and e in the plural. The stem vowel in the t-preterite was leveled to *e if the next consonant was either velar or *m, and *i in front of *r or *l.

Suffixless preterites

A number of suffixless preterite formations featured reduplication. The nature of the reduplication depends on the structure of the root.

There were also two, possibly three verbs that did not use -(a)se-, instead straight-out taking thematised primary endings. They are: "to be, exist" (subjunctive ), "to hear" (subjunctive ), and possibly “to approach, drive” (subjunctive ).

Primary subjunctive formations in Proto-Celtic generally use the e-grade of the verb root, even if the present stem uses the zero-grade.

Imperative formation

Imperative endings in Proto-Celtic were as follows:

{|class="wikitable"

|+ Imperative endings in Proto-Celtic

! rowspan=2| Person and number

! colspan=2| Active endings

! Basic endings

! With thematic vowels

! 2nd

| -∅,

! 3rd

| , ,

! 1st

! 2nd

! 3rd

| ,

Second-person singular imperative

The second-person singular imperative was generally endingless in the active; no ending was generally added to athematic verbs. On thematic -e/o- verbs, the imperative ended in thematic vowel *-e. However, there is also another second-person singular active imperative ending, -si, which was attached to the verb root athematically even with thematic strong verbs.

The thematic deponent second-person singular imperative ending was *-eso. The -the in Old Irish is secondary. may be summarised in tabular format.

{| class="wikitable"

|+Conjugation like *bere/o- 'bear, carry, flow'

!rowspan="2"|

!rowspan="2"| Person

!colspan="2"| Present

!colspan="2"| Imperfect

!colspan="2"| Future

!colspan="2"| Past

! Active !! Medio- passive !! Active !! Medio- passive !! Active !! Medio- passive !! Active !! Medio- passive

!rowspan="6"| Indicative

! 1st

| *berū || *berūr || *beremam || — || *bibrāsū || *bibrāsūr || *bīram || —

! 2nd

| *beresi || *beretar || *beretās || — || *bibrāsesi || *bibrāsetar || *birs || —

! 3rd

| *bereti || *beretor || *bereto || — || *bibrāseti || *bibrāsetor || *birt || ?

! 1st

| *beromosi || *beromor || *beremo || — || *bibrāsomosi || *bibrāsomor || *berme || —

! 2nd

| *beretesi || *beredwe || ? || — || *bibrāsete || *bibrāsedwe || *berte || —

! 3rd

| *beronti || *berontor || *berento || — || *bibrāsonti || *bibrāsontor|| *berant || ?

!rowspan="6"| Subjunctive

! 1st

| *berasū || *berasūr || — || — || — || — || — || —

! 2nd

| *berasesi || *berasetar || — || — || — || — || — || —

! 3rd

| *beraseti || *berasetor || — || — || — || — || — || —

! 1st

| *berasomosi || *berasomor || — || — || — || — || — || —

! 2nd

| *berasetesi || *berasedwe || — || — || — || — || — || —

! 3rd

| *berasonti || *berasontor || — || — || — || — || — || —

!rowspan="5"| Imperative

! 2nd

| *bere || *bereso || — || — || — || — || — || —

! 3rd

| *beretou || ? || — || — || — || — || — || —

! 1st

| *beromos || ? || — || — || — || — || — || —

! 2nd

| *berete || ? || — || — || — || — || — || —

! 3rd

| *berontou || ? || — || — || — || — || — || —

!colspan="2"| Participle

| *beronts || *beromnos || — || — || — || — || *bertyos || *britos

Copula

The copula *esti was irregular. It had both athematic and thematic conjugations in the present tense. Schrijver supposes that its athematic present was used clause-initially and the thematic conjugation was used when that was not the case.

{|class="wikitable"

|+ Conjugation of *esti in Proto-Celtic

!rowspan="2"| Person

!colspan="2"| Present

! Athematic

! Thematic

!1st sg.

!2nd sg.

!3rd sg.

!1st pl.

!2nd pl.

!3rd pl.

Numerals

{|class="wikitable"

! rowspan="2"|Numeral

! colspan="3"|PIE

! colspan="3"|PC

!M.

!F.

!N.

!M.

!F.

!N.

|*h₁óynos

|*h₁óyneh₂

|*h₁óynom

|*oinos

|*oinā

|*oinom

|*dwóh₁

|*dwéh₂h₁(e)

|*dwóy(h₁)

|*duwo

|*dwei

|*duwo

|*tréyes

|*tísres

|*tríh₂

|*trīs

|*tisres

|*trī

|*kʷetwóres

|*kʷétesres

|*kʷetwṓr

|*kʷetwores

|*kʷetesres

|*kʷetwor?

| colspan="3"|*pénkʷe

| colspan="3"|*kʷenkʷe

| colspan="3"|*swéḱs

| colspan="3"|*swexs

| colspan="3"|*septḿ̥

| colspan="3"|*seɸtam > *sextam

| colspan="3"|*oḱtṓw

| colspan="3"|*oxtū

| colspan="3"|*h₁néwn̥

| colspan="3"|*nowan

!10

| colspan="3"|*déḱm̥

| colspan="3"|*dekam

!20

| colspan="3"|*wídḱm̥ti

| colspan="3"|*wikantī

!30

| colspan="3"|*tridḱómt

| colspan="3"|*trīkontes

!40

| colspan="3"|*kʷétwr̥dḱomt

| colspan="3"|*kʷetrVkonts / *kʷetrVkontes

!50

| colspan="3"|*pénkʷedḱomt

| colspan="3"|*kʷenkʷekonts / *kʷenkʷekontes

!60

| colspan="3"|*swéḱsdḱomt

| colspan="3"|*swexskonts / *swexskontes

!90

| colspan="3"|*h₁néwn̥dḱomt

| colspan="3"|*naukontes

!100

| colspan="3"|*ḱm̥tóm

| colspan="3"|*kantom

Vocabulary

The vast majority of reliably reconstructible lexical items in Proto-Celtic have good Indo-European etymologies, unlike what is found in, for example, the Greek language—at least 90% according to Matasovic. These include most of the items on the Swadesh list of basic vocabulary. But a few words that do not have Indo-European cognates, so may be borrowings from substrate or adstrate Pre-Indo-European languages, are also from basic vocabulary, including *bodyo- ‘yellow’ (though this has possible cognates in Italic), *kani "good," and *klukka "stone." It is notable that fully 32 items have been reconstructed for Proto-Celtic with the meaning "fight."

Examples of morphology derivation from PIE

Two examples of verbs

(The following examples lack the dual plural and are conjugated in the present tense)

{| class="wikitable"

|+"To bear/carry"

!Pronoun

!PIE

!PC

! 1st Sg.

|*bʰéroh₂

|*berū

! 2nd Sg.

|*bʰéresi

|*beresi

! 3rd Sg.

|*bʰéreti

|*bereti

! 1st Pl.

|*bʰéromos

|*beromosi

! 2nd Pl.

|*bʰérete

|*beretesi

! 3rd Pl.

|*bʰéronti

|*beronti

{|class="wikitable"

|+"To be" (athematic version)

!Pronoun

!PIE

!PC

! 1st Sg.

|*h₁ésmi

|*esmi

! 2nd Sg.

|*h₁ési

|*esi

! 3rd Sg.

|*h₁ésti

|*esti

! 1st Pl.

|*h₁smós

|*esmosi

! 2nd Pl.

|*h₁sté

|*estes

! 3rd Pl.

|*h₁sénti

|*senti

Examples of noun declension

(The following examples lack the dual number)

Masculine noun

{| class="wikitable"

|+"Bear"

!rowspan="2"|Case

!colspan="2"|Singular

!colspan="2"|Plural

!PIE

!PC

!PIE

!PC

!Nom.

|*h₂ŕ̥tḱos

|*artos

|*h₂ŕ̥tḱoes

|*artoi

!Voc.

|*h₂ŕ̥tḱe

|*arte

|*h₂ŕ̥tḱoes

|*artūs

!Acc.

|*h₂ŕ̥tḱom

|*artom

|*h₂ŕ̥tḱoms

|*artoms

!Gen.

|*h₂ŕ̥tḱosyo

|*artī

|*h₂ŕ̥tḱoHom

|*artom

!Dat.

|*h₂ŕ̥tḱoey

|*artūi

|*h₂ŕ̥tḱomos

|*artobos

!Loc.

|*h₂ŕ̥tḱey

|*artei

|*h₂ŕ̥tḱoysu

!Inst.

|*h₂ŕ̥tḱoh₁

|*artū

|*h₂ŕ̥tḱōys

|*artūis

Feminine noun

{|class="wikitable"

|+"Open land"

!rowspan="2"|Case

!colspan="2"|Singular

!colspan="2"|Plural

!PIE

!PC

!PIE

!PC

!Nom.

|*ln̥dʰéh₂

|*landā

|*ln̥dʰéh₂es

|*landās

!Voc.

|*ln̥dʰéh₂

|*landā

|*ln̥dʰéh₂es

|*landās

!Acc.

|*ln̥dʰā́m

|*landam

|*ln̥dʰéh₂m̥s

|*landāms

!Gen.

|*ln̥dʰéh₂s

|*landās

|*ln̥dʰéh₂oHom

|*landom

!Dat.

|*ln̥dʰéh₂ey

|*landāi

|*ln̥dʰéh₂mos

|*landābos

!Loc.

|*ln̥dʰéh₂i

|*landai

|*ln̥dʰéh₂su

!Inst.

|*ln̥dʰéh₂h₁

|*ln̥dʰéh₂mis

|*landābis

Neuter noun

{| class="wikitable"

|+"Yoke"

!rowspan="2"|Case

!colspan="2"|Singular

!colspan="2"|Plural

!PIE

!PC

!PIE

!PC

!Nom.

|*yugóm

|*yugom

|*yugéh₂

|*yugā

!Voc.

|*yugóm

|*yugom

|*yugéh₂

|*yugā

!Acc.

|*yugóm

|*yugom

|*yugéh₂

|*yugā

!Gen.

|*yugósyo

|*yugī

|*yugóHom

|*yugom

!Dat.

|*yugóey

|*yugūi

|*yugómos

|*yugobos

!Loc.

|*yugéy

|*yugei

|*yugóysu

!Inst.

|*yugóh₁

|*yugū

|*yugṓys

|*yugūis

An example of adjectival declension

(The following example lacks the dual number)

{| class="wikitable"

|+"High (Singular)"

!rowspan="2"|Case

!colspan="2"|Masculine

!colspan="2"|Feminine

!colspan="2"|Neuter

!PIE

!PC

!PIE

!PC

!PIE

!PC

!Nom.

|*h₂ḱrós

|*akros

|*h₂ḱréh₂

|*akrā

|*h₂ḱróm

|*akrom

!Voc.

|*h₂ḱré

|*akre

|*h₂ḱréh₂

|*akrā

|*h₂ḱróm

|*akrom

!Acc.

|*h₂ḱróm

|*akrom

|*h₂ḱrā́m

|*akram

|*h₂ḱróm

|*akrom

!Gen.

|*h₂ḱrósyo

|*akrī

|*h₂ḱréh₂s

|*akrās

|*h₂ḱrósyo

|*akrī

!Dat.

|*h₂ḱróey

|*akrūi

|*h₂ḱréh₂ey

|*akrai

|*h₂ḱróey

|*akrūi

!Inst.

|*h₂ḱróh₁

|*akrū

|*h₂ḱréh₂h₁

|*h₂ḱróh₁

|*akrū

{| class="wikitable"

|+"High (Plural)"

!rowspan="2"|Case

!colspan="2"|Masculine

!colspan="2"|Feminine

!colspan="2"|Neuter

!PIE

!PC

!PIE

!PC

!PIE

!PC

!Nom.

|*h₂ḱróes

|*akroi

|*h₂ḱréh₂es

|*akrās

|*h₂ḱréh₂

|*akrā

!Voc.

|*h₂ḱróes

|*akroi

|*h₂ḱréh₂es

|*akrās

|*h₂ḱréh₂

|*akrā

!Acc.

|*h₂ḱróms

|*akroms

|*h₂ḱréh₂m̥s

|*akrams

|*h₂ḱréh₂

|*akrā

!Gen.

|*h₂ḱróHom

|*akrom

|*h₂ḱréh₂oHom

|*akrom

|*h₂ḱróHom

|*akrom

!Dat.

|*h₂ḱrómos

|*akrobos

|*h₂ḱréh₂mos

|*akrābos

|*h₂ḱrómos

|*akrobis

!Inst.

|*h₂ḱrṓys

|*akrobis

|*h₂ḱréh₂mis

|*akrābis

|*h₂ḱrṓys

|*akrobis

Derivation of personal pronouns (nominative case) from PIE

{|class="wikitable"

!No.

!Pronoun

!PIE

!PC

!rowspan="5"|Sg.

!1st

|*éǵ > *me [acc.]

|*mī

!2nd

|*túh₂

|*tū

!3rd M.

|*ís

|*se

!3rd F.

|*seh₂ > *sih₂ [*só + *-ih₂]

|*sī

!3rd N.

|*íd

|*ed

!rowspan="3"|Pl.

!1st

|*wéy > *nos [acc.] > *nēs

|*snīs; *snīsnīs

!2nd

|*yū́ > *wos [acc.] > *wēs

|*swīs; *swīswīs

!3rd

|*éyes

|*eyes

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Leiden University has compiled etymological dictionaries of various IE languages, a project supervised by Alexander Lubotsky.

Dating

Sound changes from Proto-Indo-European

Late PIE

Italo-Celtic

Early PC

Late PC

Examples

Phonological reconstruction

Consonants

Allophones of plosives

*o-stem nouns

*ā-stem nouns

*i-stems

*u-stem nouns

Velar and dental stems

Nasal stems

*s-stem nouns

*r-stem nouns

Pronouns

Adjectives

Superlative degree

Primary endings

t-preterite

Suffixless preterites

Imperative formation

Second-person singular imperative

Copula

Numerals

Vocabulary

Examples of morphology derivation from PIE

Two examples of verbs

Examples of noun declension

Masculine noun

Feminine noun

Neuter noun

An example of adjectival declension

Derivation of personal pronouns (nominative case) from PIE

See also

References

External links