The Revival of Gaulish as a Modern Language: Modern Gaulish, or Galáthach

hAthevíu

The Gaulish language is an Old Celtic language that was spoken across vast parts of western
and central Europe from, arguably, the late Bronze Age or early Iron Age until the early
middle ages (Lambert 2003). Its speakers were found from southern Scotland in the north-
west to Vienna, Austria in the south-east, and from the mouth of the Rhine in the north to the
Pyrenees and the Po Valley, Italy, in the south, apparently forming a contimuum of inter-
comprehensible dialects. It is attested from the 6th century BCE, if the Lepontic inscriptions
are included, until the early fifth century CE, date of the last attestation o f Gaulish with the
Chateaubleau tile (Lambert 2003, Delamarre 2003, Mees 2010). Its heartland is thought to
have been Gaul, the area between the Rhine, the Atlantic, the Pyrenees, the Mediterranean
and the Alps, and Britain. The language came under pressure from Latin after the conquest of
both Gaul and Britain, and died out in Gaul, while surviving in Britain as Brittonic, giving
modern day Welsh, Cornish and Breton.

The Gaulish language ceases to be attested in Gaul after the fifth century CE (Chateaubleau
tile, dated to late fourth-early fifth century) and while it is clear that it became extinct
sometime after that, leading scholars of Celtic philology consider it likely that it survived
until the time of Charlemagne (Mees 2010, Stifter 2010, pers. com.). It has been claimed that
Gaulish survived in the high Alps until the 12th century (Hubschmied 1938).

Knowledge and understanding of the language has grown exponentially in the last decades of
the 20th century, and in the early years of the 21st century the Gaulish language became the
subject of a revival movement. Driven by a group of people passionately interested in
Gaulish language, culture and history, and made possible by the advent of the internet,
allowing easy communication between people in far off places, the Gaulish language was
revived as a modern language. A fully fledged grammar was developed, based on old Gaulish
grammar and complemented with post-Classical developments in the related Celtic
languages, and a version of Gaulish now exists that presents as a user-friendly, pragmatic and
practical modern language (see www.moderngaulish.com).

While there is no claim of historical continuity with classical Gaulish, the modern Gaulish
language is nevertheless conceptualised as a modern development of the Gaulish language. In
addition to the grammar a dictionary has been set up which currently lists 7000 words
(www.glosbe.com/mis_gal/en/), a Memrise learning resource has been constructed
(http://www.memrise.com/course/802166/modern-gaulish-1/ ), videos with pronunciation,
songs and spoken poetry have been produced (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV-
mTvteuR4&list=PLhTUHvgCLoUAEmRsQ9imUkR0JdoxWkq6K ), a collection of
translations of poetry and prose has been published on Amazon (2015;
http://www.amazon.com/Anthologia-Gallica-Senobrixta-Gal%C3%A1thach-hAthev
%C3%ADu-Poetry/dp/1511644265 ), a second collection of original prose and poetry in the
language is in the process of being prepared for publication and will be available later in
2016, and the language is currently being used as a vehicle for conversation and discussion
on online forums (e.g. www.facebook.com/groups/CanthuColavaruGalathach/, a page where
the modern Gaulish language is the only language used for communication). Furthermore the
language is represented on Academia.edu
(https://independent.academia.edu/ModernGaulish ) and is the subject of international
interest. The vocabulary is derived from attested Old Gaulish lexical items, and makes
extensive use of affixes and compounds to create new words, in a manner which is consistent
with the practice of the old language. The following section sets out a sketch of the grammar
and phonology of the modern language.

Grammar of modern Gaulish

The grammar of Old Gaulish displayed a case system, inherited from Indo-European, that
was comparable to the systems of contemporary Classical languageas such as Ancient Greek
and Latin, and of modern day Baltic and Slavic languages. However, late Gaulish inscriptions
clearly show a deterioration and erosion of this system, as evidenced in the inscription of
Chateaubleau, to date the latest Old Gaulish text available, where several words are featured
with greatly reduced endings which no longer can convey meaning (e.g. coro bouido,
dagisamo, uiro iono; in Mees 2010, p. 93).

The evidence of the Chateaubleau tile, thought to be from the late fourth or early fifth century
CE, fits in well with the widespread decline of case systems in western European languages
thought to have occurred, or become standardised, in or around the fifth-sixth centuries CE.
Languages in this category include Vulgar Latin and the various Romance languages that
were derived from it (French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, etc.), Brittonic, which evolved
into Welsh, Cornish and Breton, and the various Germanic languages represented near the
periphery of the Roman Empire at that time, such as Frankish, Saxon and Frisian. While no
contemporary records for these latter are in existence, when they do enter recorded history
they do so denuded of the Indo-European case system.

The grammar of the modern Gaulish language is therefore situated in this area of
convergence of languages which abandoned the case system. The surviving Celtic languages
of the British Isles developed a number of features which are quite distinctive cross-
linguistically, either in response to this collapse of the case system, or parallel to it. A number
of these features, or the initial stages of their development, can be discerned in the late
Gaulish data, and they have been further developed into a functional grammar system for the
modern language.
While a comprehensive overview of the modern Gaulish grammar is beyond the scope of this
article and can be found at the language’s main website (www.moderngaulish.com), a broad
outline is provided here. The modern language features:

1. verbal roots marked for person and gender with pronouns, and marked for tense with
affixes and verbal particles

2. a non-referential relative pronoun

3. VSO word order

4. fusion of prepositions with personal pronouns

5. mutation of initial consonants, marking grammatical function

While it is often claimed that these features are distinctive of the Insular Celtic languages
alone and are not found in Gaulish, evidence will be provided here for their attestation in the
Old Gaulish language.

1. verbal roots marked for person and gender with pronouns, and marked for tense with
affixes and verbal particles

The affixes used to mark tense include:

- preterising “re-“ (readdas, redresta, Delamarre 2003, p. 255-56)

- perfectivising –tu (carnitu, Delamarre 2003, p. 106; iexstu-, Mees 2010, p.93)

- future/subjunctive marking –si- (siaxsiou, marcosior, bissiet, toncsiiont-, Lambert 2003, p.

65)

Instances of verbal roots marked for person and gender with pronouns include:

- liíu-mi: “I denounce” (Chateaubleau, Mees 2010, p.93)

- peta-miíi: “I ask” (Chateaubleau, Mees 2010, p.93)

- iegu-mi-[sini]: “I curse [this]” (Chateaubleau, Mees 2010, p.93)

- iexstu-mi-sendi: “I [will?] have cursed this” (Chateaubleau, Mees 2010, p.93)

- iexsetesi sue: “you (pl.) [will?] curse" (Chateaubleau, Mees 2010, p.93)

- sete sue: “may you (pl.) be” (Chateaubleau, Mees 2010, p.93)
- desssu-mí-[is]: “I prepare [them]” (Chamalières, Delamarre 2003, p. 337)

2. A non-referential relative pronoun

A single non-referential pronoun is shared across all the contemporary Celtic languages, and
stands in contrast with for instance the modern Romance and Germanic languages which use
a number of relative pronouns depending on situation and grammatical requirement. It is
attested as “o” in the inscription of Chateaubleau:

iexsetesi sue regeniatu o quprinno: “may you (pl.) curse [the] family that buys”

(Chateaubleau, Mees 2010, p.93)

3. VSO word order

Verb-Subject-Object word order is consider a peculiar characteristic of the modern Celtic

languages. It is not found elsewhere as a default word order in Indo-European languages, and,
cross-linguistically, is found in only around 8% of the world’s languages
(http://udel.edu/~dlarsen/ling203/Handouts/Word%20Order.pdf ), although it is the third
most common word order (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verb%E2%80%93subject
%E2%80%93object ). It is attested as such in Old Gaulish, and it has been argued by scholar
in Celtic linguistics Graham Isaac that Gaulish showed a tendency towards VSO as early as
the first century BCE (Isaac 2007).

Examples of VSO word order in the Old Gaulish data include:

- iegu-mi-sini: “I curse this” (Chateaubleau, Mees 2010, p. 93)

V S O

- iexstu-mi-sendi: “I have cursed this/that” (Chateaubleau, Mees 2010, p. 93)

V S O

- liíu-mi bena: “I denounce a woman” (Chateaubleau, Mees 2010, p. 93)

V S O
- iexsetesi sue regeniatu o quprinno: “may you curse [the] family that buys” (Chateaubleau,
Mees 2010, p. 93)

V S O

- dessu-mí-is: “I prepare them” (Chamalières, Delamarre 2003, p. 337)

V S O

- sioxti Albannos pannas extra: “Albannos added vessels beyond [...]”

V S O

(La Graufesenque, Delamarre 2003, p. 275)

- serinoti Sequndo dinariíu: “Sequndo sells for dinars” (Rezé, Stifter 2012, online)

V S O

- se tigi prino Ascanius are: “Ascanius buys this contract before” (Rezé, Stifter 2012, online)

O V S

4. fusion of prepositions with personal pronouns

Fusion of prepositions with personal is also a feature that is unusual in the framework of
Indo-European languages, although there are instances of it occurring, e.g. Spanish “contigo”
(with-you) and Latin “[vade] mecum” ([go] with-me). In the Old Gaulish data there is, to
date, one attestation of it:

- rissuis: “for you (pl.)” (Chamalières, Delamarre 2003, p. 337)

5. mutation of initial consonants, marking grammatical function

Mutation of initial consonants is a rare phenomenon cross-lingustically in the languages of

the world, and is characteristic of the modern Celtic languages. It consists of a situation
where the sound quality of the last letter of a preceding word changes the quality of the sound
of the first letter of the following word, a phenomenon known as Sandhi (sometimes referred
to as “trivial”), AND where this change has become endowed with grammatical meaning.
The first component is not unusual, and in an Indo-European context is well attested in e.g.
French (the “liaisons”; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liaison_%28French%29 ). The
endowment of this phenomenon with grammatical meaning is unusual and, in the context of
Indo-European, is restrcited to the modern Celtic languages.

In the Old Gaulish data there are a number of instances that can be singled out as possible
candidates for an early developmental stage of sandhi and/or initial consonant mutation:

- Flatucias / Ulatucia: inscription of Larzac (Delamarre 2003, p. 338-339)

- se bnanom / se mnanom: inscription of Larzac (Delamarre 2003, p. 338-339)

- apeni: possibly contraction and assimilation of *ac beni “and a woman”, inscription of
Chateaubleau (Schrijver 1998).

It is not possible, from the context of the inscriptions, to deduce whether these instances are
an indication of fully developed grammatical initial consonant mutations as found, 200 years
after the date of the last Gaulish inscription, in Insular Celtic languages. However it does
appear to be reasonable to suggest that they represent traces of the sandhi phenomenon that
gave rise to the above mutations. As such it has been deemed acceptable to incoporate into
the grammar of the modern Gaulish language. A summary of the various changes as
employed in the modern language can be found on the language’s website.

Phonology of Modern Gaulish

The phonology of modern Gaulish is presented as the logical continuation of sound change
processes which appear to be recorded in the attested data. Instances that indicate sound
changes in process include:

- sindi > sini, i.e. [nd] > [n], (iegu-mi-sini, Chateaubleau, Mees 2010, p. 93)

- aballos > avallo; i.e. [b] > [v] (p. 29; Endlicher’s Glossary)
- anman > anuan; i.e. [-nm-] > [-nw-] (p. 50; Larzac, Chateaubleau)
- iouincos > ioinchus; i.e. [c] > [x] (p. 191, anthroponomy)
- arganto- > arxanti; i.e. [g] > [γ] (Lambert 2003, p. 48; Suessons coin)
> arganthoneia; i.e. [t] > [θ] (p. 53; Galatian source)
- (g)nata > gnatha, i.e. [t] > [θ] (p. 181; spindle whorl of Saint-Révérien)
- litan- > lithan-, i.e. [t] > [θ] (p. 204; anthroponomy)
- ate- > atha-, i.e. [t] > [θ] (p. 57, p. 214; anthroponomy)
- *sisagsiou > siaxsiou, i.e. [g] > [γ] (p. 273; Chateaubleau)
- *agat > axat, i.e. [g] > [γ] (p. 63; Marcellus of Bordeaux)
- luge > luxe, i.e. [g] > [γ] (p. 210; Chamalieres)
- ambio > ape, i.e. [amb] > [ãb] (Bernard Mees 2010, Bhrghros 2013, pers. com.;
Chateaubleau and Rom)
- briuo > brio, i.e. [-w-] > [-ø-] (p. 89; Endlicher’s Glossary)
- iouinc- > ioinc-, i.e. [-w-] > [-ø-] (p. 191, anthroponomy)
- magiorix > maiorix, i.e. [-g-] > [-ø-] (Lambert 2003, p. 46; anthroponomy)
- catugenus > catuenus, i.e. [-g-] > [-ø-] (Lambert 2003, p. 46; anthroponomy)
- traget- > treide, i.e. [-g-] > [-i-] (p. 300; Endlicher’s Glossary)
[-t-] > [-d-], (p. 300; Endlicher’s Glossary)
- *brogilos > breialo, i.e. [-g-] > [-i-] (p. 91; Endlicher’s Glossary)
- badio > * baδio > baio, i.e. [-d-] > [δ] > [-ø-] (p. 63, anthroponomy)
- Stirona > Ðirona > Sirona, i.e. [st-] > [ts-] > [s-] (p. 282, theonomy)

The above instances can be summarised as follows:

nd > n
b > u (v)
c > ch (x)
d>δ
g > x (γ)
g>i
g>ø
m > u (w)
t > th (θ)
t>d
amb > ãb, assimilation of nasal to vowel
st > ts > s

In the above, the grapheme “x” is considered to represent the spirantisation of intervocalic
“g” > [γ] (Delamarre 2003, p. 63, p. 210; Lambert 2003, p. 46, p. 48)

An analysis of the above data indicates that the intervocalic consonants of Gaulish were
subject to a process of spirantisation or fricativisation, which can be represented as follows:

p>p
t > th [θ]
c > ch [x]
b > u [v]
*d>δ?
g > x [γ], i [j] or ø
m > u [w]
đ > ss [s]
[mb > nasal-b]
The only exception to this appears to be the rendition of –t- as –d- in “treide”, which appears
to indicate a voicing of an intervocalic consonant. Lambert (2003, p. 207) considers “treide”
as having been treated as a word of Vulgar Latin and as such as having undergone Romance
lenition, where intervocalic voiceless stops become voiced (Western Romance). In support, it
is the opinion currently held by scholars in the field of Continental Celtic linguistics that the
possibility that “treide” can be considered as indicative and representative of a genuine
Gaulish sound change is negligeable (Bhrghros, Mees, Stifter, Gwinn pers. com. 2009).

The remainder of the data appears to uniformly point towards a process of spirantisation of
intervocalic consonants. The existence of lenition, the process of weakening of pronunciation
of consonants, in this case through spirantisation or fricativisation, in Gaulish has been
proposed and defended by Gray (1944), accepted by Fleuriot (in Delamarre 2003, p. 63),
rejected and objected against by Lambert (2003) among many others (e.g Watkins 1955), and
cautiously and somewhat sceptically regarded as a possibility by Delamarre (2003).
Nevertheless, as Eska (2008) emphatically suggests, proposes and defends, the data appear to
point in this direction.

In addition to the above, there is widespread academic agreement on the disappearance of

intervocalic –u- and –g- (Delamarre 2003; Lambert 2003). In regards to –g-, a position is
adopted in modern Gaulish where –g- becomes spirantised when occurring in consonant
clusters, and becomes –i- in intervocalic position and word finally when preceded by a
vowel:

-Cg- > -Cγ- (e.g. argant- > arxant-)

-gC- > -γC-

-VgV- > -ViV- (e.g. brogil- > breial-)

-Vg > -Vi

While diphthongs are seen to become simplified in the record well before the end of
attestation, vowels in general have largely remained unchanged. More information about this
can be found in the body of grammar at www.moderngaulish.com .
Comparison with contemporary Celtic languages

The following table provides a brief comparison of basic vocabulary with contemporary
Celtic languages:

English Old Modern Welsh Cornish Breton Irish

Gaulish Gaulish
head pennos pen pen pedn penn ceann
hand lama lam llaw dorn dorn lámh
fist durno- durn dwrn dornad dorn
foot tragetos tráieth troed troos troad cos
traed troigh
to sit sedi- sédhi saidid, sedha azezañ suigh
eistedd esedha
to stand sta- sá sefyll sav sevel seas
savel
to run reti- rethi rhedeg resegva redek rith
to speak labaro- lavar siarad kewsel, komz labhair
llefaru kows
to see apis- ápis gweld gweles gwelet feic
perceive uelet- gweléthi
horse epos ép ceffyll margh marc’h each
caballo caval march capall
marco- march ebol (foal)
dog cuno- cun ci, cú kei, ki ki madra
cú
cow bou- bó buwch bugh buoc’h bó
sheep molto- molth dafad davas dañvad caora
ewe caerac-- cérach
land litauia lithau daear bro douar talamh
country brogi brói bro bro tír
surface talamon talam
sky albio- alv awyr ebron oabl, ebr neamh
nemo- nem nem, nef neñv
water dubron duvr dŵr, dwfr dowr dour uisce
dobhar
stone acauno- achaun carreg labedha maen cloch
carco- carch men carraig
mountain briga brí mynydd menedh menez sliabh
hill bronnio- bron bryn, bre bronn, run, bre beinn
bre
peak banna- ban ban
river abona avon afon avon stêr abhainn
forest ceto- céth coed koos koad coill
coedwig kooswik
language tengua tengu iaith eth yezh teanga
tongue tamo- tamu tafod tavas teod teanga
Example Of The Modern Gaulish Language

The following shows Article One of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the
modern Gaulish language, with Old Gaulish equivalent and English translation. Please click
on the link below to hear the modern Gaulish version spoken.

Esi doné ol genthu ríu ach cothamich en valchas ach réithúé. Sí-esi conu ach
conchwísu, ach ré ví certh richís adhávó can dhoné al en wénu bratheríu.

Esent doni olli gentui rii ac cotamici en balcassu ac rextoues. Siesesent condo ac
conuissu, ac re bisiet certo rissies adauuo canti doni alli en menman braterione.

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed
with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of
brotherhood.

https://youtu.be/BSRc5I0JJf8

References and further information

Albin, Jacques (2011) “La langue Gauloise – la tuile de Châteaubleau” – Academia.edu

http://www.academia.edu/1747376/La_langue_gauloise_-_la_tuile_de_Chateaubleau

Ball, Martin J. & Fife, James (1993) The Celtic Languages.

http://books.google.com/book?Ball+Fife+Celtic+Language

Bauer, Brigitte L. M. (1996) ‘Language loss in Gaul: socio-historical and linguistic

factors in language conflict’, Southwest Journal of Linguistics, v. 15, no. 1-2, pp. 23-
44.

Continentalceltic Yahoo Group Online: Bernard Mees, David Stifter, Chris Gwinn, and
many others (2006-2013)

Coskun, Altay & Zeidler, Jurgen (2003) “Covernames and Nomenclature in Late Roman
Gaul: The Evidence of the Bordelaise Poet Ausonius”,
http://www.books.google.com.au

Delamarre, Xavier (2003) Dictionnaire de la Langue Gauloise, Editions Errance, Paris.

Eska, Joseph (2008) “Continental Celtic”, in The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World’s
Ancient Languages, pp. 857-78.
Gray, Louis H. (1944) ‘Mutation in Gaulish’, Language, v. 20, no. 4, pp. 223-30.

Isaac, Graham R. (2007) “Celtic and Afro-Asiatic”, in The Celtic Languages in Contact,
http://opus.kobv.de/ubp/volltexte/2007/1568/

Lambert, Pierre-Yves (2003) La Langue Gauloise, Editions Errance, Paris.

Mees, Bernard (2008) “The women of Larzac”, KF 3, pp. 169-88.

Mees, Bernard (2010) “Words from the well at Gallo-Roman Châteaubleau”, pp. 89-106.

Mees, Bernard (2011) “Wackernagel’s, pro-drop and verb-second in syntax in

Continental Celtic”, Academia.edu.
http://www.academia.edu/1701275/Wackernagels_law_pro-drop_and_verb-
second_syntax_in_Continental_Celtic

Mullen, Alex (2007) “Evidence for written Celtic from Roman Britain: a linguistic
analysis of Tabellae Sulis 14 and 18”, Studia Celtica, XLI, pp. 31-45.

Stifter, David (2000) “The Chateaubleau Tiles”, https://listserv.heanet.ie/cgi-bin/wa?

A2=ind0006&L=oldirish-I&O=D&P=12796

Schrijver, Peter (1998) “The Chateaubleau tile as a link between Latin and French and
between Gaulish and Brittonic”, EC 34, 3-47.

Stifter, David (2008) “Old Celtic languages”, http://www.univie.ac/at/indogermanistik/

Stifter, David (2009) “Notes on Châteaubleau (L-93)”, KF, pp. 229-244.

Stifter, David (2012) “New Gaulish inscriptions”,

http://www.rootsofeurope.ku.dk/.../New_Gaulish_Inscriptions_Copenhagen_p...

Stifter, David (2012) “Gallo-Latin inscriptions”, Old Celtic Languages, Spring 2012.
http://www.rootsofeurope.ku.dk/kalender/arkiv.../Gallish_2_WS_2010.pdf/

Watkins, Calvert (1955) ‘The phonemics of Gaulish – The Dialect of Narbonensis’,

Language, v.31, no. 1, pp. 9-19.

Woodard, Roger (2008) The ancient languages of Europe. http://books.google.com.au

External Links

www.moderngaulish.com

www.glosbe.com/mis_gal/en/

http://www.memrise.com/course/802166/modern-gaulish-1/

www.facebook.com/groups/moderngaulishlanguage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV-
mTvteuR4&list=PLhTUHvgCLoUAEmRsQ9imUkR0JdoxWkq6K