The Celtic Connection

During the very early sixth and seventh centuries, Britain started to absorb Anglo-Saxon language and culture and began to shake off traditional Celtic language that had been in existence there since around 600BC. The Anglo-Saxons steadfastly refused to allow the Celtic languages to continue in the form that they did and as a result the Celts as a people were pushed back into the more isolated areas of the country, with their language becoming less widely used, spoken and understood. This was the start of a downward decline which was further exacerbated during the Norman Conquest in the eleventh century when the traditions and language were pushed even further aside in favor of Latin and French.

Celtic Languages

Celtic languages formed into two distinct groups, namely Goidelic and Brythonic. They both form part of the Indo-European classification of languages and can be defined as follows:

Goidelic: Otherwise known as “Gaelic”. This was the branch of Celtic language that was spoken primarily in Scotland,Ireland and the Isle of Man (the language there is known as Manx). Its origins are firmly based in Ireland, however. When the native Irish speakers started to migrate to other areas such as Scotland, the Isle of Man, Wales and Cornwall they took their language with them and assimilated it into popular culture there. In Cornwall, it failed to make much of an impact, likewise in Wales, but in Scotland it firmly took hold.

Brythonic: The name Brythonic literally means “indigenous Britain” so this particular strand of Celtic language is derived from the original British language that was spoken amongst peoples who lived south of Scotland. This language also migrated out in the early fourth and fifth centuries to places like Brittany and over the following years it developed its own versions in Cornwall, Wales and the lowlands of Scotland and northern England where it was termed “Cumbric”. As with the Goidelic languages, people from Wales could travel to Cornwall or into Brittany and although there were distinct variations in words and tone, locals would be more or less fully able to communicate and make themselves understood.

The differences between the languages

The two languages were labelled differently. Goidelic languages were known as “q-Celtic” whilst Brythonic was known as “p-Celtic”. The differences can be explained as follows. In q-Celtic languages, there was a distinct use of the “k” sound and the letter “p” was very rarely, if ever, used. In p-Celtic languages, the letter p was used, but also would be substituted in words were the letter q was required.

Not just the language affected by the invasion of the Anglo-Saxons

Language was not the only area of life affected when the Anglo Saxons invaded and pushed away the culture and traditions of the Celts. Essential fixtures of daily life like the Celtic currency and coinage were effectively destroyed too, which made overseas money transfers, export of goods and external trade very difficult to maintain. The Celts did have their own system of minting money from low value metals such as tin and copper, called Potin. However, once the Anglo Saxons invaded, minting of these coins stopped too, reducing the native peoples to a simple system of bartering for goods, or melting down other metals such as iron to pay for things.

It took nearly two hundred years for a proper system of coinage to be fully reintroduced and in the meantime the Celts in Britain found that life had become a very primitive a rudimentary affair full stop.

Celtic languages after the Conquest

Coming out of the Dark Ages and moving into the Middle Ages, the languages still continued to develop and change despite their decline, becoming more or less like the words and sounds we are familiar with today when we hear the languages spoken. Whilst in Wales over the centuries following the Norman Conquest there were repeated waves of repression from invading English forces with attempts to anglicise the culture, the language still managed to flourish. Current estimates show that in Wales alone there are over six hundred thousand native speakers. The same could not be said for the Irish and Scots, whose language fell into further decline. It is estimated that around sixty thousand people in Scotland and around the same figure in Ireland still speak Gaelic.

Places where Goidelic and Brythonic languages are still spoken

Despite these obstacles and all the hurdles the people faced, the language never became fully extinct and there are, interestingly, many little pockets across the world in which Celtic languages or derivations are to be found in use. Nova Scotia, Patagonia and the region of Spain known as Galicia all still embrace either Goidelic or Brythonic language.

In Nova Scotia and Galicia the Scots variant is adopted. In the former it is adapted to form a language which is known as Canadian or Cape Breton Gaelic and has been spoken there for over two hundred years. In the latter, the language is a distinct hybrid of Portuguese and Gaelic.

In Patagonia, Welsh language has been spoken since the earliest settlers arrived there between the years of 1865 and 1874. There are known locally as “Y Wladchyfa” translated as “The Welsh Colony”. Whilst there has been periods were the language has waxed and waned, moving forth into the latter stages of the twentieth and now the twenty first century there have been moves to make sure the language is still taught there and does not die out.

This seems to be the overall key to making sure the languages survive in their current forms. Encouraging the teaching of them from parent to child, in schools and also making sure that the customs and cultures that surround them do not die out either.

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Category: Foreign Language