The Brythonic languages (or Brittonic languages) form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family. The name Brythonic is derived from the Welsh word brython, meaning Briton. The Brythonic branch is also referred to as P-Celtic because the Brythonic reflex of the Proto-Indo-European phoneme *k^w is p as opposed to the Goidelic c. Such nomenclature usually implies an acceptance of the P-Celtic hypothesis rather than the Insular Celtic hypothesis (for a discussion, see Celtic languages). The Insular Celtic language family form a hypothetical grouping of Goidelic and Brythonic. ... Welsh redirects here, and this article describes the Welsh language. ... The term Briton may have the following meanings: in a historical context: an inhabitant of Great Britain in pre- Roman times a descendant of Britons during a later period (e. ... Goidelic is one of two major divisions of modern-day Celtic languages (the other being Brythonic). ... Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies Celtic languages are a branch of the Indo-European languages. ...

The major Brythonic languages are Welsh and Breton, both of which survive as community languages today. The Cornish language died out at the end of the eighteenth century, but has been successfully revived in the twentieth. Also notable are the extinct language Cumbric, and possibly the extinct Pictish (although the late Kenneth H. Jackson argued during the 1950s, from some of the few remaining examples of Pictish, that Pictish was a non-Indo-European language, the majority of modern scholars of Pictish do not agree). Welsh redirects here, and this article describes the Welsh language. ... This page is about the Breton language. ... The Cornish language (in Cornish: Kernowek, Kernewek, Curnoack) is one of the Brythonic group of Celtic languages that includes Welsh, Breton and, originally, Cumbrian. ... Evolution and Extinction Cumbric was the Brythonic Celtic language spoken in much of Cumbria, Northern Northumbria, and parts of lowland Scotland until about the 11th century. ... The Picts inhabited Caledonia (Scotland), north of the River Forth. ... Events and trends Technology United States tests the first fusion bomb. ... Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies Indo-European is originally a linguistic term, referring to the Indo-European language family. ...

History and Origins

The modern Brythonic languages all derive from a common ancestral language termed Common Brythonic, Old Brythonic or Proto-Brythonic, which is thought to have developed from the proto-Celtic language which was introduced to Britain from the middle second millennium BC (Hawkes, 1973). Brythonic languages were then spoken at least in the whole of Great Britain south of the rivers Forth and Clyde, presumably also including the Isle of Man. The theory has been advanced (notably by R. F. O'Rahilly) that Ireland was populated by speakers of Brythonic before being displaced by speakers of a Q-Celtic language (possibly from the Quarietii tribe of southern France), although the linguists Dillon and Chadwick reject this theory as being implausible. The word Celtic can refer to: the European Celtic people, ancient or modern the Celtic languages, spoken by these people and their modern descendents the Celtic (Lusitania), Celts from the Alentejo. ... The word Britain is used to refer to the United Kingdom (UK) the island of Great Britain, which consists of the countries of England, Scotland, and Wales sometimes the Roman province called Britain or Britannia The word British generally means belonging to or associated with Britain in either of the... (Redirected from 1500 BC) Centuries: 17th century BC - 16th century BC - 15th century BC Decades: 1550s BC 1540s BC 1530s BC 1520s BC 1510s BC - 1500s BC - 1490s BC 1480s BC 1470s BC 1460s BC 1450s BC Events and Trends Stonehenge built in Wiltshire, England The element Mercury has been... Forth is a programming language and programming environment. ... Clyde may refer to the following: the River Clyde and Firth of Clyde in Scotland. ... See also the Isle of Mam. ...

During the period of the Roman occupation of Britain (AD 43 to c. 425), common Brythonic borrowed a large stock of Latin words, both for concepts unfamiliar in the pre-urban society of Celtic Britain such as tactics of warfare and urbanisation and rather more mundane words which displaced native terms (most notably, the word for "fish" in all the Brythonic languages derives from the Latin piscus rather the native *iskos). Approximately eight hundred of these Latin loan-words have survived in the three modern Brythonic languages. Latin - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ...

It is probable that during this period common Brythonic was differentiated into at least two major dialect groups- Southwestern and Western (in addition we may posit additional dialects spoken in what is now England which have left little or no evidence). Between the end of the Roman occupation and the mid sixth century the two dialects began to diverge into recognisably separate languages, the Western into Cumbric and Welsh and the Southwestern into Cornish and its closely related sister language Breton, which was carried from the south of Britain to continental Armorica by refugees fleeing the Saxon invaders. This page is about the Breton language. ... Armorica or Aremorica is the name given in ancient times to the part of Gaul that includes the Brittany peninsula and the territory between the Seine and Loire rivers inland to an indeterminate point. ... The Anglo-Saxons refers collectively to the groups of Germanic tribes who achieved dominance in southern Britain from the mid-5th century, forming the basis for the modern English nation. ...

The Brythonic languages spoken in Scotland, the Isle of Man and England were displaced at the same time by Goidelic and Old English speaking invaders. Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Alba) is a country or nation and former independent kingdom of northwest Europe, and one of the four constituent parts of the United Kingdom. ... See also the Isle of Mam. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Official language None; English is de facto Capital London Capitals coordinates 51° 30 N, 0° 10 W Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831... Goidelic is one of two major divisions of modern-day Celtic languages (the other being Brythonic). ... Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ...

For the later history of the neo-Brythonic languages see under their own respective articles.

Remnants in England and Scotland

The principal legacy left behind in those territories from which the Brythonic languages were displaced is that of toponyms. Many of the place-names in England and to a lesser extent Scotland are derived from the Brythonic names, including London, Dumbarton, York, Dorchester, Dover and Colchester. Several place-name elements are thought to be wholly or partly Brythonic in origin, particularly bre-, bal-, and -dun for hills, carr for a high rocky place, coomb for a small deep valley. London — containing the City of London — is the capital of the United Kingdom and of England and a major world city. With over seven million inhabitants (Londoners) in Greater London area, it is amongst the most densely populated areas in Western Europe. ... Dumbarton is a town in Scotland, lying on the north bank of the River Clyde. ... This article is about the English city. ... Dorchester is the name of two towns in England: Dorchester, Dorset (the traditional county town of Dorset) Dorchester, Oxfordshire (Dorchester-on-Thames, anciently the seat of the Bishop of Dorchester) Dorchester in Dorset was central in the organisation of the emigration of puritans to North America in the 17th century... Arms of Dover Borough Council This article is about the English port. ... This article is about the town in England. ... A carr is a fen. ...

Until recently it has been believed that those areas settled by the Anglo-Saxons were uninhabited at the time and the Britons had fled before them. However, genetic studies show that the British were not pushed out to the Celtic fringes – many tribes remained in what was to become England (see C. Capelli et al. 'A Y chromosome census of the British Isles'. Current Biology 13, 979–984, (2003)). Capelli's findings strengthen the research of Steven Bassett of Birmingham University; his work during the 1990s suggests that much of the West Midlands was only very lightly colonised with Anglian and Saxon settlements. The West Midlands refers to western area of The Midlands (central England). ...

Linguistic effects on English were lexically rather poor aside from toponyms, consisting of a few domestic words, which may include hubbub, peat, bucket, crock, noggin, gob (c.f. Gaelic gob), nook; and the dialectal term for a badger, i.e. brock (c.f. Welsh broch, and Gaelic Broc). Arguably, the use of periphrastic constructions in the English verb (which is more widespread than in the other Germanic languages) is traceable to Brythonic influence. Peat in Lewis, Scotland Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetable matter. ... A regular grey plastic bucket A janitors bucket with a mop and wringer. ... For other uses, see Badger (disambiguation). ... A verb is a part of speech that usually denotes action (bring, read), occurrence (to decompose (itself), to glitter), or a state of being (exist, live, soak, stand). Depending on the language, a verb may vary in form according to many factors, possibly including its tense, aspect, mood and voice. ... Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies The Germanic languages form one of the branches of the Indo-European (IE) language family, spoken by the Germanic peoples who settled in northern Europe along the borders of the Roman Empire. ...

Far more notable, but less well known, are the Brythonic influences on Scottish Gaelic which are many. Like English, periphrastic constructions have come to the fore, but to a much greater degree. Some important borrowings into Gaidhlig include Beinn meaning mountain, and anglicised "Ben", probably from the Brythonic pen meaning "Head". Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ...

References

• The Celtic Roots of English edited by Markku Filppula, Juhani Klemola and Heli Pitkänen, by Joensuu University.