Primitive Irish is the oldest known form of the Irish language, known only from fragments, mostly personal names, inscribed on stone in the ogham alphabet in Ireland and western Britain up to about the 4th century. Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... Ogham (Old Irish Ogam) was an alphabet used primarily to represent Gaelic languages that was probably often written in wood in early times. ... A true colour image of Ireland, captured by a NASA satellite on January 4, 2003. ... 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 one of the... (3rd century - 4th century - 5th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 4th century was that century which lasted from 301 to 400. ...

Transcribed Ogham inscriptions show Primitive Irish to be Old Celtic in character, lacking the letter P, and in morphology and inflections similar to Gaulish, Latin, Classical Greek or Sanskrit. It has few of the distinctive characteristics of modern Irish and is difficult to recognise as a form of Irish. Morphology is a subdiscipline of linguistics that studies word structure. ... This article is about inflection in linguistics. ... Gaulish is name given to the now-extinct Celtic language that was spoken in Gaul before the Romans, the Franks and the British Celts invaded. ... Latin - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... The Greek language (Greek Ελληνικά, IPA – Hellenic) is an Indo-European language with a documented history of some 3,000 years. ... The Sanskrit language ( संस्कृता वाक्) is one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-European language family and is not only a classical language, but also an official language of India. ...

By contrast, Old Irish, written from the 6th century on, is recognisably Irish, complete with initial mutations, distinct "broad" and "slender" consonants, the letter P, consonant clusters created by the loss of unstressed syllables, along with a number of significant vowel and consonant changes. These changes, traced by historical linguistics, are not unusual in the development of languages but appear to have taken place remarkably quickly in Irish. The changes coincide with the conversion to Christianity and the introduction of Latin learning. Old Irish is the name given to the oldest form of the Irish language which can be more or less fully reconstructed from extant sources. ... (5th century — 6th century — 7th century — other centuries) Events The first academy of the east the Academy of Gundeshapur founded in Persia by the Persian Shah Khosrau I. Irish colonists and invaders, the Scots, began migrating to Caledonia (later known as Scotland) Glendalough monastery, Wicklow Ireland founded by St. ... Historical linguistics (also diachronic linguistics or comparative linguistics) is primarily the study of the ways in which languages change over time, by means of examining languages which are recognizably related through similarities such as vocabulary, word formation, and syntax, as well as the surviving records of ancient languages. ... Christianity is an Abrahamic religion based on the life, teachings, death by crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth as described in the New Testament. ... Latin - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ...

All languages have various "registers" or levels of formality. The most formal register, usually that of learning and religion, changes slowly. The most informal vernacular registers change virtually week by week, but in most cases are prevented from developing into mutually unintelligible dialects by the existence of more formal registers in which speakers also need to be able to communicate.

In pre-Christian Ireland the most formal register of the language would have been that used by the learned and religious class, the druids, for their ceremonies and teaching. It is also likely that memorial inscriptions would have been written in this form. But when the druids were replaced as the learned class by Christian monks, formal Primitive Irish was replaced as the language of learning by Latin. The vernacular forms, freed from the conservative influence of the formal register, changed rapidly, until a new written standard, Old Irish, established itself. Druidry or Druidism was the religion of the ancient druids, the priestly class in ancient Celtic and Gallic societies through much of Western Europe north of the Alps and in the British Isles. ...

External influences

Irish contains a significant number of loanwords from the Brythonic languages dating apparently to this period. Most modern linguists explain these Brythonic loanwords as borrowings directly from Welsh, noting that Ogham inscriptions attest to an early Irish presence in Wales. However, the pre-Gaelic inhabitants of Ireland, the Iverni, spoke a distinct language (called Iarnnbêlrae, Iarnbêlrae, and Iarmbêrla in the 9th-century dictionary Sanas Cormaic), which may have been Brythonic, though no direct evidence survives; the noted early 20th century Gaelic scholar T. F. O'Rahilly thus proposed their language, which he called Ivernic, as the source for these loanwords. Brythonic is one of two major divisions of Insular Celtic languages (the other being Goidelic). ... Welsh redirects here, and this article describes the Welsh language. ... Ogham (Old Irish Ogam) was an alphabet used primarily to represent Gaelic languages that was probably often written in wood in early times. ...

Before the Gaels reached Ireland, the natives allegedly spoke Ivernic, particularly in Munster. It receives its name from a Gallo-Belgic group known as the Iverni (later Érainn), attested in Ptolemy's 2nd century Geography. This hypothesis may be supported by what seems to be a brief mention of such a language in the 9th-century dictionary Sanas Cormaic, under the names Iarnnbélrae, Iarnbélrae, and Iarmbérla. However, most linguists now explain these Brythonic loanwords as borrowings directly from Welsh, noting that Ogham inscriptions attest to an early Irish presence in Wales. A true colour image of Ireland, captured by a NASA satellite on January 4, 2003. ... Alternate uses: See Munster (disambiguation). ... Gallia (in English Gaul) is the Latin name for the region of western Europe occupied by present-day France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine river. ... The first recorded mention of Belgae, part of the mix that make up modern Belgians, was in the year 58 B.C.; Gaius Julius Caesar, departing from the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis (now Provence), decided to conquer the rest of the Gauls. ... This article is about the geographer and astronomer Ptolemy. ... (1st century - 2nd century - 3rd century - other centuries) Events Roman Empire governed by the Five Good Emperors (96–180) – Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius. ... Welsh redirects here, and this article describes the Welsh language. ... Ogham (Old Irish Ogam) was an alphabet used primarily to represent Gaelic languages that was probably often written in wood in early times. ...

Advocates of this hypothesis believe that it first diverged from Gaulish around 500 BC and survived the Goidelic invasion of Ireland (sometime between 500 and 100 BC). It was still spoken by a minority in Munster at the time of Bede in about AD 700. However its speakers were eventually absorbed into the Goidelic-speaking population, and by the time the Vikings had established Limerick in about 850, the Ivernic language was extinct and completely replaced with Irish. Gaulish is name given to the now-extinct Celtic language that was spoken in Gaul before the Romans, the Franks and the British Celts invaded. ... (6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC - other centuries) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) Events Demotic becomes the dominant script of ancient Egypt Persians invade Greece twice (Persian Wars) Battle of Marathon (490) Battle of Salamis (480) Athenian empire formed and falls Peloponnesian War... Goidelic is one of two major divisions of modern-day Celtic languages (the other being Brythonic). ... Centuries: 7th century BC - 6th century BC - 5th century BC Decades: 550s BC - 540s BC - 530s BC - 520s BC - 510s BC - 500s BC - 490s BC - 480s BC - 470s BC - 460s BC - 450s BC Events and Trends 509 BC - Foundation of the Roman Republic 508 BC - Office of pontifex maximus created... Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 130s BC 120s BC 110s BC - 100s BC - 90s BC 80s BC 70s BC 60s BC 50s BC Years: 105 BC 104 BC 103 BC 102 BC 101 BC - 100 BC - 99 BC 98 BC 97 BC 96 BC 95... Alternate uses: See Munster (disambiguation). ... Depiction of Bede from the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493 Bede ( Latin Beda), also known as Saint Bede or, more commonly, the Venerable Bede (c. ... ( 6th century - 7th century - 8th century - other centuries) Events Islam starts in Arabia, the Quran is written, and Arabs subjugate Syria, Iraq, Persia, Egypt, North Africa and Central Asia to Islam. ... The name Viking is a loan from the native Scandinavian term for the Norse seafaring warriors who raided the coasts of Scandinavia, Europe and the British Isles from the late 8th century to the 11th century, the period of European history referred to as the Viking Age. ... This article is about the city in Ireland. ... ( 8th century - 9th century - 10th century - other centuries) Events Beowulf might have been written down in this century, though it could also have been in the 8th century Reign of Charlemagne, and concurrent (and controversially labeled) Carolingian Renaissance in western Europe Viking attacks on Europe begin Oseberg ship burial The... Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ...

References

• John T Koch (1995), "The conversion and the transition from Primitive to Old Irish", Emania 13
• T. F. O'Rahilly in Ériu 13, 1942.
• T. F. O'Rahilly, Early Irish History and Mythology. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1946, 1957, 1964, 1971, 1976, 1984, 1999.