| The Celtic languages are the languages | | | | culture. |
| descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common | | | | There are two competing schemata of |
| Celtic", a branch of the greater | | | | categorization. One scheme, argued for |
| Indo-European language family. During | | | | by Schmidt (1988) among others, links |
| the 1st millennium BC, they were spoken | | | | Gaulish with Brythonic in a P-Celtic |
| across Europe, from the Bay of Biscay | | | | node, leaving Goidelic as Q-Celtic. The |
| and the North Sea, up the Rhine and down | | | | difference between P and Q languages is |
| the Danube to the Black Sea and the | | | | the treatment of Proto-Celtic *kw, which |
| Upper Balkan Peninsula, and into Asia | | | | became *p in the P-Celtic languages but |
| Minor (Galatia). Today, Celtic languages | | | | *k in Goidelic. An example is the |
| are now limited to a few areas in the | | | | Proto-Celtic verb root *kwrin- "to buy", |
| British Isles, eastern Canada, | | | | which became pryn- in Welsh but cren- in |
| Patagonia, scattered groups in the | | | | Old Irish. |
| United States and Australia, and on the | | | | The other scheme, defended for example |
| peninsula of Brittany in France. | | | | by McCone (1996), links Goidelic and |
| Proto-Celtic apparently divided into | | | | Brythonic together as an Insular Celtic |
| four sub-families: | | | | branch, while Gaulish and Celtiberian |
| Gaulish and its close relatives, | | | | are referred to as Continental Celtic. |
| Lepontic, Noric and Galatian. These | | | | According to this theory, the "P-Celtic" |
| languages were once spoken in a wide arc | | | | sound change of [k?] to [p] occurred |
| from France to Turkey and from Belgium | | | | independently or areally. The proponents |
| to northern Italy. | | | | of the Insular Celtic hypothesis point |
| Celtiberian, anciently spoken in the | | | | to other shared innovations among |
| Iberian peninsula, namely in the areas | | | | Insular Celtic languages, including |
| of modern Portugal, Galicia, Asturias, | | | | inflected prepositions, VSO word order, |
| Cantabria, Arag'n and Le'n. | | | | and the lenition of intervocalic [m] to |
| Goidelic, including Irish, Scots Gaelic, | | | | [z], a nasalized voiced bilabial |
| and Manx. | | | | fricative (an extremely rare sound). |
| Brythonic (also called Brittonic), | | | | There is, however, no assumption that |
| including Welsh, Breton, Cornish, | | | | the Continental Celtic languages descend |
| Cumbric, the hypothetical Ivernic, and | | | | from a common "Proto-Continental Celtic" |
| possibly also Pictish. | | | | ancestor. Rather, the Insular |
| Scholarly handling of the Celtic | | | | Continental schemata usually considers |
| languages has been rather argumentative | | | | Celtiberian the first branch to split |
| owing to lack of primary source data. | | | | from Proto-Celtic, and the remaining |
| Some scholars distinguish Continental | | | | group would later have split into |
| and Insular Celtic, arguing that the | | | | Gaulish and Insular Celtic. |
| differences between the Goidelic and | | | | There are legitimate scholarly arguments |
| Brythonic languages arose after these | | | | in favour of both the Insular Celtic |
| split off from the Continental Celtic | | | | hypothesis and the P-Celtic/Q-Celtic |
| languages. Other scholars distinguish | | | | hypothesis. Proponents of each schema |
| P-Celtic from Q-Celtic, putting most of | | | | dispute the accuracy and usefulness of |
| the Continental Celtic languages in the | | | | the other's categories. Since the |
| former group (except for Celtiberian, | | | | realization that Celtiberian was |
| which is Q-Celtic). | | | | Q-Celtic in the 1970s, the division into |
| The Breton language is Brythonic, not | | | | Insular and Continental Celtic is the |
| Gaulish. When the Anglo-Saxons moved | | | | more widespread opinion. |
| into Great Britain, some of the native | | | | When referring only to the modern Celtic |
| Brythons or "Welsh" (from a Germanic | | | | languages, since no Continental Celtic |
| word for "foreigners") fled across the | | | | language has living descendents, |
| English Channel and landed in Brittany. | | | | "Q-Celtic" is equivalent to "Goidelic" |
| They brought their Brythonic language | | | | and "P-Celtic" is equivalent to |
| with them, which evolved into Breton - | | | | "Brythonic". |
| which is still partially intelligible | | | | Within the Indo-European family, the |
| with Modern Welsh and Cornish. | | | | Celtic languages have sometimes been |
| The distinction of Celtic into these | | | | placed with the Italic languages in a |
| four sub-families probably occurred | | | | common Italo-Celtic subfamily, a |
| about 1000 BC. The early Celts are | | | | hypothesis that is now largely |
| commonly associated with the | | | | discarded, in favour of the assumption |
| archaeological Urnfield culture, the | | | | of language contact between pre-Celtic |
| Hallstatt culture, and the La Tene | | | | and pre-Italic communities. |