Celtic Influence on the English language

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Introduction

At present, English is spoken by 1.4 billion people all over. Presently, it is the most widely used language in the world.[1]  It is also the third most common native language in the world, after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish.[2] English is also the global language and used in many fields such as Science, Modern Technology, Health, Education, Law, Literature etc. Hence, it is absolutely significant to investigate the history and evolution of the English Language. Language is a phenomenon, which has been frequently changing for a period of many years. It is not an everyday change; yet, it is gradually evolving for years and years.  Generally, language is passed down from one generation to another. This is common to all languages including English as well. Changes in language have occurred throughout centuries over a short period of time and have evolved through different degrees of English. The history of the English language has traditionally been divided into four main periods: Old English (450-1100 AD), Middle English (1100- 1500 AD), Early Modern English (1500-1700 AD) and Late Modern English (1700-upto now).

Old English is also known as Anglo-Saxon English, which is the foundation of the modern day English. It originated from many variations of other languages. However, its roots came from the West-Germanic Language. Three Germanic tribes invaded Britain during the 05^th century.  These tribes were Angles, Saxons and Jutes, who came from Denmark and northern Germany. When they arrived in Britain, the inhabitants of Britain spoke Celtic. Old English culture and language spread rapidly across east and central parts of Britain during the 06^th and 07^th centuries while the dominant culture and language of the Celtic people, who captured Britain around 600 BC,[3] remained. But, after their arrival, most of the Celtic people were expelled by the invaders to Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Celtic was the first language, which h influenced Old English. Other main languages that influenced Old English or Anglo-Saxon were found to be Scandinavian, Latin and Greek languages. However, the Anglo-Saxons terrorized Celts rather than integrated with them and so their languages became isolated until the Norman Conquest[4] created a linguistic hierarchy with Celtic languages firmly[5].

Objective of the Study

The objective of the present study is to investigate the impact of the Celtic Language on the English Language during the period of Old English or Anglo Saxon period. It is true that some researchers seem to have explored this area, but regarding some areas more information is not revealed. It is found according to the previous studies that at present, only a few Celtic words can be found in the modern English Language, however this study reveals that there is a considerable number of Celtic words in the modern English Language.  This has been broadly discussed in the study.

Celtic Influence on Old English

The Celtic people are believed to have invaded the British Isles around 600 BC. At present, the people, who inhabit these areas, are proud of preserving these languages as a way of protecting their heritage. It is believed that the Celtic people, who invaded Britain, were closely integrated with the people, who previously inhabited the island. They also used to speak the language spoken by this community.

The ancient Celts lived in some parts of Europe north of the Mediterranean region from the Late Bronze Age onwards.[6] These tribes often migrated to close countries and some invaded the British Isles. They spoke the same language even if they belonged to different Celtic tribes. Celtic languages are still spoken today in parts of the British Isles and northern France. Celtic languages gradually disappeared with the advent of Germanic invasions. Yet, the English language borrowed some words from the Celtic language. Some of them are basket, brave, bog, boycott clock, car, penguin, whiskey etc.

Place and River Names

The influence of Celtic on Old English was much less.  A very few Celtic words remained in the English language today. Many of place and river names have Celtic origins: Kent, York, Dover, Cumberland, Thames, Avon, Trent, Severn, Canterbury, Cambridge, Aberdeen, Devon, Branscombe, Don, Monmoth are some of such words.

Other widespread place name components include: Celtic -briga ‘hill, fort’, Berg ‘mount’, Modern English -burgh, -bury as well as magus ‘field’. Some Celtic words are as follows. However, their original words have presently disappeared.

briga 'hill, high place'/brigant- 'high, lofty, elevated'/brīwa 'bridge'/dūnon 'fortress'/dūro- 'fort'/k^wenno- 'head'/magos 'field, plain'/windo- 'white, fair, blessed'

Celtic languages were viewed as inferior, and words that have survived are usually words with geographical significance, and place names. Adopted words include bucket, car, crockery, gob, slogan and flannel, truant and gaol.

Some names that survive are the names of rivers such as the Thames and the Yare, and important Roman towns such as London, York and Lincoln. The use of "Combe" or "Coombe" as part of many place names comes from the Celtic word kumb, which means "valley".

 The names of most rivers, mountains, lakes and hills are Celtic, for they wouldn’t have been changed by the newcomers. These are Avon and Ex. The word Avon means water. We can imagine Celts near a river simply called it water. There are 14 Avons in Britain. Ex also means water and there are more than 20 streams with this name in Yorkshire and the East, while it becomes the Usk in Wales and the Esk in Scotland. The Celtic word for mountain, Pen (Welsh) and Ben (Scottish) are also widespread.

 Barber (1993) notes that the greatest linguistic influence of the Celts was in terms of place-names. Celtic place-names are far exceeded by those of English origin and the tendency is that Celtic survivals are more common in the areas of late penetration by the Anglo-Saxons. Celtic names were passed on to the Anglo-Saxons. 

Dover, Carlisle, York Graham, Thurgood, Winchester, Manchester, Rochester, Gloucester and Dorchester, Canterbury and Colchester are examples for many Celtic words. The names of most rivers, mountains, lakes and hills are Celtic, for they wouldn’t have been changed by the newcomers. These are some of the Celtic words: bag, bargain, barter, barrel, basin, basket, budget, bonnet, car, caul, garter, ribbon, mutton, gown, mitten, motley, rogue, varlet, vassal, and truant.

Conclusion

It has already been discussed above that mainly four languages such as Celtic, Greek, Latin and Scandinavian languages influenced the English language during the Old English period. Of them, it was found that the influence of the Celtic Language on the English language was much less according to the previous studies, nevertheless the present study reveals that the impact of the Celtic Language on the English language is not so much less. It seems to have added more Celtic words to the English vocabulary. When the Old English period is closely investigated, this fact is absolutely apparent.  Comparatively, its impact on the English Language is less when compared to the other three languages.