Gaulish
Sign in to saveGaulish is an extinct Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Switzerland, Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine). In a wider sense, it also comprises varieties of Celtic that were spoken across much of central Europe ("Noric"), parts of the Balkans, and Anatolia ("Galatian"), which are thought to have been closely related. The more divergent Lepontic of Northern I
AI overview
Gaulish was a Celtic language spoken across much of Continental Europe, particularly in what is now France and neighboring regions, before disappearing during the Roman period. It matters to historians and linguists because studying its remnants—found in inscriptions, place names, and ancient texts—helps us understand the languages, cultures, and migrations of ancient Celtic peoples across Europe.
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Key facts
- Language.linglist3
- xcg
- Language.name
- Gaulish
- Language.region
- Gaul
- Language.extinct
- late 6th century AD
- Language.ethnicity
- Gauls
- Language.familycolor
- Indo-European
- Language.fam2
- Celtic
- Language.fam3
- Nuclear Celtic/Continental Celtic
- Language.lc1
- xtg
- Language.ld1
- Transalpine Gaulish (proper)
- Language.lc2
- xga
- Language.ld2
- Galatian
- Language.lc3
Article
28 sectionsContents
- Classification
- History
- Early period
- Roman period
- Final demise
- Corpus
- Summary of sources
- Inscriptions
- Phonology
- Orthography
- Lugano alphabet
- Greek alphabet
- Roman alphabet
- Sound laws
- Morphology
- Noun cases
- Verbs
- Syntax
- Word order
- Subordination
- Clitics
- Modern usage
- See also
- References
- Citations
- Bibliography
- Further reading
- External links
Gaulish is an extinct Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Switzerland, Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine). In a wider sense, it also comprises varieties of Celtic that were spoken across much of central Europe ("Noric"), parts of the Balkans, and Anatolia ("Galatian"), which are thought to have been closely related. The more divergent Lepontic of Northern Italy has also sometimes been subsumed under Gaulish.
Together with Lepontic and the Celtiberian spoken in the Iberian Peninsula, Gaulish is a member of the geographic group of Continental Celtic languages. The precise linguistic relationships among them, as well as between them and the modern Insular Celtic languages, are uncertain and a matter of ongoing debate because of their sparse attestation.