Celtiberian language


Celtiberian or Northeastern Hispano-Celtic is an extinct Indo-European language of the Celtic branch spoken by the Celtiberians in an area of the Iberian Peninsula between the headwaters of the Douro, Tagus, Júcar, and Turia rivers and the Ebro river. This language is directly attested in nearly 200 inscriptions dated from the 2nd century BC to the 1st century AD, mainly in Celtiberian script, a direct adaptation of the northeastern Iberian script, but also in the Latin alphabet. The longest extant Celtiberian inscriptions are those on the Botorrita plaques, three bronze plaques from Botorrita near Zaragoza dating to the early 1st century BC, labeled Botorrita I, III, and IV. Shorter and more fragmentary is the Novallas [bronze tablet].

Overview

According to the [Celtic languages#Classification|P/Q Celtic hypothesis], and like its Iberian relative Gallaecian, Celtiberian is classified as a Q Celtic language, putting it in the same category as Goidelic and not P-Celtic like Gaulish or Brittonic.
According to the Insular/Continental Celtic hypothesis, Celtiberian and Gaulish are grouped together as Continental Celtic languages, but this grouping is paraphyletic: no evidence suggests that the two shared any common innovation separately from Insular Celtic. According to Ranko Matasovic in the introduction to his 2009 Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic: "Celtiberian...is almost certainly an independent branch on the Celtic genealogical tree, one that became separated from the others very early."
Celtiberian has a fully inflected relative pronoun ios, an ancient feature that was not preserved by the other Celtic languages, and the particles -kue 'and' < kʷe, nekue 'nor' < ne-kʷe, ekue 'also, as well' < h₂et-kʷe, and ve "or". As in Welsh, there is an s-subjunctive; e.g., gabiseti "he shall take", robiseti, auseti. Compare Umbrian ferest "he/she/it shall make" or Ancient Greek δείξῃ deiksēi / δείξει deiksei " he/she/it shall show".

Phonology

Celtiberian shows the characteristic sound changes of Celtic languages, such as:

PIE consonants

  • PIE *bʰ, *dʰ, *gʰ > b, d, g: Loss of Proto-Indo-European voiced aspiration.
  • *Celtib. and Gaulish placename element -brigā 'hill, town, akro-polis' < *bʰr̥ǵʰ-eh₂.
  • *nebintor 'they are watered' < *nebʰ-i-nt-or.
  • *dinbituz 'he must build' < *dʰingʰ-bī-tōd; ambi-dingounei 'to build around > to enclose' < *h₂m̥bi-dʰingʰ-o-mn-ei; cf. Latin fingō 'to build, shape' < *dʰingʰ-o, Old Irish cunutgim 'erect, build up' < *kom-ups-dʰingʰ-o; ambi-diseti ' builds around > enclose' < *h₂m̥bi-dʰingʰ-s-e-ti.
  • *gortika 'mandatory, required' < *gʰor-ti-ka; cf. Lat. ex-horto 'exhort' < *ex-gʰor-to). However, since the meaning in Celtiberian cannot be determined with certainty, this root may be related to OIr. gort "field" and its many IE cognates.
  • *duatir 'daughter' < *dʰugh₂tēr, duateros 'grandson, son of the daughter; cf. Common Celtic duxtir.
  • *bezom 'mine' < *bʰedʰ-yo 'that which is pierced'.
  • PIE *kʷ: Celtiberian preserved the PIE voiceless labiovelar kʷ, a development also observed in Archaic Irish and Latin. On the contrary, Brythonic and Gaulish changed kʷ to p'', a change also seen in some dialects of Ancient Greek and some Italic branches like P-Italic. E.g., -kue 'and' < *kʷe, Lat. -que, Osco-Umbrian -pe 'and', neip 'and not, neither' < *ne-kʷe.
  • PIE *ḱw > ku: ekuo horse < *h₁eḱw-ālo; cf. Middle Welsh ebawl foal' < *epālo, Lat. equus 'horse', OIr. ech 'horse' < *eko´- < *h₁eḱwo-, Old Breton eb < *epo- < *h₁eḱwo-.
  • *kū 'dog' < *kuu < *kwōn, in Virokū, 'hound-man, male hound/wolf, werewolf'; cf. OIr. Ferchú, Old Welsh Gurcí < *Virokū 'idem'.
  • PIE *gʷ > b: bindis 'legal agent' < *gʷiHm-diks; cf. Lat. vindex 'defender'.
  • *bovitos 'cow passage' < *gʷow-ito; cf. OIr. bòthar 'cow passage' < *gʷow-, boustom 'cowshed' < *gʷow-sto.
  • PIE *gʷʰ > gu: guezonto < *gʷʰedʰ-y-ont 'imploring, pleading'; cf. ComCelt. guedyo 'ask, plead, pray', OIr. guidid, W. gweddi.
  • PIE *p > *φ > ∅: loss of PIE p, e.g. ro- vs. Lat. pro- and Sanskrit . ozas sues acc. pl. fem. 'six feet, unit of measure' ;
  • *aila 'stone building' < *pl̥-ya; cf. OIr. ail 'boulder'.
  • *vamos 'higher' < *uφamos < *up-m̥os.
  • *vrantiom 'remainder, rest' < *uper-n̥tiyo; cf. Lat. uperans.
  • *Toponym Litania 'broad place' < *pl̥th2-ny-a.
However, it is possible that, as in other Celtic languages, *p before -l- was voiced to b, if the spelling of the place name konbouto represents /konblouto/.
Final *-m is preserved in Celtiberian, a further indication of these dialects' conservatism. It is generally fronted to -n in Gaulish : boustom' "stable."

Consonant clusters

  • PIE *mn > un: as in Lepontic, Brythonic, and Gaulish, but not Old Irish and seemingly not Galatian. Kouneso 'neighbour' < *kom-ness-o < *kom-nedʰ-to; cf. OIr. comnessam 'neighbour' < *kom-nedʰ-t-m̥o.
  • PIE *pn > un: Klounia < *kleun-y-a < *kleup-ni 'meadow'; cf. OIr. clúain 'meadow' < *klouni). However, in Latin, *pn > mn: damnum 'damage' < *dHp-no.
  • PIE *pl > bl as in other Celtic languages, suggested by the placename konbouto if that represents /konblouto/.
  • PIE *nm > lm: Only in Celtiberian: melmu < *men-mōn 'intelligence', Melmanzos 'gifted with mind' < *men-mn̥-tyo; cf. OIr. menme 'mind' < *men-mn̥. Also occurs in modern Spanish: alma 'soul' < *anma < Lat. anima, Asturian galmu 'step' < Celt. kang-mu.
  • PIE *ps > *ss / s: usabituz 'he must excavate ' < *ups-ad-bʰiH-tōd, Useizu * < *useziu < *ups-ed-yō 'highest'. The Latin ethnic name contestani recalls the proper name Komteso 'warm-hearted, friendly' < *kom-tep-so, cf. OIr. tess 'warm' > *tep-so. In Latin epigraphy, this sound is transcribed with gemination: Usseiticum 'of the Usseitici' < *Usseito < *upse-tyo. However, in Gaulish and Brythonic, *ps > *x; cf. Gaul. Uxama, MW uchel, 'one six'.
  • PIE *pt > *tt / t: setantu 'seventh' < *septmo-to. However, in Gaulish and Insular Celtic, *pt > x: sextameto 'seventh', O.Ir. sechtmad.
  • PIE *gs > *ks > *ss / s: sues 'six' < *sweks.
  • *Desobriga 'south/right-hand city' < *dekso-*bʰr̥ǵʰa; **Nertobris 'strong town' < *h₂ner-to-*bʰr̥ǵʰs.
  • *es- 'out of, not' < *eks < *h₁eǵʰs; cf. Lat. ex-, ComCelt. exs-, OIr. ess-. In Latin epigraphy, this sound is transcribed with gemination: Suessatium < *sweks- 'sixth city'; cf. Lat. Sextantium.
  • *Dessicae < *deks-ika. However, in Gaulish, *ks > *x: Dexivates.
  • PIE *gt > *kt > *tt / t: ditas 'constructions, buildings' < *dʰigʰ-tas.
  • *loutu 'load' < *louttu < *louktu < *leugʰ-tu,
  • *litom 'it is permitted', ne-litom 'it is not permitted' < *lik-to; cf. Lat. licitum < *lik-e-to. However, in Common Celtic, *kt > *xt: luxtu < *louktu < *leugʰ-tu; cf. OIr. lucht.
  • *Retugenos 'right-born, lawful' < *h₃reg-tō-genos, Gaul. Rextugenos. In Latin epigraphy, this sound is transcribed with gemination: Britto 'noble' < *brikto < *bʰr̥ǵʰ-to.
  • *Bruttius 'fruitful' < *bruktio < *bʰruHǵ-t-y-o; cf. Latin Fructuosus 'profitable'.
  • PIE *st > *st: as opposed to Gaulish, Irish and Welsh, where the change was *st > ss. This preservation of the PIE cluster *st is another indication of the phonological conservatism of Celtiberian. Gustunos 'excellent' < *gustu 'excellence' < *gus-tu; cf. OIr. gussu 'excellence', Fergus < *viro-gussu, Gaul. gussu.

Vowels

  • PIE *e, *h₁e > e:
  • * Togoitei eni 'in Togotis' < *h₁en-i; cf. Lat. in, OIr. in 'into, in'.
  • * somei eni touzei 'inside this territory'.
  • * es- 'out of, not' < *eks < *h₁eǵʰs; cf. Lat. ex-, ComCelt. exs-, OIr. ess-.
  • * esankios 'not enclosed, open', lit. 'unfenced' < *h₁eǵʰs-*h₂enk-yos.
  • * treba 'settlement, town'; Kontrebia 'conventus, capital' < *kom-treb-ya; cf. OIr. treb, W. tref 'settlement'.
  • * ekuo horse < *h₁ekw-os, ekualo 'horseman'.
  • PIE *h₂e > a:
  • * ankios 'fenced, enclosed' < *h₂enk-yos.
  • * Ablu 'strong' < *h₂ep-lō 'strength'.
  • * augu 'valid, firm' < *h₂ewg-u, adj. 'strong, firm, valid'.
  • PIE *o, *Ho > o:
  • * olzui.
  • * okris 'mountain' < *h₂ok-r-i; cf. Lat. ocris 'mountain', OIr. ochair 'edge' < *h₂ok-r-i.
  • * monima 'memory' < *monī-mā < *mon-eye-mā.
  • PIE *eh₁ > ē > ī?. This Celtic reflex isn't well attested in Celtiberian. e.g. IE h₃rēg'-s meaning "king, ruler" vs. Celtiberian -reiKis, Gaulish -rix, British rix, Old Irish rí, Old Welsh, Old Breton ri meaning "king". In any case, the maintenance of PIE ē = ē is well attested in dekez 'he did' < *deked < *dʰeh₁k-et, identical to Latin fecit.
  • PIE *eh₂ > ā:
  • * dāunei 'to burn' < *deh₂u-nei; cf. OIr. dóud, dód 'burn' < *deh₂u-to-.
  • * silabur sāzom 'enough money, a considerable amount of money' < *sātio < *seh₂t-yo, ComCelt. sāti 'sufficiency', cf. OIr. sáith.
  • * kār 'friendship' < *keh₂r; cf. Lat. cārus 'dear' < *keh₂r-os, Ir. cara 'friend', W. caru 'love' < *kh₂r-os.
  • PIE *eh₃, *oH > a/u: Celt. ū in final syllables, ā in non-final syllables; e.g.: datuz 'he must give' < dh₃-tōd.dama 'sentence' < *dʰoh₁m-eh₂ 'put, dispose'; cf. OIr. dán 'gift, skill, poem', Germanic dōma < *dʰoh₁m-o 'verdict, sentence'.
  • PIE *Hw- > w-: uta 'conj. and, prep. besides' < *h₂w-ta, 'or, and'; cf. Umb. ute 'or', Lat. aut 'or' < *h₂ew-ti.
  • PIE ey remains ey in Celtiberian and Lepontic, especially in root syllables. In other Celtic languages, it becomes ē. In final syllables, there is some variation in the spelling, with some datives preserving the diphthong:Togoitei eni 'in Togotis', somei eni touzei 'inside of this territory'; and others, not: GENTE with NSg. kentis/gentis, STENIONTE.

Syllabic resonants and laryngeals

  • PIE *n̥ > an / *m̥ > am:
  • * arganto 'silver' < *h₂r̥gn̥to; cf. OIr. argat, OW argant, Lat. argentum.
  • * kamanom 'path, way' *kanmano < *kn̥gs-mn̥-o; cf. OIr. céimm, OW cemmein 'step'.
  • * decameta 'tithe' < *dekm̥-et-a; cf. Gaul. decametos, OIr. dechmad 'tenth'.
  • * dekam 'ten'.
  • PIE *CHC > CaC, as in Common Celtic and Italic :
  • * datuz < *dh₃-tōd, dakot 'they put' < *dʰh₁k-ont,
  • * matus 'propitious days' < *mh₂-tu; cf. Lat. mānus 'good' < *meh₂-no, OIr. maith 'good' < *mh₂-ti.
  • PIE *CCH > CaC : Magilo 'prince' < *mgh₂-i-lo; cf. OIr. mál 'prince' < *mgh₂-lo.
  • PIE *r̥R > arR and *l̥R > alR : arznā 'part, share' < *φarsna < *parsna < *pr̥s-nh₂; ComCelt. φrasna < *prasna < *pr̥s-nh₂; cf. OIr. ernáil 'part, share'.
  • PIE *r̥P > riP and *l̥P > liP :
  • * briganti PiRiKanTi < *bʰr̥ǵʰ-n̥ti 'high, elevated ones'.
  • * silabur konsklitom 'silver coined' < *kom-skl̥-to 'to cut'.
  • PIE *Cr̥HV > CarV and *Cl̥HV > CalV:
  • * sailo 'dung, slurry' *salyo < *sl̥H-yo; cf. Lat. saliva < *sl̥H-iwa, OIr. sal 'dirt' < *sl̥H-a.
  • * aila 'stone building' < *pl̥-ya; cf. OIr. ail 'boulder'.
  • * are- 'first, before'; cf. OIr. ar 'for', Gaul. are 'in front of', < *pr̥h₂i and Lat. prae- 'before' < *preh₂i.
  • PIE *HR̥C > aRC : arganto 'silver' < *h₂r̥gn̥to, not **riganto.

Exclusive developments

Affrication of the PIE groups -*dy-, -*dʰy-. -*ty- > z/''th between vowels and of -*d, -*dʰ > z''/th at the ends of words:adiza 'duty' < *adittia < *h₂ed-dik-t-ya.Useizu 'highest' < *ups-ed-yō.touzu 'territory' < *teut-yō.rouzu 'red' < *reudʰy-ō.olzo 'last' < *h₂ol-tyo.ozas 'feet' < *pod-y-ans.datuz < *dh₃-tōd; louzu 'free' < *h₁leudʰy-ō; cf. Oscan loufir 'free man', Russian ljúdi 'men, people'.
That this is one of only a very few phonological developments that distinguishes Celtiberian phonologically from Proto-Celtic is one reason Matasovic has deemed Celtiberian a very early independent branch of Proto-Celtic. It is noteworthy that this weakening of most non-initial Proto-Celtic voiced dental stops seems to indicate that Celtiberian had taken the first step in what became more-widespread lenition of non-initial voiced consonants in later Celtic dialects.

Morphology

Noun and adjective cases

arznā 'part, share' < *parsna < *pr̥s-nh₂. ComCelt. φrasna < *parsna.veizos 'witness' < *weidʰ-yo < *weidʰ- 'perceive, see' / vamos 'higher' < *up-m̥os.gentis 'son, descent' < *gen-ti. ComCelt. genos 'family'.loutu 'load' < *louttu < *louktu < *leugʰ-tu. ComCelt. luxtu < *louktu < *leugʰ-tu; cf. OIr. lucht.duater 'daughter' < *dʰugh₂tēr. ComCelt. duxtir.
An -n- stem can be seen in melmu nom. sg. < *-ōn, melmunos gen. sg..
STENIONTE is probably the dative of an -nt- stem.
It is notable that the genitive singular -o- stem ends in -o in Celtiberian, unlike the rest of Celtic, where this ending is -ī
There is also a potential vocative case, but it is very poorly attested, with only an ambiguous -e ending for o-stem nouns cited in the literature.

Relative pronoun

Forms of the masculine singular relative pronoun *yo- can be found in the first Botorrita plaque: The form io-s in line 10 is the nominative singular masculine of the relative pronoun from PIE *yo-, which shows up in Old Irish only as the origin of leniting relative verb forms and the nasalizing relative forms.
Line 7 has the accusative singular io-m and the dative singular io-mui from the same root.

Verbal endings

The PIE third-person verbal ending system seems to be evident, though the exact meaning of many verbs remains unclear:
  • primary singular active *-ti in ambitise-ti, ' builds around > encloses' from *h₂m̥bhi-dʰingʰ-s-e-ti.auzeti, secondary *-t > /θ/ written in terbere-z and perhaps kombalke-z.
  • primary plural active *-nti in ara-nti and zizonti 'they sow'.
  • secondary *-nt perhaps in atibio-n.
  • middle voice *-nto in auzanto and perhaps esianto.
A third-person imperative *-tо̄d > -tuz perhaps is seen in da-tuz 'he must give', usabituz, bize-tuz and dinbituz 'he must build' < *dʰingʰ-bī-tōd.
A possible third-person singular subjunctive -a-ti may be asekati, and another in -e-ti may be seen in auzeti < *aw-dhh1-e-ti 'he may bestow.'
From the same root may come a truncated form of an athematic active third-person singular aorist, if auz is from *auzaz < *aw-dhh1-t''.
Also from the same root, an example of the genitive plural of the present active participle ending -nt-om may be found on the Novallas bronze tablet in audintum < *awdheh1-nt-ōm.
Possible infinitive form -u-nei, perhaps from *-mn-ei, may be seen in ambi-tinko-unei and ta-unei ‘to give’, a reduplicated infinitive form in ti-za-unei > *dhi-dhh1-mn-ei'' "to place." It is notable that no infinitive forms were preserved or developed in the insular Celtic languages.

Syntax

Celtiberian syntax is considered to have the basic order subject–object–verb. Another archaic IE feature is the use of the relative pronoun jos and the repetition of enclitised conjunctions such as kwe.

Sample texts

First [Botorrita plaque], side A

One of four bronze plaques found in Botorrita, this text was written in eastern Celtiberian script. The other side consists of a list of names.
italic=no

Great inscription from Peñalba de Villastar

An inscription in the Latin alphabet in the Celtiberian sanctuary of Peñalba de Villastar, in the current municipality of Villastar, Teruel province. Other translations, which differ dramatically from this and from each other, may be found in P. Sims-Williams' treatment of the Celtic languages in The Indo-European Languages.
italic=no

Bronze plaque of Torrijo del Campo

A bronze plaque found in Torrijo del Campo, Teruel province in 1996, using the eastern Celtiberian script.
italic=no