Callaecian is the pre-Roman language, or languages, spoken by the ancient Callaeci in northwestern Iberia. The region became the Roman province of Callaecia, which is now divided between the Spanish regions of Galicia, the western parts of Asturias, León and Zamora, and the Norte Region of Portugal.Prósper, B.M. (2005). Estudios sobre la fonética y la morfología de la lengua celtibérica in Vascos, celtas e indoeuropeos. Genes y lenguas (coauthored with Villar, Francisco). Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca, pp. 333–350. . The linguistic situation of pre-Roman Callaecia is complex, as it combines linguistic materials that resemble Celtic features and others that do not, probably related to Lusitanian.
Overview Classical authors Pomponius Mela, Pliny the Elder, and Strabo wrote about the existence of Celtic and non-Celtic populations in Callaecia. Most linguists consider Callaecia to be part of a common dialect continuum with Lusitania. There is controversy over the classification of the Lusitanian language. Although most scholars regard it as a non-Celtic Indo-European language, some argue that it is a Celtic language with archaic features. Apart from the Lusitanian-like elements, Celtic linguistic records abound in Callaecia as they do in Lusitania.
Possible Celtic elements in Callaecia Below are listed some hypothetical Celtic etymologies for various linguistic records from ancient Callaecia.
Features shared with Celtiberian and the other Celtic languages Indo-European *-ps- and *-ks- became *-xs- and were then reduced to -s-: place name AVILIOBRIS from *Awil-yo-brix-s < Proto-Celtic *Awil-yo-brig-s 'Windy hill (fort)',Curchin 2008: 117Prósper 2002: 357–358 modern place name Osmo (Cenlle, Osamo 928 AD) from *Uχsamo- 'the highest one'.Prósper 2005: 282 Original PIE *p has disappeared, having become a *φ sound before being lost completely:Prósper 2005: 336Prósper 2002: 422 Examples place names C(ASTELLO) OLCA from *φolkā- 'Overturned', C(ASTELLO) ERITAECO from *φerito- 'surrounded, enclosed' personal name ARCELTIUS, from *φari-kelt-y-os place name C(ASTELLO) ERCORIOBRI, from *φeri-kor-y-o-brig-s 'Overshooting hillfort' place name C(ASTELLO) LETIOBRI,Curchin 2008: 123 from *φle-tyo-brig-s 'wide hillfort', or *φlei-to-brig-s 'grey hillfort';Prósper 2005: 269 place name Iria Flavia, from *φīweryā- (nominative *φīwerī) 'fertile' (feminine form, cf. Sanskrit feminine pīvari- "fat");Delamarre 2012: 165 place name ONTONIA, from *φont-on- 'path';Delamarre 2012: 2011 personal name LATRONIUS,Vallejo 2005: 326 to *φlā-tro- 'place; trousers' personal name ROTAMUS, to *φro-tamo- 'foremost';Koch 2011:34 modern place names Bama (Touro, Vama 912) to *uφamā-Cf. Koch 2011: 76 'the lowest one, the bottom' (feminine form), Iñobre (Rianxo) to *φenyo-brix-sPrósper 2002: 377 'Hill (fort) by the water', Bendrade (Oza dos Ríos) to *Vindo-φrātem 'White fortress', and Baiordo (Coristanco) to *Bagyo-φritu-, where the second element is proto-Celtic for 'ford'.Búa 2007: 38–39 Galician-Portuguese appellative words leira 'flat patch of land' from *φlāryā,cf. DCECH s.v. lera lavego 'plough' from *φlāw-aiko-,cf. DCECH s.v. llaviegu laxe/lage 'flagstone', from medieval lagena, from *φlagĭnā,cf. DCECH s.v. laja rega and rego 'furrow' from *φrikā.cf. DCECH s.v. regar The frequent instances of preserved PIE /p/ are assigned by some authors, namely Carlos BúaBúa 2007 and Jürgen Untermann, to a single and archaic Celtic language spoken in Callaecia, Asturia and Lusitania, while others (Francisco Villar, Blanca María Prósper, Patrizia de Bernado Stempel, Jordán Colera) consider that they belong to a Lusitanian or Lusitanian-like dialect or group of dialects spoken in northern Iberia along with (but different from) Western Hispano-Celtic: in Galicia: divinity names and epithets PARALIOMEGO, PARAMAECO, POEMANAE, PROENETIAEGO, PROINETIE, PEMANEIECO, PAMUDENO; place names Lapatia, Paramo, Pantiñobre if from *palanti-nyo-brig-s (Búa); Galician-Portuguese appellative words lapa 'stone, rock' (cfr. Lat. lapis) and pala 'stone cavity', from *palla from *plh-sa (cfr. Germ. fels, O.Ir. All). in Asturias the ethnic name Paesici; personal names PENTIUS, PROGENEI; divinity name PECE PARAMECO; in León and Bragança place names PAEMEIOBRIGENSE, Campo Paramo, Petavonium. in other northwestern areas: place names Pallantia, Pintia, Segontia Paramica; ethnic name Pelendones.
Indo-European sonorants between vowels, *n̥, and *m̥ have become an, am; *r̥, and *l̥ have become ri, li:Prósper 2005: 342. place name Brigantia from *brig-ant-yā < Proto-Celtic *br̥g-n̥t-y-ā < post-Proto-Indo-European (post-PIE) *bʰr̥gʰ-n̥t-y-ā 'The towering one, the high one'; modern place names in Portugal and Galicia Braga, Bragança, Berganzo, Berganciños, Bergaña;Moralejo 2010: 105 ancient place names AOBRIGA, CALIABRIGA, CALAMBRIGA, CONIMBRIGA, CORUMBRIGA, MIROBRIGA, NEMETOBRIGA, COELIOBRIGA, TALABRIGA with second element *brigā < Proto-Celtic *br̥g-ā < post-PIE *bʰr̥gʰ-ā 'high place',Luján 2006: 727–729 and AVILIOBRIS, MIOBRI, AGUBRI with second element *bris < *brix-s < Proto-Celtic *brig-s < *br̥g-s < PIE *bʰr̥gʰ-s 'hill (fort)';Prósper 2002: 357–382 cf. English cognate borough < Old English burg "fort" < Proto-Germanic *burg-s < PIE *bʰr̥gʰ-s. Reduction of diphthong *ei to ē: theonym DEVORI, from *dēwo-rīg-ē < Proto-Celtic *deiwo-rēg-ei 'To the king of the gods'.Prósper 2005: 338; Jordán Cólera 2007: 754. Lenition of *m in the group *-mnV- to -unV-:Prósper 2002: 425–426.Prósper 2005: 336. ARIOUNIS MINCOSEGAECIS, dative form from *ar-yo-uno- *menekko-seg-āk-yo- 'To the (deities of the) fields of the many crops' < Proto-Celtic *ar-yo-mno- ... .Prósper 2002: 205–215. Assimilation *p .. kʷ > *kʷ .. kʷ: tribe name Querquerni from *kʷerkʷ- < PIE *perkʷ- 'oak, tree'.Luján 2006: 724 Although this name has also been interpreted as Lusitanian by B. M. Prósper,Prósper 2002: 397 she proposed recently for that language a *p .. kʷ > *kʷ .. kʷ > *p .. p assimilation. Reduction of diphthong *ew to *ow, and eventually to ō:Prósper 2002: 423. personal names TOUTONUS / TOTONUS 'of the people' from *tout- 'nation, tribe' < PIE *teut-; personal names CLOUTIUS 'famous', but VESUCLOTI 'having good fame' < Proto-Celtic *Kleut-y-os, *Wesu-kleut(-y)-os;Prósper 2002: 211 CASTELLO LOUCIOCELO < PIE *leuk- 'bright'. In Celtiberian the forms toutinikum/totinikum show the same process.Jordán Cólera 2007: 755 Superlatives in -is(s)amo:Wodtko 2010: 356 place names BERISAMO < *Berg-isamo- 'The highest one',Prósper 2005: 266, 278 SESMACA < *Seg-isamā-kā 'The strongest one, the most victorious one'.Prósper 2002: 423 The same etymology has been proposed for the modern place names Sésamo (Culleredo) and Sísamo (Carballo), from *Segisamo-;Prósper 2005: 282. modern place name Méixamo from Magisamo- 'the largest one'.Moralejo 2010: 107 Syncope (loss) of unstressed vowels in the vicinity of liquid consonants: CASTELLO DURBEDE, if from *dūro-bedo-. Reduction of Proto-Celtic *χt cluster to Hispano-Celtic *t: personal names AMBATUS, from Celtic *ambi-aχtos, PENTIUS < *kwenχto- 'fifth'.
Features not shared with Celtiberian In contact with *e or *i, intervocalic consonant *-g- tends to disappear: theonym DEVORI from *dēworīgē 'To the king of the gods'; adjective derived of a place name SESMACAE < *Seg-isamā-kā 'The strongest one, the most victorious one'; personal names MEIDUENUS < *Medu-genos 'Born of mead', CATUENUS < *Katu-genos 'Born of the fight';Prósper 2005: 266 inscription NIMIDI FIDUENEARUM HIC < *widu-gen-yā. But Celtiberian place name SEGISAMA and personal name mezukenos show preservation of /g/.Jordán Cólera 2007: 763–764. *-lw- and *-rw- become -lβ-, -rβ- (as in Irish): MARTI TARBUCELI < *tarwo-okel- 'To Mars of the Hill of the Bull', but Celtiberian TARVODURESCA. Late preservation of *(-)φl- which becomes (-)βl- and only later is reduced to a simple (-)l- sound:Prósper 2002: 422, 427Prósper 2005: 345 place names BLETISAM(AM), BLETIS(AMA),Prósper, Blanca María. "El topónimo hispano–celta Bletisama: Una aproximación desde la lingüística". In: I. Sastre y F. J. Sánchez Palencia (eds.). El bronce de Pino del Oro Valladolid. 2010. pp. 217–23. modern Ledesma (Boqueixón) < *φlet-isamā 'widest'; BLANIOBRENSI,Sometimes it has been read ELANIOBRENSI medieval Laniobre < *φlān-yo-brigs 'hillfort on the plain'.Luján 2006: 727 But Celtiberian place name Letaisama.Jordán Cólera 2007: 757. *wl- is maintained:Prósper 2002: 426 VLANA < PIE *wl̥Hn-eh₂ 'wool', while Celtiberian has l-: launi < PIE *wl̥H-mn-ih₂ 'woolly' (?). Sometimes *wo- appears as wa-:Prósper 2005: 346 VACORIA < *(d)wo-kor-yo- 'who has two armies', VAGABROBENDAM < *uφo-gabro-bendā 'lower goat mountain' (see above). Dative plural ending -bo < PIE *bʰo, while Celtiberian had -bos: LUGOUBU/LUCUBO 'To (the three gods) Lug'. Q-Celtic Under the P/Q Celtic hypothesis, Callaecian appears to be a Q-Celtic language, as evidenced by the following occurrences in local inscriptions: ARQVI, ARCVIVS, ARQVIENOBO, ARQVIENI[S], ARQVIVS, all probably from IE Paleo-Hispanic *arkʷios 'archer, bowman', retaining proto-Celtic *kʷ.Abad, Rubén Abad. (2008). "La divinidad celeste/solar en el panteón céltico peninsular". In: Espacio, Tiempo y Forma. Serie II, Historia Antigua, 21: 101. It is also noteworthy the ethnonyms Equaesi ( < PIE *ek̂wos 'horse'), a people from southern Callaecia,Cf. Vallejo 2005: 321, who wrongly assign them to the Astures. and the Querquerni ( < *perkʷ- 'oak'). Nevertheless, some old toponyms and ethnonyms, and some modern toponyms, have been interpreted as showing kw / kʷ > p: Pantiñobre (Arzúa, composite of *kʷantin-yo- '(of the) valley' and *brix-s 'hill(fort)') and Pezobre (Santiso, from *kweityo-bris),Prósper 2002: 422, 378–379 ethnonym COPORI "the Bakers" from *pokwero- 'to cook', old place names Pintia, in Galicia and among the Vaccei, from PIE *penkwtó- > Celtic *kwenχto- 'fifth'.
Roman inscriptions
See also Lusitanian language List of Celtic place names in Galicia List of Celtic place names in Portugal Hispano-Celtic languages Celtiberian language Continental Celtic languages List of Galician words of Celtic origin Portuguese vocabulary Galician Institute for Celtic Studies
References
Bibliography Búa, Carlos (2007) O Thesaurus Paleocallaecus, in Curchin, Leonard A. (2008) Estudios GallegosThe toponyms of the Roman Galicia: New Study. CUADERNOS DE ESTUDIOS GALLEGOS LV (121): 109-136. DCECH = Coromines, Joan (2012). Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico. Madrid: Gredos. .
Luján Martínez, Eugenio R. (2006) The Language(s) of the Callaeci . e-Keltoi 6: 715-748.
Prósper, Blanca María and Francisco Villar (2005). Vascos, Celtas e Indoeuropeos: Genes y lenguas. Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca. .
External links