In regards to the Celtic languages of Kernow, Mannin, Alba, Breizh, Eire, Asturies, Cymru and Galicia:
Over 2000 years ago Celtic languages were spoken very widely across Europe, from the Bay of Biscay and across into Asia Minor. The rise of the Roman Empire led to the extinction or near extinction of most of these languages, but two types of Celtic language did survive in the British Isles and Ireland. These types are called p-Celtic and q-Celtic. From p-Celtic came Welsh, Breton and Cornish, and from q-Celtic came Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx, making up the six present day Celtic languages. This ‘p and q’ business came about because if you change the letter ‘p’ in a lot of p-Celtic words to ‘c’ (sounds like ‘q’) you get the corresponding q-Celtic word. An example of this is that the word for ‘son’ in Welsh is ‘map’ or ‘mab’, while in Gaelic it’s ‘mac’. p-Celtic languages are sometimes called ‘Brythonic’ or ‘British’ languages, while the q-Celtic ones can be lumped together as ‘Gaelic’, which is simply an Irish word for ‘Irish’ – modern Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx developed as separate but closely related languages from Old Irish. Modern Breton descended from the Celtic language spoken by the Britons who crossed the English Channel to escape from the Anglo-Saxon expansion in southern Britain after the Romans left.
Over the last few hundred years it’s become common to use the collective name ‘Celts’ for the Welsh, Bretons, Cornish, Irish, Scottish Gaels and Manx. Recently, some scholars have objected to this usage, saying there’s no clear evidence of an ethnic connection between the modern ‘Celts’ and the ancient ‘Celts’ of continental Europe. But little objection can be raised to using the label ‘Celts’ if we stick to languages and do not worry about ethnicity. In any case, in recent decades there’s been a huge increase in enthusiasm for everything ‘Celtic’ ~ just about everyone seems to want to be a Celt!
All the six surviving Celtic languages have suffered from prejudice and discrimination, which in some cases has been in the form of determined attempts to wipe them out completely. But all six survived in varying degrees of health and are now benefiting from campaigns to repair and restore them.
Resource &
Further Reading: http://www.gov.im/lib/news/post/interceltiquecel.xml
