Celtic languages

Celtic Languages

Celtic languages are a special group of languages that come from a very old language called Proto-Celtic. People have known about these languages since 1707, thanks to a man named Edward Lhuyd. He noticed that languages like Welsh and Breton were connected to the ancient Celts.

Long ago, these languages were spoken all over Europe and even in Anatolia. Today, you can mainly hear them in the northwestern part of Europe. There are six Celtic languages still used today: Breton, Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Cornish, and Manx. Even though fewer people speak them now, many are working hard to keep them alive. For example, Welsh is an official language in Wales, and Irish is an official language in Ireland and the European Union.

These languages are divided into two main groups. Irish, Manx, and Scottish Gaelic are called the Goidelic languages. Welsh, Cornish, and Breton are known as Brittonic languages. All of these are Insular Celtic languages because Breton came from settlers who traveled from Britain.

Celtic languages have a long history of writing. The oldest known writings are from the 6th century BC, found in the Alps. Early writings used different scripts, but later on, the Latin script was used for all Celtic languages. Welsh has had a steady tradition of writing since the 6th century AD.

Here are some words in the different Celtic languages, so you can see how they are similar: