[Fictionary] dreich results!

[Nicolas Ward]

On Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 10:00 AM, lindafowens at netzero.net
<lindafowens at netzero.net> wrote:
> HI, all, I always thought that there were several Celtic languages, which
> may or may not be the same as Gaelic:  Irish, Scottish, Manx, Welsh, and
> Breton. Am I even close?  I am not a linguist, but I did TRY to learn some
> Irish and Welsh when I visited those countries briefly. Of course it was
> hard, since they are not phoenetic.  But I did see some Germanic and French
> influence, which, I was told, they acquired on their epic journey through
> Europe in the 1st Millenium.  Linda

Yup, but continental Celtic is no longer extant. Breton is spoken in
France, but it's actually the descendants of people from Cornwall who
migrated back across the Channel as invasions pushed the Angles
farther south. There is one Breton linguist who argues that Breton is
a descendant of Gaulish, for cultural reasons, but the historical
evidence doesn't support that.

--Nick