The Modern Gaulish Language
The revival of the Gaulish language: Galáthach hAthevíu
Links:
1. A discussion group on, for and in the modern Gaulish language:
2. A comprehensive English-Modern Gaulish-English dictionary:
3. A series of step-by-step lessons in several languages, including English, Portuguese, French, German and Italian:
4. A memrise course:
5. a) A collection of translations of poetry and prose in modern and in old Gaulish:
b) a collection of original poetry, songs and stories in the modern Gaulish language:
6. A collection of soundfiles, including songs, in modern Gaulish:
8. A translation of Asterix The Gaul in modern Gaulish:
http://asterixinmoderngaulish.myfreesites.com
9. A translation of Agrippa, a manga about Vercingetorix:
http://mangainmoderngaulish.myfreesites.com
18. Syntax
The interpretation of the syntax of the available ancient Gaulish texts is to a large extent a matter of speculation and debate, as they are often poorly understood and hotly debated. Nevertheless there are a number of features that can be observed and which can be used in the modern Gaulish language to construct sentences. These will be detailed below.
Verbal noun clauses
Verbal nouns form one of the corner stones of modern Gaulish syntax. Unfortunately they are not well attested in ancient Gaulish, or, if attested, they are not well understood. According to Mees (2010) the text of Chateaubleau, which is the latest and most evolved example of continuous Gaulish writing available today, features several examples of verbal forms which can be thought of as verbal nouns. They are described by Mees (2010) as “deverbalised forms” or “deverbal constructions” and appear to be used throughout the Chateaubleau document in a uniform manner, regardless of their various morphologies and markings for number, aspect or tense (Mees 2010, p. 103). As such, they “display a clear tendency to appear after clitics either to negators or verbs” (Mees 2010, p. 103). This situation is refered to as a situation of “collapsing-cum-generalsing” of verbal nouns of various origins (Mees 2010, p. 103). Examples of such verbal noun forms and their usage are as follows:
líu mi beni ueionna = I denounce a woman wishing
anmanbe gniíou = names knowing
sue resetesi iegiíinna = may you fix her a cursing
siaxsiou beíiassu né biti = seeking punishment let her not be
cluiou se dagisamo cele = hearing this best companion
(from Mees 2010)
Of the above, the verbal nouns are:
ueionna, gniíou, iegiíinna, siaxsiou, cluiou
These display a wide variety of suffixes and morphological features, including a future marker (-si- in siaxsiou) and – possibly – an adverbial marker –inna, among others (the interpretation of these suffixes is debatable).
A position is proposed here where the modern Gaulish language strips these various deverbalised verbal noun constructions of their various suffixes, leaving just the root or stem of the verb:
uei = to wish
gni = to know
ieg- = to curse
siag- = to seek
clui = to hear
These forms will be considered the verbal noun form of modern Gaulish verbs: the bare, stripped back root, denuded of any suffixes. These are the forms used in the section on verbs (see further above). As such, these verbal nouns are the equivalent both of an English infinitive (clúi = to hear) and of an English gerund (clúi = the hearing). In keeping with Bernard Mees’ observation that the verbal nouns of Chateaubleau “display a clear tendency to appear after clitics either to negators or verbs” (Mees 2010, p. 103), these verbal nouns are placed immediately after the personal pronoun which is in clitic position to an absolute verb:
e.g.: gwél: to want
mi: I
ái: to go
> gwéla mi ái: I want to go
ápis: to see
in épé: the horses
> gwéla mi ápis in épé: I want to see the horses
Therefore, the first verbal noun used in a complex sentence always follows immediately after the absolute verb, without undergoing any changes to its structure. If the verbal noun used requires a preposition, as is the case with the verbal noun “go” (> go to), then this preposition will cause a mutation of the following word. If the following word is another verbal noun, then this will mutate like any other noun would:
e.g.: a: to
ái: to go
ápis: to see
> gwéla mi ái a hápis in épé: I want to go to see the horses.
Since “a”, “to” is a preposition, the following word, the verbal noun, is marked by ICM.
It is important to bear in mind that the verbal noun is a deverbalised nominal construction, i.e. a noun, not a verbal form. “ápis” means “the seeing”. Therefore
gwéla mi ápis: I want the seeing
Because a genetive relationship is expressed by apposition of two nouns, the phrase below is genetival:
ápis in épé: the seeing of the horses
> gwéla mi ápis in épé: I want the seeing of the horses
> gwéla mi ái a hápis in épé: I want the going to the seeing of the horses
clúi: to hear / hearing
can: to sing / singing
ethné: birds
> gwéla mi clúi can in ethné: I want the hearing of the singing of the birds
> I want to hear the birds sing
Because the relationship between the verbal noun and the following object is genetival, if the object is a personal pronoun it must be used in conjunction with the genetival particle “i-“, used with personal pronouns only (see section on pronouns):
ti: you
i-: of
> gwéla mi ápis ithí: I want the seeing of you
> I want to see you
> gwéla mi ái a hápis ithí: I want the going to the seeing of you
> I want to go to see you
Adjectival clauses
Verbal noun phrases such as the above can be further specified by the addition of an adjectival clause, which complements a preceding object. This requires a specific object to be stated:
gwéla mi ái a hápis in épé
gwéla mi clúi can in ethné
In the above phrases, “épé” and “ethné” are objects. Adjectival clauses can be used to provide further information about the preceding objects of a main clause. To do this, a verbal noun is used.
Verbal nouns in adjectival relationships to preceding objects are attested in Chateaubleau at several reprises:
ne-i anmanbe gniíou = not by the names knowing it
iegumi sini, siaxsiou beiassu ne biti = I curse her, seeking punishment not let it be
beiassu sete sue, cluiou se dagisamo cele = punishing may be you, hearing this best companion
(in Mees 2010)
In these examples, the adjectival verbal nouns are
gniíou = knowing
siaxsiou = seeking
cluiou = hearing
From these attested forms it is possible to deduce that in ancient Gaulish a verbal form expressing an adjectival relationship with a preceding object was constructed by means of the suffix –iou. Following regular Gaulish sound changes, this suffix would become –ió (-ou > -o:).
A comparison with the attested Gaulish relativising particle –io is immediate. This particle is attested in several instances:
gobedbi dugiiontiio ucuetin = the smiths who honour (or fashion/shape) Ucuetis
(Alise-Sainte-Reine, Delamarre 2003, p. 153-54)
secoui toncnaman tonsiíontío = the victors who swear an oath/who destin a destiny
(Chamalieres, Delamarre 2003, p. 298)
scrisumio uelor = that I spit is wanted
(Marcellus of Bordeaux, Delamarre 2003, p. 268)
The resemblance between the relativising particle “–io” and the adjectival verbal suffix
“–iou” may be coincidental. Nevertheless, they appear to perform very closely related functions. As such, it is posited here that in modern Gaulish the two have collapsed into one particle “-íó” through assimilation, and are used only in adjectival phrases with verbal nouns refering back to an immediately preceding object.
e.g.: rethi: to run
gwer: on
in: the
tráith: beach (< traxta)
> gwéla mi ái a hápis in épé rethíó gwer in dráith: I want to go to see the horses that run on the beach
in ven: the woman
can: to sing
in dech: beautifully
lavar: to speak
> lavára mi can in ven caníó in dech: I speak with the woman who sings beautifully
In both the above examples, the suffix –íó is used with a verbal noun that immediately follows the noun that the adjectival clause provides information about. Essentially, the suffix “-íó” provides a “dummy subject” for the verbal form, referring back to the preceding object:
lavára mi can in ven caníó in dech
translates as:
speak I with the woman sing-that in beautiful
As such, the relative particle “-íó” is in subject position following the verbal noun.
However, these adverbial clauses can be constructed in a more analytic and modern way using the progressive verbal form, using the preposition “en”:
gwéla mi ái a hápis in épé en rhethi gwer in dráith
> I want to go to see the horses running on the beach
> lavára mi can in ven en gan in dech: I speak with the woman singing beautifully
In both the above examples, the preposition “en” is used with a verbal noun that immediately follows the noun that the adjectival clause provides information about. Essentially, the prepositonal progressive form provides an verbal-adjectival phrase, qualifying the subject of the main clause:
lavára mi can in ven en gan in dech
translates as:
speak I with the woman in singing in beautiful
Subordinate clauses
Subordinate clauses that have a separate subject embedded within them do not use the suffix –íó discussed above, as the subject in a modern Gaulish phrase always follows the verb. An adjectival verbal noun can not refer to a subject that follows after it. The following phrase
I speak with the woman whose daughter sings beautifully
can NOT be constructed as follows:
ó dúithir: her daughter
> lavára mi can in ven caníó ó dúithir in dech
This can NOT convey the meaning “I speak with the woman whose daughter sings beautifully”. As the particle “–íó” effectively provides a “dummy subject” refering back to the previously stated noun, the phrase above would have two subjects, which can not be.
To construct the above phrase a separate particle introducing a subordinate clause with embedded subject is required. In the ancient Gaulish text of Chateaubleau it is possible to identify a particle that appears to fulfill this function:
iexsetesi sue regeniatu o quprinno = may you curse the family that is purchasing
may-curse you family that purchases / is purchasing
(in Mees 2010, p. 101)
It appears that the particle “o” fulfills a subordinating function in this phrase. Therefore, it is posited here that the modern Gaulish language will use this particle “o” as a single, all-purpose, non-referential relativising subordinating particle. The use of non- referential relative and subordinating particles is uniform across the modern Celtic languages (Isaac 2007).
e.g.: lavára mi can in ven o cána ó dúithir in dech
“I speak with the woman that sings her daughter beautifully”
i.e. I speak with the woman whose daughter sings beautifully
Since a subject is embedded in the subordinate clause, the main verb is in absolute form, not in verbal noun form:
can: to sing
cána ó dúithir: her daughter sings
The relativising particle “o” is augmented by the semantically empty phonetic clitic“-ch“ if the following word starts with a vowel, for ease of pronunciation, as is the case in Modern Breton.
gal: to be able to
ápis: to see
dái: good
> gala mi ápis och esi í dái: I can see that it is good
Using the above particles complex compound sentences can be constructed:
petha: to ask
adhim: to-me
ma: if
gwel: to want
ré chwelsí mi: would want I
suling: dance (su “good” + ling “jump” > good-jumping > dance)
techi: to leave
ré dechi: left
ó: her
caran’wir: her boyfriend (caran “friend” + wir “man/male” suffix)
geneth: girl
al: other
> lavára mi can in ven o ré betha adhim ma rhé chwelsí mi suling can ó dúithir o ré
dechi ó caran’wir can gheneth hal
I speak with the woman who asked to-me if I would want to dance with her daughter whose boyfriend left with another girl
The example used in the section on adverbial clauses can also be expressed using the relativising particle “o”:
lavára mi can in ven o cana in dech: I speak with the woman who sings beautifully
Conjunction clauses
The above example shows that subordinate clauses can also be headed by conjunctions, such as:
“ma”, “if”:
petha in ven adhim ma chwéla mi suling can ó dúithir:
the woman asks to-me if I want to dance with her daughter
“gwé”, “or”:
a chwéla ti suling gwé né a chwéla ti?: do you want to dance or don’t you?
“ach”, “and”:
gni: to know
gwéla í suling canim ach né ghnía mi ma chwéla mi: she wants to dance with me
and I don’t know if I want to
“éithr”, “but”:
gwéla í suling canim éithr gwéla mi ívi curu: she wants to dance with me but I want to drink beer
Any other conjunctions can be used in a similar fashion.
Question word clauses
Question words and their attendant interrogative particles can be used to head subordinate clauses in a way similar to that described above:
pi: who
esi: is
> né ghnía mi pí a hesi ó dúithir: I don’t know who her daughter is
pé: what
ór: hour
í: it
> a ghnía ti pé hór a hesi í?: do you know what time it is?
(“do you know what hour it is”)
pémái: where
> né ghnía mi pémái a hesi ó dúithir: I don’t know where her daughter is
podh / pé gaman: how
> né ghnía mi podh / pé gaman a hesi í: I don’t know how she is
ponch: when
techi: to leave
> né ghnía mi ponch a rhé dechi í: I don’t know when she left
pérí: why
> né ghnía mi pérí a chwéla í suling canim: I don’t know why she wants to dance with me
pethi: how much / many
pané: glasses
u: of
curu: beer
> né ghnía mi pethi bané u guru a hivíthu í: I don’t know how many glasses of beer she has drunken
