Before English
The Story of Old English
Course 1 · Chapter 1 · Before English
English did not begin in an empty island. When the first speakers of what became Old English arrived, people in Britain already spoke other languages, and some of those languages are still spoken today. This chapter looks at which ones, and at the few traces they left in English.
Two families of Celtic
The Celtic languages are one family, and the family divides into two main branches that matter for Britain and Ireland. According to Wikipedia's Celtic languages article:
| Branch | Languages (living, or lost) | Also called |
|---|---|---|
| Brittonic | Welsh, Cornish, Breton; the lost Cumbric; possibly Pictish | P-Celtic |
| Goidelic | Irish, Manx, Scottish Gaelic | Q-Celtic |
This course is about the Brittonic branch, because that is what was spoken across most of Britain when the English arrived. Irish and Scottish Gaelic belong to the other branch and are not descended from Brittonic. The article also says the Isle of Man "may have spoken a Brythonic language" before Goidelic speakers arrived in the 9th century.
Common Brittonic
According to Wikipedia's Common Brittonic article, this was the language of the Celtic Britons, spoken in Britain and in Brittany from about the 6th century BC to about the middle of the 6th century AD. It is a reconstructed language: no texts in it survive. The evidence is a few inscriptions, such as the Bath curse tablets, and the place names and personal names recorded in Roman times.
Latin arrives
Roman Britain lasted, according to Wikipedia's Roman Britain article, from AD 43 to about 410. The Common Brittonic article says that after the conquest in AD 43, Latin competed with Brittonic, especially in towns, and that Brittonic borrowed many Latin words, particularly church and Christian vocabulary. I did not find in the pages I read how many people spoke Latin, or whether country people did, so this chapter does not give a figure. That is an open question, not something I can fill from memory.
The Romans leave
Wikipedia's End of Roman rule in Britain article gives several dates rather than one, and it says that modern scholarship generally rejects an abrupt end:
| Date | What the article says |
|---|---|
| 383 | Magnus Maximus takes troops from northern and western Britain; the last year with evidence of a Roman presence there |
| 407 | Constantine III takes the remaining mobile soldiers to Gaul |
| 409 to 410 | Romano-Britons expel Constantine's magistrates |
| 410 | A rescript from the Emperor Honorius tells British communities to look to their own defence (the article notes a small chance it was meant for southern Italy) |
The same article says the decades after 410 "saw the collapse of urban life and the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain". That is the bridge to Chapter 2 of this course.
Where the Brittonic languages went
The Common Brittonic article says that by the 6th century AD the language had divided into dialects that became Old Welsh (in Wales), Old Cornish (in Cornwall), Old Breton (in Brittany) and Cumbric (in northern England and southern Scotland). Pictish, spoken in northern Scotland, may also have descended from it, though the article records a scholar's view that the evidence does not clearly separate Pictish from Brittonic.
| Language | Where | What happened (per the article) |
|---|---|---|
| Welsh | Wales | Survived to the present |
| Breton | Brittany | Survived to the present |
| Cornish | Cornwall | Died out in the 1700s; since revived |
| Cumbric | Northern England, southern Scotland | Disappeared in the 12th century |
| Pictish | Northern Scotland | Died out around the 12th or 13th century |
The article says that over the following three centuries Brittonic was replaced by Old English across most of modern England. It does not give a cause. How and why this happened is a question for Chapter 2.
What Brittonic left in English
The same article says Brittonic-derived place names are common, especially in the West Country. Its examples:
| Name | Meaning given |
|---|---|
| Avon | "river" |
| Thames | "dark" |
| Dover | "water(s)" |
| Kent | "border" |
| tor, combe | Brittonic words found in Devon place names |
| Derwentwater | a hybrid name (Brittonic and English parts) |
The article also says Cumbric and Pictish now survive only as loanwords in English, Scots and Scottish Gaelic. It says little about individual Celtic words in everyday English beyond place names, and I have not looked for more.
Words to know
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Common Brittonic | The reconstructed ancestor of Welsh, Cornish, Breton and Cumbric |
| Brittonic | The branch of Celtic that includes Common Brittonic and its descendants |
| Goidelic | The other British and Irish branch: Irish, Manx, Scottish Gaelic |
| Cumbric | A lost Brittonic language of northern England and southern Scotland |
| Pictish | The language of the Picts in northern Scotland; its exact relation to Brittonic is debated |
| Rescript | An emperor's written reply to a request or petition |
✏️ Try It Yourself
Think of the answer first, then click to check.
1. Which two languages does Wikipedia say were the main ones of Roman Britain?
Show answer
Common Brittonic (a Celtic language) and Latin.
2. Is Cornish a dialect of English?
Show answer
No. It is a Brittonic Celtic language, a descendant of Common Brittonic. It died out in the 1700s and has been revived.
3. Which branch of Celtic are Irish and Scottish Gaelic in?
Show answer
Goidelic (also called Q-Celtic), not Brittonic.
4. Put in order: Constantine III takes soldiers to Gaul; Honorius's rescript; Magnus Maximus takes troops from the north and west.
Show answer
Magnus Maximus (383), Constantine III (407), the rescript of Honorius (410).
5. Why can we not read Common Brittonic texts?
Show answer
No texts in it survive. It is reconstructed from later languages, a few inscriptions and Roman-era place and personal names.
6. What kind of Latin words did Brittonic borrow most, according to the article?
Show answer
Church and Christian vocabulary.
7. Name two English place names that come from Brittonic, and what they mean.
Show answer
For example Avon ("river") and Thames ("dark"); also Dover ("water(s)") and Kent ("border").
8. The article says 410 is often cited as the end of Roman rule. What does modern scholarship generally say?
Show answer
It rejects an abrupt end and sees a gradual decline from the 4th to the 6th centuries.