Brittonic

Brittonic elements found in England include bre- and bal- for hills, while some such as combe or coomb(e) for a small deep valley and tor for a hill are examples of Brittonic words that were borrowed into English.

These are the Gaelic languages (i.e. the Irish language and Scottish Gaelic - both descended from Old Irish ), and the Brittonic languages (i.e. Welsh and the Breton language - both descended from Old Brittonic ).

Approximately 800 of these Latin loan-words have survived in the three modern Brittonic languages.

But they may have heard these other names only second- or third-hand, from speakers of Brittonic or Gaulish languages, who may have used different names for the same group or groups.

Evidence Knowledge of the Brittonic languages comes from a variety of sources.

It has been claimed that the English system has been borrowed from Brittonic, since Welsh tag questions vary in almost exactly the same way.

It has characteristics that some scholars see as archaic, but others see as also being in the Brittonic languages (see Schmidt).

It is unclear if the name was borrowed from the Welsh (if so, it must have been an early loan, for phonological reasons), or represents an early, pan-Brittonic traditional name for Arthur's sword.

It seems to have been known as Wentā or Venta, from the Brittonic for "town" or "meeting place".

Much of Brittonic-controlled Britain was conquered by the Roman Empire from AD 43. The first Anglo-Saxons arrived as Roman power waned in the 5th century and eventually dominated the bulk of what is now England.

North of the Forth, the Pictish language is considered to be related; it is possible it was a Brittonic language, but it may have been a sister language.

Note that in the examples above the Goidelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx) use the preposition meaning "at" to show possession, whereas the Brittonic languages use "with".

Some researchers (Filppula et al., 2001) argue that English syntax reflects more extensive Brittonic influences.

The displacement of the languages of Brittonic descent was probably complete in all of Britain except Cornwall and Wales and the English counties bordering these areas such as Devon by the 11th century.

The Goidelic lo being taken into Scottish Gaelic by the gradual replacement of much Brittonic orthography with Goidelic orthography in Scotland.

The Isle of Man may also have originally spoken a Brittonic language, later replaced with a Goidelic one.

The later Roman name was a latinate form of the Brittonic word for "ramparts" (cf.

Welsh and the extinct Cumbric are the more distantly-related Brittonic languages.