The rise of gemination in Celtic [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]
This study investigates systematically the emergence and establishment of geminate consonants as a phonological class in the Celtic branch of Indo-European. The approach of this study is comparative historical linguistics, drawing on diachronic structuralism combined with aspects of language conta...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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F1000 Research Ltd
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Open Research Europe |
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| Online Access: | https://open-research-europe.ec.europa.eu/articles/3-24/v1 |
| _version_ | 1797900229495750656 |
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| author | David Stifter |
| author_facet | David Stifter |
| author_sort | David Stifter |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study investigates systematically the emergence and establishment of geminate consonants as a phonological class in the Celtic branch of Indo-European. The approach of this study is comparative historical linguistics, drawing on diachronic structuralism combined with aspects of language contact studies and functional approaches to language usage. This study traces the development of geminates from Proto-Indo-European (fourth millennium b.c.), which did not allow geminate consonants, to the Common Celtic period (first millennium b.c.), when almost every consonant could occur as a singleton or as a geminate, and on to the earliest attested stages of the Insular Celtic languages (1st millennium a.d.). Although they were prominent in the phonology of Proto- and Ancient Celtic (Gaulish, Celtiberian), ultimately geminates were gotten rid of as a phonological class in the individual Insular Celtic languages. This is probably due to the fact that the contrast between lenited and unlenited sounds took on a central role in Insular Celtic phonology, making gemination a redundant category. Most instances of geminate consonants in Celtic can be explained by regular sound change operating on inherited clusters of consonants. Each sound change will be discussed in a separate section in a rough chronological order. Effectively, gemination is largely a strategy to reduce the number of allowed consonant combinations. To a limited degree, gemination also had a morphological function, especially in the formation of personal names and in the creation of adjectival neologisms. However, there is a residue of words, especially nouns, in the Insular Celtic languages that defy any attempt at etymologising. They are prime suspects of having been borrowed from prehistoric, substratal languages. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T08:41:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7ef6ca3102db4c4b8cbe5ab245b2e179 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2732-5121 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T08:41:37Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | F1000 Research Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Open Research Europe |
| spelling | doaj.art-7ef6ca3102db4c4b8cbe5ab245b2e1792023-02-23T01:00:00ZengF1000 Research LtdOpen Research Europe2732-51212023-02-01316648The rise of gemination in Celtic [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]David Stifter0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5634-9912Early Irish, Maynooth University, Maynooth, Kildare, W23 F2H6, IrelandThis study investigates systematically the emergence and establishment of geminate consonants as a phonological class in the Celtic branch of Indo-European. The approach of this study is comparative historical linguistics, drawing on diachronic structuralism combined with aspects of language contact studies and functional approaches to language usage. This study traces the development of geminates from Proto-Indo-European (fourth millennium b.c.), which did not allow geminate consonants, to the Common Celtic period (first millennium b.c.), when almost every consonant could occur as a singleton or as a geminate, and on to the earliest attested stages of the Insular Celtic languages (1st millennium a.d.). Although they were prominent in the phonology of Proto- and Ancient Celtic (Gaulish, Celtiberian), ultimately geminates were gotten rid of as a phonological class in the individual Insular Celtic languages. This is probably due to the fact that the contrast between lenited and unlenited sounds took on a central role in Insular Celtic phonology, making gemination a redundant category. Most instances of geminate consonants in Celtic can be explained by regular sound change operating on inherited clusters of consonants. Each sound change will be discussed in a separate section in a rough chronological order. Effectively, gemination is largely a strategy to reduce the number of allowed consonant combinations. To a limited degree, gemination also had a morphological function, especially in the formation of personal names and in the creation of adjectival neologisms. However, there is a residue of words, especially nouns, in the Insular Celtic languages that defy any attempt at etymologising. They are prime suspects of having been borrowed from prehistoric, substratal languages.https://open-research-europe.ec.europa.eu/articles/3-24/v1Indo-European linguistics Celtic linguistics historical linguistcs geminate consonants substrate linguisticseng |
| spellingShingle | David Stifter The rise of gemination in Celtic [version 1; peer review: 2 approved] Open Research Europe Indo-European linguistics Celtic linguistics historical linguistcs geminate consonants substrate linguistics eng |
| title | The rise of gemination in Celtic [version 1; peer review: 2 approved] |
| title_full | The rise of gemination in Celtic [version 1; peer review: 2 approved] |
| title_fullStr | The rise of gemination in Celtic [version 1; peer review: 2 approved] |
| title_full_unstemmed | The rise of gemination in Celtic [version 1; peer review: 2 approved] |
| title_short | The rise of gemination in Celtic [version 1; peer review: 2 approved] |
| title_sort | rise of gemination in celtic version 1 peer review 2 approved |
| topic | Indo-European linguistics Celtic linguistics historical linguistcs geminate consonants substrate linguistics eng |
| url | https://open-research-europe.ec.europa.eu/articles/3-24/v1 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT davidstifter theriseofgeminationincelticversion1peerreview2approved AT davidstifter riseofgeminationincelticversion1peerreview2approved |