Suauelon! Welcome to my Gaulish website. I have compiled together a reference of vocabulary, grammar, declensions, conjugations, and miscellaneous other information for learning Gaulish. I seek to consolidate what is known of this wonderful language into an organized resource that makes every piece of information easy to find.
Learning a whole language is a major task. One way to develop familiarity with a new language is to translate things into it: prose, poems, song lyrics, or even your thoughts. Initially, this means jumping around a dictionary and a grammar, looking for all the necessary parts until such time as one memorizes the basics (or at least memorizes where to find the information!) and hopefully becomes fluent.
To facilitate this process, I have condensed a version of the reconstructed Gaulish language, from different sources, into this reference, so that all the information can be readily accessible in one place in a tabbed web page format. Additionally, I am verifying elements of the grammar and vocabulary to better reflect 1.) the attested inscriptions, as I view these to be the most important indicator of the form and style of the actual language, and 2.) the most up-to-date reconstructions of the ancestor of Gaulish, Proto-Celtic.
This reference then will inevitably diverge in some ways from the reconstructions of other enthusiasts of Gaulish, as there will be features and words that others include that I reject and vice versa. Reconstructing a language means constructing a language, therefore the truest modern approximation of Gaulish will inevitably be tantamount to a conlang full of educated guesses about unattested material. The scarcity of attested Gaulish means it is important to acknowledge how impressive it is that there are any preexisting reconstructions at all, and to recognize the work that many have done to bring this wonderful language back to life. As always, I welcome feedback on any matter where I may have erred.
uissuianta [αt] umop (đóτ) net.
Gaulish was spoken in ancient times in western Europe, particularly in what is now France. It's a Celtic language, and is therefore related to languages such as Irish and Welsh. But the modern Celtic languages have changed much over the millennia, and Gaulish looks and sounds a lot more like other ancient European languages such as Latin, Ancient Greek, and Gothic. It is a Continental Celtic language, along with Celtiberian as well as a few poorly attested languages such as Lepontic and Noric that are sometimes considered dialects of Gaulish. This is in contrast to Insular Celtic which includes all modern Celtic languages, other than revival efforts.
Gaulish is classified as a P-Celtic language, like Welsh and Old Brittonic, meaning the ancestral */kw/ sound changed to /p/ in words like prennon (tree), from earlier *kwresno-. Indeed, Tacitus noted that the languages of the Gauls and the Brittons of his time "differ little", and many modern scholars have hypothesized a Gallo-Brythonic grouping. But this is unlikely, given that the insular Celtic languages share several grammatical features utterly absent from Gaulish, including consonant mutation, fusion of prepositions with pronouns, and VSO as the neutral word order.
Gaul was not a single unified nation, consisting instead of numerous small kingdoms or micro-nations not unlike the Insular Celtic social structure that probably also gave rise to the Irish and Scottish clans. The Gauls' lack of national identity meant there was never a standard dialect of Gaulish, so reconstructions sometimes show multiple variants of words, likely corresponding to the speech of villages distant from one another. Some present day scholars would have you believe that Gaul was a monolithic enemy of Rome for a long time, with Rome eventually conquering and wiping out the Gauls, but that is just not true. In reality Rome administered Gaul, teaching Roman customs and the Latin language to Gauls, producing a hybrid Gallo-Roman culture. Studies support the common assertion that, far from being wiped out, the Gauls form a large portion of the ancestors of modern day peoples from formerly Gallic lands.
And while Romans and Celts did fight many battles, Gaul's lack of unity and warrior-focused culture resulted in frequent infighting between neighboring Gaulish groups, and oftentimes one side of a skirmish would ask the Romans for help. Rome soon grew tired of getting dragged into petty squabbles, and since Julius Caesar believed he could settle some of his own monetary debts if Rome annexed Gaul, that's what he effected. The Gaulish chief Uercingetorīxs of the Aruernī united much of Gaul and put up a valiant opposition to Caesar, but even this partial unification came too late and Rome's expertly trained armies and greater resources ultimately won. The Gaulish language unfortunately did become extinct as a result of annexation, declining slowly over hundreds of years, as its former speakers gradually switched to speaking Latin instead. But the fact of Gaulish speakers learning Latin resulted in a unique dialect, with a distinctly Gallic flavor, which would go on to become the Gallo-Romance languages including French.
Gaulish is not particularly well attested, reaching us mostly by way of inscriptions, and efforts to decode these have historically been full of uncertainty. But reconstructions of Gaulish have been accomplished, using other Celtic languages for reference. There are some very nice Gaulish lessons on the Gaulish Polytheism website, with links to a grammar and a lexicon. It is impressive that linguists have been able to make these reconstructions, and the result is a version of Gaulish that can be revived and spoken once more.
There are a few variable conventions regarding the orthography of Gaulish.
For the usages of the letter x, I have opted to write xs where it is pronounced /xs/, as in dexsiuos and rīxs. Most authors leave off the S, e.g. dexiuos, rīx, however this website keeps the S.
Some original inscriptions seem to use a long I, commonly transcribed by modern researchers as as í, to represent two different sounds: consonantal-I next to a vowel-I, and long vowel I, for example uediíū-mí. Some modern revival sites opt for a letter J (uediju-mi) to represent the consonantal I, while even the ancients didn't always distinguish between forms of the letter I (uediiu-mi). I have opted to use í here to represent consonantal I next to vowel I, but only as a matter of preference, and admittedly there are still sections that lack acute accents where they would go. Some writers also use W or V for consonantal U, and even K in place of C, which makes for a more robust and unambiguous orthography but isn't as true to the classical inscriptions.
Finally, when writing vowel length, some authors prefer circumflex accents, e.g. mâros, while others prefer to use a macron, e.g. māros. I will be using a macron throughout this site, but again only as a matter of preference.
My sources for the information on this site include:
The Gaulish font on this website is my own creation, Gaulish.ttf, licensed CC-BY-SA 4.0. It is based on the handwritten style of Gaulish writings, which itself derives from the Roman alphabet. I also have another version of the font that's closer to the way the ancients wrote, but maybe less easily readable to modern eyes, Galaties.ttf, as well as a monospace version, all under the same CC-BY-SA license.
I no longer maintain a lexicon of Galáthach hAthevíu, as I have opted to focus on the natural language of attested inscriptions rather than alternate history conlangs. Admittedly, even reconstructing "real" Gaulish involves so much guesswork that the line between that and conlanging is a blurry one, so if all you want is something connected to Gaul that sounds beautiful and is easy to learn, Galáthach is a great choice. But it is not the focus of this page. All information about Galáthach can be found on its official website.
Gaulish has a case system similar to that of Latin and Ancient Greek, and not too dissimilar from the case systems of modern languages like Finnish, Russian, German, etc. Although noun cases are unfamiliar to us in English, we do have traces of them, specifically the plain and posessive forms in the singular and plural, e.g. word, word's, words, words'. Our pronouns have cases too: nominative (I, she, he, it, us, they, and the obsolete thou and ye), oblique (me, her, him, it, you, them, and the obsolete thee), genitive (mine, hers, his, its, yours, theirs, and the obsolete thine), and possessive (my, her, his, its, your, their, and obsolete thy). Gaulish cases work very much like English cases; there are just more of them.
Generally, this is the case for the subject of a verb, and the case of the predicate with the verb for "to be". It is also the dictionary form.
Used for addressing the listener.
The case of the direct object of transitive verbs. Also used with certain prepositions and certain constructs having to do with motion towards.
Used for possessives and for partitives (e.g. "a quantity of air", "some of the meat"). For the most part, this can be thought of as the equivalent for when in English we would say "of". It is also used with certain prepositions. In the Celtic languages, the genitive also has another function, as the direct object of a verbal noun. Since there are no infinitives (e.g. "to see") in Celtic, there is no way to directly say e.g. "I want to see the stars", so instead you would word it as "I want the seeing of stars."
Functions as an indirect object, e.g. the recipient of giving. It is also used for the meaning of "to have", since there is no verb for this meaning. Instead of "I have", in Gaulish you would say "to me there is", etc. This is actually just like how it is phrased in Ancient Greek.
Originally, this case, as the name suggests, referred to the instrument or means by which an action was carried out. Over time, it also gained other related meanings, and in Proto-Celtic, it merged with the old ablative, becoming one of the most frequently used cases. In Gaulish, many prepositions govern the instrumental, and with nouns of place or time, the instrumental has even taken over some of the functions of the locative case. It is also the case used with comparatives of nouns.
Besides the partitive genitive, there is also a partitive preposition u that takes the instrumental case, e.g. ibete-suīs u-ciū = drink (plural) of this.
The locative is pretty much what it sounds like: expressions of being at or in, or even near, a time or place, but also of being figuratively within something intangible like a situation. From the latter meaning comes the sense of the locative absolute, which is a construction that means "A being the case, B happened," implying that the condition had a role in causing or facilitating the events of the main clause.
Note the last sentence includes a locative of place as well as a locative absolute.
Not much ancient written material exists in Gaulish, since the culture was generally against writing most things down, so the few inscriptions that do exist are extremely valuable for studying the language. Most Gaulish inscriptions have disputed meanings, largely due to inconsistent spelling and the near lack of punctuation, made worse in many cases by the untidy handwriting and ambiguous letters the Gauls preferred.
Here is a selection of inscriptions whose meanings are relatively clear, or whose size makes them particularly important. Where meanings are debated I may offer the most likely or best fitting interpretation, as well as interpretations of my own.
L-35.1 |
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La Graufesenque à Millau, Aveyron |
The site where this was found also has evidence of firing pottery in a large kiln, probably a place where many workers handled large orders from several customers at once. This note seems to pertain to one specific customer's preferred style of furniture, so perhaps furniture was also being made there. |
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Aricanos likes his good furniture to be made in three equal parts. |
L-13 |
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Alise-Sainte-Reine, Côte-d’Or |
A dedication to the deity worshipped by the locals. This plaque was found at the site of a rather large building that must have been built for the smiths in the area, a place known in its time for metalworking. |
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Martialis son of Dannotalos dedicated to Ucuetis this banquet hall along with the smiths who worship Ucuetis in Alise. |
L-50 |
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Banassac, Lozère |
Engraved on a drinking cup. |
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I hold the drinks of the closest. |
Note: neddamon (*neđđamon), gen. pl., may mean nearest, but may also have the connotation of those one is close to socially. |
L-51 |
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Banassac, Lozère |
An advertisement for liquor (whisky?) made by the people of the Ruteni kingdom. Ads such as this were apparrently often engraved on items such as drinkware to try to drum up further business. |
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Taste Ruthenian liquor; you have plentitude in the banquet hall. |
The inscription shows loss of final -n, which in this case must have caused the accusative singular ending of A-stems to change from -in to -ā. |
L-112 |
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area of Autun, Saône-et-Loire |
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Beautiful girl, give (me) beer. |
L-120 |
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Sens, Yonne |
GENETTA IMI DAGA VIMPI |
I’m a girl good and pretty. |
L-127 |
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Thiaucourt, Meurthe-et-Moselle |
Inscribed on a ring, apparently to prevent others from coveting its wearer. |
ADIA|NTVN|NENI|EXVE|RTIN|INAP|PISET|V |
adiantun neni exuertin in appisetū |
desire nor unfaithfulness in the beholder |
L-132 |
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Villa d’Ancy à Limé, Aisne |
Inscribed on a vessel for holding liquid. |
IBETIS VCIV · ANDECARI · BIIETE |
ibetis u-ciū andecārī biíete |
Drink (pl.) of this (and) you (pl.) become merry. |
L-93 |
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Châteaubleau, Seine-et-Marne |
A marriage proposal, late Gaulish (ca. 4th century CE). |
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Notes:
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L-100 |
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Chamalières, Puy-de-Dôme |
A magical incantation, written on behalf of several men to protect against magic. The tablet implies that legal proceedings are in progress between at least one of the men and someone else, who apparently has enlisted the help of several women to cast a magic spell on the men. The author refers to the adversaries by an ambiguous term anderon that might mean either "young women" (from anderā) or "infernal" (andernos). Though we unfortunately don't also hear the women's side of the story, this document presents evidence of a battle of magic spells between a group of women and a group of men. |
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Notes:
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Every language has its own accent, and it's naive to assume that any given ancient language had a simple 5-vowel or 7-vowel system with the same vowel qualities and consonant articulations as whatever modern language the author of a textbook or website speaks. Gaulish must have had many accents, since it was a dialect continuum, so any attempt to reconstruct its accent can at best arrive at a consensus accent that hopefully resembles as much of the continuum as accurately as is reconstructible. Based on which sounds are often interchanged in the lexica, I have reconstructed the following TENTATIVE phonology of Gaulish. I invite others to check my work and come up with their own analyses and compare. Everything in this tab after this sentence should be regarded as an informed guess.
In this section I will be using IPA symbols. The IPA symbols are clickable and will play a recording of their sound.
A modern speaker of English, on hearing Gaulish properly spoken, would notice that the consonants are different from what they are used to hearing. For one thing, the voiceless stops p, t, and c would sound lighter and more gentle than in most languages; whatever their actual sound, the Romans frequently mistook them for b, d, and g, as in Brittania from original Pritannī. Indeed, even the Gauls themselves would mix up d with n, m with consonantal u, and would leave out s between vowels and, in the later stages of the language, at the ends of words, suggesting that all these sounds were pronounced lightly.
Vowels in stressed syllables were probably pronounced clearly and distinctly, as well as having qualitative contrasts, e.g. long E was not simply a longer version of short E. But unstressed vowels would have sounded more muddled, and sometimes disappeared altogether. Even the distinction of short vs. long was not so much one of length, since stressed vowels would have been pronounced long anyway, so a "long" vowel would have just meant one that didn't sound lax and didn't get mumbled if it wasn't stressed.
In recognizing spoken language, the acoustic "shapes" of words and phrases are important. Think of how it is possible in English to say "ah-uh-oh" and be understood as meaning "I don't know", as opposed to something else like "Idaho". Such features as the vowel qualities and quantities and pitch intonation and loudness contour may have been more important to understanding spoken Gaulish than the consonants.
While it is easy to make informed guesses about the exact pronunciation of an extinct language, and write these guesses in IPA letters, that still doesn't capture the distinctive accent of the language. There are no recordings of an L1 Gaulish speaker, so we have to infer from related languages and, to a lesser extent, languages influenced by Gaulish, in order to figure out what it would have sounded like. Without getting too into the details, the answer seems to be: Kind of like Welsh, but lighter on the consonants, a greater inventory of vowels, and perhaps with the same raised-up closed-off [i:] and [u:] that French has.
Over the span of time while Gaulish was originally spoken, the accent changed, apparently from a pitch accent to a stress accent. It was also heavily influenced by Latin and possibly Greek. There is evidence from place names in France that the same Gaulish word could be accented either of two ways, even independently of vowel length, meaning this wasn't caused by the inflence of Latin. The stress also moved across boundaries between components of compound words, contradictory to current reconstructions of Gaulish pronunciation.
The map at right shows the approximate locations of placenames showing one or the other stress pattern. Every single antepenult stress (burgundy dots) is unexpected, since it takes the accent away from the last part of a compound word. All of the indicated placenames would be expected to show a penult accent according to the consensus understanding of Gaulish. On the other hand, penult stresses (green dots) are much more common in the north, in regions closer to Britain where contact with the Brythonic language would have been strongest.
The original accent of Gaulish may have resembled the penult stress of Common Brythonic, or the initial stress of Primitive Irish, or may even have lacked stress altogether like modern French does (but note modern French lost its stress accent about a thousand years after the last Gaulish speakers lived). For good or bad, there is no Gaulish without external influences, especially Latin influences, and for consistency I am applying a few rules to how accentuation is depicted in this reference.
Gaulish has a stress accent that usually falls on the antepenult (the third from last syllable), as evidenced by the strong tendency to delete vowels in the penult (the next to last syllable), which can happen whether the ultima (last syllable) is long or short. But if the word has a long penult, then the penult has the stress. And in compound nouns, the stress always falls within the last part of the compound, for example catuuiros ( catus + uiros) which is stressed on the I. But if the last element of the compound has only one syllable, then this last rule doesn't apply, and the stress falls wherever it otherwise would, for example Uercingetorīxs ( uer- + cingetos + rīxs ), genitive Uercingetorīgos.
Stressed vowels tend to be pronounced longer than unstressed, but there is still a short-long distinction. For example, uiros means man but uīros means true.
Each vowel could be short or long. There may or may not have always been a difference in the length it was pronounced, but sometimes there was a difference in the quality of the vowel.
The letter A would have sounded something like [ɑ] most of the time, though unstressed short A probably became [ə]. But when short A was directly followed by L, M, N, or R, it may have sounded something closer to [æ], for example in the word bannā, or the word entar, a variant of enter.
Short E was probably sounded as [ɛ], based on its tendency to be exchanged with both short A and short I. In unstressed syllables short E may have approached the sound of [ə]. Long Ē seems to have been pronounced more closed, less lax, probably as [e:].
Short I was often confused for short E, especially before M and N. It may have been pronounced [ɪ], even approaching the sound of [ɛ] before M or N, as in cinget and pimpe. Otherwise, unstressed short I may have at times approached the sound of [ə]. Short E and short I are almost never confused at the ends of words, so in the word-final position short I may have been pronounced [i]. Long Ī was almost certainly pronounced [i:] in all environments.
Short O was often exchanged for short A, for example locu, lacu, indicating not only that short A usually had a backed sound but also that short O generally had an open sound, probably something like [ɔ]. An exception was in the inflected endings of words such as the very common -os and -on (or -om) endings, where the short O may have been pronounced similarly to the vowel in French comme. Long Ō, on the other hand, is frequently confused for long Ū, indicating that Ō probably had a very backed and rounded pronunciation such as [o:], such as in the preposition dō, also attested as dū.
Short U probably had a lax sound such as [ʊ], since it sometimes traded places with short O in word endings, even causing individual nouns to fall freely into either of two declensions. Long U was almost certainly pronounced very close and rounded. There's some debate as to whether it was pronounced [u:] or fronted like the French U: [y:]. It's unclear whether the French U is due to Gaulish influence, but that seems unlikely. Contact with Germanic languages such as Frankish can explain the existence of front rounded vowels in French, and their existence in Germanic languages is a result of assimilating a front vowel or Y-glide in the next syllable, e.g. fōtus/fōtjus > fōtus/fœ̄tjus > fōt/fœ̄t > fōt/fēt > foot/feet. And if Gaulish had this sound, it probably would have changed to [i:] before the extinction of the language and the modern [y:] would be a later development anyway.
Interestingly, Ancient Greek, a language the Gauls had contact with and held in positive esteem, had the [y:] sound, so the pronunciation of Gaulish U may have been influenced by that. However, the somewhat common error of substituting ō for ū (and vice versa) seems to indicate that if ū was ever pronounced [y:], it was only pronounced that way in some words and syllables, and must have retained its older [u:] value elsewhere. The most parsimonious interpretation is that no, Gaulish did not have the [y:] sound.
Gaulish diphthongs are ei, ai, oi, eu, au, and ou.
Ei was probably pronounced identically to ē, or else the diphthong merged with the single long vowel as the language evolved. Many words that contain ei are also found with ē in its place, for example leinos / lēnos.
Ai was probably pronounced [aɪ], however in later development of the language its pronunciation began to merge with [ɛ]. The au and eu diphthongs seem to have had a more centralized sound, probably approaching [əʊ], and they began to be confused with each other and sometimes with the ou diphthong.
There aren't many clues to the pronunciation of the oi diphthong, so it's reasonable to assume that it had an [oɪ] pronunciation, since that seems to be the most common way to pronounce oi across a variety of languages. The diphthong ou probably sounded like the English long O, somewhere between [oʊ] and [əʊ].
The letter L was always clear and always palatalized (pronounced with the tongue near the roof of the mouth like the sound of the letter Y): [lʲ]. In English we have the so called dark L in words like "full", compared to a clear L in words like "lift", though some English speakers only use a dark L. It's interesting that the letter L in French is also always clear and (almost) always palatalized, but it is not certain whether this feature came from Gaulish or was lost and reintroduced later from Frankish, since Latin had both clear and dark L sounds and the Gallo-Romance language descended from Vulgar Latin, and since the exact pronunciation of the Frankish L is not known. But in Gaulish, L behaves like a palatal consonant in the way it affects nearby sounds.
The letters P, T, and C were pronounced very lightly, almost inaudibly. This caused Romans to mistake them for B, D, G in loan words and names. In Gaulish these sounds were tenuis (lacking aspiration, that is, no puff of air was released) and very gently enunciated. The letter C was also very much subject to palatalization when it came next to a palatal consonant or a front vowel (I or E), such as in melicā, a variant of, and perhaps a hypercorrection for, melatiā. The same alternation is seen in the name Diviciacus/Divitiacus, and it's likely that either T or C followed by consonantal I makes the same sound, or almost the same sound. Sometimes, the letters CL in a word would be interchangeable with TL, for example oclon with variant otlon, also pointing to the same sound or similar sounds.
The letters B, D, and G also represented lightly pronounced sounds, so that they sometimes switched with M and N. In fact, some of the vowel changes (see above) that happened before M or N also occasionally happened before B, D, or G, such as ligā, variant of legā.
The letters M and N were also gently enunciated, at times sounding almost like a W sound and an R sound, respectively.
The letter S was similarly gentle in its pronunciation, often disappearing between vowels or next to a voiced consonant. It probably had a voiced [z] quality between voiced sounds when it didn't disappear. There doesn't seem to be much evidence about whether or not S after O or U was pronounced backed, with the tip of the tongue near the hard palate and away from the teeth, like it it is thought to have been in classical Latin. However, modern Celtic languages don't do this, and neither does French, so early Gallo-Romance probably didn't, despite being a form of Latin, so Gaulish probably didn't.
The letters I and U could function either as vowels or consonants; when they were consonants they sounded like the letters Y and W in English. Generally, an I or a U is a consonant if it is immediately followed by a vowel. (Occasionally a word like auiíī, "grandson [genitive]" comes along and bends this rule.) When a consonantal I followed a dental consonant (such as T [t], D [d], S [s], or N [n]), it seems to have served to palatalize the consonant to [tʲ], [dʲ], [sʲ], [nʲ], respectively, perhaps without the I having a separate sound of its own. This results in many words with a dental followed by consonantal I having a variant that lacks the consonantal I, such as dolā, dulā as variants of doliā.
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
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Nom. | etn-os | etn-ō | etn-ī, etn-oi |
Voc. | etn-e | etn-ō | etn-ūs |
Acc. | etn-on | etn-ō | etn-ūs |
Gen. | etn-ī | etn-ōs | etn-on |
Dat. | etn-ū | etn-obon | etn-obo |
Ins. | etn-ū | etn-obin | etn-ūs/-obi |
Loc. | etn-ē | etn-ou | etn-obi |
O-stem animate nouns ending in -ios share the same endings, e.g. anaganntios (fourth month of the year), anaganntie, anaganntion, anaganntii, anaganntiū, etc.
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
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NVA. | prenn-on | prenn-oi | prenn-ā |
Gen. | prenn-ī | prenn-ōs | prenn-on |
Dat. | prenn-ū | prenn-obon | prenn-obo |
Ins. | prenn-ū | prenn-obin | prenn-ūs/-obi |
Loc. | prenn-ē | prenn-ou | prenn-obi |
O-stem neuter nouns ending in -ion share the same endings, e.g. cridion (heart), cridíī, cridiū, etc.
Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
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Nom. | abon-ā | abon-ī | abon-ās | blēdnī | blēdnī | blēdniías |
Voc. | abon-a | abon-ī | abon-ās | blēdni | blēdnī | blēdniías |
Acc. | abon-in | abon-ī | abon-ās | blēdnīn | blēdnī | blēdniías |
Gen. | abon-iās | abon-iōs, abon-ious | abon-ānon | blēdniās | blēdnious | blēdniānon |
Dat. | abon-ī | abon-ābon | abon-ābo | blēdníī | blēdniābon | blēdniābo |
Ins. | abon-ī, abon-iā | abon-ābin | abon-ābi | blēdniā | blēdniābin | blēdniābi |
Loc. | abon-ī | abon-ābin | abon-ābi | blēdníī | blēdniābin | blēdniābi |
The irregular noun benā, woman, has the following declension:
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
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Nom. | benā | mnāi | mnās |
Voc. | bena | mnāi | mnās |
Acc. | benin, banin | mnāi | mnās |
Gen. | mnās | baniōs, banious | mnānon |
Dat. | mnāi | mnābon | mnābo |
Ins. | mnāi | mnābin | mnābi |
Loc. | mnāi | mnābin | mnābi |
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
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Nom. | elant-is | elant-ī | elant-īs |
Voc. | elant-i | elant-ī | elant-īs |
Acc. | elant-in | elant-ī | elant-īs |
Gen. | elant-ēs | elant-iōs, elant-ious | elant-iíon |
Dat. | elant-ē | elant-ibon | elant-ibo |
Ins. | elant-ī | elant-ibin | elant-ibi |
Loc. | elant-ī | elant-ibin | elant-ibi |
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
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NVA. | boud-i | boud-ī | boud-iíā |
Gen. | boud-ēs | boud-iíōs | boud-iíon |
Dat. | boud-ē | boud-ibon | boud-ibo |
Ins. | boud-ī | boud-ibin | boud-ibi |
Loc. | boud-ī | boud-ibin | boud-ibi |
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
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Nom. | brit-us | brit-ū | brit-oues |
Voc. | brit-u | brit-ū | brit-oues |
Acc. | brit-un | brit-ū | brit-ūs |
Gen. | brit-ous, -ōs | brit-ouō | brit-uion |
Dat. | brit-ou, -ō | brit-oubon | brit-oubo |
Ins. | brit-ū | brit-oubin | brit-oubi |
Loc. | brit-ū | brit-oubin | brit-oubi |
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
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NVA. | loc-u | loc-ū | loc-uā |
Gen. | loc-ous, -ōs | loc-ouō | loc-uion |
Dat. | loc-ou, -ō | loc-oubon | loc-oubo |
Ins. | loc-ū | loc-oubin | loc-oubi |
Loc. | loc-ū | loc-oubin | loc-oubi |
A few U-declension nouns have diphthong roots which cause irregular declension, for example:
Nom. | dīus (day) | bous (cow) | cnous (nut) |
---|---|---|---|
Acc. | dīun | būn | cnoun |
Gen. | dīuos | bouos | cnouos |
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
---|---|---|---|
Nom. | carans, carant-s, caranđ | carant-e | carant-es |
Voc. | carans, carant-s, caranđ | carant-e | carant-es |
Acc. | carant-en | carant-e | carant-ās |
Gen. | carant-os | carant-ou, carant-ō | carant-on |
Dat. | carant-ē | carant-obon, carand-bon | carant-obo, carand-bo |
Ins. | carant-ī | carant-obin, carand-bin | carant-obi, carand-bi |
Loc. | carant-ī | carant-obin, carand-bin | carant-obi, carand-bi |
A few of these nouns have irregular nominatives, such as noxs, night, gen. noxtos, and moritexs, sailor, gen. moritextos.
Only one neuter dental-stem noun is known:
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
---|---|---|---|
NVA. | dant | dant-e | dant-ā |
Gen. | dant-os | dant-ou, dant-ō | dant-on |
Dat. | dant-ē | dant-obon, dand-bon | dant-obo, dand-bo |
Ins. | dant-ī | dant-obin, dand-bin | dant-obi, dand-bi |
Loc. | dant-ī | dant-obin, dand-bin | dant-obi, dand-bi |
For purposes of inclusivity, I propose using the dental declension as a gender neutral alternative to the -os/-ā endings. An example might be to say mou caranđ eđđi andecāređ instead of andecāros or andecārā. This can also apply if the works of a certain bardeđ appeal to you, rather than a bardos or bardā: sondieđ eđđi bardeđ meliđđeđ. lubiíū-mī cantlūs sondietos bardetos instead of sondios/ā bardos/ā and sondī/iās bardī/iās.
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
---|---|---|---|
Nom. | rīx-s | rīg-e | rīg-es |
Voc. | rīx-s | rīg-e | rīg-es |
Acc. | rīg-en | rīg-e | rīg-ās |
Gen. | rīg-os | rīg-ou, rīg-ō | rīg-on |
Dat. | rīg-ē | rīg-(o)bon | rīg-(o)bo |
Ins. | rīg-ī | rīg-(o)bin | rīg-(o)bi |
Loc. | rīg-ī | rīg-(o)bin | rīg-(o)bi |
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
---|---|---|---|
Nom. | cū | cun-e | cun-es |
Voc. | cū | cun-e | cun-es |
Acc. | cun-en | cun-e | cun-ās |
Gen. | cun-os | cun-ou, cun-ō | cun-on |
Dat. | cun-ē | cun-obon | cun-obo |
Ins. | cun-i | cun-obin | cun-obi |
Loc. | cun-i | cun-obin | cun-obi |
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
---|---|---|---|
NVA. | anuan | anuan-e | anuan-ā |
Gen. | anuēs* | anuan-ou, anuan-ō | anuan-on |
Dat. | anuan-ē | anuam-bon | anuam-bo |
Ins. | anuan-i | anuam-bin | anuam-bi |
Loc. | anuan-i | anuam-bin | anuam-bi |
*The genitive singular -ēs ending descents from the Proto-Celtic *anmens, genitive of *anman.
Singular | Dual | Plural | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nom. | mātīr | suiūr | māter-e | suior-e | māter-es | suior-es |
Voc. | mātīr | suiūr | māter-e | suior-e | māter-es | suior-es |
Acc. | māter-en | suior-en | māter-e | suior-e | māter-ās | suior-ās |
Gen. | mātr-ōs | suior-ōs | mātr-ou, mātr-ō | suior-ou, suior-ō | mātr-on | suior-on |
Dat. | mātr-ē | suior-ē | mātr-ebon | suior-ebon | mātr-ebo | suior-ebo |
Ins. | mātr-i | suior-i | mātr-ebin | suior-ebin | mātr-ebi | suior-ebi |
Loc. | mātr-i | suior-i | mātr-ebin | suior-ebin | mātr-ebi | suior-ebi |
R-stem nouns vary in how much the root reduces in the oblique cases. Noting the genitive form from the lexicon will help to know how to decline the remaining cases.
Singular | Dual | Plural | |
---|---|---|---|
NVA. | nem-os | nem-ie | nem-iā |
Gen. | nem-ios | nem-iō | nem-ion |
Dat. | nem-es | nem-obon | nem-obo |
Ins. | nem-es | nem-obin | nem-obi |
Loc. | nem-es | nem-obin | nem-obi |
When nouns are combined, such as in personal names, the combining stem's suffix depends on the noun's declension:
Declension | Nom. | Gen. | Combining Stem |
---|---|---|---|
O | -os | -i | - |
A | -ā | -iās | - |
I | -is | -ē | -i- |
U | -us | -ous | -u- |
Nasal | -ū | -nos | -on- |
Dental | -n(t)s, -nđ | -ntos | -nt- |
Velar | -xs | -cos, -gos | -c-, -g- |
Singular | Plural | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | |
Nom. | mār-ā | mār-os | mār-on | mār-ās | mār-ii, -oi | mār-ā |
Voc. | mār-a | mār-e | mār-on | mār-ās | mār-ūs | mār-ā |
Acc. | mār-in | mār-on | mār-on | mār-ās | mār-ūs | mār-ā |
Gen. | mār-ās | mār-ī | mār-ī | mār-ānon | mār-on | mār-on |
Dat. | mār-ī | mār-ū | mār-ū | mār-ābo | mār-obo | mār-obo |
Ins. | mār-ī, mār-iā | mār-ū | mār-ū | mār-ābi | mār-obi, -ūs | mār-obi, -ūs |
Loc. | mār-ī | mār-ē | mār-ē | mār-ābi | mār-obi | mār-obi |
(Irregular comparative of litanos.)
Singular | Plural | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | |
Nom. | let-is | let-is | let-i | let-ies | let-ies | let-iā |
Voc. | let-i | let-i | let-i | let-ies | let-ies | let-iā |
Acc. | let-in | let-in | let-i | let-īs | let-īs | let-iā |
Gen. | let-iās | let-ēs | let-ēs | let-ion | let-ion | let-ion |
Dat. | let-ē | let-ē | let-ē | let-ibo | let-ibo | let-ibo |
Ins. | let-ī | let-ī | let-ī | let-ibi | let-ibi | let-ibi |
Loc. | let-ī | let-ī | let-ī | let-ibi | let-ibi | let-ibi |
Singular | Plural | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | |
Nom. | el-us | el-us | el-u | el-iās | el-iies | el-iā |
Voc. | el-u | el-u | el-u | el-iās | el-iies | el-iā |
Acc. | el-uin | el-un | el-u | el-iās | el-ūs | el-iā |
Gen. | el-uās | el-ous, el-ōs | el-ous, el-ōs | el-uion | el-uion | el-uion |
Dat. | el-uī | el-ou, el-ō | el-ou, el-ō | el-uābo | el-uibo | el-uibo |
Ins. | el-uī | el-ū | el-ū | el-uābi | el-uibi | el-uibi |
Loc. | el-uī | el-ū | el-ū | el-uābi | el-uibi | el-uibi |
Singular | Plural | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | |
Nom. | trūx-s | trūx-s | trūx-s, trūc | trūc-es | trūc-es | trūc-ā |
Voc. | trūx-s, trūc | trūx-s, trūc | trūx-s, trūc | trūc-es | trūc-es | trūc-ā |
Acc. | trūc-en | trūc-en | trūx-s, trūc | trūc-ās | trūc-ās | trūc-ā |
Gen. | trūc-os | trūc-os | trūc-os | trūc-on | trūc-on | trūc-on |
Dat. | trūc-ē | trūc-ē | trūc-ē | trūc-obo | trūc-obo | trūc-obo |
Ins. | trūc-ī | trūc-ī | trūc-ī | trūc-obi | trūc-obi | trūc-obi |
Loc. | trūc-ī | trūc-ī | trūc-ī | trūc-obi | trūc-obi | trūc-obi |
The degrees of comparison for regular adjectives are the comparative and superlative, along with an emphatic degree that is cognate to an equative prefix in Insular Celtic.
There is no evidence for an equative in Gaulish. For the meaning of the equative, use dūcī, e.g. cauaros eđđi māros dūcī moniíos "the giant is as big as a mountain."
Degree | Prefix | Suffix | Example | Gloss |
---|---|---|---|---|
Comparative | - | -iūs | axsriūs | taller than; quite tall |
Superlative | - | -isamos | axsrisamos | tallest; very tall |
Emphatic | com- | - | conaxsros | very tall |
The comparative degree in -iūs has been assigned a unique declension of its own (see Iextis Galation), however per Wiktionary, "No gender/number/case inflection of comparative adjectives is attested in Celtic." Therefore, it seems that the -iūs suffix is indeclinable in Gaulish.
The emphatic prefix com- can become con- or co- before certain sounds for ease of pronunciation. Before l it becomes cob- as in cobletos < com- + *letos, cobrūnos < com- + rūnos.
Some adjectives have irregular gradations:
Positive | Gloss | Comparative | Superlative | Emphatic |
---|---|---|---|---|
adgođđus | near | neđđiūs | neđđamos | - |
biccos | small | lagiūs | lagisamos | combiccos |
cintus | first | cintiūs | cintusmos | - |
dagos | good | uellos | dagisamos | condagos |
drucos | bad | uextos | uextamos | condrucos |
elus | much, many | lēiūs | - | comantis |
iđđelos | low | iđđiūs | iđđamos | coniđđelos |
iouincos | young | iouiūs | iouamos | coniouincos |
lagos | small | lagiūs | lagisamos | coblagos |
letanos | wide | letis | letisamos | cobletos |
māros | great | māios | māiamos | comantis |
sīros | long | sīriūs | sīramos | cosīros |
tresnos | powerful | trexsiūs | trexsamos | contresnos |
uxselos | high | uxsiūs | uxs(is)amos | conuxselos |
Declension rules:
The emphatic can be used to mean "such" or "so" in the sense of "very".
mieđi cobleton tegos.
I have such a wide house.
cauaros eđđi comantis.
The giant is so big.
Comparatives are used with the instrumental of the entity being compared. By itself, a comparative means "quite".
tou mapos eđđi iouiūs mapū īmon.
Your son is younger than my son.
tieđi iouiūs mapos.
You have quite a young son.
Superlatives take inter +instrumental plural of the class or group within which the entity is the most of something. Here, too, the superlative on its own without a class or group means "very", cf. usages such as "a painting most exquisite" or "a most curious mystery" in English.
ei-tū cū uerouos inter ollobi cunobi in magū!
You are the best dog in the park!
ei-tū cū uerouos!
You are a very good dog!
Adjectives can be made adverbial in one of two ways:
Examples:
cingetes inte mārogalon ambi-ueuonar.
cingetes mārogalū ambi-ueuonar.
The soldiers fought bravely.
First | Second | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
Nom. | mī | nīs | tū | suīs |
Acc. | me | nos | te | suos |
Gen. | mou, (ī)mon | anson | tou, (ī)ton | sueson |
Dat. | moi, mei, mii | amē | tei, tii | umē |
Ins. | me | anse | te | ume |
Loc. | me | anse | te | ume |
Possessive | mouos, -ā, -on | ansonos, -ā, -on | touos, -ā, -on | suesonos, -ā, -on |
Mon and ton, when following the noun they qualify, become īmon and īton.
The reflexives of 1st and 2nd pronouns are formed by:
The pronoun oinānos, -ā, -on, declined as an O/A adjective, has the emphatic meaning as in "I myself [did the thing]."
Singular | Dual | Plural | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fem. | Masc. | S.T. | Neu. | F/M | Fem. | Masc. | Neu. | |
Nom. | sī | īs | đē | id, idā | ī | eias, iās | eis, ei | ī, eiā |
Acc. | sian | in, íin, eion | đen | id, idā | ī | sies | eiūs, sos | ī, eiā |
Gen. | eiās | eio | eie | eio | eiō | eion | eion | eion |
Dat. | eíī | emū, eiū | eiē | emū, eiū | eiobon | eiābo | eiobo | eiobo |
Ins. | eíī | emū, eiū | eiē | emū, eiū | eiobin | eiābi | eiobi, eiūs | eiobi, eiūs |
Loc. | eíī | eiū | eiē | eiū | eiou | eiābi | eiobi | eiobi |
In the interest of inclusivity, I have added to the above table my proposal for singular-they pronouns in the column marked S.T. These are neologisms not present in the ancient language.
The reflexive 3rd pronoun is made by prefixing sue-: sueíin himself, suesian herself, etc. The sue- can also be prefixed to a possessed noun, e.g. sue-tegos her/his (own) house.
The emphatic pronoun oinānos can also be used in the third person.
Proximal demonstratives (i.e. this, these) occur both as the indeclinable so and as a system with its own pronominal declension that can be reconstructed as:
Singular | Dual | Plural | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
F | M | NB | N | F | NB | M/N | F | M | NB | N | |
Nom. | sā | so(s) | se | so, sin | sī | sē | sō | sās | soi | ses | sanā |
Acc. | sān | son | sen | so, sin | sī | sē | sō | sās | sūs | sas | sanā |
Gen. | soiās | soio | soie | soio | sāsō | seisē | soisō | sanon | soison | seison | soison |
Dat. | soíī | soiū | soiē | soiū | sābon | seibon | soibon | sābo | soibo | seibo | soibo |
Ins. | soiā | somū | soiē | somū | sābin | seibin | soibin | sābi | soibi | seibi | soibi |
Loc. | soiā | somi | soiē | somi | sābin | seibin | soibin | sābi | soibi | seibi | soibi |
Here, as with the third personal pronouns, for inclusivity's sake I have added my proposals for singular-they pronouns.
A system of emphatic demonstratives (e.g. this one!, that one!) exists based on prefixing so onto the proximal demonstrative:
Singular | Plural | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
F | M | NB | N | F | M | NB | N | |
Nom. | sosā | soso(s) | sose | sosin | sosās | sosī | soses | sosanā |
Acc. | sosiān | soson | sosen | sosin | sosās | sosūs | sosēs | sosanā |
Gen. | sosiās | sosi | sosetos | sosi | sosanon | soson | soseton | soson |
D/I/L | sosī, sosiā | sosiū | soseti | sosiū | - | - | - | - |
Medial demonstratives (e.g. "that, those") have a stem sondio- that declines like a normal O/A adjective:
Singular | Plural | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
F | M | NB | N | F | M | NB | N | |
Nom. | sondiā | sondios | sondieđ | sondion | sondiās | sondī | sondietes | sondiā |
Acc. | sondīn | sondion | sondieten | sondion | sondiās | sondiūs | sondietās | sondiā |
Gen. | sondiās | sondī | sondietos | sondī | sondiānon | sondion | sondieton | sondion |
Dat. | sondī | sondiū | sondietē | sondiū | sondiābo | sondiobo | sondiedbo | sondiobo |
Instr. | sondī | sondiū | sondietī | sondiū | sondiābi | sondiobi | sondiedbi | sondiobi |
Loc. | sondī | sondiē | sondietī | sondiē | sondiābi | sondiobi | sondiedbi | sondiobi |
Confusingly, the neuters sometimes swap the sounds around so that sondion becomes sindon, etc.
Distal demonstratives ("that over there", "yon", "that yonder") also decline like O/A adjectives, based on the stem sindo-:
Singular | Plural | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
F | M | NB | N | F | M | NB | N | |
Nom. | sindā | sindos | sindeđ | sindon, sin | sindās | sindī | sindetes | sindā |
Acc. | sindin | sindon | sindeten | sindon, sin | sindās | sindūs | sindetās | sindā |
Gen. | sindās | sindī | sindetos | sindī | sindānon | sindon | sindeton | sindon |
Dat. | sindī | sindū | sindetē | sindū | sindābo | sindobo | sindedbo | sindobo |
Instr. | sindī | sindū | sindetī | sindū | sindābi | sindobi | sindedbi | sindobi |
Loc. | sindī | sindē | sindetī | sindē | sindābi | sindobi | sindedbi | sindobi |
In compounds, be careful not to confuse sindos with sin- meaning "this", as in sindīū "today", sinbāregū "this morning", sinnoxti "tonight".
Indefinite | Negative | Interrogative | Relative | Demonstrative | Identitative | Alternative | Universal | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Animate | nepos someone |
ne donios no one |
peis? who? |
io(n) who(m) |
sos, īs this, that |
somos the same |
allos another |
ollos, pāpos all, every |
Inanimate | nepidā something |
ne pettiā nothing |
pad?, pidā? what? |
io what |
so, idā this, that |
somon the same |
allon another |
ollon, pāpon all, every |
Locative | nependo somewhere |
ne inedū nowhere |
pendo? where? |
pendo where |
endo there |
sampendo in the same place |
allopendo elsewhere |
ollopendo everywhere |
Source | nepanā from somewhere |
au níinedū from nowhere |
panā? from where? |
panā from where |
auendū from there |
sampanā from the same place |
allopanā from elsewhere |
ollopanā from everywhere |
Temporal | neponc sometimes |
nāiui never |
ponc? when? |
ponc when |
toni then |
samponc at the same time |
alloponc another time |
aiuī always |
Qualitative | nepoiācos some sort |
ne ixsos none, no such |
poiācos? what kind?, what sort? |
cenetlī io(n) of the kind that |
ixsos such |
somiācos the same type |
allācos another type |
ollācos all kinds |
Quantitative | nepeti somewhat |
ne oinos none, no amount |
peti? how much? |
peti how much, as much |
somantī so much, so many |
sammantī as much |
allomantī a different amount |
ollos all, whole |
Manner | nepū somehow |
ne inte no way |
pū? how? |
pū how |
suā, ita so, thus |
inte somon in the same way |
inte allon another way |
inte ollon in every way |
Reason | nepēri for some reason |
ne uouerū for no reason |
pēri? why? |
pēri why |
canti, ita therefore, so |
sampēri for the same reason |
allopēri for another reason |
ollopēri for every reason |
* Note that for the meaning of "something for which to [verb]", you would use the gerundive of the verb instead.
Person | Subject | Object |
---|---|---|
1st sg. | -mī 💬 | -mī 💬 |
1st pl. | -nīs 💬 | -nīs 💬 |
2nd sg. | -tū 💬, -ti 💬 | -te 💬, -ti 💬 |
2nd pl. | -suīs 💬 | -suīs 💬 |
3rd sg. fem. | -sī 💬, -iā 💬 | -ian 💬 |
3rd sg. masc. | -īs 💬 | -in 💬 |
3rd sg. neu. | -i 💬, -id 💬, -idā 💬 | -i 💬, -id 💬 |
3rd pl. fem. | -sies 💬 | -iās 💬 |
3rd pl. masc. | -íis 💬 | -iūs 💬 |
3rd pl. neu. | -ī 💬, -iā 💬 | -ī 💬, -iā 💬 |
(relative) | -io 💬 | -io(n) 💬 |
The pronominal enclitics have the function of adding emphasis to the subject and/or object of the verb. If the verb is moved to the beginning of its sentence for emphasis, then some type of pronoun enclitic is mandatory. Oftentimes, a meaningless enclitic -i or -id is used in this case. This does not have the same meaning as the neuter -i(d), but is more like the Ancient Greek δε ("and"). Alternatively, the verb may be preceded by it(a), meaning roughly "thus". Both it(a) and -i(d) are optional unless the verb is at the beginning of the sentence. Compare:
Active | Passive | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indicative | Subjunctive | Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
Present | 1st | bināiū 💬 | bināmas 💬 | bināsū 💬 | bināsomos 💬 | bināiōr 💬 | bināmar 💬 | bināsōr 💬 | bināsomor 💬 |
2nd | bināi 💬 | bināte 💬 | bināses 💬 | bināsetes 💬 | binātār 💬 | bināte 💬 | bināsetār 💬 | bināsetes 💬 | |
3rd | bināt 💬 | binānt 💬 | bināset 💬 | bināsont 💬 | binātor 💬 | bināntor 💬 | bināsetor 💬 | bināsontor 💬 | |
Future | 1st | bināsiū 💬 | bināsiomos 💬 | - | - | bināsiōr 💬 | bināsiomor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | bināsies 💬 | bināsietes 💬 | - | - | bināsietār 💬 | bināsietes 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | bināsiet 💬 | bināsiont 💬 | - | - | bināsietor 💬 | bināsiontor 💬 | - | - | |
Imperfect | 1st | bināman 💬 | bināmos 💬 | - | - | bināmar 💬 | bināmor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | binātās 💬 | binātē 💬 | - | - | binātār 💬 | binātē 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | bināto 💬 | binānto 💬 | - | - | binātor 💬 | bināntor 💬 | - | - | |
Preterite | 1st | biba 💬 | bibame 💬 | bibasīn 💬 | bibasīmos 💬 | bītos/ā/on immi | bītī/ās/ā emos | bītos/ā/on buiū | bītī/ās/ā buomos |
2nd | bibas 💬 | bibe 💬 | bibasīs 💬 | bibasīte 💬 | bītos/ā/on ei | bītī/ās/ā esues | bītos/ā/on bues | bītī/ās/ā buetes | |
3rd | bibe 💬 | bibant 💬 | bibasīt 💬 | bibasīnt 💬 | bītos/ā/on eđđi | bītī/ās/ā sent | bītos/ā/on buet | bītī/ās/ā buont | |
Imperfective | Aorist | ||||||||
Imperative | 1st | - | bināmas 💬 | - | bīxsomo 💬 | ||||
2nd | binā 💬 | binātes 💬 | bīxs 💬 | bīxsetes 💬 | |||||
3rd | binātū 💬 | bināntū 💬 | bīxstū 💬 | bīxsontū 💬 |
Active | Passive | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indicative | Subjunctive | Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
Present | 1st | cambiíū 💬 | cambīmas 💬 | cambīsū 💬 | cambīsomos 💬 | cambiōr 💬 | cambīmar 💬 | cambīsōr 💬 | cambīsomor 💬 |
2nd | cambīs 💬 | cambīte 💬 | cambīses 💬 | cambīsetes 💬 | cambītār 💬 | cambīte 💬 | cambīsetār 💬 | cambīsetes 💬 | |
3rd | cambīt 💬 | cambīnt 💬 | cambīset 💬 | cambīsont 💬 | cambītor 💬 | cambīntor 💬 | cambīsetor 💬 | cambīsontor 💬 | |
Future | 1st | cambīsiū 💬 | cambīsiomos 💬 | - | - | cambīsiōr 💬 | cambīsiomor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | cambīsies 💬 | cambīsietes 💬 | - | - | cambīsietār 💬 | cambīsietes 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | cambīsiet 💬 | cambīsiont 💬 | - | - | cambīsietor 💬 | cambīsiontor 💬 | - | - | |
Imperfect | 1st | cambīman 💬 | cambīmos 💬 | - | - | cambīmar 💬 | cambīmor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | cambītās 💬 | cambītē 💬 | - | - | cambītār 💬 | cambītē 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | cambīto 💬 | cambīnto 💬 | - | - | cambītor 💬 | cambīntor 💬 | - | - | |
Preterite | 1st | cambīssan 💬 | cambīssames 💬 | cambīssīn 💬 | cambīssīmos 💬 | cambītos/ā/on immi | cambītī/ās/ā emos | cambītos/ā/on buiū | cambītī/ās/ā buomos |
2nd | cambīsses 💬 | cambīssates 💬 | cambīssīs 💬 | cambīssīte 💬 | cambītos/ā/on ei | cambītī/ās/ā esues | cambītos/ā/on bues | cambītī/ās/ā buetes | |
3rd | cambīsset 💬 | cambīssant 💬 | cambīssīt 💬 | cambīssīnt 💬 | cambītos/ā/on eđđi | cambītī/ās/ā sent | cambītos/ā/on buet | cambītī/ās/ā buont | |
Imperfective | Aorist | ||||||||
Imperative | 1st | - | cambīmas 💬 | - | cambīssomo 💬 | ||||
2nd | cambī 💬 | cambītes 💬 | cambīss 💬 | cambīssetes 💬 | |||||
3rd | cambītū 💬 | cambīntū 💬 | cambīsstū 💬 | cambīssontū 💬 |
This is the largest class of Gaulish verbs, the plain-ending consonant-stem verbs, and there is a lot of variety in the stems as well as in the preterites. This page provides a large selection of verbs, not to pile a huge memorization task onto the reader, but to illustrate this variability, and the ways the consonants combine with the future and subjunctive endings, such as c+s = xs, p+s = xs, t+s = đđ, etc.
As with all of the other conjugations, while the first person singular passive ending is usually reconstructed as -ūr, based on known sound changes that happened in Proto-Celtic, in Gaulish this ending is consistently attested as -or, indicating that the vowel had changed from u to o by the time of known inscriptions. Therefore, I reconstruct -ōr as the 1st sg. passive ending, noting that the sounds of ō and ū were probably very close together.
Active | Passive | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indicative | Subjunctive | Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
Present | 1st | berū 💬 | beromos 💬 | berasū 💬 | berasomos 💬 | berōr 💬 | beromor 💬 | berasōr 💬 | berasomor 💬 |
2nd | beres 💬 | beretes 💬 | berases 💬 | berasetes 💬 | beretār 💬 | berete 💬 | berasetār 💬 | berasetes 💬 | |
3rd | beret 💬 | beront 💬 | beraset 💬 | berasont 💬 | beretor 💬 | berontor 💬 | berasetor 💬 | berasontor 💬 | |
Future | 1st | berasiū 💬 | berasiomos 💬 | - | - | berasiōr 💬 | berasiomor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | berasies 💬 | berasietes 💬 | - | - | berasietār 💬 | berasietes 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | berasiet 💬 | berasiont 💬 | - | - | berasietor 💬 | berasiontor 💬 | - | - | |
Imperfect | 1st | bereman 💬 | beremos 💬 | - | - | beremar 💬 | beremor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | beretās 💬 | beretē 💬 | - | - | beretār 💬 | beretē 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | bereto 💬 | berento 💬 | - | - | beretor 💬 | berentor 💬 | - | - | |
Preterite | 1st | beran 💬 | berames 💬 | berasīn 💬 | berasīmos 💬 | britos/ā/on immi | britī/ās/ā emos | britos/ā/on buiū | britī/ās/ā buomos |
2nd | bers 💬 | bertes 💬 | berasīs 💬 | berasīte 💬 | britos/ā/on ei | britī/ās/ā esues | britos/ā/on bues | britī/ās/ā buetes | |
3rd | bert 💬 | berant 💬 | berasīt 💬 | berasīnt 💬 | britos/ā/on eđđi | britī/ās/ā sent | britos/ā/on buet | britī/ās/ā buont | |
Imperfective | Aorist | ||||||||
Imperative | 1st | - | beromo 💬 | - | bērsomo 💬 | ||||
2nd | bere 💬 | beretes 💬 | bērs 💬 | bērsetes 💬 | |||||
3rd | beretū 💬 | berontū 💬 | bērstū 💬 | bērsontū 💬 |
Active | Passive | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indicative | Subjunctive | Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
Present | 1st | brennū 💬 | brennomos 💬 | brennasū 💬 | brennasomos 💬 | brennōr 💬 | brennomor 💬 | brennasōr 💬 | brennasomor 💬 |
2nd | brennes 💬 | brennetes 💬 | brennases 💬 | brennasetes 💬 | brennetār 💬 | brennete 💬 | brennasetār 💬 | brennasetes 💬 | |
3rd | brennet 💬 | brennont 💬 | brennaset 💬 | brennasont 💬 | brennetor 💬 | brennontor 💬 | brennasetor 💬 | brennasontor 💬 | |
Future | 1st | brennasiū 💬 | brennasiomos 💬 | - | - | brennasiōr 💬 | brennasiomor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | brennasies 💬 | brennasietes 💬 | - | - | brennasietār 💬 | brennasietes 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | brennasiet 💬 | brennasiont 💬 | - | - | brennasietor 💬 | brennasiontor 💬 | - | - | |
Imperfect | 1st | brenneman 💬 | brennemos 💬 | - | - | brennemar 💬 | brennemor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | brennetās 💬 | brennetē 💬 | - | - | brennetār 💬 | brennetē 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | brenneto 💬 | brennento 💬 | - | - | brennetor 💬 | brennentor 💬 | - | - | |
Preterite | 1st | bebronna 💬 | bebronname 💬 | bebronnaasīn 💬 | bebronnaasīmos 💬 | brentos/ā/on immi | brentī/ās/ā emos | brentos/ā/on buiū | brentī/ās/ā buomos |
2nd | bebronnas 💬 | bebronne 💬 | bebronnaasīs 💬 | bebronnaasīte 💬 | brentos/ā/on ei | brentī/ās/ā esues | brentos/ā/on bues | brentī/ās/ā buetes | |
3rd | bebronne 💬 | bebronnant 💬 | bebronnaasīt 💬 | bebronnaasīnt 💬 | brentos/ā/on eđđi | brentī/ās/ā sent | brentos/ā/on buet | brentī/ās/ā buont | |
Imperfective | Aorist | ||||||||
Imperative | 1st | - | brennomo 💬 | - | bebrōnnsomo 💬 | ||||
2nd | brenne 💬 | brennetes 💬 | bebrōnns 💬 | bebrōnnsetes 💬 | |||||
3rd | brennetū 💬 | brennontū 💬 | bebrōnnstū 💬 | bebrōnnsontū 💬 |
Active | Passive | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indicative | Subjunctive | Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
Present | 1st | deprū 💬 | depromos 💬 | deprasū 💬 | deprasomos 💬 | deprōr 💬 | depromor 💬 | deprasōr 💬 | deprasomor 💬 |
2nd | depres 💬 | depretes 💬 | deprases 💬 | deprasetes 💬 | depretār 💬 | deprete 💬 | deprasetār 💬 | deprasetes 💬 | |
3rd | depret 💬 | depront 💬 | depraset 💬 | deprasont 💬 | depretor 💬 | deprontor 💬 | deprasetor 💬 | deprasontor 💬 | |
Future | 1st | deprasiū 💬 | deprasiomos 💬 | - | - | deprasiōr 💬 | deprasiomor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | deprasies 💬 | deprasietes 💬 | - | - | deprasietār 💬 | deprasietes 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | deprasiet 💬 | deprasiont 💬 | - | - | deprasietor 💬 | deprasiontor 💬 | - | - | |
Imperfect | 1st | depreman 💬 | depremos 💬 | - | - | depremar 💬 | depremor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | depretās 💬 | depretē 💬 | - | - | depretār 💬 | depretē 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | depreto 💬 | deprento 💬 | - | - | depretor 💬 | deprentor 💬 | - | - | |
Preterite | 1st | dedopra 💬 | dedoprame 💬 | dedopraasīn 💬 | dedopraasīmos 💬 | depretos/ā/on immi | depretī/ās/ā emos | depretos/ā/on buiū | depretī/ās/ā buomos |
2nd | dedopras 💬 | dedopre 💬 | dedopraasīs 💬 | dedopraasīte 💬 | depretos/ā/on ei | depretī/ās/ā esues | depretos/ā/on bues | depretī/ās/ā buetes | |
3rd | dedopre 💬 | dedoprant 💬 | dedopraasīt 💬 | dedopraasīnt 💬 | depretos/ā/on eđđi | depretī/ās/ā sent | depretos/ā/on buet | depretī/ās/ā buont | |
Imperfective | Aorist | ||||||||
Imperative | 1st | - | depromo 💬 | - | dedōprsomo 💬 | ||||
2nd | depre 💬 | depretes 💬 | dedōprs 💬 | dedōprsetes 💬 | |||||
3rd | depretū 💬 | deprontū 💬 | dedōprstū 💬 | dedōprsontū 💬 |
Active | Passive | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indicative | Subjunctive | Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
Present | 1st | ibū 💬 | ibomos 💬 | ixsū 💬 | ixsomos 💬 | ibōr 💬 | ibomor 💬 | ixsōr 💬 | ixsomor 💬 |
2nd | ibes 💬 | ibetes 💬 | ixses 💬 | ixsetes 💬 | ibetār 💬 | ibete 💬 | ixsetār 💬 | ixsetes 💬 | |
3rd | ibet 💬 | ibont 💬 | ixset 💬 | ixsont 💬 | ibetor 💬 | ibontor 💬 | ixsetor 💬 | ixsontor 💬 | |
Future | 1st | ixsiū 💬 | ixsiomos 💬 | - | - | ixsiōr 💬 | ixsiomor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | ixsies 💬 | ixsietes 💬 | - | - | ixsietār 💬 | ixsietes 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | ixsiet 💬 | ixsiont 💬 | - | - | ixsietor 💬 | ixsiontor 💬 | - | - | |
Imperfect | 1st | ibeman 💬 | ibemos 💬 | - | - | ibemar 💬 | ibemor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | ibetās 💬 | ibetē 💬 | - | - | ibetār 💬 | ibetē 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | ibeto 💬 | ibento 💬 | - | - | ibetor 💬 | ibentor 💬 | - | - | |
Preterite | 1st | ixsan 💬 | ixsames 💬 | ixsīn 💬 | ixsīmos 💬 | ixtos/ā/on immi | ixtī/ās/ā emos | ixtos/ā/on buiū | ixtī/ās/ā buomos |
2nd | ixses 💬 | ixsates 💬 | ixsīs 💬 | ixsīte 💬 | ixtos/ā/on ei | ixtī/ās/ā esues | ixtos/ā/on bues | ixtī/ās/ā buetes | |
3rd | ixset 💬 | ixsant 💬 | ixsīt 💬 | ixsīnt 💬 | ixtos/ā/on eđđi | ixtī/ās/ā sent | ixtos/ā/on buet | ixtī/ās/ā buont | |
Imperfective | Aorist | ||||||||
Imperative | 1st | - | ibomo 💬 | - | īxsomo 💬 | ||||
2nd | ibe 💬 | ibetes 💬 | īxs 💬 | īxsetes 💬 | |||||
3rd | ibetū 💬 | ibontū 💬 | īxstū 💬 | īxsontū 💬 |
Active | Passive | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indicative | Subjunctive | Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
Present | 1st | orgū 💬 | orgomos 💬 | orxsū 💬 | orxsomos 💬 | orgōr 💬 | orgomor 💬 | orxsōr 💬 | orxsomor 💬 |
2nd | orges 💬 | orgetes 💬 | orxses 💬 | orxsetes 💬 | orgetār 💬 | orgete 💬 | orxsetār 💬 | orxsetes 💬 | |
3rd | orget 💬 | orgont 💬 | orxset 💬 | orxsont 💬 | orgetor 💬 | orgontor 💬 | orxsetor 💬 | orxsontor 💬 | |
Future | 1st | orxsiū 💬 | orxsiomos 💬 | - | - | orxsiōr 💬 | orxsiomor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | orxsies 💬 | orxsietes 💬 | - | - | orxsietār 💬 | orxsietes 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | orxsiet 💬 | orxsiont 💬 | - | - | orxsietor 💬 | orxsiontor 💬 | - | - | |
Imperfect | 1st | orgeman 💬 | orgemos 💬 | - | - | orgemar 💬 | orgemor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | orgetās 💬 | orgetē 💬 | - | - | orgetār 💬 | orgetē 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | orgeto 💬 | orgento 💬 | - | - | orgetor 💬 | orgentor 💬 | - | - | |
Preterite | 1st | organ 💬 | orgames 💬 | orxsīn 💬 | orxsīmos 💬 | orxtos/ā/on immi | orxtī/ās/ā emos | orxtos/ā/on buiū | orxtī/ās/ā buomos |
2nd | orxs 💬 | orxtes 💬 | orxsīs 💬 | orxsīte 💬 | orxtos/ā/on ei | orxtī/ās/ā esues | orxtos/ā/on bues | orxtī/ās/ā buetes | |
3rd | orxt 💬 | organt 💬 | orxsīt 💬 | orxsīnt 💬 | orxtos/ā/on eđđi | orxtī/ās/ā sent | orxtos/ā/on buet | orxtī/ās/ā buont | |
Imperfective | Aorist | ||||||||
Imperative | 1st | - | orgomo 💬 | - | ōrxsomo 💬 | ||||
2nd | orge 💬 | orgetes 💬 | ōrxs 💬 | ōrxsetes 💬 | |||||
3rd | orgetū 💬 | orgontū 💬 | ōrxstū 💬 | ōrxsontū 💬 |
Active | Passive | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indicative | Subjunctive | Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
Present | 1st | ratū 💬 | ratomos 💬 | rađđū 💬 | rađđomos 💬 | ratōr 💬 | ratomor 💬 | rađđōr 💬 | rađđomor 💬 |
2nd | rates 💬 | ratetes 💬 | rađđes 💬 | rađđetes 💬 | ratetār 💬 | ratete 💬 | rađđetār 💬 | rađđetes 💬 | |
3rd | ratet 💬 | ratont 💬 | rađđet 💬 | rađđont 💬 | ratetor 💬 | ratontor 💬 | rađđetor 💬 | rađđontor 💬 | |
Future | 1st | rađđiū 💬 | rađđiomos 💬 | - | - | rađđiōr 💬 | rađđiomor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | rađđies 💬 | rađđietes 💬 | - | - | rađđietār 💬 | rađđietes 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | rađđiet 💬 | rađđiont 💬 | - | - | rađđietor 💬 | rađđiontor 💬 | - | - | |
Imperfect | 1st | rateman 💬 | ratemos 💬 | - | - | ratemar 💬 | ratemor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | ratetās 💬 | ratetē 💬 | - | - | ratetār 💬 | ratetē 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | rateto 💬 | ratento 💬 | - | - | ratetor 💬 | ratentor 💬 | - | - | |
Preterite | 1st | rerata 💬 | reratame 💬 | reratasīn 💬 | reratasīmos 💬 | rassos/ā/on immi | rassī/ās/ā emos | rassos/ā/on buiū | rassī/ās/ā buomos |
2nd | reratas 💬 | rerate 💬 | reratasīs 💬 | reratasīte 💬 | rassos/ā/on ei | rassī/ās/ā esues | rassos/ā/on bues | rassī/ās/ā buetes | |
3rd | rerate 💬 | reratant 💬 | reratasīt 💬 | reratasīnt 💬 | rassos/ā/on eđđi | rassī/ās/ā sent | rassos/ā/on buet | rassī/ās/ā buont | |
Imperfective | Aorist | ||||||||
Imperative | 1st | - | ratomo 💬 | - | rerāđomo 💬 | ||||
2nd | rate 💬 | ratetes 💬 | rerāđ 💬 | rerāđetes 💬 | |||||
3rd | ratetū 💬 | ratontū 💬 | rerāđtū 💬 | rerāđontū 💬 |
Active | Passive | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indicative | Subjunctive | Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
Present | 1st | appisū 💬 | appisomos 💬 | appissū 💬 | appissomos 💬 | appisōr 💬 | appisomor 💬 | appissōr 💬 | appissomor 💬 |
2nd | appises 💬 | appisetes 💬 | appisses 💬 | appissetes 💬 | appisetār 💬 | appisete 💬 | appissetār 💬 | appissetes 💬 | |
3rd | appiset 💬 | appisont 💬 | appisset 💬 | appissont 💬 | appisetor 💬 | appisontor 💬 | appissetor 💬 | appissontor 💬 | |
Future | 1st | piíū 💬 | piíomos 💬 | - | - | piíōr 💬 | piíomor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | piíes 💬 | piíetes 💬 | - | - | piíetār 💬 | piíete 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | piíet 💬 | piíont 💬 | - | - | piíetor 💬 | piíontor 💬 | - | - | |
Imperfect | 1st | appiseman 💬 | appisemos 💬 | - | - | appisemar 💬 | appisemor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | appisetās 💬 | appisetē 💬 | - | - | appisetār 💬 | appisetē 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | appiseto 💬 | appisento 💬 | - | - | appisetor 💬 | appisentor 💬 | - | - | |
Preterite | 1st | ad-pepisa 💬 | ad-pepisame 💬 | ad-pepisasīn 💬 | ad-pepisasīmos 💬 | appissos/ā/on immi | appissī/ās/ā emos | appissos/ā/on buiū | appissī/ās/ā buomos |
2nd | ad-pepisas 💬 | ad-pepise 💬 | ad-pepisasīs 💬 | ad-pepisasīte 💬 | appissos/ā/on ei | appissī/ās/ā esues | appissos/ā/on bues | appissī/ās/ā buetes | |
3rd | ad-pepise 💬 | ad-pepisant 💬 | ad-pepisasīt 💬 | ad-pepisasīnt 💬 | appissos/ā/on eđđi | appissī/ās/ā sent | appissos/ā/on buet | appissī/ās/ā buont | |
Imperfective | Aorist | ||||||||
Imperative | 1st | - | appisomo 💬 | - | ad-pepīssomo 💬 | ||||
2nd | appise 💬 | appisetes 💬 | ad-pepīss 💬 | ad-pepīssetes 💬 | |||||
3rd | appisetū 💬 | appisontū 💬 | ad-pepīsstū 💬 | ad-pepīssontū 💬 |
These are verbs whose stems end with with a consonantal -i.
Active | Passive | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indicative | Subjunctive | Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
Present | 1st | uediíū 💬 | uediíomos 💬 | uediísū 💬 | uediísomos 💬 | uediíōr 💬 | uediíomor 💬 | uediísōr 💬 | uediísomor 💬 |
2nd | uediíes 💬 | uediíetes 💬 | uediíses 💬 | uediísetes 💬 | uediíetār 💬 | uediíete 💬 | uediísetār 💬 | uediísetes 💬 | |
3rd | uediíet 💬 | uediíont 💬 | uediíset 💬 | uediísont 💬 | uediíetor 💬 | uediíontor 💬 | uediísetor 💬 | uediísontor 💬 | |
Future | 1st | uediísiū 💬 | uediísiomos 💬 | - | - | uediísiōr 💬 | uediísiomor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | uediísies 💬 | uediísietes 💬 | - | - | uediísietār 💬 | uediísietes 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | uediísiet 💬 | uediísiont 💬 | - | - | uediísietor 💬 | uediísiontor 💬 | - | - | |
Imperfect | 1st | uediíeman 💬 | uediíemos 💬 | - | - | uediíemar 💬 | uediíemor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | uediíetās 💬 | uediíetē 💬 | - | - | uediíetār 💬 | uediíetē 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | uediíeto 💬 | uediíento 💬 | - | - | uediíetor 💬 | uediíentor 💬 | - | - | |
Preterite | 1st | uōmi 💬 | uōmes 💬 | usīn 💬 | usīmos 💬 | uessos/ā/on immi | uessī/ās/ā emos | uessos/ā/on buiū | uessī/ās/ā buomos |
2nd | uōs 💬 | uōtes 💬 | usīs 💬 | usīte 💬 | uessos/ā/on ei | uessī/ās/ā esues | uessos/ā/on bues | uessī/ās/ā buetes | |
3rd | uōt 💬 | uōnt 💬 | usīt 💬 | usīnt 💬 | uessos/ā/on eđđi | uessī/ās/ā sent | uessos/ā/on buet | uessī/ās/ā buont | |
Imperfective | Aorist | ||||||||
Imperative | 1st | - | uediíomo 💬 | - | ūsomo 💬 | ||||
2nd | uediíe 💬 | uediíetes 💬 | ūs 💬 | ūsetes 💬 | |||||
3rd | uediíetū 💬 | uediíontū 💬 | ūstū 💬 | ūsontū 💬 |
Notice the double-I in the stem, causing the forms with the stem uedi-.
Active | Passive | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indicative | Subjunctive | Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
Present | 1st | sagiū 💬 | sagiomos 💬 | saxsū 💬 | saxsomos 💬 | sagiōr 💬 | sagiomor 💬 | saxsōr 💬 | saxsomor 💬 |
2nd | sagies 💬 | sagietes 💬 | saxses 💬 | saxsetes 💬 | sagietār 💬 | sagiete 💬 | saxsetār 💬 | saxsetes 💬 | |
3rd | sagiet 💬 | sagiont 💬 | saxset 💬 | saxsont 💬 | sagietor 💬 | sagiontor 💬 | saxsetor 💬 | saxsontor 💬 | |
Future | 1st | siaxsiū 💬 | siaxsiomos 💬 | - | - | siaxsiōr 💬 | siaxsiomor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | siaxsies 💬 | siaxsietes 💬 | - | - | siaxsietār 💬 | siaxsietes 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | siaxsiet 💬 | siaxsiont 💬 | - | - | siaxsietor 💬 | siaxsiontor 💬 | - | - | |
Imperfect | 1st | sagieman 💬 | sagiemos 💬 | - | - | sagiemar 💬 | sagiemor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | sagietās 💬 | sagietē 💬 | - | - | sagietār 💬 | sagietē 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | sagieto 💬 | sagiento 💬 | - | - | sagietor 💬 | sagientor 💬 | - | - | |
Preterite | 1st | siogan 💬 | siogames 💬 | sioxsīn 💬 | sioxsīmos 💬 | saxtos/ā/on immi | saxtī/ās/ā emos | saxtos/ā/on buiū | saxtī/ās/ā buomos |
2nd | sioxs 💬 | sioxtes 💬 | sioxsīs 💬 | sioxsīte 💬 | saxtos/ā/on ei | saxtī/ās/ā esues | saxtos/ā/on bues | saxtī/ās/ā buetes | |
3rd | sioxt 💬 | siogant 💬 | sioxsīt 💬 | sioxsīnt 💬 | saxtos/ā/on eđđi | saxtī/ās/ā sent | saxtos/ā/on buet | saxtī/ās/ā buont | |
Imperfective | Aorist | ||||||||
Imperative | 1st | - | sagiomo 💬 | - | siōxsomo 💬 | ||||
2nd | sagie 💬 | sagietes 💬 | siōxs 💬 | siōxsetes 💬 | |||||
3rd | sagietū 💬 | sagiontū 💬 | siōxstū 💬 | siōxsontū 💬 |
These verbs end in a nasal (m or n) followed by a stop (b, g, t, etc.). Historically, they were formed by infixing a nasal before the end of the root, e.g. *la-m-b- from root *lab-, with the nasal disappearing in tenses other than the present and imperfect. In the Celtic languages, this nasal infix came to be kept in some or all of the tenses, so you have to know each verb's preterite in order to know whether it keeps the infix in all forms.
Active | Passive | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indicative | Subjunctive | Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
Present | 1st | tangū 💬 | tangomos 💬 | tanxsū 💬 | tanxsomos 💬 | tangōr 💬 | tangomor 💬 | tanxsōr 💬 | tanxsomor 💬 |
2nd | tanges 💬 | tangetes 💬 | tanxses 💬 | tanxsetes 💬 | tangetār 💬 | tangete 💬 | tanxsetār 💬 | tanxsetes 💬 | |
3rd | tanget 💬 | tangont 💬 | tanxset 💬 | tanxsont 💬 | tangetor 💬 | tangontor 💬 | tanxsetor 💬 | tanxsontor 💬 | |
Future | 1st | tanxsiū 💬 | tanxsiomos 💬 | - | - | tanxsiōr 💬 | tanxsiomor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | tanxsies 💬 | tanxsietes 💬 | - | - | tanxsietār 💬 | tanxsietes 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | tanxsiet 💬 | tanxsiont 💬 | - | - | tanxsietor 💬 | tanxsiontor 💬 | - | - | |
Imperfect | 1st | tangeman 💬 | tangemos 💬 | - | - | tangemar 💬 | tangemor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | tangetās 💬 | tangetē 💬 | - | - | tangetār 💬 | tangetē 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | tangeto 💬 | tangento 💬 | - | - | tangetor 💬 | tangentor 💬 | - | - | |
Preterite | 1st | taga 💬 | tagame 💬 | tagasīn 💬 | tagasīmos 💬 | taxtos/ā/on immi | taxtī/ās/ā emos | taxtos/ā/on buiū | taxtī/ās/ā buomos |
2nd | tagas 💬 | tage 💬 | tagasīs 💬 | tagasīte 💬 | taxtos/ā/on ei | taxtī/ās/ā esues | taxtos/ā/on bues | taxtī/ās/ā buetes | |
3rd | tage 💬 | tagant 💬 | tagasīt 💬 | tagasīnt 💬 | taxtos/ā/on eđđi | taxtī/ās/ā sent | taxtos/ā/on buet | taxtī/ās/ā buont | |
Imperfective | Aorist | ||||||||
Imperative | 1st | - | tangomo 💬 | - | tāxsomo 💬 | ||||
2nd | tange 💬 | tangetes 💬 | tāxs 💬 | tāxsetes 💬 | |||||
3rd | tangetū 💬 | tangontū 💬 | tāxstū 💬 | tāxsontū 💬 |
Active | Passive | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indicative | Subjunctive | Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
Present | 1st | gandū 💬 | gandomos 💬 | ganđđū 💬 | ganđđomos 💬 | gandōr 💬 | gandomor 💬 | ganđđōr 💬 | ganđđomor 💬 |
2nd | gandes 💬 | gandetes 💬 | ganđđes 💬 | ganđđetes 💬 | gandetār 💬 | gandete 💬 | ganđđetār 💬 | ganđđetes 💬 | |
3rd | gandet 💬 | gandont 💬 | ganđđet 💬 | ganđđont 💬 | gandetor 💬 | gandontor 💬 | ganđđetor 💬 | ganđđontor 💬 | |
Future | 1st | ganđđiū 💬 | ganđđiomos 💬 | - | - | ganđđiōr 💬 | ganđđiomor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | ganđđies 💬 | ganđđietes 💬 | - | - | ganđđietār 💬 | ganđđietes 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | ganđđiet 💬 | ganđđiont 💬 | - | - | ganđđietor 💬 | ganđđiontor 💬 | - | - | |
Imperfect | 1st | gandeman 💬 | gandemos 💬 | - | - | gandemar 💬 | gandemor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | gandetās 💬 | gandetē 💬 | - | - | gandetār 💬 | gandetē 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | gandeto 💬 | gandento 💬 | - | - | gandetor 💬 | gandentor 💬 | - | - | |
Preterite | 1st | geganda 💬 | gegandame 💬 | gegandasīn 💬 | gegandasīmos 💬 | gāssos/ā/on immi | gāssī/ās/ā emos | gāssos/ā/on buiū | gāssī/ās/ā buomos |
2nd | gegandas 💬 | gegande 💬 | gegandasīs 💬 | gegandasīte 💬 | gāssos/ā/on ei | gāssī/ās/ā esues | gāssos/ā/on bues | gāssī/ās/ā buetes | |
3rd | gegande 💬 | gegandant 💬 | gegandasīt 💬 | gegandasīnt 💬 | gāssos/ā/on eđđi | gāssī/ās/ā sent | gāssos/ā/on buet | gāssī/ās/ā buont | |
Imperfective | Aorist | ||||||||
Imperative | 1st | - | gandomo 💬 | - | gegānđomo 💬 | ||||
2nd | gande 💬 | gandetes 💬 | gegānđ 💬 | gegānđetes 💬 | |||||
3rd | gandetū 💬 | gandontū 💬 | gegānđtū 💬 | gegānđontū 💬 |
Active | Passive | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indicative | Subjunctive | Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
Present | 1st | prinami 💬 | prinamos 💬 | priān 💬 | priaomos 💬 | prinār 💬 | prinamor 💬 | priār 💬 | priaomor 💬 |
2nd | prinasi 💬 | prinates 💬 | priaisi 💬 | priaites 💬 | prinatār 💬 | prinate 💬 | priaitār 💬 | priaites 💬 | |
3rd | prinat 💬 | prinant 💬 | priait 💬 | priaont 💬 | prinator 💬 | prinantor 💬 | priaitor 💬 | priaontor 💬 | |
Future | 1st | prinasiū 💬 | prinasiomos 💬 | - | - | prinasiōr 💬 | prinasiomor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | prinasies 💬 | prinasietes 💬 | - | - | prinasietār 💬 | prinasietes 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | prinasiet 💬 | prinasiont 💬 | - | - | prinasietor 💬 | prinasiontor 💬 | - | - | |
Imperfect | 1st | prinaman 💬 | prinamos 💬 | - | - | prinamar 💬 | prinamor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | prinatās 💬 | prinatē 💬 | - | - | prinatār 💬 | prinatē 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | prinato 💬 | prinanto 💬 | - | - | prinator 💬 | prinantor 💬 | - | - | |
Preterite | 1st | prinassan 💬 | prinassames 💬 | prinasasīn 💬 | prinasasīmos 💬 | prītos/ā/on immi | prītī/ās/ā emos | prītos/ā/on buiū | prītī/ās/ā buomos |
2nd | prinasses 💬 | prinassates 💬 | prinasasīs 💬 | prinasasītes 💬 | prītos/ā/on ei | prītī/ās/ā esues | prītos/ā/on bues | prītī/ās/ā buetes | |
3rd | prinasset 💬 | prinassant 💬 | prinasasīt 💬 | prinasasīnt 💬 | prītos/ā/on eđđi | prītī/ās/ā sent | prītos/ā/on buet | prītī/ās/ā buont | |
Imperfective | Aorist | ||||||||
Imperative | 1st | - | prinamas 💬 | - | prināssomo 💬 | ||||
2nd | prina 💬 | prinates 💬 | prināss 💬 | prināssetes 💬 | |||||
3rd | prinatū 💬 | prinantū 💬 | prināsstū 💬 | prināssontū 💬 |
Deponent | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||
Present | 1st | clinōr 💬 | clinumor 💬 | clinusōr 💬 | clinusomor 💬 |
2nd | clinutār 💬 | clinute 💬 | clinusetār 💬 | clinusetes 💬 | |
3rd | clinutor 💬 | clinuntor 💬 | clinusetor 💬 | clinusontor 💬 | |
Future | 1st | clinasiōr 💬 | clinasiomor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | clinasietār 💬 | clinasietes 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | clinasietor 💬 | clinasiontor 💬 | - | - | |
Imperfect | 1st | clinuman 💬 | clinumos 💬 | - | - |
2nd | clinutās 💬 | clinutē 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | clinuto 💬 | clinunto 💬 | - | - | |
Preterite | 1st | clutos/ā/on immi | clutī/ās/ā emos | clutos/ā/on buiū | clutī/ās/ā buomos |
2nd | clutos/ā/on ei | clutī/ās/ā esues | clutos/ā/on bues | clutī/ās/ā buetes | |
3rd | clutos/ā/on eđđi | clutī/ās/ā sent | clutos/ā/on buet | clutī/ās/ā buont |
Unlike most IE languages, Gaulish preterites fall into several paradigms independent of the verb's main conjugation class. It is usually easy to tell from the ending of the cited 3rd sg. preterite in the lexicon which paradigm it belongs to. The preterites for the active voice are given below, using the examples of attested verbs where either at least one preterite form is known, or the preterite can be reconstructed from the Proto-Celtic root.
Passive preterites don't have their own endings; for such meanings, use the corresponding number and gender of the past participle (O/A declension) with the corresponding present indicative or present subjunctive form of eđđi, e.g. appissā immi I was seen; auuessā buont were they (already) made.
Verb: appiset, ad-pepise, appissos; pisiū, -onos.: to see | ||||
Indicative | Subjunctive | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
1st | adpepis-a | adpepis-me | adpepis-sīn | adpepis-sīmos |
2nd | adpepis-as | adpepis-e | adpepis-sīs | adpepis-sīte |
3rd | adpepis-e | adpepis-ar | adpepis-sīt | adpepis-sīnt |
Verb: ibet, ixset, ixtos; oclon, -ī: to drink | ||||
Indicative | Subjunctive | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
1st | ix-san | ix-same | ix-sīn | ix-sīmos |
2nd | ix-ses | ix-sate | ix-sīs | ix-sīte |
3rd | ix-set | ix-sar | ix-sīt | ix-sīnt |
Verb: auuedet, auuōt, auuessos; auuedenā, -iās: to make | ||||||||
Verb: sagiet, sioxt, saxtos; sagitis, -ēs.: to seek | ||||||||
Indicative | Subjunctive | Indicative | Subjunctive | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
1st | auuōd-an | auuōd-mes | auuōđ-đīn | auuōđ-đīmes | siog-an | siog-ames | siox-sīn | siox-sīmes |
2nd | auuō-đ | auuō-te | auuōđ-đīs | auuōđ-đīte | siox-s | siox-te | siox-sīs | siox-sīte |
3rd | auuō-t | auuō-nt | auuōđ-đīt | auuōđ-đīnt | siox-t | siog-ar | siox-sīt | siox-sīnt |
The attested form sioxti is at the beginning of a clause, and consists of sioxt plus the meaningless enclitic -i, since an enclitic is normally required in verb first constructs.
A number of attestations show a 3rd sg. preterite ending in -ū, plural -ūs. This is consistent with a set of reconstructed Proto-Celtic verbal preterite endings, perhaps originally deriving from an instrumental pronominal suffix. If, hypothetically, a suffixless preterite such as *īeure were suffixed as *īeure-os > *īeuros, its instrumental would be īeurū, which is exactly what we see in the dedication at Alise-Sainte-Reine:
MARTIALIS DANNOTALI IEVRV VCVETE SOSIN CELICNON ETIC GOBEDBI DUGIIONTIIO VCVETIN IN ALESIA
...which we can interpret as "Martialis [son] of Dannotalos offered-by-him to Ucuetis this banquet hall and along with the blacksmiths who worship Ucuetis in Alisia." This verb is also attested in the first person singular as īueri and third plural as īuerūs.
The -ū(s) ending is also attested for e.g. carnitū (erected) and dedū (gave), however since the preterite dede is also attested, -ū cannot be the normal 3rd sg. preterite ending of this verb.
The perfect is formed by prefixing ro- to the present or preterite. The future perfect is formed by prefixing ro- to the present subjunctive.
Nominal forms of verbs can be formed directly from the dictionary form. The -os suffix has an active meaning, and the -ios suffix an inactive meaning.
All of the participles and nominal forms take -os, -ā, -on endings that decline like O/A adjectives.
The -os suffix is also attested as -is in the case of accusative arueriíātin, meaning "one who gives satisfaction". This ending could make sense of the plural form eurisēs (offerers) if it is the plural of *eurisis, a suffixed form derived from the same verb as īeurū (see the preterites section for more on this verb).
The present participle suffix is -aunos. It can be added to the present or future stem of the verb, and the prefix ro- can be used to make a past tense.
Each verb is listed in the lexicon with a past participle. This forms the basis of passive participles with imperfective, perfective, or future meanings.
Some verbs have a past participle in the dictionary that is the same as the active nominalizer, e.g. damāt "to endure", past pple damātos "endured". When this happens, the active nominal form **damāt-os (**"endurer") is not used, and what would have been its meaning is covered by the present participle, e.g. ro-damaunos.
The form ending in -innos is called a gerundive. The verb essi, "be", has no passive participle, so its gerundive is onnos.
Active | Passive | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indicative | Subjunctive | Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
Present | 1st | tēgū 💬 | tēgomos 💬 | tēxsū 💬 | tēxsomos 💬 | tēgōr 💬 | tēgomor 💬 | tēxsōr 💬 | tēxsomor 💬 |
2nd | tēges 💬 | tēgetes 💬 | tēxses 💬 | tēxsetes 💬 | tēgetār 💬 | tēgete 💬 | tēxsetār 💬 | tēxsetes 💬 | |
3rd | tēget 💬 | tēgont 💬 | tēxset 💬 | tēxsont 💬 | tēgetor 💬 | tēgontor 💬 | tēxsetor 💬 | tēxsontor 💬 | |
Future | 1st | rigāsū 💬 | rigāsomos 💬 | - | - | rigāsōr 💬 | rigāsomor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | rigāses 💬 | rigāsetes 💬 | - | - | rigāsetār 💬 | rigāsetes 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | rigāset 💬 | rigāsont 💬 | - | - | rigāsetor 💬 | rigāsontor 💬 | - | - | |
Imperfect | 1st | tēgeman 💬 | tēgemos 💬 | - | - | tēgemar 💬 | tēgemor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | tēgetās 💬 | tēgetē 💬 | - | - | tēgetār 💬 | tēgetē 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | tēgeto 💬 | tēgento 💬 | - | - | tēgetor 💬 | tēgentor 💬 | - | - | |
Preterite | 1st | ludū 💬 | ludomos 💬 | ellū 💬 | ellomos 💬 | itos/ā/on immi | itī/ās/ā emos | itos/ā/on buiū | itī/ās/ā buomos |
2nd | ludes 💬 | ludetes 💬 | elles 💬 | elletes 💬 | itos/ā/on ei | itī/ās/ā esues | itos/ā/on bues | itī/ās/ā buetes | |
3rd | ludet 💬 | ludont 💬 | ellet 💬 | ellont 💬 | itos/ā/on eđđi | itī/ās/ā sent | itos/ā/on buet | itī/ās/ā buont | |
Imperfective | Aorist | ||||||||
Imperative | 1st | - | tēgomo 💬 | - | lūđomo 💬 | ||||
2nd | tēge 💬 | tēgetes 💬 | lūđ 💬 | lūđetes 💬 | |||||
3rd | tēgetū 💬 | tēgontū 💬 | lūđtū 💬 | lūđontū 💬 |
Active | Passive | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indicative | Subjunctive | Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||||
Present | 1st | gniíū 💬 | gniíomos 💬 | gniísū 💬 | gniísomos 💬 | gniíōr 💬 | gniíomor 💬 | gniísōr 💬 | gniísomor 💬 |
2nd | gniíes 💬 | gniíetes 💬 | gniíses 💬 | gniísetes 💬 | gniíetār 💬 | gniíete 💬 | gniísetār 💬 | gniísetes 💬 | |
3rd | gniíet 💬 | gniíont 💬 | gniíset 💬 | gniísont 💬 | gniíetor 💬 | gniíontor 💬 | gniísetor 💬 | gniísontor 💬 | |
Future | 1st | gniísiū 💬 | gniísiomos 💬 | - | - | gniísiōr 💬 | gniísiomor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | gniísies 💬 | gniísietes 💬 | - | - | gniísietār 💬 | gniísietes 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | gniísiet 💬 | gniísiont 💬 | - | - | gniísietor 💬 | gniísiontor 💬 | - | - | |
Imperfect | 1st | gniíeman 💬 | gniíemos 💬 | - | - | gniíemar 💬 | gniíemor 💬 | - | - |
2nd | gniíetās 💬 | gniíetē 💬 | - | - | gniíetār 💬 | gniíetē 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | gniíeto 💬 | gniíento 💬 | - | - | gniíetor 💬 | gniíentor 💬 | - | - | |
Preterite | 1st | au-uōmi 💬 | au-uōmes 💬 | au-usīn 💬 | au-usīmos 💬 | auuessos/ā/on immi | auuessī/ās/ā emos | auuessos/ā/on buiū | auuessī/ās/ā buomos |
2nd | au-uōs 💬 | au-uōtes 💬 | au-usīs 💬 | au-usīte 💬 | auuessos/ā/on ei | auuessī/ās/ā esues | auuessos/ā/on bues | auuessī/ās/ā buetes | |
3rd | au-uōt 💬 | au-uōnt 💬 | au-usīt 💬 | au-usīnt 💬 | auuessos/ā/on eđđi | auuessī/ās/ā sent | auuessos/ā/on buet | auuessī/ās/ā buont | |
Imperfective | Aorist | ||||||||
Imperative | 1st | - | gniíomo 💬 | - | au-ūsomo 💬 | ||||
2nd | gniíe 💬 | gniíetes 💬 | au-ūs 💬 | au-ūsetes 💬 | |||||
3rd | gniíetū 💬 | gniíontū 💬 | au-ūstū 💬 | au-ūsontū 💬 |
Active | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indicative | Subjunctive | ||||
Present | 1st | immi 💬 | emos 💬 | buiū 💬 | buomos 💬 |
2nd | ei 💬 | esues 💬 | bues 💬 | buetes 💬 | |
3rd | eđđi 💬 | sent 💬 | buet 💬 | buont 💬 | |
Future | 1st | bissiū 💬 | bissiomos 💬 | - | - |
2nd | bissies 💬 | bissietes 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | bissiet 💬 | bissiont 💬 | - | - | |
Imperfect | 1st | eiāman 💬 | eiāmos 💬 | - | - |
2nd | eiātās 💬 | eiātē 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | eiāto 💬 | eiānto 💬 | - | - | |
Preterite | 1st | būa 💬 | būame 💬 | būaman 💬 | būamos 💬 |
2nd | būas 💬 | būe 💬 | būatās 💬 | būatē 💬 | |
3rd | būe 💬 | būant 💬 | būato 💬 | būanto 💬 | |
Imperfective | Aorist | ||||
Imperative | 1st | - | biiomo 💬 | - | - |
2nd | biie 💬 | biietes 💬 | - | - | |
3rd | biietū 💬 | biiontū 💬 | - | - |
Conditionals can also mix tenses, e.g. ma mantalon essi ulipu, bisiet slibnon.
Cardinals one through four agree with the gender and case of their nouns, e.g. tedres suiores "three sisters". Other cardinals take the genitive plural, e.g. sextan blēdnānon "seven years", literally "seven of years". Ordinals and multiplicatives decline like O/A adjectives; cintus is a U-stem adjective that has an alternative O/A form cintuxos.
Cardinal | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | f. | m. | n. | Ordinal | Adverb | Multiplicative | Fractive | Collective |
1 | oinā | oinos | oinon | cintus, -u | smīs | oinouellos, -ā, -on | cantos | donios |
2 | duī | dāu | allos, -ā, -on | duīs | duīuellos, -ā, -on | letos, santeron | ambostā | |
3 | tedres | trīes | trī | tritos, -ā, -on | trīuextā | trīuellos, -ā, -on | triíanis | tridion |
4 | petedres | petuares | petuār | petruarios, -ā, -on | petruuextā | petruuellos, -ā, -on | petranis | petrudion |
5 | pempe | pimpetos, -ā, -on | pimpeuextā | pimpeuellos, -ā, -on | pimpanis | pimpedion | ||
6 | suexs | suexos, -ā, -on | suexuextā | suexsuellos, -ā, -on | suexsanis | suedion | ||
7 | sextan | sextametos, -ā, -on | sextauextā | sextauellos, -ā, -on | sextanis | sextanion | ||
8 | oxtū | oxtūmetos, -ā, -on | oxtūuextā | oxtūuellos, -ā, -on | oxtūuanis | oxtūdion | ||
9 | nauan | nametos, -ā, -on | nauuextā | nauuellos, -ā, -on | nauanis | nauantion | ||
10 | decan | decametos, -ā, -on | decuextā | decauellos, -ā, -on | decanis | decantion | ||
11 | oindecan | oindecametos, -ā, -on | oindecuextā | oindecauellos, -ā, -on | oindecanis | oindecantion | ||
12 | dāudecan | dāudecametos, -ā, -on | dāudecuextā | dāudecauellos, -ā, -on | dāudecanis | dāudecantion | ||
13 | trīdecan | trīdecametos, -ā, -on | trīdecuextā | trīdecauellos, -ā, -on | trīdecanis | trīdecantion | ||
14 | petrudecan | petrudecametos, -ā, -on | petrudecuextā | petrudecauellos, -ā, -on | petrudecanis | petrudecantion | ||
15 | pimpedecan | pimpedecametos, -ā, -on | pimpedecuextā | pimpedecauellos, -ā, -on | pimpedecanis | pimpedecantion | ||
16 | suedecan | suedecametos, -ā, -on | suedecuextā | suedecauellos, -ā, -on | suedecanis | suedecantion | ||
17 | sextadecan | sextadecametos, -ā, -on | sextadecuextā | sextadecauellos, -ā, -on | sextadecanis | sextadecantion | ||
18 | oxtūdecan | oxtūdecametos, -ā, -on | oxtūdecuextā | oxtūdecauellos, -ā, -on | oxtūdecanis | oxtūdecantion | ||
19 | naudecan | naudecametos, -ā, -on | naudecuextā | naudecauellos, -ā, -on | naudecanis | naudecantion |
The number one is declined as a normal O/A adjective. Two through four have their own declensions:
Two | Three | Four | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
F. | M/N. | F. | M. | N. | F. | M. | N. | |
Nom. | duī | dāu | tedres | trīes | trī | petedres | petuares | petuār |
Voc. | duī | dāu | tedre | trīe | trī | petedre | petuare | petuār |
Acc. | duī | dāu | tedrās | trīs | trī | petedrās | peturīs | petuār |
Gen. | duāiō | duoiō | tedron | trīon | trīon | petedron | peturon | peturon |
Dat. | duābon | duobon | tedrobo | trīobo | trīobo | petedrobo | peturobo | peturobo |
I/L. | duābin | duobin | tedrobi | trīobi | trīobi | petedrobi | peturobi | peturobi |
The -ā, -on endings are omitted from the below table for brevity, but ordinals and multiplicatives, and the cardinal oinos, all continue to decline like O/A adjectives. The multiples of ten ending in -contis are indeclinable.
# | Cardinal | Ordinal | Adverb | Multiplicative | Fractive | Collective |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
20 | uicantī | uicantometos | uicantouextā | uicantouellos | uicantanis | uicantion |
21 | uicantī oinos | uicantometos cintus | oinuicantouextā | uicantouellos oinouellos | oinuicantanis | oinuicantion |
30 | trīcontis | trīcontometos | trīcontouextā | trīcontouellos | trīcontanis | trīcontion |
40 | petrucontis | petrucontometos | petrucontouextā | petrucontouellos | petrucontanis | petrucontion |
50 | pimpecontis | pimpecontometos | pimpecontouextā | pimpecontouellos | pimpecontanis | pimpecontion |
60 | suescontis | suescontometos | suescontouextā | suescontouellos | suescontanis | suescontion |
70 | sextacontis | sextacontometos | sextacontouextā | sextacontouellos | sextacontanis | sextacontion |
80 | oxtūcontis | oxtūcontometos | oxtūcontouextā | oxtūcontouellos | oxtūcontanis | oxtūcontion |
90 | naucontis | naucontometos | naucontouextā | naucontouellos | naucontanis | naucontion |
100 | canton | cantometos | cantouextā | cantouellos | cantanis | cantoion |
101 | canton oinos | cantometos cintus | oincantouextā | cantouellos oinouellos | oincantanis | oincantoion |
200 | dāucanton | dāucantometos | dāucantouextā | dāucantouellos | dāucantanis | dāucantoion |
1000 | mīlle | mīllometos | mīllouextā | mīllouellos | mīllanis | mīlloion |
The word mīlle is a borrowing from Latin. All modern Celtic languages borrow some form of this word as their term for "thousand", and Gaulish likely came to do so as well. There is a hypothesized word **gellon with the meaning of "thousand", however its etymology is dubious as the PIE root *ǵʰeslom is not attested in Celtic. A more likely reconstruction might be **tūscanton, from PIE. *tuh₂sdḱmto-, with cognates in Germanic (e.g. English "thousand") and Balto-Slavic, but this root is also not attested anywhere in the Celtic languages.
Numbers from 30 to 99 have an optional vigesimal system alongside the more common decimal system. The number uicantī, twenty, is grammatically a feminine noun of the A-declension. It occurs in the dual number in the vigesimals of 40 and 50, and the plural for the vigesimals of 60-90.
# | Cardinal | Ordinal | Adverb | Multiplicative | Fractive | Collective |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
30 | uicantī decan | uicantometos decametos | uicantouextā decuextā | uicantouellos decauellos | uicantanis decanis | uicantion decantion |
40 | duī uicantī | duī uicantometos | duī uicantouextā | duī uicantouellos | duī uicantanis | duī uicantion |
50 | duī uicantī decan | duī uicantometos decametos | duī uicantouextā decuextā | duī uicantouellos decauellos | duī uicantanis decanis | duī uicantion decantion |
60 | tisres uicantiās | t. uicantometos | t. uicantouextā | t. uicantouellos | t. uicantanis | t. uicantion |
70 | tisres uicantiās decan | t. uicantometos decametos | t. uicantouextā decuextā | t. uicantouellos decauellos | t. uicantanis decanis | t. uicantion decantion |
80 | petedres uicantiās | p. uicantometos | p. uicantouextā | p. uicantouellos | p. uicantanis | p. uicantion |
90 | petedres uicantiās decan | p. uicantometos decametos | p. uicantouextā decuextā | p. uicantouellos decauellos | p. uicantanis decanis | p. uicantion decantion |
The neutral, unmarked, non-emphatic word order is:
Subject, Verb, Indirect/Oblique Object, Predicative Direct Object, Adjunct, Source/Goal/Destination, Attributive Direct Object.
Example sentence, broken down by structure:
rīxs | subject | the king |
rodīsset | verb | gave |
sue-duxtrē | indirect object | his daughter |
epon | predicative direct object | a horse |
pon eíī ne-eiāt-īs epos | adjunct | because she didn't have a horse |
uta gallet-iā tixtin endo ueletor-io | goal | so she could go where she wanted to |
nertomāron | attributive direct object | a powerful one |
SVO word order is the most common in main clauses. VSO is usual in subordinate clauses:
mātīr īton rodīsset-iā tei sondīn malenīn.
Your mother gave you that mirror.
an sosā eđđi malenā rodīsset-io mātir īton tei?
Is this the mirror your mother gave you?
When VSO order occurs in a main clause, with the verb first, it emphasizes the verb and can mean that an action happened suddenly, or as a result of earlier actions or conditions, etc. Imperatives and contrastives are usually VSO.
uoure catuslougos catulisson galinion, sepans sagitē cenī.
[Suddenly] the troop found the enemy camp, after a long search.
(Take galinion as a genitive qualifying the accusative catulisson.)
SOV order is also known, with the verb last. It has a classical poetic quality to it, as if speaking the way the ancients did.
Uercingetorixs com Caisri inte nertācon iext.
Vercingetorix with Caesar bravely spoke.
When forms of eđđi are used to mean "have", the dative of the subject often directly precedes the verb. This is attested in a reduced form: tīeđi, "you have", from tei eđđi, lit. "to you there is". Other persons and numbers such as mīeđi are possible, as are forms with senti (meaning multiple things are had) instead of eđđi.
The usual order is for the adjective to follow the noun, especially if the adjective has more relevance or emphasis than the noun does, and/or if the adjective describes some intrinsic quality of the noun such as origin, composition, etc. Many common phrases have the adjective always following the noun.
Adjectives of quantity or size, such as ollos, allos, papos, magios, elus, māros, etc., generally precede the noun, but if they follow, they have an indefinite meaning. Nepos belongs to this class but it follows the noun because it is indefinite by definition.
Possessives such as mouos, touos, sueios, can freely precede or follow the noun, but the possessives mon and ton can only precede the noun, and the possessives īmon and īton can only follow the noun.
Otherwise, genitives, or datives of belonging, normally follow the noun, e.g. toutios namausatis citizen of Nîmes, caranđ ueníī friend of the family.
Numerals most often precede the noun, but can follow the noun in order to emphasize the number. In expressions of time, ordinals follow their nouns.
Demonstratives normally precede the noun. The demonstrative sī/(e)iā (f.), is (m.), idā (n.) can refer to an earlier noun in the same way as saying "the aforementioned".
An adjective that would normally follow the noun may precede for purposes of contrast, e.g. an dagā mentiīū eđđi an drucā?, "is it a good idea or a bad one?".
The normal order of stacked adjectives is to place intrinsic or inalienable attributes of essence closer to the noun than adjectives denoting temporary or mutable attributes of status.
For the most part, genitives can freely precede or follow the head noun. Unlike with adjectives, a preceding genitive has more emphasis. Partitives follow the head noun. Genitives often occur between the head noun and an adjective.
Songs are a great way to learn a language. One technique is to take a familiar song and, while singing it, progressively substitute words from the original language to the target language until all the words have been translated. That requires a song with repetitive refrains, which fortunately is common in children's songs. Another benefit is that the sentence structures are simpler, without much subtext and with a focus on what the words mean instead of the complexities of the songwriter's emotional state. These are songs designed for learning, and they are part of how we all acquire our first language, so it makes sense to include them when acquiring a second language.
Most of the songs in this section use the progressive word-changing technique, but not every song lends itself to such a structure.
There was an old lady who swallowed a fly
But I don't know why she swallowed the culin
I guess she'll die
There was an old benā who swallowed a spider
She swallowed the corrinion to get the culin
But I don't know pari she swallowed the culin
I guess she basiet
There was an old benā who loncāđđet a mouse
She loncāđđet the sorion to get the corrinion
She loncāđđet corrinion to get the culin
Extos I don't know pari she loncāđđet culin
I guess basiet-sī
There was a benā senā who loncāđđet a bird
Loncāđđet-sī etnon to get the sorion
Loncāđđet-sī sorion to get the corrinion
Loncāđđet-sī corrinion rīs get the culin
Extos I don't uidra pari loncāđđet-sī culin
I guess basiet-sī
Būe benā senā who loncāđđet a cat
Loncāđđet-sī catton rīs gabaglī etnon
Loncāđđet-sī etnon rīs gabaglī sorion
Loncāđđet-sī sorion rīs gabaglī corrinion
Loncāđđet-sī corrinion rīs gabaglī culin
Extos I ne uidra pari loncāđđet-sī culin
Moniōr io basiet-sī
Būe benā senā loncāđđet-io dog
Loncāđđet-sī cunen rīs gabaglī catton
Loncāđđet-sī catton rīs gabaglī etnon
Loncāđđet-sī etnon rīs gabaglī sorion
Loncāđđet-sī sorion rīs gabaglī corrinion
Loncāđđet-sī corrinion rīs gabaglī culin
Extos ne uidra-mī pari loncāđđet-sī culin
Moniōr io basiet-sī
Būe benā senā loncāđđet-io horse
Loncāđđet-sī epon rīs gabaglī cunen
Loncāđđet-sī cunen rīs gabaglī catton
Loncāđđet-sī catton rīs gabaglī etnon
Loncāđđet-sī etnon rīs gabaglī sorion
Loncāđđet-sī sorion rīs gabaglī corrinion
Loncāđđet-sī corrinion rīs gabaglī culin
Extos ne uidra-mī pari loncāđđet-sī culin
Bebaie-sī.
The Gaulish name of the rabbit is derived from the adjective drūtos meaning silly or foolish, in parallel to the rabbit's English name which is suggestive of "fool" or French "fou" (crazy).
The Gaulish noun casnī is grammatically feminine, and the adjectives' and participles' endings have to agree with the noun. It doesn't mean that Biccā Casnī Drū-Drū is necessarily female, just as the word personne in French also takes feminine qualifiers regardless of the individual's actual gender.
Little bunny Foo-Foo
Hoppin' through the forest
Scoopin' up the field mice
And boppin' 'em on the head
And the Good Fairy said
Little Casnī Foo-Foo
I don't wanna see you
Scoopin' up the magē mice
And boppin' 'em on the pennū
And if you keep doing it,
I'll turn you into a loon.
And the next day...
Little Casnī Foo-Foo
Hoppin' trē the forest
Gabiaunā the magē mice
And binaunā 'em on the pennū
And the Good Sīdobenā said
Biccā Casnī Foo-Foo
I don't uelōr see you
Gabiaunā the magē soriūs
And binaunā 'em on the pennū
And mā you keep auuedes it,
I cambīsiū you into a gaudíin.
And the next dīū...
Biccā Casnī Foo-Foo
Hoppin' trē caiton
Gabiaunā magē soriūs
Binaunā 'em uer pennū
And the Sīdobenā Dagā said
Biccā Casnī Drū-Drū
I ne uelōr uriton you
Gabiaunā magē soriūs
Binaunā eiūs pennū
Mā eti auuedes-tū so,
Cambīsiū-mī-te gaudíin.
Neđđamū dīū...
Biccā Casnī Drū-Drū
Lingaunā trē caiton
Gabiaunā magē soriūs
Binaunā eiūs pennū
Sīdobenā Dagā siāpe
Biccā Casnī Drū-Drū
Ne uelōr-mī uriton ei-io
Gabiaunā magē soriūs
Binaunā eiūs pennū
Eti cambīsset-sī casnīn gaudíin.
There's a hole in the bottom of the sea
There's a hole in the bottom of morēs
There's a hole
Eđđi hole
Eđđi cauos
Eđđi cauos
Eđđi cauos uer bottom morēs
There's a log on the cauū uer bottom morēs
Eđđi log uer cauū uer bundū morēs
Eđđi log
Eđđi log
Eđđi biliā
Eđđi biliā
Eđđi biliā uer cauū uer bundū morēs
There's a branch on the bilī uer cauū uer bundū morēs
Eđđi branch uer bilī uer cauū uer bundū morēs
Eđđi branch
Eđđi branch
Eđđi cacus
Eđđi cacus
Eđđi cacus uer bilī uer cauū uer bundū morēs
There's a twig on the cacū uer bilī uer cauū uer bundū morēs
Eđđi twig uer cacū uer bilī uer cauū uer bundū morēs
Eđđi twig
Eđđi twig
Eđđi slattā
Eđđi slattā
Eđđi slattā uer cacū uer bilī uer cauū uer bundū morēs
There's a leaf on the slattī uer cacū uer bilī uer cauū uer bundū morēs
Eđđi leaf uer slattī uer cacū uer bilī uer cauū uer bundū morēs
Eđđi leaf
Eđđi leaf
Eđđi doliā
Eđđi doliā
Eđđi doliā uer slattī uer cacū uer bilī uer cauū uer bundū morēs
There's a frog on the dolī uer slattī uer cacū uer bilī uer cauū uer bundū morēs
Eđđi frog uer dolī uer slattī uer cacū uer bilī uer cauū uer bundū morēs
Eđđi frog
Eđđi frog
Eđđi craxsantos
Eđđi craxsantos uer dolī uer slattī uer cacū uer bilī uer cauū uer bundū morēs
There's a wart on the craxsantū uer dolī uer slattī uer cacū uer bilī uer cauū uer bundū morēs
Eđđi wart uer craxsantū uer dolī uer slattī uer cacū uer bilī uer cauū uer bundū morēs
Eđđi wart
Eđđi wart
Eđđi gnobos
Eđđi gnobos
Eđđi gnobos uer craxsantū uer dolī uer slattī uer cacū uer bilī uer cauū uer bundū morēs
There's a bug on the gnobū uer craxsantū uer dolī uer slattī uer cacū uer bilī uer cauū uer bundū morēs
Eđđi bug uer gnobū uer craxsantū uer dolī uer slattī uer cacū uer bilī uer cauū uer bundū morēs
Eđđi bug
Eđđi bug
Eđđi leuos
Eđđi leuos
Eđđi leuos uer gnobū uer craxsantū
uer dolī uer slattī uer cacū uer bilī uer cauū uer bundū morēs
There's a leg on the leuū uer gnobū uer craxsantū uer dolī uer slattī uer cacū uer bilī uer cauū uer bundū morēs
Eđđi leg uer leuū uer gnobū uer craxsantū uer dolī uer slattī uer cacū uer bilī uer cauū uer bundū morēs
Eđđi leg
Eđđi leg
Eđđi coxsos
Eđđi coxsos
Eđđi coxsos uer leuū uer gnobū uer craxsantū
uer dolī uer slattī uer cacū uer bilī uer cauū uer bundū morēs
There's a hair on the coxsū uer leuū uer gnobū uer craxsantū uer dolī uer slattī uer cacū uer bilī uer cauū uer bundū morēs
Eđđi hair uer coxsū uer leuū uer gnobū uer craxsantū uer dolī uer slattī uer cacū uer bilī uer cauū uer bundū morēs
Eđđi hair
Eđđi hair
Eđđi uoltilos
Eđđi uoltilos uer coxsū uer leuū uer gnobū uer craxsantū
uer dolī uer slattī uer cacū uer bilī uer cauū uer bundū morēs
This version differs from the original in the phrasing of the word for "pluck"; while plumerai refers specifically to the plucking of feathers, Celtic languages generally use a word meaning "pull" or "draw", or a borrowing from English or Latin, to refer to plucking. So it is necessary in Gaulish to specify that the things pulled are feathers.
The meaning of gabiet (fut. gaxsiet) is closer to "take" or "hold", but there are modern cognates that point to gabiet being the correct verb. The other Gaulish word for "pull" is tenet which is more like to stretch taut. Besides, the attested uses of the imperative form gabi are certainly consistent with the meaning of "pull".
Ā alaudā, blandā alaudā
Gaxsiū-mī ton etaniías
Etaniías au pennū tou x2
Eti pennū x2
Alaudā! x2
Ā-ā-ā-ā
Ā alaudā, blandā alaudā
Gaxsiū-mī ton etaniías
Etaniías au beccū tou x2
Eti beccū x2
Eti pennū x2
Alaudā! x2
Ā-ā-ā-ā
Ā alaudā, blandā alaudā
Gaxsiū-mī ton etaniías
Etaniías au dercobin x2
Eti dercobin x2
Eti beccū x2
Eti pennū x2
Alaudā! x2
Ā-ā-ā-ā
Ā alaudā, blandā alaudā
Gaxsiū-mī ton etaniías
Etaniías au moniclū x2
Eti moniclū x2
Eti dercobin x2
Eti beccū x2
Eti pennū x2
Alaudā! x2
Ā-ā-ā-ā
Ā alaudā, blandā alaudā
Gaxsiū-mī ton etaniías
Etaniías au etanibin x2
Eti etanibin x2
Eti moniclū x2
Eti dercobin x2
Eti beccū x2
Eti pennū x2
Alaudā! x2
Ā-ā-ā-ā
Ā alaudā, blandā alaudā
Gaxsiū-mī ton etaniías
Etaniías au coxsobin x2
Eti coxsobin x2
Eti etanibin x2
Eti moniclū x2
Eti dercobin x2
Eti beccū x2
Eti pennū x2
Alaudā! x2
Ā-ā-ā-ā
Ā alaudā, blandā alaudā
Gaxsiū-mī ton etaniías
Etaniías au lostū x2
Eti lostū x2
Eti coxsobin x2
Eti etanibin x2
Eti moniclū x2
Eti dercobin x2
Eti beccū x2
Eti pennū x2
Alaudā! x2
Ā-ā-ā-ā
Ā alaudā, blandā alaudā
Gaxsiū-mī ton etaniías
Etaniías au cebnū x2
Eti cebnū x2
Eti lostū x2
Eti coxsobin x2
Eti etanibin x2
Eti moniclū x2
Eti dercobin x2
Eti beccū x2
Eti pennū x2
Alaudā! x2
Ā-ā-ā-ā
Ā alaudā, blandā alaudā
Ā alaudā, gaxsiū-mī ton etaniías
Dunniou senū būe steros
In biutūti ulatēs
Sondē sterē būe epos
In biutūti ulatēs
Eti so ririri
Eti sindon ririri
Eti sin ririri
Ollocu ririri
Dunniou senū būe steros
In biutūti ulatēs
Sondē sterē būe cū
In biutūti ulatēs
Eti so rourou
Eti sindon rourou
Eti sin rourou
Ollocu rourou
Dunniou senū būe steros
In biutūti ulatēs
Sondē sterē būe iaris
In biutūti ulatēs
Eti sā clociā
Eti sondā clociā
Eti sindā clociā
Ollocu clociā
Dunniou senū būe steros
In biutūti ulatēs
Sondē sterē būe gansos
In biutūti ulatēs
Eti so on-on
Eti sindon on-on
Eti sin on-on
Ollocu on-on
Dunniou senū būe steros
In biutūti ulatēs
Sondē sterē būe bous
In biutūti ulatēs
Eti so mū-mū
Eti sindon mū-mū
Eti sin mū-mū
Ollocu mū-mū
Dunniou senū būe steros
In biutūti ulatēs
Sondē sterē būe moccos
In biutūti ulatēs
Eti so suīx-suī
Eti sindon suīx-suī
Eti sin suīx-suī
Ollocu suīx-suī
Dunniou senū būe steros
In biutūti ulatēs
Sondē sterē būe cattos
In biutūti ulatēs
Eti so miū-miū
Eti sindon miū-miū
Eti sin miū-miū
Ollocu miū-miū
Dunniou senū būe steros
In biutūti ulatēs
Sondē sterē būe multū
In biutūti ulatēs
Eti so bēa-bēa
Eti sindon bēa-bēa
Eti sin bēa-bēa
Ollocu bēa-bēa
Dunniou senū būe steros
In biutūti ulatēs
Sondē sterē būe burdus
In biutūti ulatēs
Eti so ī-ā
Eti sindon ī-ā
Eti sin ī-ā
Ollocu ī-ā
Dunniou senū būe steros
In biutūti ulatēs
The old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be,
Ain't what she used to be, ain't what eiāto-sī,
The old gray marcā ain't io eiāto-sī,
Many years ago.
Many blēdniābi ago, many blēdniābi ago,
The old marcā lētā, ne eđđi io eiāto-sī,
Eluābi blēdniābi ago.
The old marcā lētā, she kicked on the whiffletree,
Kicked uer the whiffletree, sirt uer the whiffletree,
Marcā lētā senā, sirt-sī uer cagiobi,
Ēri eluābi blēdniābi.
Ēri elābi blēdniābi, ēri elābi blēdniābi,
Marcā lētā senā, sirt-sī uer cagiobi,
Ēri eluābi blēdniābi.
biccos meios corrinios uer beccon dubrī rext
uo cāde unnā eti leloue corrinion
sonnos monīssetor eti auuōt unnin tartin
eti biccos meios corrinios uer beccon ate rext
There's a hole in my bucket, dear Lubitiātā,
There's acamnā in my bucket.
Then mend it, dear Treborīxs,
Then dexsisiōxs it.
With what shall I mend íin, dear Lubitiātā, inte what?
inte what dexsisiaxsiū íin?
inte straw, carate Treborīxs,
inte ueltin.
The ueltā is too long, caratā Lubitiātā,
The ueltā is rocenā.
Then cut it, carate Treborīxs,
Then bebīs it.
inte what shall I cut sian, caratā Lubitiātā?
inte pidā bisiū sian?
inte a knife, carate Treborīxs,
inte scēnin.
The scēnā is ro dull, caratā Lubitiātā,
The scēnā is roladanā.
Then sharpen sian, carate Treborīxs,
Maeđid acrosiōxs sian.
inte pidā acrosiaxsiū sian, caratā Lubitiātā?
inte pidā acrosiaxsiū sian?
inte a stone, carate Treborīxs,
inte acaunon.
The acaunon is ro dry, caratā Lubitiātā,
Acaunon eđđi rotarton.
Maeđid wet id, carate Treborīxs,
Maeđid uliposiōxs id.
inte pidā uliposioxsiū id, caratā Lubitiātā?
inte pidā uliposioxsiū id?
inte water, carate Treborīxs,
inte dubron.
inte pidā shall I fetch id, caratā Lubitiātā?
inte pidā congaxsiū id?
inte a bucket, carate Treborīxs,
inte cilurnon.
This one is strictly for the grown-ups.
I present to you... a Gaulish drinking song! Its words are largely taken from actual inscriptions.
I hold the drinks of the dearest
in this cup in my hand
I hold the drinks of the dearest
in this cup in my hand
taste/enjoy whiskey, greatly sharp tasting
drink of this and you (m.) will be merry
taste/enjoy whiskey, greatly sharp tasting
drink of this and you (f.) will be merry
I hold the drinks of the dearest
in this cup in my hand
I hold the drinks of the dearest
in this cup in my hand
taste/enjoy this mead, honey-yellow and sweet
drink of this and you (m.) will be merry
taste/enjoy this mead, but don't drink too much*
drink of this and you (f.) will be merry
I hold the drinks of the dearest
in this cup in my hand
I hold the drinks of the dearest
in this cup in my hand
taste/enjoy this wine, red or white
drink of this and you (m.) will be merry
taste/enjoy this wine, red or white
drink of this and you (f.) will be merry
I hold the drinks of the dearest
in this cup in my hand
I hold the drinks of the dearest
in this cup in my hand
taste/enjoy this beer, clear-brown and bubbling
drink of this and you (pl.) will be merry
taste/enjoy this beer, clear-brown and bubbling
drink of this and you (pl.) will be merry
I hold the drinks of the dearest
in this cup in my hand
I hold the drinks of the dearest
in this cup in my hand
neđđamon delgū lindā
sosī annī in mou lamiā
neđđamon delgū lindā
sosī annī in mou lamiā
lubī onobiíin ollū ocelācin
ibe u-ciū andecāros biíes
lubī onobiíin ollū ocelācin
ibe u-ciū andecārā biíes
neđđamon delgū lindā
sosī annī in mou lamiā
neđđamon delgū lindā
sosī annī in mou lamiā
lubī sosin medu melinon meliđđon
ibe u-ciū andecāros biíes
lubī sosin medu extos ni abrū ibe
ibe u-ciū andecārā biíes
neđđamon delgū lindā
sosī annī in mou lamiā
neđđamon delgū lindā
sosī annī in mou lamiā
lubī sosin uīnon roudon ixse uindon
ibe u-ciū andecāros biíes
lubī sosin uīnon roudon ixse uindon
ibe u-ciū andecārā biíes
neđđamon delgū lindā
sosī annī in mou lamiā
neđđamon delgū lindā
sosī annī in mou lamiā
lubītes sosin curmi giluon galiaunon
ibetes u-ciū andecārī biíete
lubītes sosin curmi giluon galiaunon
ibetes u-ciū andecārī biíete
neđđamon delgū lindā
sosī annī in mou lamiā
neđđamon delgū lindā
sosī annī in mou lamiā
*medu means mead, but it can also mean drunkenness, so this is a pun: "enjoy this mead but don't drink too much" or "taste this drunkenness but don't drink too much."
When I was first learning Gaulish, I asked about possibly setting up a modern interpretation of the Coligny calendar on my website, if someone could point me in the right direction about how the ancient calendar works. What I got was a harshly worded reply to the effect that there would be dire consequences if I did anything but contact specific persons in order to use a modern copyrighted version. I promptly dropped the subject and made damn sure to never bring it up again. I do not take kindly to random people's mean spirited K.I.s, when such language is unnecessary and uncalled for. Eventually, I did end up finding the answer I was looking for in the first place, as well as a photo and a drawing of the original artifact.
There is a really nice modern version of the Coligny calendar here, but I wanted to create one that was closer in formatting to the original, including the various notations as best as can be reconstructed, even though it's not known what all of them mean. My only copyrighted sources are Wikipedia and Skribbatous, and in obedience to the terms of my sources, my calendar is available under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
The current Gaulish date is:
(please enable Javascript)
since Uercingetorixs' unification of the Gauls.
The Gaulish calendar doesn't have anything like days of the week, however it is reasonable when talking about time in the modern day to have Gaulish terms for the seven-day week. Many of the Gaulish gods and goddesses are identified with Roman and Germanic equivalents, and in the present day, Romance languages and Germanic languages name their weekdays after their respective pagan gods. In that spirit, beside existing weekday names, I propose the following Gaulish names for the days of the week in the rightmost column of the below table:
English name | Germanic deity | French name | Roman deity | Gaulish name |
---|---|---|---|---|
Monday | Máni | lundi | Luna | dīus Lugriās |
Tuesday | Týr/Tiw | mardi | Mars | dīus Aisous |
Wednesday | Woden/Odin | mercredi | Mercurius | dīus Lugous |
Thursday | Þórr | jeudi | Jupiter | dīus Taranēs |
Friday | Freyja/Frigg | vendredi | Venus | dīus Đironiās |
Saturday | (Njörđr) | samedi | Saturnus | dīus Carnonī |
Sunday | Sól/Sunna | dimanche | (Sol) | dīus Granni |
Common greetings include:
Each of the above can be followed by:
To give thanks, you can use the term brātou. If talking to one person, you can also say brāton tei, or if to more than one person, brāton umē. All of these mean "thank you" or "thanks".
The closest equivalent to "please" would be mā eđđid tou tolistos, or mā tolistos for short. This actually means "if it is your will", which parallels ways to make polite requests in related languages. However, either of these would sound overly formal or dated in all but the earliest stages of Gaulish, so it is more common to drop everything but the mā and follow it with the form of a verb that otherwise makes a command. Most of the time this is the same as the dictionary form but with the ending removed, and a final e added if necessary, e.g. mā gabi "please take" from gabiet, mā dā "please give" from dāt, mā uēde "please tell" from uēdet, mā cluie "please listen/please understand" from cluiet, mā anā "please stay" from anāt, mā tēge "please go" from tēget, negative mā ne gniíe "please don't" from gniíet.
To say goodbye/farewell, you can say po suessis, which means something like "until we meet again." If you are giving thanks, you can also combine brāton tei with slānon tei (or umē, as the case may be) before saying farewell.
Invocations to gods and goddesses close with a specific set of courtesies: slānon tei, brāton tei, molātun tei, tēgū/tēgomos in tancē, meaning "health to you, thanks to you, praise to you, I/we go in peace."
To express the desire for something, you can use the verbs cobrāiū, mendū, suantū, and uelōr more or less interchangeably. Each one can be used in the following ways:
(When using a verbal noun this way, it takes the accusative case, and the object of the desired action takes the genitive case.)
All four verbs mean "want", "wish for", or "desire", but there are shades of meaning: cobrāiū is related to meanings of longing and support; mendū may have connotations of thought, mind, and intent; suantū, depending on context and usage, can have connotations of lust - though this was much more accepted and normalized in ancient Gaulish culture than in modern times; uelōr resembles words meaning "see" and "know". Both suantū and uelōr share the same verbal noun suantos, reflecting their overall interchangeability.
Two of the verbs have the most common set of personal endings. In this system, the first and second person are straightforward:
In the third person, the endings stay the same but if a pronoun is suffixed, it reflects the gender of the one who wants something:
This is also true for the plural, however like most European languages, the masculine plural is used for mixed gender groups:
The endings for cobrāiū are similar:
In the third person, the word is cobrāt (singular) and cobrānt (plural). The pronoun suffixes are identical for all verbs.
The endings for uelōr are also different:
This word belongs to a class of verbs whose active voice uses the same endings that most verbs have for their passive voice.
Here are some examples of how to ask someone if they want something:
To say "I like [something]" there are a couple possibilities. You can say "I enjoy ___" directly, with a regular noun or a verbal noun, or you can say "___ pleases me." There's a difference in the case of the noun in these two usages, however.
Let's start with the simplest method, saying "I enjoy" with a neuter noun. Here you can simply take the word for "I enjoy" and follow it (or precede it) with the thing you enjoy, such as music (cantlon), eating (depron), or drinking (oclon):
We add the pronoun mī to the end of the verb because the verb is at the start of the sentence, and there is no subject named before it. In these examples, cantlon (music) is an ordinary noun, while depron and oclon are verbal nouns meaning "eating" and "drinking", respectively.
Remember we saw that we can use different personal endings for the words for "want". We can do the same thing with the word for "enjoy", and it has a very similar paradigm to words we've already seen. Personal endings can be used here to specify who is doing the enjoying:
...and in the plural...
When we use lubīt to say we enjoy something, the thing we're enjoying goes in the accusative case. So, using the examples of editus (walking, going for a stroll), cicos (meat), auuedenā (performing), and aduēdnis (recounting), we get:
In the last sentence, the thing liked, aduēdnis, is a verbal noun. Customarily, the object of a verbal noun goes in the genitive case, so here it is followed by the genitive plural of spetlon (story, tale). We are literally saying "I enjoy the telling of tales." Genitive plurals always end in -on and are easy to mistake for an accusative or neuter singular.
Here are more examples using other words with similar endings:
Here are a few more examples:
Now let's look at the other way to say "I like":
So far, these sentences look like almost the same grammatical structure as the lubiíū sentences we've already seen. But there is a difference. Because we are now saying something "pleases me" instead of "I enjoy", the subject and object have switched places. Consequently, all of our things we like are now going to appear in the nominative case:
This also changes how we say who is pleased by the thing. When we expressed liking by the verb lubiíū, we could say someone else is doing the enjoying by changing the verbal ending. But now, the verb is always in the third person, in the singular to match the subject noun, and the pronoun suffix changes to match the gender of the subject. Here's how to change who is being pleased by the different things:
...and in the plural...
After each verb and its suffix is the accusatives of a personal pronoun: me, you, her, him, etc.
The verbal noun for "to please" is arueron, for example uelōr-mī ton arueron, "I want to please you," which is something you might say to your boss, teacher, or parent. The pronoun ton is one of the genitive forms of tī, "you". If you say someone pleases you, then it means you like the work they do, or the effort they make, or even just that you find them helpful, pleasant, and/or fun to be around. You might say arueriāt-sī me or arueriāt-īs me of a friend, relative, or colleague.
Here are some more persons and numbers for practice:
Using forms of lubīt with a person implies romantic or sexual interest. A stronger way to express that is with suantet.
You can also express affection for a person using carāt, meaning love. This word does not distinguish between romantic, platonic, or familial love.
The double suffixed verb is just another way to say the same thing, so we can also say for example carāt-īs sian "he loves her" or arueriāt-īs-ian editus "strolling pleases her".
And because "like" has two meanings...
To say one person or thing is like another, use samalos with the dative of the compared-to entity.
There are three verbs meaning "to know", and it is important to distinguish between them.
Firstly, the verb meaning to know well in a passive sense, for example by having witnessed something:
(pad and pidā are two ways to say the same thing.)
Next, the verb meaning to know as a result of study or actively finding out:
Finally, the verb meaning to get to know:
All three verbs for "to know" have the same verbal noun uissus:
*amman means both "time" and "weather", much like temps in French.
The verb meaning "to hear" has two different conjugations, an active one and a passive one. The active conjugation means something closer to "listen", while the passive conjugation means something more like "it comes to my/your/etc ears."
The verbal nouns for these two aspects of "hear" are cloustā (passive) and clouetus (active).
Both conjugations of "to hear" also mean "to understand":
There are also verbs for "understand": peilāt (see the AI. conjugation in the verb tables), with connotations of sense and reason, tuosseget (BI. conjugation), with connotations of finding out, and tanget (BIII. conjugation) meaning more to agree or relate.
*puillā is the verbal noun of tuosseget.
The word for "go" is tēget. Here are some examples of possible destinations:
In the first two sentences we specify "to buy something" as contextual information because magos also means open plain and duron also means gate.
The verbal noun for tēget is tixtā:
The word for "to come" is monīt. This word means something more like "approach", so it can have the meanings of both "come" and "go".
The verbal noun for monīt is monītus:
The future tense of tēget is rigāset.
For practicing rigāset, here are some modes of travel:
The future tense of monīt is monīsiet.
The past tense of monīt is monīsset:
The past tense of tēget is ludet:
Here is an example conversation for practicing the different forms of these verbs, as well as the different destinations and modes of travel. You can click on the sentences one by one to hear them spoken, and then repeat after them. Don't worry too much about tone, since that is very hard to reconstruct and the computer is not good at selecting the right tones for the meanings. But this activity will develop pronunciation as well as listening comprehension.
Somewhere else, two friends are arranging a visit.
It's the next day and the guests have arrived.
Since the numerals tab contains a large amount of information all in one place, here is a simple walk-through of counting in Gaulish. First, the numbers one to ten:
The number 5 sometimes occurs as pimpe rather than pempe. The two ways to write it are fully interchangeable and seem to reflect that the pronunciation would be the same or almost the same.
Counting from eleven to nineteen is easier than in many languages, because the numbers all end in -decan:
Numbers from one to nineteen act like adjectives, and usually precede the noun unless placed after it for emphasis. The noun is then free to take on its usual case endings. Numbers one through four decline with the noun. Number one declines like an -os/ā adjective. See the Numbers tab for the declensions of two, three, and four.
French gets a lot of ribbing for saying "four twenties" (quatre vingt) to mean eighty. But that method of counting by twenties actually came from Gaulish. The Gaulish word for twenty is uicantī, which functions grammatically as a feminine noun. Thirty is uicantī decan literally twenty-ten, forty is duī uicantíī literally two twenties (notice the dual ending), fifty is duī uicantíī decan, sixty is tedres uicantiās with a plural ending, eighty is petedres uicantiās, and ninety is petedres uicantiās decan. But there's good news! The counting-by-twenties system is optional in Gaulish! Here are the "normal" versions of the numbers 20 to 90:
When using twenties to count something, the uicantī becomes the head noun, and whatever there's twenty of goes in the genitive plural.
One hundred is centon. Numbers from two hundred to nine hundred resemble twelve through nineteen, e.g. dāucanton, etc.
There isn't an attested word for thousand, but it was most likely something like mīlle, a borrowing from Latin, just like in the modern Celtic languages.
dubus | lētos | uindos | dunnos |
roudos | uebros | melinos | glastos |
bugios | gurmos | argios | canecos |
Combinations of the basic color names are possible:
Before we eat, we have to set the table.
One way to say "eat" is depret. Its verbal noun is depron. Here is a conversation for practicing by clicking the sentences to hear them spoken, and then repeating after each one:
Another less common word for "eat" is itet. Etymologically, itet is associated with grains and cereals, as well as mealtimes, but also with biting down, while depret seems to have had to do with provisions and having enough stores of food. Therefore, while we can extrapolate that itet would be used for senses of devouring or destroying, and depret for eating to survive, in reality the two are probably interchangeable for most purposes. The past tense of itet is eiode and the verbal noun is ition, which also means a meal such as lunch.
The verb for "to drink" is ibet.
The verb ibet also has an irregular verbal noun: oclon, which also means beverage. The word oclon does not distinguish between beverages with or without alcohol.
Some useful terms relating to food and drink in general include:
In particular, the noun bēton forms several compounds for types of food:
Specifically, blixtubēton refers to ingredients and standalone items like cheese, cream, etc. while uindobēton when referring to dairy products means something that has been prepared with dairy as a main ingredient.
Terms relating to cereal, grain, and baked or fried items:
Terms relating to meat and dairy, including types of meat, generally called by the same word as the source animal:
Terms relating to fruits, berries, and nuts:
Terms relating to drinks, with and without alcohol:
The term ceruesiā for "beer" is a late Gallo-Latin term, derived from the word curmi, that became the usual word for "beer" in some of the Romance languages.
Words for units of time include:
Phrases:
To be able answer the question of what time is it, we first want some vocabulary for times of day:
Phrases:
These are in the instrumental case. The word for night is noxs, a feminine irregular noun with the stem noxt-, as is its compound arenoxs. Tnd the word for dawn uāri is neuter, and the other time of day nouns are all masculine.
Some specific times:
The ancient Gauls divided the year into two more or less equal parts, summer and winter. They divided each month into two parts, with the boundary beween them known as atenouxs, meaning renewal. They divided the circadian cycle into day and night. So if the Gauls used hours, they would have found a 12 hour clock to be most natural. Since the day started at sundown (or at 6:00 p.m. local time), this would begin the first hour of night. The hours of night would count up to 12, until which time the sun would rise (or it would be 6:00 a.m.) beginning the first hour of day.
Here is a conversation to listen to and repeat after each sentence, to practice telling time:
Here is the full list of hours of the day for reference and to show the pattern they form:
Optionally, the first four hours of the daytime, from 6:00 a.m. to 9:59 a.m., can be expressed as hours "in the morning", i.e. cintā orā bāregū through petuariā orā bāregū, and the last four hours of the day, from 2:00 p.m. to 5:59 p.m., can be expressed as hours "in the afternoon", nametā orā sērū through dāudecametā orā sērū. This subdivision of the daylight hours into three equal parts is reflected in the calendar, where triple marks are thought to indicate a special importance for one or two of the the subdivisions on the days where such marks are written.
The Gaulish New Year happens in May or June as the weather is warming up. This time, called cintusamonios, literally "the first of summer", is considered the beginning of summer, and in classical times a festival was held. Festivals also marked the other changes of seasons, as well as at other times during the year. The names of the four seasons are:
The calendar divides the year into two seasons,
the Samonios season including summer and fall
and the Giamonios season including winter and spring.
The names of the months are known from the Coligny calendar, and are attested as follows:
Samonios,
Dumannios,
Riuros,
Anaganntios,
Ogronios,
Cutios,
Giamonios,
Simiuisonna,
Equos,
Elembiuos,
Aedrinios,
Cantlos.
Most of the pairs of months seem to contrast in some way;
Samonios summer and Giamonios winter;
Riuros interpreted as "fat month", implying decreased activity,
and Equos pertaining to horses, implying increased activity;
Ogronios referring to cold, probably the cooling of the weather,
vs. Aedrinios referring to fire or perhaps the weather getting warmer;
Cutios a time of invocations, perhaps solemn,
vs. Cantlos a time of chanting and song, perhaps celebratory.
The contrast between Dumannios (smoke)
and Simiuisonna (spring) is less clear,
but may have originally had to do with the birth/death cycle.
It seems very likely that Anaganntios
and Elembiuos, whose meanings are uncertain,
would probably also have contrastive senses.
Or in English:
Thirty days has Samonios,
Riuros, Cutios, and Ogronios,
Don't forget Simiuisonna and Aedrinios,
And Ciallos and Quimonios.
Equos is different every time,
The other months have twenty-nine.
Weather is equated with time in Gaulish, via the semantic linkage of "season". The word amman means time as in a while or a period of time, but can also mean season or weather. Another word for weather is sīnā. Here is some vocabulary and some phrases for describing the weather:
Notice that the adjectives đirācon and snoudiniācon are in the neuter. This is the same as the impersonal way we say in English "it's starry" or "it's cloudy", without requiring "it" to mean any specific entity. This is in contrast to nouns like reusos, tartos, and uintos whose endings reflect that they are not neuters. The -i ending on the verb is a meaningless placeholder of sorts and is not specific to any grammatical gender. The impersonal-it is also used with the following adjectives to describe temperature:
Here is a practice conversation in which two friends who live in different climates are talking on the phone about the weather they've been having:
Temperatures, in terms of comfort level, are expressed as nouns, e.g.:
*ougron is the noun that means cold; it's a neuter noun hence the -on in the nominative.
Useful phrases:
List of occupations, by category:
There are several occupation names that end in -uiros (man), unfortunately it is not known what the feminines of these words are. Here are some of them:
It is not unreasonable to neologize these terms by replacing -uiros with -donios/ā, like how in English we've replaced terms like "salesman" with the more inclusive "salesperson". There still should be some way to include non-binary identity, but for now at least we can say:
axsiōr is the future tense of tēgū. Notice also the future tense of the first person of appiset meaning "see".
Even though forms of the verb meaning "to be" usually take nominative predicates, butā is a verbal noun so the last sentence above literally says, "my son wants the being of a teacher." If we used a nominative here it would agree with mapos instead of belonging to butā and would mean that he's already a teacher and just wants to exist.
Here is a repeat-after practice conversation about studying languages:
The basic word for friend is caranđ. However, there are other words that can mean friend, neighbor, companion, or even romantic partner or spouse. Gaulish doesn't always make a platonic vs. romantic distinction, so some of the words blur this line.
There is, however, an adjective comprinnos attested in the specific context of a wedding contract, with the meaning of "joined in matrimony", so if you introduce someone as your comprinnos/ā, then you are specifically identifying them as your spouse.
Kinship terms are more clearly defined. First the terms for immediate family:
And extended family terms:
*Be careful with the case endings on these; the word order is object-verb-subject, literally "to my grandmother is illness" etc. That means the word after eđđi won't change depending on the person's gender, but the word for the sufferer will be in the dative case.