Cisalpine Gaulish

Cisalpine Gaulish
Spoken in	Cisalpine Gaul
Extinct	ca. 1st century BC?
Language family	Indo-European Celtic Continental Celtic Cisalpine Gaulish
Language codes
ISO 639-3	xcg

The Celtic Cisalpine Gaulish inscriptions are frequently combined with the Lepontic inscriptions under the term Celtic language remains in northern Italy. While it is possible that the Lepontians were autochthonous to northern Italy since the end of the 2nd millennium BC, it is well-known that the Gauls invaded the regions north of the river Po in several waves since the 5th century BC. They apparently took over the art of writing from the Lepontians, including some of the orthographic peculiarities. There are only about half a dozen Cisalpine Gaulish inscriptions, three of which are 'longer' than just one or two words. The inscriptions stem largely from the area south of the Lepontians. The bilingual inscription from Todi in Umbria is an exception and must be due to an exilant.^[1][2]

Transalpine Gaulish refers to the Celtic Gaulish language on the other side of the Alps (from Rome).

Lepontic compared to Cisalpine Gaulish

Common features (not in Transalpine Gaulish)

1. *nd > nn: *ande- > -ane-, *and(e)-are- > an-are-, ?*and-o-kom- > ano-Ko-

2. *NT > ^NT: *kom-bog(i)os > -Ko-PoKios, Quintus → KuiTos, *arganto- > arKaTo-, *longam > loKan

3. *χs > s(s): *egs- > *eχs > es in es-aneKoti, es-oPnos^[2]

Differences between Cisalpine Gaulish and Lepontic

1. *-m# > -n#: TeuoχTonion, loKan vs. Lep. Pruiam, Palam, uinom naśom (but also Cisalpine-Gaulish PoiKam, aTom [or: atoś?])

2. word formation: ending of 3. sg./pl. preterite in -u, cp. karnitu(s) (Gaulish karnitou), vs. Lepontic KariTe, KaliTe

3. patronymics in -ikno/a- vs. Lep. -alo-, -ala-, -al (but also mixed in Late (?) Lepontic)^[2]

See also

• Lepontic language
• Gaulish language
• Continental Celtic languages
• Ancient peoples of Italy
• Cisalpine Gaul
• Cisalpine Celtic

References

1. ^ Kruta, Venceslas (1991). The Celts. Thames and Hudson. pp. 52–56. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Stifter, David (2008). Old Celtic Languages. pp. 24–37. http://www.univie.ac.at/indogermanistik/download/Stifter/oldcelt2008_2_lepontic.pdf.