508045 - CELTIC LINGUISTICS

courses

ID:

508045

Duration (hours):

48

CFU:

SSD:

GLOTTOLOGIA E LINGUISTICA

Year:

2025

Date/time interval

Secondo Semestre (23/02/2026 - 22/05/2026)

Course Objectives

The course grants the basics for the study of ancient, medieval and modern Celtic languages. Some internal and external comparison between the Celtic languages will be done in a historical vein reading and analysing some brief texts in ancient and medieval Celtic languages, so that students will be able to distinguish main branches and languages. Old Irish structures will be the focus of the course and will be dealt with in more detail.
At the end of the course students will be able to sketch genetic relationships between the Celtic languages, to describe typological features of the Insular Celtic languages, in particular those which make them unparallelled among Indo-European languages, to analyse the morphosyntactic structures of the texts read and to spot the presence of initial mutations, their spelling and function.
Students will also be aware of the main bibliographical and web sources for the study of Old Irish and will be able to use the Dictionary of the Irish language online (www.dil.ie).

Course Prerequisites

Students are expected to have basic knowledge of general linguistics (phonology, morphology, syntax) and rudiments of comparative Indo-European linguistics. THEY ARE ALSO EXPECTED TO BE ABLE TO READ THE LECTURE NOTES IN ITALIAN.

Teaching Methods

Lecture hours and guided translation exercises (48 hours). Recordings of past years lessons will be made accessible on request to students who cannot attend, according to the Senate's guidelines. Students who cannot attend are kindly requested to contact the teacher by e-mail as soon as possible in order the be helped in their study for the examination.

Assessment Methods

Written task and oral examination. The written task consists in glossing a few Old Irish sentences according to the Leipzig Glossing rules. It must be handed over to the teacher at least one week before the oral examination. In the oral examination, candidates should be able to discuss at least one descriptive-theoretical topic and to translate and analyse from a linguistic point of view some brief text portions chosen among the ones dealt with during the lessons. The glossing task will preferably be accomplished in English. Oral examinations may be in Italian or English according to the student's wish. The vote is out of 30, with possible honours, and the minimum score to pass is 18/30.

Texts

1) Lecture Notes "Le lingue celtiche". The Notes will be provided at the beginning of the course on the website Kiro, https://elearning.unipv.it/course/view.php?id=1017, and will contain texts portions at least from the sources listed below:
W. Stokes & J. Strachan, Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus. II vols., Cambridge 1901-03 [repr. Dublin, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies].
G. Murphy, Early Irish Lyrics. Oxford University Press 1956 [paperback reprint, Dublin, Four Courts Press 1998].
W. Stokes, Félire Óengusso Céli Dé. The Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee. London, Henry Bradshaw Society 1905 [repr. Dublin, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies 1984].
T. Charles-Edwards & F. Kelly, Bechbretha. An Old Irish Law-tract on bee-keeping. Dublin, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies 1983.
K. Meyer, The Triads of Ireland, London, Hodges Figgis 1906 (online edition, CELT 2008, http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T103006/index.html).
R. Thurneysen, Scéla Mucce Meic Dathó. Dublin, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies 1935 (online edition CELT 2001, 2010, http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G301016/index.html).
C. O'Rahilly, Táin Bó Cúailnge from the Book of Leinster. Dublin, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies 1967.
Táin Bó Froích, Old Irish text, with Introduction, Translation, Commentary and Glossary critically edited by Wolfgang Meid. Innsbruck, Innsbrucker Beiträge zur Kulturwissenschaft 2015.
I. Williams, Pedeir Keinc y Mabinogi, Cardiff, Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru 1930 (online edition, Titus 2005, http://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/texte/etcs/celt/mcymr/pkm/pkm.htm).

2) B. Bauer, R. Hofman & P. Moran, St Gall Priscian Glosses, version 2.0 (2017) (www.stgallpriscian.ie)

3) Reference grammars and grammar sketches
R. Thurneysen, A Grammar of Old Irish. Translated from the German by D. A. Binchy and O. Bergin. Dublin, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies 1946.
D. Stifter, Sengoídelc. Old Irish for Beginners. Syracuse University Press 2006.
J. Strachan & O. Bergin, Old-Irish paradigms and selections from the Old Irish glosses. Dublin, Royal Irish Academy 1949.
D. Willis, "Old and Middle Welsh", in M. J. Ball/ N. Müller (eds.), The Celtic Languages. London, Routledge 2009: 117-160.

Students who cannot attend lessons should translate some text portions on their own and are therefore requested to contact the lecturer (also by e-mail).

Introduction to Ancient and Modern Celtic languages In the first part of the course the genetic relationships between all attested Celtic languages, both ancient and modern, still spoken and extinct, will be dealt with, dwelling on extant documents and historical phases. Particular attention will be paid to the relationship between Continental and Insular Celtic languages. A few Continental Celtic texts will be read. A basic description of the morphophonology and morphosyntax of Old Irish will then allow to read and translate some specimens of Early Irish texts (glosses, poems, homilies, proverbs, tales). The choice of texts will also depend on contingency, although this year's guided translation exercises will focus on legal texts. Part of the translation will be done by students both as classwork and as homework, using the Dictionary of the Irish Language online (www.dil.ie). If time permits, a brief portion of a Middle Welsh prose text will also be commented upon.