Re: Germanic and Celtic (was Re: Verb-second ... verb-penultimate languages?)

Jörg Rhiemeier wrote:
[snip]

> What do you mean by "they"?  If you mean Continental Celtic, it is generally
> accepted that they are the closest kin of Insular Celtic; I don't know why
> Ray always puts "Celtic" in quotes.
Not always, but often   :)

I know this is controversial, and there was a thread about this some
time back so I do not want to stir things up, but only to answer Jörg's
query.

None of the ancient authors ever refers to any of the inhabitants of
Britain & Ireland as Celts. Indeed, no one referred to anyone in these
islands as Celtic until the 18th century. Since then, however, the term
has acquired overlays of all sorts mythic and political connotations
that are unwarranted, so some of us are not entirely comfortable with
this blanket term.

See:
http://www.le.ac.uk/ar/stj/celtindex.html

--
Ray
==================================
ray@carolandray.plus.com
http://www.carolandray.plus.com
==================================
Anything is possible in the fabulous Celtic twilight,
which is not so much a twilight of the gods
as of the reason."      [JRRT, "English and Welsh" ]

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