READTNG (2): The Celtic languages are a group of languages of northern Europe that are descendents of the Indo-European family of languages. These languages developed from the language of the Celts, a warlike civilization originating in the eastern part of central Europe, in the northern Alps, and along the Danube during the Bronze Age. The Celts reached the height of their civilization during the lron Age, the last five centuries 8.C., ahd then fannedbufrom their original homeland into many parts of continental Europe during Pre-Roman and Roman times. Place names of Celtic origin can be found today all over the British lsles and France, in northern Spain and ltaly, and in Switzerland and parts of Germany. Rather than one language, the Celtic languages consist of two distinct clusters: the Gaelic 4roup and the Brythonic group. These two clusters of languages most likely developed from dialects of tFE6-me-language, the language of the Celts in their original homeland. These two dialects were most likely mutually intelligible to some degree as late as the fourth century. The Gaelic aroup of Celtic languages consists of lrish, Scottish, and manx, the language of the lsle of Man. The Brythonic group of Celtic languages includes Welsh, Cornish, Breton, and Gaulish, the language of Gaul prior to the days of the Roman Empire, with its Latin-speaking population. - Many, though not all, of the Celtic languages are either extinct or are in the process of becoming extinct, the former in the nineteenth century and the latter just a few decades ago, but both are being revived and are now taught in a few schools each. Scottish, lrish, and Breton are all declining in use. There are under a hundred thousand speakers of Scottish Gaelic, mostly on the northern Hebridean lslands; there are more than a hundred thousand speakers of lrish, mainly in the western counties of lreland; there are about a half million speakers who use Breton on a daily basis. ln all these situations, though, the rate of transmission to new generations is low, and this does not bode well tor the survival of these languages. Of all the Celtic languages, perhaps only Welsh has a strong hold on the future

Then try StudyFetch, the AI-powered platform that can answer your questions and teach you more about it!