The Remains of Ancient Celtic Languages in Austria

Immediately before and after the Roman occupation of the later provinces Noricum, Pannonia and Raetia (around the time of Christ`s birth), large parts of Austria were settled by Celtic-speaking peoples. While this period of Austrian history is well documented in archaeology (the amount of excavated La Tène-material is annually growing), the linguistic analysis of the period is not so far progressed. Therefore it is the aim of the proposed work to assemble all linguistic Celtic remains of that era and to create a reference corpus for further linguistic, historical and archaeological research. The preserved language documents consist of the following types: 1. Inscriptions in Celtic languages: one certainly Celtic text from Grafenstein/Ktn., a presumed inscription from Dürrnberg/Szbg., a number of very uncertain texts in a peculiar script that are suspect of being fakes; these pieces of primary evidence of Old Celtic languages in Austria will be examined and, as far as they are authentic, they will be edited in a philologically and linguistically accurate manner; 2. Manuscript sources: one unique document of Late Gaulish ("Endlicher`s Glossary") is being kept at the Austrian National Library, MS 89 fol. 189v.; after more than a hundred years this text will be edited anew on the basis of the current status of research; 3. Placenames: several dozen Celtic placenames and other toponyms are known from antiquity, a few (e.g. Bregenz, perhaps Linz, Kamp) have survived in use until today; 4. Personal names: mainly on Roman-age funerary stones, but also on domestic instruments and similar objects many, perhaps thousands, of Celtic personal names have come down to us; in this project, the basic onomastic types will be collected and described; 5. Loanwords in modern dialects of German: although it is implausible that loanwords from the ancient Celtic languages of Austria were received directly by Germanic immigrants, a number of words have entered Austrian dialects, in particular Tyrolean dialects, via Alpine Romance languages. All of these sources will be examined and evaluated in regard to their evidential value for the amount of Celtic settlements in Austria.

Immediately before and after the Roman occupation of the later provinces Noricum, Pannonia and Raetia (around the time of Christ`s birth), large parts of Austria were settled by Celtic-speaking peoples. While this period of Austrian history is well documented in archaeology (the amount of excavated La Tène-material is annually growing), the linguistic analysis of the period is not so far progressed. Therefore it is the aim of the proposed work to assemble all linguistic Celtic remains of that era and to create a reference corpus for further linguistic, historical and archaeological research. The preserved language documents consist of the following types: 1. Inscriptions in Celtic languages: one certainly Celtic text from Grafenstein/Ktn., a presumed inscription from Dürrnberg/Szbg., a number of very uncertain texts in a peculiar script that are suspect of being fakes; these pieces of primary evidence of Old Celtic languages in Austria will be examined and, as far as they are authentic, they will be edited in a philologically and linguistically accurate manner; 2. Manuscript sources: one unique document of Late Gaulish ("Endlicher`s Glossary") is being kept at the Austrian National Library, MS 89 fol. 189v.; after more than a hundred years this text will be edited anew on the basis of the current status of research; 3. Placenames: several dozen Celtic placenames and other toponyms are known from antiquity, a few (e.g. Bregenz, perhaps Linz, Kamp) have survived in use until today; 4. Personal names: mainly on Roman-age funerary stones, but also on domestic instruments and similar objects many, perhaps thousands, of Celtic personal names have come down to us; in this project, the basic onomastic types will be collected and described; 5. Loanwords in modern dialects of German: although it is implausible that loanwords from the ancient Celtic languages of Austria were received directly by Germanic immigrants, a number of words have entered Austrian dialects, in particular Tyrolean dialects, via Alpine Romance languages. All of these sources will be examined and evaluated in regard to their evidential value for the amount of Celtic settlements in Austria.