John T.
Koch s. xx–xxi
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Celtic inherited from Indo-European a system in which the first word of the sentence was invariably accented and was often followed by an unaccented word. In the evolution towards Gaelic and Brythonic, it became most common for that first word to be either a verb or a preverb. The beginning of the sentence thus became even more clearly defined because, also as an inheritance from Indo-European, verbs and preverbs were unaccented in other positions. Between Proto-Indo-European and the earliest attested Gaelic and Brythonic, the accent moved. As a result, the phonetic effects of the earlier accent became morphophonemic: phonologically stronger forms of verbs and preverbs occur in sentence-initial position in Old Irish and early Brythonic. Information about the shape and function of the clause, formerly conveyed by the accent, came to be conveyed by these morphophonemic contrasts. If the inherited primary/secondary system marking tense still survived then, this new absolute/conjunct opposition clashed with it and displaced it.
Celtic inherited from Indo-European a system in which the first word of the sentence was invariably accented and was often followed by an unaccented word. In the evolution towards Gaelic and Brythonic, it became most common for that first word to be either a verb or a preverb. The beginning of the sentence thus became even more clearly defined because, also as an inheritance from Indo-European, verbs and preverbs were unaccented in other positions. Between Proto-Indo-European and the earliest attested Gaelic and Brythonic, the accent moved. As a result, the phonetic effects of the earlier accent became morphophonemic: phonologically stronger forms of verbs and preverbs occur in sentence-initial position in Old Irish and early Brythonic. Information about the shape and function of the clause, formerly conveyed by the accent, came to be conveyed by these morphophonemic contrasts. If the inherited primary/secondary system marking tense still survived then, this new absolute/conjunct opposition clashed with it and displaced it.
L’auteur explique comme apparentés cette formule irlandaise et le serment gallois tynghaf tynghet it, ainsi que leurs variantes et le Gaulois toncnaman toncsiiontio (Chamalières). Ces expressions viennent d’une déformation tabouistique du Celtique Commun, à partir de *tongū (do) Lugue lugjom, où il fallait éviter de nommer à la fois le nom du dieu du serment et le nom commun presque homophone. Le Celtique commun *tonketo- “destinée (jurée)” (> virl. tocad, moy.gall. tynghet) a été formé comme un mot désacralisé pour remplacer *lugjom (> virl. luge, moy. gall. llw “serment”), ce qui s’est produit dans le contexte du mythe et du culte de la divinité principale, Lugus.
[EN] This Irish formula and the Welsh oath tyghaf tyghet, together with their variants and the Gaulish toncnaman toncsiiontio (Chamalières), are explained as cognate inheritances. These arise from a Common Celtic tabu deformation of *tongū (do) Lugue lugjom “I swear an oath to Lugus”, in which both the name of the oath-god and the nearly homophonous common noun had to be avoided. Common Celtic *tonketo-“(sworn) destiny” (> OIr. tocad, MW tynghet) is derived as a noa word for *lugjom (> OIr. luge, MW llw “oath”), which arose in the context of the myth and cult of the chief deity Lugus.
L’auteur explique comme apparentés cette formule irlandaise et le serment gallois tynghaf tynghet it, ainsi que leurs variantes et le Gaulois toncnaman toncsiiontio (Chamalières). Ces expressions viennent d’une déformation tabouistique du Celtique Commun, à partir de *tongū (do) Lugue lugjom, où il fallait éviter de nommer à la fois le nom du dieu du serment et le nom commun presque homophone. Le Celtique commun *tonketo- “destinée (jurée)” (> virl. tocad, moy.gall. tynghet) a été formé comme un mot désacralisé pour remplacer *lugjom (> virl. luge, moy. gall. llw “serment”), ce qui s’est produit dans le contexte du mythe et du culte de la divinité principale, Lugus.
[EN] This Irish formula and the Welsh oath tyghaf tyghet, together with their variants and the Gaulish toncnaman toncsiiontio (Chamalières), are explained as cognate inheritances. These arise from a Common Celtic tabu deformation of *tongū (do) Lugue lugjom “I swear an oath to Lugus”, in which both the name of the oath-god and the nearly homophonous common noun had to be avoided. Common Celtic *tonketo-“(sworn) destiny” (> OIr. tocad, MW tynghet) is derived as a noa word for *lugjom (> OIr. luge, MW llw “oath”), which arose in the context of the myth and cult of the chief deity Lugus.
Contributions to edited collections or authored works
Recent chemical and isotopic sourcing of copper alloys, mostly from Scandinavia but some also from Britain (Ling et al. 2013; 2014; Melheim et al. 2018; Radivojević et al. 2018), point to a production–distribution–consumption system that connected the South with the North along the Atlantic façade during the period 1400/1300 to 700 BC. Up to now, Scandinavia has not been directly related to the Atlantic Bronze Age of this time. Parallel to these discoveries, aDNA evidence has revealed a bidirectional north–south genetic flow at nearly the same time, 1300 to 800 BC, as early European farmer (EEF) ancestry rose in southern Britain and fell in the Iberian Peninsula, accompanied there by a converse rise in steppe ancestry (Patterson et al. 2021). It appears, therefore, that people as well as metals were on the move during a period of intensified contacts across Europe’s westernmost lands in the Middle and Late Bronze Age. Thus, there arose a network comparable to that established earlier in connection with the Beaker phenomenon, one coinciding with a comparably significant transformation of the region’s populations (Olalde et al. 2018; Koch & Fernández 2019).
Recent chemical and isotopic sourcing of copper alloys, mostly from Scandinavia but some also from Britain (Ling et al. 2013; 2014; Melheim et al. 2018; Radivojević et al. 2018), point to a production–distribution–consumption system that connected the South with the North along the Atlantic façade during the period 1400/1300 to 700 BC. Up to now, Scandinavia has not been directly related to the Atlantic Bronze Age of this time. Parallel to these discoveries, aDNA evidence has revealed a bidirectional north–south genetic flow at nearly the same time, 1300 to 800 BC, as early European farmer (EEF) ancestry rose in southern Britain and fell in the Iberian Peninsula, accompanied there by a converse rise in steppe ancestry (Patterson et al. 2021). It appears, therefore, that people as well as metals were on the move during a period of intensified contacts across Europe’s westernmost lands in the Middle and Late Bronze Age. Thus, there arose a network comparable to that established earlier in connection with the Beaker phenomenon, one coinciding with a comparably significant transformation of the region’s populations (Olalde et al. 2018; Koch & Fernández 2019).
