1. The “original” inhabitants of Britain
The Celts
The “original” inhabitants of Britain

2. Who were the Celts?
The Celts were the inhabitants of Britain long, long ago.
They were there when Julius Caesar brought Roman troops to England in 55B.C.

3. Why do scholars think that the Welsh language survived the Anglo-Saxon invasion?
1. Wales (where a group of Celts fled) is separated from England by mountains, so the geographical separation helped.
2. The Bible was translated into Welsh in 1588 and we know that when a language is written down, it is more likely to survive.

4. What is Breton? How are Breton and Welsh related?
Breton is a language spoken in Brittany in France.
Welsh is the language of Wales.
The languges are so similar that speakers of one can communicate with speakers of the other.
Let’s look at a map…

5. Map of Celtic Europe
Distribution of Celtic peoples:
Yellow--core Hallstatt territory, by the 6th century BC
Dark mint--maximal Celtic expansion, by 275 BC
Grass green--the six Celtic nations which retained significant numbers of Celtic speakers into the Early Modern period
Forest green-- areas where Celtic languages remain widely spoken today

6. Don’t worry! If you don’t know European geography very well, we’ll go over some of the basics now.
Germany
Denmark
Friesland
France
Brittany
Normandy
Wales
England
Ireland (The Republic of Ireland)
Northern Ireland
Scotland

7. What is interesting about the Frisian language?
It is probably what English would sound like today if there had not been any more invasions after the Anglo-Saxons.
Here are some examples:
cow=ko dung=dong
lamb=lam rain=rein
goose=goes boat=boat