Editing Brittonic languages (section)

===Brittonicisms in English===
{{main|Brittonicisms in English}}
{{Further|List of English words of Brittonic origin}}
Some, including [[J. R. R. Tolkien]], have argued that Celtic has acted as a substrate to English for both the lexicon and syntax. It is generally accepted that Brittonic effects on English are lexically few, aside from toponyms, consisting of a small number of domestic and geographical words, which "may" include ''bin'', ''brock'', ''carr'', ''comb'', ''crag'' and ''tor''.<ref name="Coates, Richard 2007 pp. 172">{{cite book |last=Coates |first=Richard |contribution=Invisible Britons: The view from linguistics |editor-last=Higham |editor-first=Nick |title=Britons in Anglo-Saxon England |series="Publications of the Manchester Centre for Anglo-Saxon Studies" series |volume=7 |location=Woodbridge, Suffolk |publisher=[[Boydell & Brewer]] |date=2007 |pages=172–191 |url= https://www.sussex.ac.uk/webteam/gateway/file.php?name=rc-britons.pdf&site=1 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160314053126/https://www.sussex.ac.uk/webteam/gateway/file.php?name=rc-britons.pdf&site=1 |archive-date=14 March 2016 |via=[[University of Sussex]]}} URL is to a 2004 prepress version.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Kastovsky |first=Dieter |contribution=Semantics and Vocabulary |title=The Cambridge History of the English Language |volume=1: The Beginnings to 1066 |editor-first=Richard M. |editor-last=Hogg |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |date=1992 |pages=318–319}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Miller |first=D. Gary |title=External Influences on English: From Its Beginnings to the Renaissance |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |date=2012 |pages=19–20}}</ref> Another legacy may be the sheep-counting system ''[[yan tan tethera]]'' in the north, in the traditionally Celtic areas of England such as [[Cumbria]]. Several words of Cornish origin are still in use in English as mining-related terms, including [[costean]], [[gunnies]], and [[vug]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Dictionary of Mining, Mineral, and Related Terms |publisher=[[American Geological Institute]] / [[US Bureau of Mines]] |pages=128, 249, 613}}</ref>

Those who argue against the theory of a more significant Brittonic influence than is widely accepted point out that many toponyms have no semantic continuation from the Brittonic language. A notable example is ''Avon'' which comes from the Celtic term for river {{lang|cel|abona}}<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=Avon&searchmode=none |title=Online Etymology Dictionary |publisher=Etymonline.com |access-date=7 July 2013}}</ref> or the Welsh term for river, {{lang|cy|afon}}, but was used by the English as a personal name.<ref name="Coates, Richard 2007 pp. 172" /> Likewise the [[River Ouse, Yorkshire]], contains the Celtic word {{lang|cel|usa}} which merely means 'water'<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Room |editor-first=A. |date=1992 |title=Brewer's Dictionary of Names |location=Oxford |publisher=Helicon |pages=396–397}}</ref> and the name of the river Trent simply comes from the Welsh word for a 'trespasser' (figuratively suggesting 'overflowing river').<ref name="ecec">{{cite book |last=Hickey |first=Raymond |contribution=Early Contact and Parallels Between English and Celtic |title=Vienna English Working Papers}}</ref>

Scholars supporting a Brittonic substrate in English argue that the use of [[periphrastic]] constructions (using [[auxiliary verb]]s such as ''do'' and ''be'' in the continuous/progressive) of the English [[verb]], which is more widespread than in the other [[Germanic languages]], is traceable to Brittonic influence.<ref name="White">{{cite book |last=White |first=David L. |chapter=On the Areal Pattern of 'Brittonicity' in English and Its Implications |chapter-url= http://opus.kobv.de/ubp/volltexte/2010/4090/pdf/CelticEnglishesIV.pdf |title=The Celtic Englishes |volume=IV: The Interface Between English and the Celtic Languages |date=2010 |editor-first=Hildegard |editor-last=Tristram |publisher=[[University of Potsdam]] Press}}.</ref><ref name="Digloss">{{cite journal |last=Tristram |first=Hildegard |date=2004 |url= http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Diglossia+in+Anglo-Saxon+England,+or+what+was+spoken+Old+English+like%3F-a0125953281 |title=Diglossia in Anglo-Saxon England, or what was spoken Old English like? |journal=Studia Anglica Posnaniensia |volume=40 |pages=87–110}}</ref> Others, however, find this unlikely since many of these forms are only attested in the later Middle English period; these scholars claim a native English development rather than Celtic influence.<ref>{{cite book |last=Insley |first=John |contribution=Britons and Anglo-Saxons |title=Kulturelle Integration und Personnenamen in Mittelalter |publisher=[[De Gruyter]] |date=2018}}</ref> Ian G. Roberts postulates Northern Germanic influence, despite such constructions not existing in Norse.<ref name="roberts">{{cite book |last=Roberts |first=Ian G. |title=Verbs and Diachronic Syntax: A Comparative History of English and French |volume=28 |series=NATO ASI Series C, Mathematical and Physical Science: Studies in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory}}</ref> Literary Welsh has the simple present {{lang|cy|Caraf}} = 'I love' and the present stative (al. continuous/progressive) {{lang|cy|Yr wyf yn caru}} = 'I am loving', where the Brittonic syntax is partly mirrored in English. (However, English ''I am loving'' comes from older ''I am a-loving'', from still older {{lang|enm|ich am on luvende}} 'I am in the process of loving'). In the Germanic sister languages of English, there is only one form, for example {{lang|de|Ich liebe}} in German, though in ''colloquial'' usage in some German dialects, a progressive aspect form has evolved which is formally similar to those found in Celtic languages, and somewhat less similar to the Modern English form, e.g. 'I am working' is {{lang|de|Ich bin am Arbeiten}}, literally: 'I am on the working'. The same structure is also found in modern Dutch ({{lang|nl|Ik ben aan het werk}}), alongside other structures (e.g. {{lang|nl|Ik zit te werken}}, lit. 'I sit to working'). These parallel developments suggest that the English progressive is not necessarily due to Celtic influence; moreover, the native English development of the structure can be traced over 1000 years and more of English literature.

Some researchers (Filppula, et al., 2001) argue that other elements of English syntax reflect Brittonic influences.<ref name="ecec" /><ref name="Gelderen">{{cite book |last=van Gelderen |first=Elly |title=A History of the English Language}}</ref>{{full citation needed|date=July 2024|reason=At bare minimum, needs page number(s) and publication year.}} For instance, in English [[tag question]]s, the form of the tag depends on the verb form in the main statement (''aren't I?'', ''isn't he?'', ''won't we?'', etc.). The German {{lang|de|nicht wahr?}} and the French {{lang|fr|n'est-ce pas?}}, by contrast, are fixed forms which can be used with almost any main statement. It has been claimed that the English system has been borrowed from Brittonic, since Welsh tag questions vary in almost exactly the same way.<ref name="ecec" /><ref name="Gelderen" />