Editing Cumbria (section)

===Celtic===
* Cumbria was mostly Celtic speaking until the Viking invasion, if not later (Cymry)<ref name="wales">{{Cite book|title=Northern English|url=https://archive.org/details/northernenglishs00wale_327|url-access=limited|last=Wales|first=Katie|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2006|location=Cambridge|pages=[https://archive.org/details/northernenglishs00wale_327/page/n80 62]|isbn=9780521861076}}</ref>
* English spoken in parts of Cumbria; relatively sparsely populated until 12th/13th centuries<ref>{{Cite book|title=A History of English|last=Strang|first=Barbara M, H|publisher=Methuen|year=1970|location=London|pages=256}}</ref> 
* The invading Angles and Saxons forced the indigenous Celtic peoples back to the western highlands of Cumbria, Wales and Cornwall, with little linguistic consequence, apart from a residual scattering of place-names.
* Northwest – possibility of direct influence from Irish Gaelic across Irish Sea via Whitehaven until 10th century<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Routes of English|last=Elmes|first=Simon|publisher=BBC|year=1999|location=London|pages=27}}</ref>
* Celtic influence/kingdoms may have confirmed perception of difference between the north–south{{clarify|date=June 2021}}<ref name="wales" />
* Linguistic interaction between Celts and English underrated: effectively Celtic influence marked the beginnings of a linguistic divide between English and other West Germanic dialects.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tristram|first=Hildegard|year=2000|title=Introduction: languages in contact; layer cake model or otherwise?|journal=The Celtic Languages|volume=2|pages=1–8}}</ref>
* [[Lexis (linguistics)|Lexis]] – Celtic influence left specifically on the sound pattern of sheep-scoring numerals of Cumbrian and West Yorkshire<ref name="wales" />
* Loss of inflections may be explained by contact with Celtic tribes and inter-marriage.<ref name="wales" />