Editing Pictish language

{{Short description|Extinct language spoken by the Picts}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Pictish
| region           = [[Scotland]], north of the [[Firth of Forth|Forth]]-[[Firth of Clyde|Clyde]] line
| ethnicity        = [[Picts]]
| era              = {{circa|4th}} to 10th century, extinct by {{circa|1100 AD}}
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam1             = [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]
| fam2             = [[Celtic languages|Celtic]]
| fam3             = [[Insular Celtic]]
| fam4             = [[Brittonic languages|Brittonic]]
| script           = Some scattered instances of [[Ogham]] script<br />
Some possible instances of [[Latin]] script<ref name="xpi19" />
| iso3             = xpi
| linglist         = xpi
| glotto           = pict1238
| glottorefname    = Pictish
| extinct          = by {{circa|1100 AD}}
}}

'''Pictish''' is an [[extinct language|extinct]] [[Brittonic languages|Brittonic Celtic]] language spoken by the [[Picts]], the people of eastern and northern [[Scotland]] from [[late antiquity]] to the [[Early Middle Ages]]. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of [[toponymy|geographical]] and [[anthroponymy|personal names]] found on monuments and early medieval records in the area controlled by the [[Picts#Kings and kingdoms|kingdoms of the Picts]]. Such evidence, however, shows the language to be an [[Insular Celtic language]] – probably a variant of the [[Common Brittonic|Brittonic language]] once spoken in most of Great Britain.<ref name="cpns">{{cite book |last1=Watson |first1=W. J. |last2=Taylor |first2=Simon |title=The Celtic Place-names of Scotland |date=2011 |publisher=Birlinn |isbn=9781906566357}}</ref>

The prevailing view in the second half of the 20th century was that Pictish was a non-[[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] [[language isolate]], or that a non-Indo-European Pictish and Brittonic Pictish language coexisted.

Pictish was replaced by – or subsumed into – [[Middle Irish|Gaelic]] in the latter centuries of the Pictish period. During the reign of [[Donald II of Scotland]] (889–900), outsiders began to refer to the region as the [[kingdom of Alba]] rather than the [[kingdom of the Picts]]. However, the Pictish language did not disappear suddenly. A process of [[Gaelicisation]] (which may have begun generations earlier) was clearly under way during the reigns of Donald II and his successors. By a certain point, probably during the 11th century, all the inhabitants of Alba had become fully Gaelicised Scots, and the Pictish identity was forgotten.<ref>{{harvnb|Broun|1997}}; {{harvnb|Broun|2001}}; {{harvnb|Forsyth|2005|pp=28–32}}; {{harvnb|Woolf|2001}}; cf. {{harvnb|Bannerman|1999}}, {{lang|la|passim}}, representing the "traditional" view.</ref>

==Language classification==
[[File:Columba at Bridei's fort.jpg|thumb|Picture by [[Joseph Ratcliffe Skelton]] (1865–1927) depicting [[Columba]] preaching to [[Bridei I of the Picts|Bridei]], king of [[Fortriu]] in 565]]
The existence of a distinct Pictish language during the Early Middle Ages is attested clearly in [[Bede]]'s early eighth-century ''[[Ecclesiastical History of the English People]]'', which names Pictish as a language distinct from those spoken by the [[Celtic Britons|Britons]], the [[Gaels|Irish]], and the [[Anglo-Saxons|English]].<ref name="Bede">{{harvnb|Bede|1910|loc=HE I.1}}; references to Pictish also at several other points in that text.</ref> Bede states that [[Columba]], a [[Gaels|Gael]], used an interpreter during his mission to the Picts. A number of competing theories have been advanced regarding the nature of the Pictish language: 
* Pictish was an [[insular Celtic language]] allied to the [[P-Celtic]] language [[Common Brittonic|Brittonic]] (descendants [[Welsh language|Welsh]], [[Cornish language|Cornish]], [[Cumbric]], and [[Breton language|Breton]]). 
* Pictish was an insular Celtic language allied to the [[Q-Celtic]] (Goidelic) languages ([[Irish language|Irish]], [[Scottish Gaelic]], and [[Manx language|Manx]]). 
* Pictish was one of the [[Pre-Indo-European languages]], a relic of the [[Bronze Age]].

Most modern scholars agree that the ancestor of the Pictish language, spoken at the time of the [[Roman conquest of Britain|Roman conquest]], was a branch of the Brittonic language, while a few scholars accept that it was merely "related" to the Brittonic language.{{sfn|Forsyth|2006|p=1447}}{{sfn|Forsyth|1997}}{{sfn|Fraser|2009|pp=52–53}} [[Thomas Charles-Edwards]] argues that there was a common language in north Briton in the early Roman period, and that the Pictish language developed as a consequence of the emergence of the Pictish confederation in the late third century.{{sfn|Charles-Edwards|2013|p=34}} Pictish came under increasing influence from the Goidelic language spoken in [[Dál Riata]] from the eighth century until its eventual replacement.{{sfn|Forsyth|2006|p=1447}}{{sfn|Woolf|2007|pages=322–340}}{{sfn|Forsyth|1997}}{{sfn|Fraser|2009|pp=52–53}}

Pictish is thought to have influenced the development of modern Scottish Gaelic. This is perhaps most obvious in the contribution of loan words, but, more importantly, Pictish is thought to have influenced the [[syntax]] of Scottish Gaelic, which is more similar to Brittonic languages than to Irish.{{sfn|Forsyth|2006|p=1447}}{{sfn|Woolf|2007|pages=322–340}}<ref>{{harvnb|Greene|1966}}; {{harvnb|Greene|1994}}.</ref>

Some commentators have noted that, in light of the disparate nature of the surviving evidence and large geographical area in which it was spoken, that Pictish may have represented not a single language, but rather a number of discrete Brittonic varieties.<ref name="millar23">{{cite book |last1=McColl Millar |first1=Robert |title=A History of the Scots Language |date=2023 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=9780192609458 |pages=32, 33 }}</ref><ref name="UGlas" />
===Position within Celtic===
The evidence of [[toponymy|place names]] and [[Anthroponymy|personal names]] demonstrates that an insular Celtic language related to the more southerly Brittonic languages was formerly spoken in the Pictish area.<ref>{{harvnb|Watson|1926}}; {{harvnb|Jackson|1955}}; {{harvnb|Koch|1983}}; {{harvnb|Smyth|1984}}; {{harvnb|Forsyth|1997}}; {{harvnb|Price|2000}}; {{harvnb|Forsyth|2006}}; {{harvnb|Woolf|2007}}; {{harvnb|Fraser|2009}}.</ref> The view of Pictish as a P-Celtic language was first proposed in 1582 by [[George Buchanan (humanist)|George Buchanan]], who aligned the language with [[Gaulish language|Gaulish]].<ref>All other research into Pictish has been described as a postscript to Buchanan's work. This view may be something of an oversimplification: {{harvnb|Forsyth|1997}} offers a short account of the debate; {{harvnb|Cowan|2000}} may be helpful for a broader view.</ref> A compatible view was advanced by antiquarian [[George Chalmers (antiquarian)|George Chalmers]] in the early 19th century. Chalmers considered that Pictish and [[Common Brittonic|Brittonic]] were one and the same, basing his argument on P-Celtic orthography in the [[List of kings of the Picts|Pictish king lists]] and in place names predominant in historically Pictish areas.{{sfn|Chalmers|1807|pp=198–224}}

Although demonstrably Celtic-speaking, the exact linguistic affinity of the Roman-era predecessors to the Picts is difficult to securely establish. The personal name ''Vepogeni'', recorded c. 230 AD, implies that P-Celtic was spoken by at least the [[Caledonians]].<ref name="UGlas">{{cite thesis|last1=Rhys |first1=Guto|title=Approaching the Pictish language: historiography, early evidence and the question of Pritenic|degree=PhD |url=http://theses.gla.ac.uk/6285/7/2015RhysPhD.pdf |publisher=University of Glasgow|date=2015}}</ref>

[[File:Calgacus.JPG|left|thumb|Personal names of Roman-era chieftains from the Pictish area, including [[Calgacus]] (above) have a Celtic origin.<ref>Calgacus ('swordsman') was recorded by [[Tacitus]] in his [[Agricola (book)|''Agricola'']]. Another example is ''Argentocoxus'' ('steel leg'), recorded by [[Cassius Dio]]. See {{harvnb|Forsyth|2006}}.</ref>]]
Celtic scholar [[Whitley Stokes (scholar)|Whitley Stokes]], in a philological study of the [[Irish annals]], concluded that Pictish was closely related to Welsh.{{sfn|Stokes|1890|p=392}} This conclusion was supported by philologist [[Alexander MacBain]]'s analysis of the place and tribe names in Ptolemy's second-century ''[[Geographia]]''.{{sfn|MacBain|1892}} Toponymist [[William J. Watson|William Watson's]] exhaustive review of Scottish place names demonstrated convincingly the existence of a dominant P-Celtic language in historically Pictish areas, concluding that the Pictish language was a northern extension of British and that Gaelic was a later introduction from Ireland.{{sfn|Watson|1926}}

[[William Forbes Skene]] argued in 1837 that Pictish was a Goidelic language, the ancestor of modern [[Scottish Gaelic]].{{sfn|Skene|1837|pp=67–87}}{{sfn|Fraser|1923}} He suggested that Columba's use of an interpreter reflected his preaching to the Picts in [[Latin]], rather than any difference between the Irish and Pictish languages.{{sfn|Skene|1837|pp=71–72}} This view, involving independent settlement of Ireland and Scotland by Goidelic people, obviated an Irish influence in the development of Gaelic Scotland and enjoyed wide popular acceptance in 19th-century Scotland.{{sfn|Jackson|1955|p=131}}{{sfn|Forsyth|1997|p=6}}

Skene later revised his view of Pictish, noting that it appeared to share elements of both Goidelic and Brittonic:
{{blockquote|It has been too much narrowed by the assumption that, if it is shewn to be a Celtic dialect, it must of necessity be absolutely identic in all its features either with Welsh or with Gaelic. But this necessity does not really exist; and the result I come to is, that it is not Welsh, neither is it Gaelic; but it is a Gaelic dialect partaking largely of Welsh forms.{{sfn|Skene|1868|pages=95–96}}}} The Picts were under increasing political, social, and linguistic influence from Dál Riata from around the eighth century. The Picts were steadily [[gaelicised]] through the latter centuries of the Pictish kingdom, and by the time of the merging of the Pictish and Dál Riatan kingdoms, the Picts were essentially a Gaelic-speaking people.{{sfn|Forsyth|2006|p=1447}} [[Katherine Forsyth|Forsyth]] speculates that a period of bilingualism may have outlasted the Pictish kingdom in peripheral areas by several generations.{{sfn|Forsyth|1995a}} [[Scottish Gaelic]], unlike [[Irish language|Irish]], maintains a substantial corpus of Brittonic loan-words and, moreover, uses a verbal system modelled on the same pattern as [[Welsh language|Welsh]].{{sfn|Greene|1966|p=135}}

The traditional Q-Celtic vs P-Celtic model, involving separate migrations of P-Celtic and Q-Celtic speaking settlers into the British Isles, is one of mutual unintelligibility, with the Irish Sea serving as the frontier between the two. However, it is likely that the Insular Celtic languages evolved from a more-or-less unified proto-Celtic language within the British Isles.<ref>{{harvnb|Greene|1994}}: See {{harvnb|Koch|2006a}} for alternate views.</ref> Divergence between P-Celtic Pictish and Q-Celtic Dalriadan Goidelic was slight enough to allow Picts and Dalriadans to understand each other's language to some degree.{{sfn|Woolf|2007|pages=322–340}}{{sfn|Campbell|2001|pp=285–292}} Under this scenario, a gradual linguistic convergence is conceivable and even probable given the presence of the Columban Church in Pictland.{{sfn|Woolf|2007|pages=322–340}}

===Pre-Indo-European hypothesis===
[[File:Brandsbutt stone.jpg|right|thumb|Difficulties in translation of [[ogham]] inscriptions, like those found on the [[Brandsbutt Stone]], led to a widely held belief that Pictish was a non-Indo-European language.]]
In 1892, the Welsh scholar [[John Rhŷs]] proposed that Pictish was a non-[[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] language. This opinion was based on the apparently unintelligible [[ogham inscription]]s found in historically Pictish areas (compare {{slink|Ogham inscription|Scholastic inscriptions}}).<ref>{{harvnb|Rhys|1892}}; {{harvnb|Rhys|1898}}.</ref> A similar position was taken by [[Heinrich Zimmer (Celticist)|Heinrich Zimmer]], who argued that the Picts' supposedly exotic cultural practices (tattooing and matriliny) were equally non-Indo-European,<ref>{{harvnb|Zimmer|1898}}; see {{harvnb|Woolf|1998}} for a more current view of Pictish matriliny</ref> and a pre-Indo-European model was maintained by some well into the 20th century.<ref>For example: {{harvnb|MacNeill|1939}}; {{harvnb|Macalister|1940}}.</ref>

A modified version of this theory was advanced in an influential 1955 review of Pictish by [[Kenneth H. Jackson|Kenneth Jackson]], who proposed a two-language model: while Pictish was undoubtedly P-Celtic, it may have had a non-Celtic [[Substrata (linguistics)|substratum]] and a second language may have been used for inscriptions.{{sfn|Jackson|1955}} Jackson's hypothesis was framed in the then-current model that a Brittonic elite, identified as the [[Broch]]-builders, had migrated from the south of Britain into Pictish territory, dominating a pre-Celtic majority.<ref>See, for example, {{harvnb|Piggot|1955}}.</ref> He used this to reconcile the perceived translational difficulties of [[Ogham]] with the overwhelming evidence for a P-Celtic Pictish language. Jackson was content to write off Ogham inscriptions as inherently unintelligible.<ref>For a general view, see {{harvnb|Jackson|1955}}.</ref>

Jackson's model became the orthodox position for the latter half of the 20th century. However, it became progressively undermined by advances in understanding of late Iron Age archaeology.<ref>{{harvnb|Armit|1990}}; {{harvnb|Armit|2002}}</ref> Celtic interpretations have been suggested for a number of Ogham inscriptions in recent years, though this remains a matter of debate.<ref>Compare for example {{harvnb|Forsyth|1998}} and {{harvnb|Rodway|2020}}</ref>

===Other discredited theories===
Traditional accounts (now rejected) claimed that the Picts had migrated to Scotland from [[Scythia]], a region that encompassed Eastern Europe and Central Asia.<ref>See for example {{harvnb|Bede|1910|loc=HE I.1}}; {{harvnb|Forsyth|2006}} suggests this tradition originated from a misreading of {{harvnb|Servius}}' fifth-century AD commentary on {{harvnb|Virgil}}'s Aeneid:<br />Aeneid 4:146 reads: ''Cretesque Dryopesque fremunt pictique Agathyrsi''.<br />Servius' commentary states: ''Pictique Agathyrsi populi sunt Scythiae, colentes Apollinem hyperboreum, cuius logia, id est responsa, feruntur. 'Picti' autem, non stigmata habentes, sicut gens in Britannia, sed pulchri, hoc est cyanea coma placentes.'' Which actually states that the Scythian [[Agathyrsi]] did ''not'' "bear marks" like the British, but had blue hair.</ref> Buchanan, looking for a Scythian P-Celtic candidate for the ancestral Pict, settled on the Gaulish-speaking [[Cotini]] (which he rendered as ''Gothuni''), a tribe from the region that is now [[Slovakia]]. This was later misunderstood by [[Robert Sibbald]] in 1710, who equated ''Gothuni'' with the Germanic-speaking ''[[Goths]]''.{{sfn|Sibbald|1710}} [[John Pinkerton]] expanded on this in 1789, claiming that Pictish was the predecessor to [[Scots language|modern Scots]].{{sfn|Pinkerton|1789}} Pinkerton's arguments were often rambling, bizarre and clearly motivated by his belief that Celts were an inferior people. The theory of a Germanic Pictish language is no longer considered credible.<ref>For a discussion of Sibbald's misunderstanding and of Pinkerton's thesis, see {{harvnb|Ferguson|1991}}.</ref>

== Attestations ==
=== Ogham inscriptions ===
Although the interpretation of over 40 Ogham inscriptions remains uncertain, several have been acknowledged to contain Brittonic forms,{{sfn|Koch|2006|p=1444}} although Rodway (2020) has disputed this.<ref>{{harvnb|Rodway|2020}}</ref> Guto Rhys (2015) notes that significant caution is required in the interpretation of such inscriptions because crucial information, such as the orthographic key, the linguistic context in which they were composed and the extent of [[literacy]] in Pictland, remains unknown.<ref name="UGlas" /> 

An Ogham inscription at the [[Broch of Burrian]], [[Orkney]] has been transliterated as {{transliteration|xpi|I[-]IRANNURRACTX EVVCXRROCCS}}.{{sfn|Forsyth|1997|p=36}} Broken up as {{transliteration|xpi|I[-]irann uract cheuc chrocs}}, this may reveal a Pictish cognate of [[Old Welsh]] {{lang|owl|guract}} 'he/she made' in {{transliteration|xpi|*uract}}.{{sfn|Forsyth|1997|p=36}}<ref name="ois">{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |last1=Forsyth |first1=Katherine Stuart |author-link = Katherine Forsyth |date=April 9, 1956 |title=The Ogham Inscriptions of Scotland: An Edited Corpus |url=https://epdf.tips/the-ogham-inscriptions-of-scotland-an-edited-corpus.html|publisher=Harvard University|access-date=20 August 2018}}</ref> (The only direct continuation in Middle Welsh is 1sg. {{lang|wlm|gwreith}} < ''*u̯rakt-ū'' in the poem known as "[[Dinogad's Smock|Peis Dinogat]]" in the Book of Aneirin; this form was eventually reformed to ''gwnaeth''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schumacher |first1=Stefan |title=Die keltischen Primärverben. Ein vergleichendes, etymologisches und morphologisches Lexikon |date=2004 |publisher=Institut für Sprachen und Literaturen der Universität Innsbruck |location=Innsbruck, Austria |isbn=3-85124-692-6 |page=711 |language=de}}</ref>) With the fourth word explained as spirantized Pictish {{transliteration|xpi|*crocs}} 'cross' (Welsh {{lang|cy|croes}} < Latin {{lang|la|crux}}) and the corrupted first word a personal name, the inscription may represent a Pictish sentence explaining who carved the cross.{{sfn|Forsyth|1997|p=36}}{{sfn|Koch|2006|p=1444}}<ref name="ois" />

The Shetland inscriptions at [[Cunningsburgh]] and [[Lunnasting]] reading {{transliteration|xpi|EHTECONMORS}} and {{transliteration|xpi|[E]TTECUHETTS}} have been understood as Brittonic expressions meaning "this is as great" and "this is as far", respectively,{{sfn|Koch|2006|p=1444}} messages appropriate for [[boundary stones]].{{sfn|Koch|2006|p=1444}}

Transliterated as {{transliteration|xpi|IRATADDOARENS}}, it is possible that the [[Brandsbutt Stone]] inscription attests a Pictish form cognate with [[Old Breton]] {{lang|obt|irha-}}, "he lies", in ''IRA-'',{{sfn|Forsyth|1997|p=36}} occurring at the Lomarec inscription in [[Brittany]].{{sfn|Forsyth|1997|p=36}}

=== Place names ===
Pictish toponyms occur in Scotland north of the [[River Forth]].<ref name="pp">{{cite book |last1=Hall |first1=Mark A |last2=Driscoll |first2=Stephen T |last3=Geddess |first3=Jane |title=Pictish Progress: New Studies on Northern Britain in the Early Middle Ages |date=11 November 2010 |publisher=Brill |isbn=9789004188013 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6d55DwAAQBAJ |access-date=30 June 2019}}</ref> Distributed from [[Fife]] to the [[Isle of Skye]], they are relatively abundant south of the [[Dornoch Firth]] but rare in the extreme north.<ref name="UGlas"/>{{sfn|Koch|2006|p=1444}}

Many principal settlements and geographical features of the region bear names of Pictish origin, including:
*'''[[Aberdeen]]''', Aberdeenshire. Meaning "mouth of the River Don" (cf. [[Welsh language|Welsh]] {{lang|cy|aber}}, "estuary, confluence").<ref name="cpns"/>
*'''[[Cupar]]''', Fife. Meaning "confluence" (cf. Welsh {{lang|cy|cymer}}).<ref name="pp" /><ref name="UGlas" />
*'''[[Keith, Moray|Keith]]''', Banffshire. Meaning "forest" (cf. Welsh {{lang|cy|coed}}).<ref name="cpns" />
*'''[[Kirkcaldy]]''', Fife. Meaning "place of the hard fort" from ''caer'', "fort" and ''caled'', "hard".<ref name="PNF">{{cite book |last1=Simon |first1=Taylor |last2=Markus |first2=Gilbert |title=The Place-names of Fife |date=2006 |publisher=Shaun Tyas |isbn=9781900289771 |edition=Illustrated}}</ref>
*'''[[Perth, Scotland|Perth]]''', Perthshire. Meaning "wood, grove" (cf. Welsh {{lang|cy|perth}}).<ref name="pp" />
*'''[[Yell, Shetland|Yell]]''', Shetland. Meaning "unfruitful land" (cf. Welsh ''iâl'').<ref name="forsyth2020" />

Several Pictish elements occur multiple times in the region.<ref name="pp" /> This table lists selected instances according to the Welsh equivalent.<ref name="cpns" /><ref name="pp" />{{sfn|Koch|2006|p=1444}}<ref name="PNF" />

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Element (Welsh) !! Meaning !! Place names
|-
| '''bryn''' || hill || Burnbane, Burnturk, Cameron (Markinch), Cameron (St Andrews), Newburn, Strathburn
|-
| '''[[caer]]''' || fort, stronghold; wall, rampart || Cardean, Carey, Cargill, Carmurie, Carpow, Carpoway, Crail, Kair, Keir, Kercock, Kirkbuddo, Kirkcaldy, Caerlaverock Castle
|-
| '''coed''' || trees, forest, wood || Catochil, Inchkeith, Keith, Keith Lundie, Keithack, Keithick, Keithmore, Keithny, Keithney, Keithock, Kitattie, Rothket
|-
| '''dôl''' || field, meadow || Dalfouper, Dallas, Dallasbraughty, Doll, Dollar, Dull
|-
| '''llannerch''' || clearing, glade || Landrick, Lanrick, Lendrick
|-
| '''mig(n)''' || swamp, quagmire || Dalmigavie, Meckphen, Meigle, Megen, Megevie, Meggen, Meggernie, Midmar, Midstrath, Migdale, Migger, Migvie, Strathmiglo
|-
| '''pant''' || hollow || Panbride, Panholes, Panlathy, Panmure, ?Pannanich
|-
| '''pen''' || head; top, summit; source of stream; headland; chief, principal || Pandewen, Pennan, Pinderachy, Pinnel
|-
| '''tref''' || town, homestead, estate, township || Cantray, Cantress, Menstrie, Montrave, Rattray (Blairgowrie), Rattray (Buchan), Tramaud, Trefor, Trefynie, Trostrie, Troustrie
|}

Some Pictish names have been succeeded by Gaelic forms, and in certain instances the earlier forms appear on historical record.
*[[Inverbervie]], Kincardineshire. ''Haberberui'' in 1290, demonstrates that a Pictish ''aber'', "estuary, confluence" has been supplanted by Gaelic ''inbhir'', with identical meaning.<ref name="cpns" />
*[[Inverie]], Fife. A possible early form, ''Auerin'' (1141), may be for ''*Aberin'', thus attesting the same ''inbhir'' for ''aber'' substitution as above.<ref name="PNF" />
*[[Braemar|Kindrochit Alian]], Aberdeenshire. ''Doldauha'' before c. 850 AD, in which the first element is ''dôl'' ("meadow").<ref name="Ross">{{cite book |last1=Ross |first1=Alasdair |chapter=Medieval European land assessment, Fortriu, and the ''dabhach'' |title=Scotland in Early Medieval Europe |year=2019 |editor-last=Blackwell |editor-first=Alice E. |location=Leiden |publisher=Sidestone Press |pages=135–148 |isbn=978-90-8890-753-1 |url=https://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/23390/1/ROSS%20Medieval%20European%20land%20assessment%20Fortriu%20and%20the%20dabhach%20COPY%20EDIT.pdf |hdl=1893/23390 |via=Dspace}}</ref>
*[[Strathtyrum]], Fife. ''Trestirum'' in 1190, suggestive of assimilation of a Pictish ''tref'', "estate", to (unconnected) Gaelic ''srath'', "a valley".<ref name="PNF" />

=== Personal names ===
Pictish personal names, as acquired from documents such as the [[Poppleton manuscript]], show significant diagnostically Brittonic features including the retention of final ''-st'' and initial ''w-'' (cf. P. ''Uurgust'' vs. Goidelic ''Fergus'') as well as development of ''-ora-'' to ''-ara-'' (cf. P. ''Taran'' vs G. ''torann'').<ref name="xpi19">{{cite news |last1=Rhys |first1=Guto |title=The Pictish Language |url=https://www.academia.edu/41294628 |access-date=12 March 2021 |work=History Scotland}}</ref><ref name="UGlas" />

Several Pictish names are directly parallel to names and nouns in other Brittonic languages. Several Pictish names are listed below according to their equivalents in Brittonic and other Celtic languages.{{sfn|Koch|2006|p=1444}}<ref name="xpi19" />
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Pictish
! Brittonic cognate(s)
! Other Celtic cognate(s)
|-
| ''Mailcon''
| ''Mailcon'' (Old Welsh), ''[[Maelgwn Gwynedd#Name|Maelgwn]]'' (Welsh)
| -
|-
| ''Morcunt'', ''Morgunn'', ''Morgainn''
| ''Morcant'' (Old Welsh)
| -
|-
| ''[[Taran mac Ainftech|Taran]]''
| ''[[wikt:taran#Welsh|taran]]'' (Welsh)
| ''[[Taranis]]'' (Gaulish)
|-
| ''[[Óengus I|Unust]]''
| ''Unwst'' (Welsh)
| ''[[Aengus|Oengus]]'' (Gaelic)
|-
| ''Uoret'', ''Urad''
| ''Guoret'' (Old Welsh)
| -
|-
| ''Uuen''
| ''[[Owain]]'' (Welsh)
| -
|-
| ''Uurgust''
| ''Gurgust'' (Old Welsh)
| ''Fergus'' (Gaelic)
|}
Several elements common in forming Brittonic names also appear in the names of Picts. These include ''*jʉð'', "lord" (> ''Ciniod'') and ''*res'', "ardor" (> ''Resad''; cf. Welsh ''Rhys'').<ref name="forsyth2020">{{cite journal |last=Forsyth |first=Katherine |author-link=Katherine Forsyth |title=Protecting a Pict?: Further thoughts on the inscribed silver chape from St Ninian's Isle, Shetland |journal=Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland |date=2020 |page=11 |url=http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/222539/1/222539.pdf}}</ref>

=== Irish records ===
The 9th century work ''[[Sanas Cormaic]]'' (or Cormac's Gloassary), an etymological glossary of Irish, noted a word ''catait'' ("Pictish brooch") (also spelled ''cartait'' and ''catit'') as being of Pictish origin. Isaac (2005) compared the word with [[Old Welsh]] ''cathet'' (of uncertain meaning but thought to mean "brooch" and appearing in a 10th century poem listing precious gifts) and offered a speculative Pictish reconstruction ''*kazdet''.<ref name="isacc05">{{cite journal |last1=Isaac |first1=G. R. |title='A Note on Cormac's Pictish Brooch'. Journal of Celtic Linguistics |journal=Journal of Celtic Linguistics |date=2005 |volume=9 |pages=72–83}}</ref>

== Influence on the Gaelic languages ==
Etymological investigation of the [[Scottish Gaelic]] language, in particular the 1896 efforts of [[Alexander Macbain]],<ref name="MacBain" /> has demonstrated the presence of a corpus of Pictish loanwords in the language.<ref name="UGlas" /><ref name="MacBain">{{cite book |last1=MacBain |first1=Alexander |title=Etymological Dictionary of Scottish-Gaelic |date=1988 |publisher=Hippocrene Books |isbn=9780781806329 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3JRgkdyty3wC&pg=PA25 |access-date=27 April 2020}}</ref> The items most commonly cited as loanwords are ''bad'' ("clump"; [[Breton language|Breton]] ''bod''), ''bagaid'' ("cluster, troop"; [[Welsh language|Welsh]] ''bagad''), ''dail'' ("meadow"; W ''dôl''), ''dìleab'' ("legacy"), ''[[mormaer]]'' ("earl"; W ''mawr'' + ''maer''), ''pailt'' ("plentiful"; [[Cornish language|Cornish]] ''pals''), ''peasg'' ("gash"; W ''pisg''), ''peit'' ("area of ground, part, share"; W ''peth''), ''pòr'' ([[Middle Welsh]] ''paur''; "grain, crops"), ''preas'' ("bush"; W ''prys'').<ref name="MacBain" /> On the basis of a number of the loans attesting shorter vowels than other British cognates, linguist Guto Rhys proposed Pictish resisted some Latin-influenced sound changes of the 6th century.<ref name="NQSXPI">{{cite web |last1=Rhys |first1=Guto |date=2015 |title=The New Quantity System in Pictish |url=https://www.academia.edu/14461949 |access-date=2021-12-14}}</ref> Rhys has also noted the potentially "fiscal" profile of several of the loans, and hypothesized that they could have entered Gaelic as a package in a governmental context.<ref name="UGlas" />

Several Gaelic nouns have meanings more closely matching their Brittonic cognates than those in Irish, indicating that Pictish may have influenced the sense and usage of these words as a [[Substrate language|substrate]].<ref name="pp"/>  ''Srath'' (> ''[[Strath|Strath-]]'') is recorded to have meant "grassland" in [[Old Irish]], whereas the modern Gaelic realization means "broad valley", exactly as in its Brittonic cognates (cf. Welsh {{lang|cy|ystrad}}).<ref name="pp" /> ''[[Dun (fortification)|Dùn]]'', ''foithir'', ''lios'', ''ràth'' and ''tom'' may, by the same token, attest a substrate influence from Pictish.<ref name="pp" /><ref name="cpns" />

Greene noted that the verbal system inherited in Gaelic from Old Irish had been brought "into complete conformity with that of modern spoken Welsh",<ref name="Thomson">{{cite book |last1=Thomson |first1=Derick S. |author1-link=Derick Thomson |title=The Companion to Gaelic Scotland |date=1994 |publisher=Gairm |isbn=9781871901313 |page=107 |edition=2}}</ref> and consequently Guto Rhys adjudged that Pictish may have modified Gaelic verbal syntax.<ref name="UGlas" />

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===Further reading===
*{{Citation |last=Jackson |first=Kenneth |title=The Ogham inscription on the spindle whorl from Buckquoy, Orkney |year=1977 |journal=Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland |volume=108 |pages=221–222 |url=http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-352-1/dissemination/pdf/vol_108/108_174_227.pdf |access-date=13 December 2012}}
*{{Citation |last=Forsyth |first=Katherine |date=1996 |author-link=Katherine Forsyth |title=The Ogham-inscribed spindle whorl from Buckquoy: Evidence for the Irish language in pre-Viking Orkney? |journal=Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland |volume=125 |pages=677–696 |doi=10.9750/PSAS.125.677.696 |s2cid=202616596 |url=http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-352-1/dissemination/pdf/vol_125/125_677_696.pdf |access-date=13 December 2012}}
*{{Citation |first=W. F. H. |last=Nicolaisen |title=Scottish Place-Names |publisher=John Donald |location=Edinburgh |year=2001}}
*{{Citation |last=Okasha |first=E. |title=The Non-Ogam Inscriptions of Pictland |journal=Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies |volume=9 |year=1985 |pages=43–69}}
{{refend}}

{{Celtic languages}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pictish Language}}
[[Category:Pictish language| ]]
[[Category:Extinct Celtic languages]]
[[Category:Pictish culture|Language]]
[[Category:Extinct languages of Scotland]]
[[Category:Extinct languages of Europe]]
[[Category:Languages extinct in the 11th century]]
[[Category:Brittonic languages]]
[[Category:Unclassified languages of Europe]]
[[Category:Unclassified Indo-European languages]]