Index Dutch Bronze Age
Index first farmers in the Netherlands
To be - the search for the Gaulish verb (part2)
A research about the
Gaulish translation
By J. Mascitelli, January 2001
To be - Gaulish verb (part3-results)
The Gaulish Verbal System
I was curious about the Gaulish verb "to be", and I tried to work out the present, past and future tenses of it by comparing it to the tenses in Latin, Old Irish, and Welsh. I also started with the Gaulish words: immi, esi, buetid, esti, and biiete.
Present Tense |
|
| Latin | |
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. sum 2. es 3. est |
1. sumus 2. estis 3. sunt |
| Old Irish | |
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. tau, to 2. tai 3. ta |
1. taam 2. taid 3. taat |
| Welsh | |
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. ydwyf 2. ydwyt 3. ydyw |
1. ydym 2. ydych 3. ydynt |
| Gaulish | |
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1.
immi, imi 2. esi 3. esti, buetid |
? |
| Past Tense | |
| Latin (Imperfect Tense) | |
| Singular. | Plural |
| 1. eram 2. eras 3. erat |
1. eramus 2. eratis 3. erant |
| Old Irish | |
| Singular. | Plural |
| 1. ba, roba, raba 2. ba 3. boi, bai, robae |
1. bammar 2. baid 3. batar |
| Welsh | |
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. bum 2. buost 3. bu |
1. buom 2. buoch 3. buont |
| Gaulish | |
| Singular. | Plural. |
| ? | ? |
| Future Tense | |
| Latin | |
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. ero 2. eris 3. erit |
1. erimus 2. eritis 3. erunt |
| Old Irish | |
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. bia 2. bic 3. bieid, bied |
1. be(i)mmi 2. bethe 3. bieit, biet |
| Welsh | |
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. byddaf 2. byddi 3. bydd |
1. byddwn 2. byddwch 3. byddant |
| Gaulish | |
| Singular. | Plural. |
| ? | 1.
? 2. biiete 3. ? |
Being that Latin is the closest in time and relationship to Gaulish, of the three languages, I thought that it would give me some clues about the tenses of Gaulish "to be". Latin didn't help much, though, so I also looked at the verbal endings for the regular verbs in Latin for the present, past and future.
| Latin | |
| Present Tense | |
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. -eo, a 2. -es, -as 3. -et, -at |
1. -emus, -amus 2. -etis, -atis 3. -ent, -ant |
| Past Tense (Imperfect Tense) |
|
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. -ebam, -abam 2. -ebas, -abas 3. -ebat, -abat |
1. -ebamus, -abamus 2. -ebatis, -abatis 3. -ebant, -abant |
| Future Tense | |
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. -ebo, -abo 2. -ebis, -abis 3. -ebit, -abit |
1. -ebimus, -abimus 2. -ebitis, -abitis 3. -ebunt, -abunt |
| Gaulish | |
| Present Tense | |
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. -o 2. -as 3. -at |
1. -omu 2. -etis 3. -ont |
According to the Latin 1 grammar that I consulted "-ba-"
indicates past tense, and "-bi-" indicates future tense.
I also noticed that the Celtic examples also use the the same
fomula, as Latin, in their past and future tenses of the verb
"to be".
Example:
- Old Irish ba, bammar, bieid;
- Welsh buost, buoch, byddant;
- Gaulish buetid, and biiete.
According to
Christopher Gwinn, biiete translates into "you (plural)
all shall be", then maybe "bi-" is the Gaulish
future indicator. Buetid was given as meaning "it is",
but "esti" also translates into "it is".
I think that
buetid means "it was", and that "bu-" is the
Gaulish past indicator. Following this logic, these are the forms
(*) of the Gaulish verb "to be" that I initially worked
out:
| Gaulish | |
| Present Tense | |
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. immi, imi 2. esi 3. esti |
1. *esumo 2. *esete 3. *esont |
| Past Tense | |
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. *bumi 2. *busi 3. buetid, *bueti |
1. *bumo 2. *buete 3. *buont |
| Future Tense | |
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. *bimi 2. *bisi 3. *bietid, *bieti |
1. *biumo 2. biiete, *biete 3. *biont |
After consulting Christopher Gwinn, the corrected present tense forms of Gaulish "to be" are:
| Gaulish | |
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. immi, imi 2. *esi(ti) 3. *est(is/si) rel. *est |
1. *immu(s), *imme(s)i 2. *este-(suis) 3. *sent(i), *sint(i) rel. *sontio, *sontia |
"Buetid" appears to be a compound verb. *Bueti + id ("it"). Personal pronouns are sometimes found attached to the third singular forms; probably to help distinguish between masculine, feminine, and neuter genders.
It appears that the present tense of Gaulish follows an irregular
form, whereas the past and future tenses follow the regular
verbal forms indicated by the two attested examples.
| Gaulish | |
| Past Tense | |
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. *buimi 2. *buesi 3. *bueti, *buieti |
1. *buimu 2. *buete 3. *buont |
| Gaulish | |
| Future Tense | |
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. *biimi 2. *biesi 3. *bieti |
1. *biimu 2. biiete, *biete 3. *biont |
Gaulish *buont has a cognate in Welsh buont. Both words have the
same spelling, same tenses, and same meanings; in two P-Celtic
languages - one ancient and one modern.
Gaulish *biont shows up in the "Plomb Du Larzac"
inscription as biontutu(s).
The suffix "-utu(s)"
indicates a subjunctive mood. That means, biontutu(s) translates
into "if they will".
The passive voice is formed by adding the suffix "-or".
Thus, this produces these forms of the Gaulish verb "to be":
| Gaulish | |
| Present Passive | |
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. *imior 2. *esior 3. *estor |
1. *immusor 2. *esteor 3. *sentor |
| Past Passive | |
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. *buimior 2. *buesior 3. *buetior |
1. *buimuor 2. *bueteor 3. *buontor |
| Future Passive | |
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. *biimior 2. *biesior 3. *bietior |
1.*biimuor 2.*bieteor 3.*bintor, *biontor |
A 3rd Celtiberian form, robiseti, shows the prefix "ro-".
This prefix also appears in Old Irish (roba), and imparts the
perfect voice to a verb.
Verb forms without "ro-"
indicate a narrative form.
Negative forms are made by adding ne ("not") + the verb.
Example: (Celtiberian) nebintor, (Old Irish) nim.
Interrogative
forms are made by adding ne at the end of the verb. Example: (Old
Irish) inn.
The 4th Celtiberian form, cabiseti, shows the prefix "ca-".
This prefix also appears in Old Irish (corrabe, corotaicciller).
The prefix "ca-" imparts the meaning "until, or so that".
Cabiseti translates into "until you (plural)
will".
As a summary I've tabulated the tenses on the next site .
To be (part1)
To be (part3-results)
The Gaulish Verbal System