6.What are the Celtic tribes and languages in British Isles?

Before the spread westwards of Angles, Saxons and Vikings, Britain and Ireland were inhabited by tribes speaking Celtic languages. Their origins probably go back to about 2,400 BC, when the first Bell Beaker material appeared in the British Isles. The Celts came to Britain in the three waves and immediately preceded the Teutons. Celtic tribes invaded Britain about 500 B.C. Economically and socially the Celts were a tribal society made up of kins, kinship groups, clans and tribes; they practised a primitive agriculture, and carried on trade with Celtic Gaul. The first millennium B.C. was the period of Celtic migrations and expansion. Traces of their civilization are still found all over Europe.

Celtic languages were spoken over extensive parts of Europe before our era; later they were absorbed by other IE languages and left very few vestiges behind. The Gaelic branch has survived as Irish (or Erse) in Ireland, has expanded to Scotland as Scotch-Gaelic of the Highlands and is still spoken by a few hundred people on the Isle of Man (the Manx language). The Britonnic branch is represented by Kymric or Welsh in modern Wales and by Breton or Armorican spoken by over a million people in modern France( in the area called Bretagne or Britanny, where the Celts came as emigrants from Britain in the 5^th c.); another Britonic dialect in Great Britain, Cornish, was spoken in Cornwall until the end of the 18^th c.

7.What Celtic languages in modern Britain can you regard?

After most of the British Isles had been populated by Germanic tribes, further settlers came from Rhine valley. They were successive tribes of Celts. The earliest inhabitants whose linguistic affiliation has been established are the Celts. The Celts came to Britain in the three waves and immediately preceded the Teutons. Celtic tribes invaded Britain about 500 B.C. Economically and socially the Celts were a tribal society made up of kins, kinship groups, clans and tribes; they practised a primitive agriculture, and carried on trade with Celtic Gaul. The first millennium B.C. was the period of Celtic migrations and expansion. Traces of their civilization are still found all over Europe.

Celtic languages were spoken over extensive parts of Europe before our era; later they were absorbed by other IE languages and left very few vestiges behind. The Gaelic branch has survived as Irish (or Erse) in Ireland, has expanded to Scotland as Scotch-Gaelic of the Highlands and is still spoken by a few hundred people on the Isle of Man (the Manx language). The Britonnic branch is represented by Kymric or Welsh in modern Wales and by Breton or Armorican spoken by over a million people in modern France( in the area called Bretagne or Britanny, where the Celts came as emigrants from Britain in the 5th c.); another Britonic dialect in Great Britain, Cornish, was spoken in Cornwall until the end of the 18th c.

8. What can you tell about the Roman occupation of Britain?

In the first century B.C. British land was conquered by the Romans. Julius Caesar attacked Britain for economic reasons – to obtain tin, pearls and corn also for strategic reasons. The Romans subdued the Britions and colonized the country establishing a great number of military camps which eventually developed into English cities. The Roman occupation of Britain lasted nearly 400 years; the province was carefully guarded: about 40,000 men were stationed there. Two fortified walls ran across the country, a network of paved Roman roads connected the towns and military camps. Scores of towns with a mixed population grew along the Roman roads – inhabited by Roman legionaries, civilians and by the native Celts; among the most important trading centres of Roman Britain was London. The Roman occupation came to an end in the early 5^th c. In A.D. 410, the Roman troops were officially withdrawn to Rome by the emperor Constantine. The other cause was the growth of independent kingdoms on former Roman territories.

Four centuries of Roman occupation had a profound effect on the country, had meant far- reaching Romanization, or Latinization, of life in Great Britain, including Christianization of its inhabitants and the establishment of Latin, besides Brittonic( a sub-branch of Common Celtic from which Welsh, Cornish and Breton are said to have been derived), as the language of administration and law as well as of the Church and at least the second language of the upper strata among the urban and rural population of Roman Britain. Romanization of distant Britain was more superficial than that of continental provinces (e.g. Gaul and Iberia, where the complete linguistic conquest resulted in the growth of new Romance languages, French and Spanish.

The sphere where the Romans left a great influence is language. There are thousands of them! Latin/Roman is probably the most significant source of English words, from 'abduct' (Latin abductus) to 'zed' (Late Latin zeta, from Greek zeta.)  More examples: abundant, Latin abundant, face, L. Facies, page, L. pagina, plant, L. Planta. rotund, L. rotund, sanctum, L. Sanctum, status, L. Status, tribute L. Tributum, verb, L. verbum