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The 'Continental Celtic languages' are those Celtic languages, now all extinct, that originated and were spoken on the continent of Europe (as opposed to the Insular Celtic languages that originated in Britain and Ireland, and of which six are still spoken). Although it is likely that Celts spoke dozens of different languages and dialects across Europe in pre-Roman times, only five such languages are actually attested:

★ 'Lepontic' (7th to 3rd century BC)

★ 'Gaulish' (3rd century BC to 2nd century AD)

★ 'Galatian' (3rd century BC to 4th century AD)

★ 'Celtiberian' (1st century BC)

★ 'Noric' (1st or 2nd century? Only two fragmentary texts preserved.)
Lepontic is generally considered a dialect of Gaulish, and Galatian may be as well.
The term ''Continental Celtic'' is used in contrast to Insular Celtic. While most researchers agree that Insular Celtic is a distinct branch of Celtic (Cowgill 1975; McCone 1991, 1992; Schrijver 1995), having undergone common linguistic innovations, there is no evidence that the Continental Celtic languages can be similarly grouped. Instead, the term ''Continental Celtic'' is paraphyletic and refers simply to non-Insular Celtic languages. Since little material has been preserved in any of the Continental Celtic languages, historical linguistic analysis based on the comparative method is difficult to perform.

Contents

Note on Breton

Bibliography

Note on Breton

Even though Breton is spoken in continental Europe, it is not considered one of the Continental Celtic languages. It is a Brythonic language closely related to Welsh and Cornish, although it has been suggested that there is a Gaulish substructure in the Vannetais dialect (Galliou and Jones 1991).

Bibliography

★ Flexion und Wortbildung: Akten der V. Fachtagung der Indogermanischen Gesellschaft, Regensburg, 9.–14. September 1973, , Warren, Cowgill, Reichert, 1975, ISBN 3-920153-40-5

★ The Bretons, , Patrick, Galliou, Blackwell, 1991, ISBN 063120105X

★ The PIE stops and syllabic nasals in Celtic, , Kim, McCone, Studia Celtica Japonica, 1991

★ Rekonstruktion und relative Chronologie: Akten Der VIII. Fachtagung Der Indogermanischen Gesellschaft, Leiden, 31. August–4. September 1987, , Kim, McCone, Institut für Sprachwissenschaft der Universität Innsbruck, 1992, ISBN 3-85124-613-6

★ Studies in British Celtic historical phonology, , Peter, Schrijver, Rodopi, 1995, ISBN 90-5183-820-4