In making the above selection, my object has been to show illustrations from both Cymru and Gael; and it will be observed how curiously the word for "friends," maiteac, has been divided by the two races, the Welsh taking the first half, the Gaelic taking its latter part. II. The second vocabulary is taken from Dr. Latham's "Elements of Comparative Philology," London, 1862. Pp. 678-9. The learned author quotes 49 words, of which he finds only 12* resemblances, divided among 6 languages. * Nine resemblances will be found in these seven words; the remainder were in the numerals. 1. Jainco (God), compare Gaelic, ionnsaich (to know). 2. Turmoi, thunder; Gaelic, tairneanach, thunder. 3. Gau, night; compare Welsh, caddugol (night), also gwyll (dark). 4. Uri, euri; Gaelic, uisge = rain. 5. Ain-tzira, compare Gaelic, linne; also the terminal "ira" with Welsh "aw." 6. Errio, river; compare Welsh, "aw" flowing. 7. Lei, ice; Gaelic, eigh, ice. = The following numerals are also from Dr. Latham, as above :bat, 1; biga, 2; hiru, 3; laur, 4; bortz, 5; sei, 6; zazpi, 7; zortzi, 8; bederatzi, 9; amar, 10. The strong resemblances, in some cases, lead to the inference that all are corrupted from the Latin, as are the Welsh and Gaelic numerals also. Compare bis, twice, with "biga," a two-horse chariot; tres = hir in hiru; quatuor, l-aur; quintz, bor-tz; sex = sei, the "x" mute; septi = = zazpi; octa zortzi; dec-em = amar. The word bat = 1, may be derived from the Sanskrit ordinal prathama: compare primate, the Greek pheristos best, and our own word "first;" the word bederatzi 9, is perhaps a compound of bat for 1, and zortzi for 89. As these notes are addressed only to the philological aspects of the Basque, it would seem superfluous to enter at any length upon the historical, geographical, and ethnological points involved in the question, "Are the Basques of Celtic origin?" however interesting that question may be. But to avoid misconception, I will just remind my readers that the Basques of to-day occupy, in Spain, the territory of the ancient Cantabrians, a word purely Celtic; as is our own Cantii of Kent, from ceann headland; and the Brigantes of Yorkshire, from bri hill, or mountain; so that the ancient Cantabrians were the "hill-men of the headlands," N. W. Spain. The modern province of Gallicia contains in its construction the root-word Gael, where also is the ancient promontorium Celticum, now Cape Finisterre. (Compare Finisterre in Britanny, among the Armorican Celts of N. W. France, and our own Land's End, among the Celts of Cornwall.) Here also was the ancient city of Brigantium, situated near Corunna, which has not, I think, been fully identified. Who need doubt that these people were Celts,-are true Celts ? It will, perhaps, be expected that I should offer some attempted explanation of the apparent value of equivalents shown in the foregoing phonetic changes. I. The Gaelic guttural: "g, ch, chd," seem lost in the liquid "r," and the vowel, a; while the "1" is dropped in both cases; the "d, and dh" become "t," while our own "t" becomes their "c." II. There is a tendency to add vowels to the terminal Welsh "1, 11;" while the strongly breathed "gw" seems lost altogether. III. Two natural phonetic changes are shown in the Fr: merite = deserved, which, in Basque, becomes mereci: t = c; and in the Latin gloria, which in Basque is loria. But, if I am right about the vast phonetic change exercised upon the Latin numerals, it would seem useless attempting to systematize the process. Finally, I rely most on the Welsh rather than on the Gaelic affinities; and this is only what is to be expected, considering the greater resemblance that the Welsh bears to the Celtic dialect of Britanny. III. ARTHUR HALL. The following vocabulary is taken from Baron Humboldt's Supplement to Adelung's Mithridates, vol. iv. p. 294: Berlin, 1817. Relying chiefly upon the Welsh, I append the following polyglot, derived chiefly from the Apostolides' Paternosters. 1. Basque; 2. Welsh; 3. Armorican; 4. Irish; 5. Gaelic. Our Father which art in heaven; 1. Gure Aita carena Ceruetan. 3. Hon Tad pehini oud en Envou; h; |