Brythonic
/brɪˈθɒnɪk
/(also Brittonic)
adjective
Denoting or relating to the southern group of Celtic languages, consisting of Welsh, Cornish, and Breton. They were spoken in Britain before and during the Roman occupation, surviving as Welsh and Cornish after the Anglo-Saxon invasions, and being taken to Brittany by emigrants. Compare with Goidelic. Also called P-Celtic.Welsh, or Cymraeg, is a Celtic language belonging to the Brythonic group consisting of Breton, Welsh, and the extinct Cornish....
- The Brittonic form of Celtic (thought to have been spoken throughout Britain prior to the Anglo-Saxon conquest and still represented by Welsh, Cornish and Breton) is usually regarded as a later development of Celtic than Goedelic.
- Welsh and Breton are the only surviving members of the ancient British or Brythonic subdivision of the Celtic language family.
noun [mass noun]
The Brythonic languages collectively.Insular Celtic, usually further divided into: British or Brythonic (from Brython a Briton) and Irish or Goidelic (from Goidel an Irishman: modern Gael) British and Gaulish were at one time a continuum of linked dialects....
- Several place-name elements are thought to be wholly or partly Brythonic in origin, particularly bre-, bal-, and dun for hills, carr for a high rocky place, coomb for a small deep valley.
- To begin with, Wales was Prydain, where Brythonic, then Cymraeg or Welsh, were spoken extensively except for Pict-occupied northern Scotland.
Origin
From Welsh Brython 'Britons' + -ic.