Cisalpine Gaulish


The Celtic Cisalpine Gaulish inscriptions are frequently combined with the Lepontic inscriptions under the term Celtic language remains in northern Italy. While it is possible that the Lepontians were autochthonous to northern Italy since the end of the 2nd millennium BC, it is well-known that the Gauls invaded the regions north of the river Po in several waves since the 5th century BC. They apparently took over the art of writing from the Lepontians, including some of the orthographic peculiarities. There are 20 Cisalpine Gaulish inscriptions, five of which are longer than just one or two words. The inscriptions stem largely from the area south of the Lepontians.
There is ongoing debate over whether Cisalpine Gaulish is a dialect of Gaulish,
or a historical or dialectical continuation of Lepontic. In the latter case, the term Cisalpine Celtic refers to the two together, contrasting with Transalpine Celtic for the Celtic language on the other side of the Alps.

Lepontic compared to Cisalpine Gaulish

Common features (not in Transalpine Gaulish)

1. nn rather than Transalpine Gaulish *nd: *ande- > -ane-, *and-are- > an-are-, ?*and-o-kom- > ano-Ko-
2. nt rather than Transalpine Gaulish *nt: *kom-bogyos > -Ko-PoKios, Quintus → KuiTos, *arganto- > arKaTo-, *longam > loKan
3. s rather than Transalpine Gaulish *χs: *eχs > es in es-aneKoti, es-oPnos

Differences between Cisalpine Gaulish and Lepontic

1. Endings in *-m# instead of Gaulish -n#: TeuoχTonion, loKan vs. Lep. Pruiam, Palam, uinom naśom.
2. word formation: ending of 3rd person sg./pl. preterite in -u, cp. karnitu, versus Lepontic KariTe, KaliTe
3. Gaulish patronymic suffix is typically -ikno/a vs. Lepontic -alo-, -ala-, -al