Blair Collection > Kelt or Gael
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46
The Kelt or Gael.
definite meaning can be given to race, in the
present condition of our knowledge.
There are traces of other languages, such as
the Ugro-Altaic, but as it has within historical
times been confined to sub-polar countries, it
may be omitted without danger of error. Turkish
and Hungarian, or rather Magyar, we know are
Turanian dialects, recently imported into Europe
by Turanian races. Etruscan and Basque have
hitherto resisted all attempts to reduce them to
Aryan speech. The late Sir Wm. Betham, in
his " Etruria Celtica," purported to investigate
Etruscan antiquities, and to compare and identify
the language with the Ibero-Celtic, and both
with the Phoenician. As I know nothing of
Phoenician, I cannot say whether he was or not
successful ; but many of the alleged Etruscan
words were Celtic. Both Lepsius and Niebuhr
were of opinion that the Etruscan was Keltic.
I am strongly of opinion that not only is the
language Keltic, but that Rome borrowed most
of her institutions from Etruria. All the local
names in Etruria are Keltic. Apart from groups
of a few words, in which the vowels are some-
times omitted, and which appear to stick together
like the formulae of Marcellus of Bordeaux, there
are very few complete inscriptions in existence.
There was one found in a tomb in the Grotto
del Tifone, at Corneto, the ancient Tarquinii,
about 1832. I believe it is at present, or a copy
of it is, in the Etruscan museum at the Vatican.
The Kelt or Gael.
definite meaning can be given to race, in the
present condition of our knowledge.
There are traces of other languages, such as
the Ugro-Altaic, but as it has within historical
times been confined to sub-polar countries, it
may be omitted without danger of error. Turkish
and Hungarian, or rather Magyar, we know are
Turanian dialects, recently imported into Europe
by Turanian races. Etruscan and Basque have
hitherto resisted all attempts to reduce them to
Aryan speech. The late Sir Wm. Betham, in
his " Etruria Celtica," purported to investigate
Etruscan antiquities, and to compare and identify
the language with the Ibero-Celtic, and both
with the Phoenician. As I know nothing of
Phoenician, I cannot say whether he was or not
successful ; but many of the alleged Etruscan
words were Celtic. Both Lepsius and Niebuhr
were of opinion that the Etruscan was Keltic.
I am strongly of opinion that not only is the
language Keltic, but that Rome borrowed most
of her institutions from Etruria. All the local
names in Etruria are Keltic. Apart from groups
of a few words, in which the vowels are some-
times omitted, and which appear to stick together
like the formulae of Marcellus of Bordeaux, there
are very few complete inscriptions in existence.
There was one found in a tomb in the Grotto
del Tifone, at Corneto, the ancient Tarquinii,
about 1832. I believe it is at present, or a copy
of it is, in the Etruscan museum at the Vatican.
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Early Gaelic Book Collections > Blair Collection > Kelt or Gael > (50) |
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Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/75787234 |
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Description | His ethnography, geography and philology. |
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Shelfmark | Blair.17 |
Additional NLS resources: | |
Attribution and copyright: |
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More information |
Description | A selection of books from a collection of more than 500 titles, mostly on religious and literary topics. Also includes some material dealing with other Celtic languages and societies. Collection created towards the end of the 19th century by Lady Evelyn Stewart Murray. |
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Description | Selected items from five 'Special and Named Printed Collections'. Includes books in Gaelic and other Celtic languages, works about the Gaels, their languages, literature, culture and history. |
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