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Galatian is an extinct Celtic language once spoken in Galatia in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) up to the fourth century.
Of the language only a few glosses and brief comments in classical writers and scattered names on inscriptions survive. Altogether they add up to about 120 words, mostly personal names ending in -riks (cf. Gaulish -rix/-reix, Old Irish ri, Latin rex) "king", some ending in -marus, dative -mari (cf. Gaulish -maros, Old Irish mor, Welsh mawr) "great", and tribal names like Ambitouti (Old Irish imm- "around", Old Irish tuath "tribe"), and a lexical item drunaimeton "place of assembly" (cf. Old Irish drui "druid", Old Irish nemed "holy place").
Sources
- Philip Freeman: The Galatian Language A Comprehensive Survey of the Language of the Ancient Celts in Greco-Roman Asia Minor, ISBN 0-7734-7480-3
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