Galatian is an extinct Celtic language once spoken in Galatia in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) from the 3rd century BC up to the 4th century AD.

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 language 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 neimed "holy place"). Galatian is a Continental Celtic language contemporary to, and possibly a dialect of, the Gaulish language.

Sources

• Weisgerber, L. (1931). Galatische Sprachreste. In Natalicium Johannes Geffcken zum 70. Geburtstag 2. Mai 1931 gewidmet von Freunden, Kollegen und Schülern, 151–75. Heidelberg: Carl Winter.

Continental Celtic languages | Languages of Turkey | Extinct Celtic languages | Extinct languages of Asia

Galatische Sprache | Idioma gálata | Galate | Lingua gálata | Galato | Galatisch | Język galatyjski | Língua gálata | Galatščina | 加拉提亞語