The is the extinct language of the
Picts . Evidence of the language is limited to place names and to the names of people found on monuments and the contemporary records. At its height, it may have been spoken from
Shetland down to
Fife .
The problem of classification of the Pictish language was largely solved in 1582, by humanist scholar (and native Gaelic-speaker)
George Buchanan , who expressed the view that Pictish was similar to languages like
Welsh ,
Gaulish and
Gaelic . The rest of research into Pictish has been described as postscript to Buchanan's work. This view may be something of an oversimplification: Forsyth, in ''Language in Pictland'', offers a short account of the debate. Cowan, "Invention of Celtic Scotland" may be helpful for a broader view.
The evidence of inscriptions may also represent examples of this language.
Placenames often allow us to deduce the existence of historic Pictish settlements in Scotland. Those prefixed with "Aber-", "Lhan-", or "Pit-" indicate regions inhabited by Picts in the past (for example: Aberdeen, Lhanbryde, Pitmedden, Pittodrie, Findochty, etc). However, it is "Pit-" which is the most distinctive element, and "Aber-" can also be found in places which were formerly
Brythonic speaking. Some of the Pictish elements, such as "Pit-" (portion, share) were formed after Pictish times, and may refer to previous "shires" or "thanages".For place names in general, see Watson, ''Celtic Place Names'', for shires/thanages see Barrow, "Pre-Feudal Scotland." Other suggested placename elements include "pert" (hedge, Welsh ''perth'' - Perth, Larbert), "carden" (thicket, Welsh ''cardden'' - Pluscarden, Kincardine), "pevr" (shining, Welsh ''pefr'' - Strathpeffer, Peffery).Glanville Price, "Pictish", p.128.
The evidence of place names may also reveal the advance of Gaelic into Pictland. As noted, Atholl, meaning New Ireland, is attested in the early 8th century. This may be an indication of the advance of Gaelic. Fortriu also contains placenames suggesting Gaelic settlement, or Gaelic influences.Watson, ''Celtic Place Names'', page numbers wanting. There are a number of Pictish loanwords in modern
Scottish Gaelic , such as ''beinn'', but few have survived into
Doric .
Apart from personal names, Bede provides a single Pictish place name (''HE'', I, 12), when discussing the - appears to contain elements cognate with Brythonic ''penn'' (end) and Goidelic ''fal'' (wall).Nicolasen, ''Scottish Place-Names'', pp. 204-205.
- Ball, Martin J. and James Fife (eds.) ''The Celtic Languages''. London: Routledge (2001) ISBN 041528080X
- Cox, R. A. V. "Abstract: Modern Scottish Gaelic Reflexes of Two Pictish Words: ---pett and ---lannerc." in Ronald Black, William Gillies, and Roibeard Ó Maolalaigh (eds.) ''Celtic Connections: Proceedings of the Tenth International Congress of Celtic Studies, Vol. 1.'' East Linton: Tuckwell Press (1999), p. 504
- Ferguson, William. ; ''The Identity of the Scottish Nation'' Edinburgh University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-7486-1071-5
- Forsyth, K. ''Language in Pictland : the case against 'non-Indo-European Pictish''' in Studia Hameliana #2. Utrecht: de Keltische Draak (1997). Etext Rev. Damian McManus. Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies #38 (Winter 1999), pp. 109-110
- Forsyth, K.; "Abstract: The Three Writing Systems of the Picts." in Black et al. (1999), p. 508
- Griffen, T.D.; "The Grammar of the Pictish Symbol Stones" in LACUS Forum #27 (2001), pp. 217-26
- Nicolaisen, W.F.H., ''Scottish Place-Names.'' John Donald, Edinburgh, 2001. ISBN 0-85976-556-3
- Okasha, E.; "The Non-Ogam Inscriptions of Pictland" in Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies #9 (1985), pp. 43-69
- Price, Glanville, "Pictish" in Glanville Price (ed.), ''Languages in Britain & Ireland.'' Blackwell, Oxford, 2000. ISBN 0-631-21581-6
