Brittonic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Referring to the descendant languages of the Celtic tribes in Britain, the term encompasses Welsh, Cornish, and Breton dialects
2. Relating to the group of Celtic languages that originated in ancient Britain, this term includes Welsh, Cornish, and the dialect spoken in Brittany
3. Pertaining to the linguistic family derived from the Celtic tribes of Britain, which includes languages such as Welsh and Cornish

Etymology: "Brittonic" is a formal, technical coinage: it is simply "Briton" with the adjective-forming suffix "-ic" attached, the same pattern seen in words like "Celtic" or "Germanic." The "-tt-" in the middle is not an arbitrary addition. It preserves the double consonant of the Latin form "Brittō," the name the Romans used for the inhabitants of Britain, which the English word "Briton" was borrowed from. Keeping that doubled letter in the adjective reflects the word's Latin source rather than its English spelling. The word's usefulness comes from the scholarly need to name a specific branch of the Celtic languages. Scholars use it for the group that includes Welsh, Cornish, and Breton, the languages spoken by the Britons before and during the early medieval period, as distinct from the Goidelic (Gaelic) branch of Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. The label therefore describes a family of languages, not the people themselves, and it is used mainly in linguistics and historical studies.