Picts

The term Picts refers to a group of tribes that lived in northwestern Europe. Mediterranean classical-era writers named the Pictish lands Caledonia, which is now part of Scotland. This area can be found north of the River Forth in northern Britain.

Pictish language

Little definite knowledge survives of the Picts' language, Pictish, its relationships and cognates.

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It remains uncertain whether or not we should classify the Picts as Celts, although most available placename evidence tends to support the hypothesis that they spoke a Brythonic language. Placenames often allow us to deduce the existence of historic Pictish settlements in Scotland. Those prefixed with "Aber-", "Lhan-", "Pit-" or "Fin-" indicate regions inhabited by Picts in the past (for example: Aberdeen, Lhanbryde, Pitmedden, Pittodrie, Findochty, etc). In support of this hypothesis, Gaelic tradition sees the Picts as identical with or descended from the Brythonic group which the Gaels called, and still call, the Cruithne. Cruithne has a likely cognate in the Welsh Prydain, in which we can see the standard /k/ to /p/ Goidelic to Brythonic sound correspondence (both sounds come from /kw/). From the Brythonic Celtic Prydain (or rather from its older form Pretani) comes (via Latin) the English word Britain.

Related Topics:
Celts - Placename - Brythonic language - Cruithne - Cognate - Goidelic

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Other hypotheses exist. For instance, the Basque nationalist Federico Krutwig tried to connect the Pictish and the Basque language, which would be remnants of the pre-Indoeuropean population of Europe. However lack of data about the Pictish language makes it difficult to test his hypothesis. The Symbol Stones of Scotland (Anthony Jackson, 1984) presents evidence of a decidedly un-Celtic matrilinear culture in Pictish lands, as reported by Bede.

Related Topics:
Federico Krutwig - Basque language - Pre-Indoeuropean - Celt - Bede

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Legends about the Picts also include mention of possible Scythian origins - linking them with another remote pre-literate people. Again, lack of information about the Pictish language makes it difficult evaluate these legends. It should also be noted that Roman and Medieval scholars tended to ascribe a Scythian origin to any barbarian people (including the Scots and Goths) in order to emphasise their barbarity and 'otherness'.

Related Topics:
Scythian - Barbarian - Scots - Goths

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