Gaulish morphology with particular reference to areas south and east of the Danube

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The ancient Celtic language is known directly from inscriptions in a few western areas of the Continent, first in north Italy/Switzerland, then in Spain west of the Ebro and in southern France. Elsewhere it is known from place- and personal names; this is true of the areas east of Gaul as far as Galatia in Asia Minor which were colonized from the third century B.C. onwards by peoples who spoke a Celtic language essentially identical with Gaulish. During the Roman Empire this early stratum was overlain by further immigration of people with Gaulish names, including soldiers and traders. Differentiating between Celtic and non-Celtic names in these areas is important from the point of view of Celtic linguistic geography and history. The project will focus on a large and relatively neglected area, stretching from Galatia (in Turkey) westwards to the Adriatic and the borders of Pannonia (Hungary). The identification of the Celtic names will be based on a thorough study of the morphology (word-formation) of Gaulish as a whole, which will in itself constitute a free-standing contribution to knowledge.