View source for Cumbric

{{Short description|Extinct Brittonic language of northern England and southern Scotland}}
{{Distinguish|Cumbrian dialect}}
{{For|the adjective more generally referring to Cumbria|Cumbrian (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Cumbric
|region=Northern England & Southern Scotland
|extinct=[[12th century]]
|ref=<ref name="Nicolaisen">Nicolaisen, W. F. H. ''Scottish Place Names'' p. 131</ref>
|familycolor=Indo-European
|fam2=[[Celtic languages|Celtic]]
|fam3=[[Insular Celtic languages|Insular Celtic]]
|fam4=[[Brittonic languages|Brittonic]]
|fam5=[[Western Brittonic]]?
|iso3=xcb
|linglist=xcb
|glotto=none
|notice=IPA
}}

'''Cumbric''' is an extinct [[Celtic languages|Celtic language]] of the [[Brittonic languages|Brittonic]] subgroup spoken during the [[Early Middle Ages]] in the ''[[Hen Ogledd]]'' or "Old North", in [[Northern England]] and the southern [[Scottish Lowlands]].<ref name="CelticCulture">{{cite book |last= Koch|first= John T.|title= Celtic Culture: a historical encyclopedia| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=f899xH_quaMC&q=515&pg=PA515|publisher= ABC-CLIO|year= 2006|isbn= 9781851094400|pages=515–516}}</ref> It was closely related to [[Old Welsh]] and the other [[Brittonic languages]]. Place-name evidence suggests Cumbric may also have been spoken as far south as [[Borough of Pendle|Pendle]] and the [[Yorkshire Dales]]. The prevailing view is that it became extinct in the 12th century, after the incorporation of the [[Kingdom of Strathclyde]] into the [[Kingdom of Scotland]].

==Problems with terminology==

[[Dauvit Broun]] sets out the problems with the various terms used to describe the Cumbric language and its speakers.<ref name=Broun>Broun, Dauvit (2004): 'The Welsh identity of the kingdom of Strathclyde, ca 900-ca 1200', ''Innes Review'' 55, pp 111–80.</ref> The people seem to have called themselves {{lang|xcb|*Cumbri}} the same way that the Welsh called themselves ''[[wiktionary:Cymry#Welsh|Cymry]]'' (most likely from reconstructed Brittonic {{lang|cel-154|*kom-brogī}} meaning "fellow countrymen") and their land ''{{lang|cy|[[Cymru]]}}''. The Welsh and the Cumbric-speaking people of what are now southern Scotland and northern England probably felt they were actually one ethnic group.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}} Old Irish speakers called them "Britons", {{lang|sga|Bretnach}}, or {{lang|sga|Bretain}}.<ref>''[[Dictionary of the Irish Language]]'', Royal Irish Academy, 1983. [http://www.dil.ie/ Online]</ref> The Norse called them {{lang|non|Brettar}}.<ref name="PNCu"/> The terms {{lang|cy|Cymru}} and {{lang|xcb|Cumbri}} were rendered in Latin as ''[[Cambria]]'' and ''[[Kingdom of Strathclyde|Cumbria]]'', respectively. In Medieval Latin, the English term Welsh became {{lang|la-x-medieval|Wallenses}} ("of Wales"), while the term {{lang|la-x-medieval|Cumbrenses}} referred to Cumbrians ("of Cumbria").<ref name=Forbes>Forbes, A. P. (1874) ''Lives of St. Ninian and St. Kentigern: compiled in the twelfth century''</ref> However, in Scots, a Cumbric speaker seems to have been called {{lang|sco|Wallace}} – from the Scots {{lang|sco|Wallis/Wellis}} "Welsh".{{Citation needed|date=January 2012}}
[[File:Cumbric region.png|thumb|right|upright=1.5|The Cumbric region: modern counties and regions with the early medieval kingdoms]]

{{quote|{{lang|la|In Cumbria itaque: regione quadam inter Angliam et Scotiam sita}} &ndash; "And so in Cumbria: a region situated between England and Scotland".<ref>Innes, Cosmo Nelson, (ed). (1843), ''Registrum Episcopatus Glasguensis; Munimenta Ecclesie Metropolitane Glasguensis a Sede Restaurata Seculo Incunte Xii Ad Reformatam Religionem'', i, Edinburgh: The Bannatyne Club</ref>}}

The Latinate term ''Cambria'' is often used for Wales; nevertheless, the ''Life of St Kentigern'' ({{circa}} 1200) by [[Jocelin of Furness]] has the following passage:

{{quote|When King Rederech <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Rhydderch Hael]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> and his people had heard that [[Saint Mungo|Kentigern]] had arrived from Wallia [i.e. [[Wales]]] into Cambria [i.e. [[Kingdom of Strathclyde|Cumbria]]], from exile into his own country, with great joy and peace both king and people went out to meet him.<ref name=Kentiger>(1989) ''Two Celtic Saints: the lives of Ninian and Kentigern'' Lampeter: Llanerch Enterprises, p. 91.</ref>}}

[[John T. Koch]] defined the specifically Cumbric region as "the area approximately between the line of the [[River Mersey]] and the Forth-Clyde Isthmus", but went on to include evidence from the [[Wirral Peninsula]] in his discussion and did not define its easterly extent.<ref name="CelticCulture" /> [[Kenneth H. Jackson]] described Cumbric as "the Brittonic dialect of [[Cumberland]], [[Westmorland]], northern [[Lancashire]], and south-west Scotland" and went on to define the region further as being bound in the north by the Firth of Clyde, in the south by the [[River Ribble]] and in the east by the Southern Scottish Uplands and the Pennine Ridge.<ref name="Jackson" /> The study Brittonic Language in the Old North by Alan G. James, concerned with documenting place- and river-names as evidence for Cumbric and the pre-Cumbric Brittonic dialects of the region ''Yr Hen Ogledd'', considered [[Loch Lomond]] the northernmost limit of the study with the southernmost limits being [[Liverpool Bay]] and the [[Humber]], although a few more southerly place-names in Cheshire and, to a lesser extent, [[Derbyshire]] and [[Staffordshire]] were also included.<ref name="spns24">{{cite web |last1=James |first1=Alan G. |title=The Brittonic Language in the Old North - A Guide to the Place-Name Evidence - Volume 1 Introduction, Bibliography etc. (2024) |url=https://spns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Alan_James_Brittonic_Language_in_the_Old_North_BLITON_Volume_I_Introduction_Bibliography_etc._2024_edition-2.pdf |website=Scottish Place-Name Society |access-date=11 July 2024}}</ref>

==Available evidence==
[[File:Scots lang-en.svg|thumb|Linguistic division in early twelfth century Scotland.{{legend|#0fe3e3|[[Goidelic languages|Gaelic]] speaking}}{{legend|#eb82df|[[Norse–Gaels|Norse-Gaelic]] zone}}{{legend|#eed4e0|English-speaking zone}}{{legend|#0ff183|[[Cumbric language|Cumbric]] zone}}]]
The evidence from Cumbric comes almost entirely through secondary sources, since no known contemporary written records of the language survive. The majority of evidence comes from place names of the north of England and the south of Scotland. Other sources include the personal names of Strathclyde Britons in Scottish, Irish, and Anglo-Saxon sources, and a few Cumbric words surviving into the [[High Middle Ages]] in southwest Scotland as legal terms. Although the language is long extinct, traces of its vocabulary arguably have persisted into the modern era in the form of "[[Yan tan tethera|counting scores]]" and in a handful of dialectal words.

From this scanty evidence, little can be deduced about the singular characteristics of Cumbric, not even the name by which its speakers referred to it. However, linguists generally agree that Cumbric was a [[Western Brittonic languages |Western Brittonic language]] closely related to [[Welsh language |Welsh]] and, more distantly, to [[Cornish language |Cornish]] and [[Breton language |Breton]].<ref>Koch, John T. (ed.), ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia'', ABC-CLIO, 2006, p. 516.</ref><ref>Ball, Martin J.; Fife, James (eds.), ''The Celtic Languages'', Taylor & Francis, 2002, p. 6.</ref><ref>Jackson, Kenneth H.  ''Language and History in Early Britain'', Edinburgh University press, 1953, p. 10.</ref>

Around the time of the battle described in the poem ''[[Y Gododdin]]'', c. 600, [[Common Brittonic]] is believed to have been transitioning into its daughter languages: Cumbric in [[North Britain]], [[Old Welsh]] in [[Wales]], and [[Southwestern Brittonic languages|Southwestern Brittonic]], the ancestor of Cornish and Breton.<ref>Davies (2005), p. 232.</ref> [[Kenneth H. Jackson|Kenneth Jackson]] concludes that the majority of changes that transformed British into Primitive Welsh belong to the period from the middle of the fifth to the end of the sixth century.<ref>Jackson (1953), pp 3–11; 690.</ref> This involved [[Syncope (phonology)|syncope]] and the loss of final syllables. If the poem ultimately dates to this time, it would have originally been written in an early form of Cumbric, the usual name for the Brythonic speech of the Hen Ogledd;<ref>Elliott (2005), p. 583.</ref> Jackson suggested the name "Primitive Cumbric" for the dialect spoken at the time.<ref>Jackson (1969), pp. 86, 90.</ref> However, scholars date the poem to between the 7th and the early 11th centuries, and the earliest surviving manuscript of it dates to the 13th, written in [[Old Welsh]] and [[Middle Welsh]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Jackson |first=Kenneth H. |date=1969 |title=The Gododdin: The Oldest Scottish Poem |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=0-85224-049-X}}</ref>

===Place names===
Cumbric place-names occur in Scotland south of the firths of Forth and Clyde. Brittonic names north of this line are [[Pictish language|Pictish]]. Cumbric names are also found commonly in the historic county of Cumberland and in bordering areas of Northumberland. They are less common in Westmorland, east Northumberland, and Durham, with some in Lancashire and the adjoining areas of North and West Yorkshire. Approaching Cheshire, late Brittonic placenames are probably better characterised as Welsh rather than as Cumbric. As noted below, however, any clear distinction between Cumbric and Welsh is difficult to prove.<ref name="PNCu" /><ref name="Watson" /><ref name="Jackson" /> Many Brittonic place-names remain in these regions which should not be described as Cumbric, such as [[Leeds]], [[Manchester]], [[Wigan]] and [[York]], because they were coined in a period before Brittonic split into Cumbric and its sister dialects.

Some of the principal towns and cities of the region have names of Cumbric origin, including:
*'''[[Bathgate]]''', West Lothian: meaning 'boar wood' (Welsh {{lang|cy|baedd}} 'wild boar' + {{lang|cy|coed}} 'forest, wood').
*'''[[Bryn, Greater Manchester|Bryn]]''', Metropolitan Borough of Wigan: from the word meaning "hill" (W. ''bryn'').<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ekwall |first1=Eilert |title=The place-names of Lancashire |date=1922 |publisher=Manchester University Press |page=100}}</ref>
*[[Carlisle, Cumbria|'''Carlisle''']], Cumberland: recorded as {{lang|la|Luguvalium}} in the Roman period; the word {{lang|cy|caer}} 'fort' was added later.<ref name="Ekwall">Ekwall, E. (1960) ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names'', 4th ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press.</ref> The Welsh form {{lang|cy|Caerliwelydd}} is derived by regular sound changes from the Romano-British name.
*'''[[Glasgow]]''', Scotland: widely believed<ref>{{cite book |last=Black |first=William George |title=Transactions of the Glasgow Archaeological Society |date=1883 |publisher=J. Maclehose & Sons |location=Glasgow |pages=219–228 |edition=Volume 2}}</ref> to derive from words [[cognate]] with <ref name="Watson" /> glas 'green' and the Welsh gae,  'field' (possibly that below [[Glasgow Cathedral]]).<ref>{{cite web |title=Beginnings: Early Times to 1560 – Neighbourhoods |first=Simon |last=Taylor |work=The Glasgow Story |date=2015 |url= https://www.theglasgowstory.com/story.php?id=TGSAG |access-date=12 March 2021}}</ref>
*'''[[Lanark]]''', Lanarkshire: from the equivalent of Welsh {{lang|cy|llannerch}} '[[Glade (geography)|glade]], clearing'.<ref name="Watson" />
*'''[[Penicuik]]''', Midlothian: from words meaning 'hill of the [[cuckoo]]' (W. {{lang|cy|pen y gog}}).<ref name="Mills" />
*'''[[Penrith, Cumbria|Penrith]]''', Westmorland & Furness: meaning 'chief [[Ford (crossing)|ford]]' (Welsh {{lang|cy|pen}} 'head, chief' + {{lang|cy|rhyd}} 'ford').<ref name="Ekwall" />

Several supposed Cumbric elements occur repeatedly in place names of the region. The following table lists some of them according to the modern Welsh equivalent:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Element (Welsh) !! Celtic root !! Meaning !! Place names
|-
| '''{{lang|cy|blaen}}''' || ''*blagno-'' || end, point, summit; source of river|| [[Blencathra]], [[Blencogo|Blencogow]], [[Blindcrake]], [[Blencarn]], [[Blennerhasset and Torpenhow|Blennerhassett]]
|-
| '''{{lang|cy|caer}}''' || ''castrum'' (Latin) || fort, stronghold; wall, rampart || [[Carlisle]], [[Carluke]], [[Cardew, Cumbria|Cardew]], [[Cardurnock]], [[Carfrae Bastle|Carfrae]], [[Cargo, Cumbria|Cargo]], [[Caerlanrig|Carlanrig]], [[Bo'ness|Carriden]], [[Castle Carrock]], [[Cathcart]], [[Caerlaverock]], [[Cardonald]], [[Cramond]], Carleith
|-
| '''{{lang|cy|coed}}''' || ''*keto-'' || trees, forest, wood || [[Alkincoats Hall|Alkincoats]], [[Bathgate]], [[Dalkeith]], [[Culgaith]], [[Tulketh]], [[Culcheth]], [[Pencaitland]], [[Penketh]], Towcett, [[Dalkeith|Dankeith]], [[Culgaith]], Cheadle, Cheetham, [[Cathcart]], Cheetwood, Cathpair, Kincaid, [[Inchkeith]]
|-
| '''{{lang|cy|cwm}}''' || ''*kumba-'' || deep narrow valley; hollow, bowl-shaped depression || [[Cumrew]], [[Cumwhitton]], [[Cumwhinton]], [[Cumdivock]]
|-
| '''{{lang|cy|drum}}''', '''{{lang|cy|trum}}''' || ''*drosman-'' || ridge || [[Drumlanrig]], [[Dundraw]], [[Mindrum]], [[Drumburgh]], [[Drem]], Drumaben
|-
| '''{{lang|cy|eglwys}}''' || ''ecclesia'' (Latin) || church || [[Ecclefechan]], [[Ecclesmachan]], [[Eccleston (disambiguation)|Eccleston]], [[Eccles (disambiguation)|Eccles]], [[Terregles]], [[Egglescliffe]], Eggleshope, Ecclaw, [[Eccle Riggs|Ecclerigg]], Dalreagle, [[Eggleston]], Exley, possibly [[Eaglesfield, Cumbria|Eaglesfield]]
|-
| '''{{lang|cy|llannerch}}''' || ''*landa-'' || clearing, glade || [[Barlanark]], [[Caerlanrig|Carlanrig]], [[Drumlanrig]], [[Lanark]][<nowiki/>[[Lanarkshire|shire]]], [[Lanercost]]
|-
| '''{{lang|cy|moel}}''' || ''*mailo-'' || bald; (bare) mountain/hill, summit || [[Mellor, Lancashire|Mellor]], Melrose, [[Mallerstang]], [[Watermillock]]
|-
| '''{{lang|cy|pen}}''' || ''*penno-'' || head; top, summit; source of stream; headland; chief, principal || Pennygant Hill, [[Pen-y-ghent|Pen-y-Ghent]], [[Penrith, Cumbria|Penrith]], [[Penruddock]], [[Pencaitland]], [[Penicuik]], [[Penpont]], [[Penketh]], [[Pendle Hill | Pendle]], [[Penshaw]], Pemberton, [[Penistone]], Pen-bal Crag, [[Penwortham]], [[Torpenhow Hill|Torpenhow]]
|-
| '''{{lang|cy|pren}}''' || ''*prenna-'' || tree; timber; cross || [[Traprain Law]], [[Barnbougle Castle|Barnbougle]], Pirn, Pirncader, Pirniehall, Pirny Braes, Primrose, Prendwick
|-
| '''{{lang|cy|tref}}''' || ''*trebo-'' || town, homestead, estate, township || [[Longniddry]], [[Niddrie, Edinburgh|Niddrie]], [[Ochiltree]], [[Soutra Aisle|Soutra]], [[Terregles]], Trabroun, Trailtrow, [[Tranent]], [[Traprain Law]], [[Traquair]], [[Treales, Roseacre and Wharles|Treales]], [[Triermain Castle|Triermain]], Trostrie, Troughend, Tranew; possibly [[Bawtry]], [[Trafford]]
|}

Some Cumbric names have historically been replaced by [[Scottish Gaelic]], [[Middle English]], or [[Scots language|Scots]] equivalents, and in some cases the different forms occur in the historical record.
*[[Edinburgh]] occurs in early Welsh texts as {{lang|wlm|[[Din Eidyn]]}} and in medieval Scottish records as {{lang|sco|Dunedene}} (Gaelic {{lang|gd|Dùn Èideann}}), all meaning 'fort of [[Eidyn]]'.<ref name="Watson" />
*[[Falkirk]] similarly has several alternative medieval forms meaning 'speckled church': {{lang|enm|Eglesbreth}} etc. from Cumbric (Welsh {{lang|cy|eglwys fraith}}); {{lang|enm|Eiglesbrec}} etc. from Gaelic (modern Gaelic {{lang|gd|eaglais bhreac}}); {{lang|sco|Faukirk}} etc. from Scots (in turn from [[Old English]] {{lang|ang|fāg cirice}}).<ref name="Nicolaisen" />
*[[Kirkintilloch]] began as a Cumbric name recorded as {{lang|xcb|Caerpentaloch}} in the 10th century, but was partly replaced by the Gaelic words {{lang|gd|ceann}} 'head' + {{lang|gd|tulach}} 'hillock' later on<ref name="Watson" /> (plus {{lang|sco|kirk}} 'church' from Scots again).
*[[Kinneil House#Early history|Kinneil]] derives from Gaelic {{lang|gd|ceann fhàil}} 'head of the [[Antonine Wall|&#91;Antonine&#93; Wall]]' but it was recorded by [[Nennius]] as {{lang|wlm|Penguaul}} (Welsh {{lang|cy|pen gwawl}}), and by [[Bede]] as {{lang|enm|Peanfahel}}, which appears to be a merger of Cumbric and Gaelic.<ref name="Watson" />

Derivatives of Common Brittonic ''*magno'', such as Welsh ''maen'' and Cornish ''men'', mean "stone", particularly one with a special purpose or significance. In the Cumbric region, the word "Man" frequently occurs in geographical names associated with standing stones (most notably the [[Old Man of Coniston]]) and it is possible, albeit "hard to say" according to Alan G. James, if the Cumbric reflex ''*main'' had any influence on these.<ref name="bliton24ii">{{cite web |title=The Brittonic Language in the Old North - A Guide to the Place-Name Evidence - A guide to the elements |url=https://spns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Alan_James_Brittonic_Language_in_the_Old_North_BLITON_Volume_II_Dictionary_2024_edition-2.pdf |website=Scottish Place-Name Society |access-date=16 July 2024}}</ref>

===Counting systems===
{{see also|Yan tan tethera}}
Among the evidence that Cumbric might have influenced local English dialects are a group of [[counting]] systems, or scores, recorded in various parts of northern England. Around 100 of these systems have been collected since the 18th&nbsp;century; the scholarly consensus is that these derive from a Brittonic language closely related to Welsh.<ref name=Filppula>Filppula, Klemola, & Paulasto, pp. 102–105.</ref> Though they are often referred to as "sheep-counting numerals", most recorded scores were not used to count sheep, but in [[knitting]] or for [[List of traditional children's games|children's games]] or [[nursery rhyme]]s.<ref name=Filppula/> These scores are often suggested to represent a survival from medieval Cumbric, a theory first popularized in the 19th&nbsp;century.<ref name="Filppula" /> However, later scholars came to reject this idea, suggesting instead that the scores were later imports from either [[Wales]] or [[Scotland]], but in light of the dearth of evidence one way or another, Markku Filppula, Juhani Klemola, and Heli Paulasto posit that it remains plausible that the counting systems are indeed of Cumbric origin.<ref name=Filppula/>

Cumbric, in common with other Brythonic languages, used a [[vigesimal]] counting system, i.e. numbering up to twenty, with intermediate numbers for ten and fifteen. Therefore, after numbering one to ten, numbers follow the format one-and-ten, two-and-ten etc. to fifteen, then one-and-fifteen, two-and-fifteen to twenty. The dialect words for the numbers themselves show much variation across the region. (see chart) 

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Counting systems of possible Cumbric origin; modern Welsh, Cornish, and Breton included for comparison.
! Number
![[Keswick, Cumbria|Keswick]]
![[Westmorland]]
![[Eskdale, Cumbria|Eskdale]]
![[Millom]]
![[Furness|High Furness]]
![[Wasdale]]
![[Teesdale]]
![[Swaledale]]
![[Wensleydale]]
![[Ayrshire]]
! style="background: #DDD;" | [[Welsh language|Modern Welsh]]
! style="background: #DDD;" | [[Cornish language|Modern Cornish]]
! style="background: #DDD;" | [[Breton language|Modern Breton]]
|-
! 1
|   ''yan''
|   ''yan''
|   ''yaena''
|   ''aina''
|   ''yan''
|   ''yan''
|   ''yan''
|   ''yahn''
|   ''yan''
|   ''yinty''
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|cy|un}}
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|kw|onan}}, {{lang|kw|unn}}
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|br|unan}}
|-
! 2
|   ''tyan''
|   ''tyan''
|   ''taena''
|   ''peina''
|   ''taen''
|   ''taen''
|   ''tean''
|   ''tayhn''
|   ''tean''
|   ''tinty''
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|cy|dau}} <small>{{abbr|m|masculine}}</small>, {{lang|cy|dwy}} <small>{{abbr|f|feminine}}</small>
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|kw|dew}} <small>m</small>, {{lang|kw|diw}} <small>f</small>
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|br|daou}} <small>m</small>, {{lang|br|div}} <small>f</small>
|-
! 3
|   ''tethera''
|   ''tetherie''
|   ''teddera''
|   ''para''
|   ''tedderte''
|   ''tudder''
|   ''tetherma''
|   ''tether''
|   ''tither''
|   ''tetheri''
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|cy|tri}} <small>m</small>, {{lang|cy|tair}} <small>f'</small>
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|kw|tri}} <small>m</small>, {{lang|kw|teyr}} <small>f</small>
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|br|tri}} <small>m</small>, {{lang|br|teir}} <small>f</small>
|-
! 4
|   ''methera''
|   ''peddera''
|   ''meddera''
|   ''pedera''
|   ''medderte''
|   ''anudder''
|   ''metherma''
|   ''mether''
|   ''mither''
|   ''metheri''
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|cy|pedwar}} <small>m</small>, {{lang|cy|pedair}} <small>f</small><br>([[colloquial Welsh morphology|nasal]] {{lang|cy|mhedwar}})
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|kw|peswar}} <small>m</small>, {{lang|kw|peder}} <small>f</small>
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|br|pevar}} <small>m</small>, {{lang|br|peder}} <small>f</small>
|-
! 5
|   ''pimp''
|   ''gip''
|   ''pimp''
|   ''pimp''
|   ''pimp''
|   ''nimph''
|   ''pip''
|   ''mimp[h]''
|   ''pip''
|   ''bamf''
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|cy|pump}}
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|kw|pymp}}
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|br|pemp}}
|-
! 6
|   ''sethera''
|   ''teezie''
|   ''hofa''
|   ''ithy''
|   ''haata''
|   {{center|—}}
|   ''lezar''
|   ''hith-her''
|   ''teaser''
|   ''leetera''
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|cy|chwech}}
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|kw|hwegh}}
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|br|c'hwec'h}}
|-
! 7
|   ''lethera''
|   ''mithy''
|   ''lofa''
|   ''mithy''
|   ''slaata''
|   {{center|—}}
|   ''azar''
|   ''lith-her''
|   ''leaser''
|   ''seetera''
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|cy|saith}}
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|kw|seyth}}
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|br|seizh}}
|-
! 8
|   ''hovera''
|   ''katra''
|   ''seckera''
|   ''owera''
|   ''lowera''
|   {{center|—}}
|   ''catrah''
|   ''anver''
|   ''catra''
|   ''over''
|   style="background: #EEE;" |  {{lang|cy|wyth}}
|   style="background: #EEE;" |  {{lang|kw|eth}}
|   style="background: #EEE;" |  {{lang|br|eizh}}
|-
! 9
|   ''dovera''
|   ''hornie''
|   ''leckera''
|   ''lowera''
|   ''dowa''
|   {{center|—}}
|   ''horna''
|   ''danver''
|   ''horna''
|   ''dover''
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|cy|naw}}
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|kw|naw}}
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|br|nav}}
|-
! 10
|   ''dick''
|   ''dick''
|   ''dec''
|   ''dig''
|   ''dick''
|   {{center|—}}
|   ''dick''
|   ''dic''
|   ''dick''
|   ''dik''
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|cy|deg}}
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|kw|deg}}
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|br|dek}}
|-
! 15
|   ''bumfit''
|   ''bumfit''
|   ''bumfit''
|   ''bumfit''
|   ''mimph''
|   {{center|—}}
|   ''bumfit''
|   ''mimphit''
|   ''bumper''
|   {{center|—}}
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|cy|pymtheg}}
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|kw|pymthek}}
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|br|pemzek}}
|-
! 20
|   ''giggot''
|''Jiggot''
|   {{center|—}}
|   {{center|—}}
|   {{center|—}}
|   {{center|—}}
|''Jiggit''
|''Jigget''
|   ''jiggit''
|   {{center|—}}
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|cy|ugain}}
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|kw|ugens}}
|   style="background: #EEE;" | {{lang|br|ugent}}
|}

===Scots and English===
A number of words occurring in the [[Scots language]] and [[English language in Northern England|Northern English dialects]] have been proposed as being of possible Brittonic origin.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dictionary of the Scots Language<!-- Bot generated title --> |url=http://www.dsl.ac.uk/}}</ref> Ascertaining the real derivation of these words is far from simple, due in part to the similarities between some cognates in the Brittonic and [[Goidelic languages]] and the fact that borrowing took place in both directions between these languages.

Another difficulty lies with other words which were taken into [[Old English]], as in many cases it is impossible to tell whether the borrowing is directly from Brittonic or not (e.g. ''Brogat'', ''Crag'', below). The following are possibilities:
* '''''Bach''''' – 'cowpat' (cf. Welsh {{lang|cy|baw}} 'dung', Gaelic {{lang|gd|buadhar}})
* '''''Baivenjar''''' – 'mean fellow' (Welsh {{lang|cy|bawyn}} 'scoundrel')
* '''''Brat''''' – 'apron'. The word appears in Welsh (with meanings 'rag, cloth' and 'pinafore'<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Convery |editor-first=Anne |title=Collins Spurrell Pocket Welsh Dictionary |date=1993 |publisher=HarperCollins |location=Glasgow}}</ref>), Scots<ref>{{cite web |title=Dictionary of the Scots Language |url=http://www.dsl.ac.uk/ |access-date=13 March 2011}}</ref> and northern English dialects,<ref>{{cite book |last=Rollinson |first=William |title=The Cumbrian Dictionary |year=1997 |publisher=Smith Settle |location=Otley, UK |isbn=1-85825-067-6}}</ref> but may be an Old English borrowing from [[Old Irish]].<ref>{{cite book |last=MacBain |first=Alexander |title=An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language |url=https://archive.org/details/etymologicaldict00macb |date=1911|publisher=Gairm Publications |isbn=9780901771681 }}</ref>
* '''''Brogat''''' – a type of [[mead]] (Welsh {{lang|cy|bragod}} '[[wikt:bragget|bragget]]' – also found in [[Geoffrey Chaucer|Chaucer]])
* '''''Coble''''' – a type of small, flat-bottomed boat (also in Northeast England), akin to Welsh ''[[wikt:ceubal|ceubal]]'' 'a hollow' and Latin ''[[wikt:caupulus|caupulus]]''; distinct from the round-bottomed [[coracle]].
* '''''Crag''''' – 'rocks'. Either from Brittonic (Welsh {{lang|cy|craig}}) or Goidelic ([[Scottish Gaelic]] {{lang|gd|creag}}).
* '''''Croot''''' – 'small boy' (Welsh {{lang|cy|crwt}}, Gaelic {{lang|gd|cruit}} 'small person', 'humpback/hunchback')
* '''''Croude''''' – a type of small [[harp]] or [[lyre]] (as opposed to the larger {{lang|gd|[[clàrsach]]}}; Welsh {{lang|cy|[[crwth]]}} 'bowed lyre', later '[[fiddle]]', Gaelic {{lang|gd|croit}})
* '''''Lum''''' – Scottish word for 'chimney' ([[Middle Welsh]] {{lang|cy|llumon}})

==Equivalence with Old Welsh==
{{Original research section|date=June 2024}}
The linguistic term '''Cumbric''' is defined according to geographical rather than linguistic criteria: that is, it refers to the variety of Brittonic spoken within a particular region of [[North Britain]]<ref name=CelticCulture/> and implies nothing about that variety except that it was geographically distinct from other varieties. This has led to a discussion about the nature of Cumbric and its relationship with other Brittonic languages, in particular with [[Old Welsh]].

Linguists appear undecided as to whether Cumbric should be considered a separate language, or a dialect of Old Welsh. Koch calls it a dialect but goes on to say that some of the place names in the Cumbric region "clearly reflect a developed medieval language, much like Welsh, Cornish or Breton".<ref name=CelticCulture/> Jackson also calls it a dialect but points out that "to call it Pr[imitive] W[elsh] would be inaccurate",<ref name=Jackson>Jackson, K. H. (1956): Language and History in Early Britain, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press</ref> so clearly views it as distinct in some meaningful respect.

It has been suggested that Cumbric was more closely aligned to the [[Pictish language]]<ref name="James"/> than to Welsh, though there is considerable debate regarding the classification of that language. On the basis of place name evidence it has also been proposed that all three languages were very similar.<ref>Taylor, S. and Markus, G. (2006) The Place-names of Fife: West Fife between Leven and Forth: v.1</ref> In all probability, the "Cumbric" of Lothian more nearly resembled the "Pictish" of adjacent Fife than the Welsh dialects spoken over 300 miles away in Dyfed and accordingly, Alan G. James has argued that all 3 languages may have formed a [[Dialect continuum|continuum]].<ref name="spns24" />

The whole question is made more complex because there is no consensus as to whether any principled distinction can be made between [[Dialect#Dialect or language|languages and dialects]].

Below, some of the proposed differences between Cumbric and Old Welsh are discussed.

===Retention of Brittonic ''*rk''===
In Welsh, Cornish, and Breton, the Common Brittonic cluster ''*rk'' was [[lenition|spirantized]] to {{IPA|/rx/}} (Welsh ''rch'', Cornish ''rgh'', Breton ''rc'h'') but a number of place names appear to show Cumbric retained the [[stop consonant|stop]] in this position. [[Lanark]] and [[Lanercost]] are thought to contain the equivalent of Welsh ''llannerch'' 'clearing'.<ref name=Mills>Mills, A.D. (2003): Oxford Dictionary of British Place Names, Oxford: OUP</ref>

There is evidence to the contrary, however, including the place names Powmaughan and Maughanby (containing Welsh ''Meirchion'')<ref name=Ekwall/> and the word ''kelchyn'' (related to Welsh ''cylch'').<ref name=Jackson/> Jackson concludes that the change of Common Brittonic ''*rk'' > {{IPA|/rx/}} "''may'' have been somewhat later in Cumbric".<ref name=Jackson/>

===Retention of Brittonic ''*mb''===
There is evidence to suggest that the consonant cluster ''mb'' remained distinct in Cumbric later than the time it was assimilated to ''mm'' in Welsh, Cornish, and Breton. The cluster remains in:
* Old English ''Cumbraland'' "land of Cumbrians" (from Common Brittonic ''*kombrogi'', whence Welsh ''Cymru'' "Wales" also originates).
* ''Crombocwater'' and ''Crombokwatre'',<ref name=Ekwall/> two 14th-century records of [[Crummock Water]] and ''Crombok'' an 1189 record for [[Crummackdale|Crummack Dale]] in [[Yorkshire]]<ref name=Jackson/> (from Common Brittonic ''*Crumbāco-'' "curved one" (W ''crwm'' "curved")).
* Cam Beck, the name of a stream in north Cumbria recorded as ''Camboc'' (1169) and believed to be from Common Brittonic ''*Cambāco-'' "crooked stream" (W ''cam'', CB ''kamm'').<ref name=Ekwall/>
* Crimple Beck, Yorkshire, which is said to derive from Common Brittonic. ''*Crumbopull-'' "crooked pool".<ref name=Ekwall/> Here the ''b'' is assumed to have survived late enough to cause [[provection]].

Jackson notes that only in the north does the cluster appear in place names borrowed after ''circa'' 600AD and concludes that it may have been a later dialectal survival here.

===Syncope===
Jackson notes the legal term ''galnys'', equivalent to Welsh ''[[galanas]]'', may show [[Syncope (phonology)|syncope]] of internal syllables to be a feature of Cumbric. Further evidence is wanting, however.

===Devoicing===
James<ref name="James">James, A. G. (2008): 'A Cumbric Diaspora?' in Padel and Parsons (eds.) A Commodity of Good Names: essays in honour of Margaret Gelling, Shaun Tyas: Stamford, pp 187–203</ref> mentions that devoicing appears to be a feature of many Cumbric place names. Devoicing of word final consonants is a feature of modern Breton<ref>Hemon, R. & Everson, M. (trans.) (2007): Breton Grammar, Cathair na Mart, Éire: Evertype: p79</ref> and, to an extent, Cornish.<ref>Cornish Language Partnership (2007): 'A Proposed Standard Written Form of Cornish' available at http://kernowek.net/</ref> Watson<ref name=Watson>Watson, W. J. (1926): History of the Celtic Place-Names of Scotland, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press</ref> notes initial devoicing in Tinnis Castle (in [[Drumelzier]]) (compare Welsh ''dinas'' 'fortress, city') as an example of this, which can also be seen in the Cornish [[Tintagel]], ''din'' 'fort'. Also notable are the different English names of two Welsh towns named ''Dinbych'' ('little fort'); [[Denbigh]] and [[Tenby]].

There is also a significant number of place names which do not support this theory. Devoke Water and Cumdivock (&lt; ''Dyfoc'', according to Ekwall) and Derwent (< [[Common Brittonic]] ''Derwentiō'') all have initial {{IPA|/d/}}. The name Calder (&lt; Brit. ''*Caletodubro-'') in fact appears to show a voiced Cumbric consonant where Welsh has ''Calettwr'' by [[provection]], which Jackson believes reflects an earlier stage of pronunciation. Jackson also notes that Old English had no internal or final {{IPA|/ɡ/}}, so would be borrowed with {{IPA|/k/}} by sound substitution. This can be seen in names with ''c, k, ck'' (e.g. Cocker &lt; Brittonic ''*{{lang|xcb|kukro-}}'',<ref name=Ekwall/>{{clarify|date=October 2014|reason=How is that an example? k to c and k to ck are not examples of g to k.}} Eccles &lt; Brittonic ''eglēsia''<ref name=Jackson/>).

===Loss of {{IPA|/w/}}===
The Cumbric personal names Gospatrick, Gososwald and Gosmungo meaning 'servant of St...' (Welsh, Cornish, Breton ''gwas'' 'servant, boy') and the Galloway dialect word ''gossock'' 'short, dark haired inhabitant of Wigtownshire' (W. ''gwasog'' 'a servant'<ref name=Watson/>) apparently show that the Cumbric equivalent of Welsh and Cornish ''gwas'' & B ''gwaz'' 'servant' was ''*gos''.<ref name=Watson/> Jackson suggests that it may be a survival of the original [[Proto-Celtic language|Proto-Celtic]] form of the word in –o- (i.e. ''*uɸo-sto''<ref name=Jackson/>).

This idea is disputed by the ''Dictionary of the Scots Language'';<ref>{{cite web|title=Dictionary of the Scots Language|url=http://www.dsl.ac.uk/}}</ref> and the occurrence in Gospatrick's Writ of the word ''wassenas'' 'dependants',<ref name="PNCu" /><ref name=Phythian /> thought to be from the same word ''gwas'', is evidence against Jackson's theory. Koch notes that the alternation between ''gwa-'' and ''go-'' is common among the Brittonic languages and does not amount to a systematic sound change in any of them.

[[Thomas Owen Clancy|Thomas Clancy]] opined that the royal feminine personal name in Life of Kentigern, ''Languoreth'', demonstrates the presence of /gw/ Cumbric.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Clancy |first1=Thomas |title=Logie: an ecclesiastical place-name element in eastern Scotland 75 |url=http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/135558/1/135558.pdf |access-date=3 November 2020}}</ref>

It is noteworthy that the toponym ''Brenkibeth'' in Cumberland (now Burntippet; possibly ''bryn'', "hill" + ''gwyped'', "gnats") may display this syllable anglicized as ''-k-''.<ref name="bliton">{{cite web |last1=James |first1=Alan |title=A Guide to the Place-Name Evidence |url=https://spns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Alan_James_Brittonic_Language_in_the_Old_North_BLITON_Volume_II_Dictionary_2020_Edition.pdf |website=SPNS - The Brittonic Language in the Old North |access-date=25 November 2018}}</ref> The name, however, may not be Brittonic at all, and instead be of [[Old Norse|Scandinavian]] origin.<ref name="bliton" />

===Semantics of ''Penn''===
In the ''[[Book of Aneirin]]'', a poem entitled '' "[[Dinogad's Smock|Peis Dinogat]]" '' (possibly set in the [[Lake District]] of [[Cumbria]]), contains a usage of the word ''penn'' "head" (attached to the names of several animals hunted by the protagonist), that is unique in medieval Welsh literature and may, according to Koch, reflect Cumbric influence ("[r]eferring to a single animal in this way is otherwise found only in Breton, and we have no evidence that the construction ever had any currency in the present-day Wales").<ref name=CelticCulture/> The relevant lines are:

:Pan elei dy dat ty e vynyd
:Dydygei ef penn ywrch penn gwythwch penn hyd
:Penn grugyar vreith o venyd
:Penn pysc o rayadyr derwennyd

Translated as:

: When your father went to [the] mountain
: He brought a head of buck, head of wild pig, head of stag
: Head of speckled grouse from [the] mountain
: Head of fish from [the] falls of Derwent

The form ''derwennydd'' however, is at odds with the absence of the ending ''-ydd'' noted below.

However, such semantics are probably archaisms, and rather than being features diagnostic of linguistic distinctiveness, are more likely to be legacies of features once common to all Brittonic speech.<ref name="ccab">{{cite book |last1=Koch |first1=John T |title=Celtic Culture: Aberdeen breviary-celticism : Volume 1 of Celtic culture |date=2006 |publisher=ABC CLIO |isbn=9781851094400 |page=1444 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f899xH_quaMC}}</ref>

===Definite article===
The modern Brittonic languages have different forms of the [[Article (grammar)#Definite article|definite article]]: Welsh ''yr, -'r, y'', Cornish ''an'', and Breton ''an, ar, al''. These are all taken to derive from an unstressed form of the Common Brittonic [[demonstrative]] ''*sindos'', altered by assimilation (compare the [[Irish declension#Articles|Gaelic articles]]).<ref name=Jackson /> Throughout Old Welsh the article is ''ir'' (or ''-r'' after a vowel),<ref>Morris-Jones, J. (1913): A Welsh Grammar Historical and Comparative, Oxford: OUP, p192</ref> but there is evidence in Cumbric for an article in ''-n'' alongside one in ''-r''. Note the following:

*Tallentire, Cumbria (''Talentir'' 1200–25): 'brow/end of the land' (Welsh ''tal y tir'')<ref name=Ekwall />
*Triermain, Cumbria (''Trewermain, Treverman'' c 1200): 'homestead at the stone' (Welsh ''tre(f) y maen'')<ref name=Ekwall />
*Treales, Lancashire (''Treueles'' 1086): possibly 'village of the court' (Welsh ''tre(f) y llys'').<ref name=Ekwall /> But note [[Treflys]], [[Powys]] which has no article.
*Pen-y-Ghent, Yorkshire (''Penegent'' 1307):  'hill of the border country' (Welsh ''pen y gaint'').<ref name=Ekwall /> The final element is disputed. Ekwall says it is identical to [[Kent]] (&lt; Br ''*Kantion''), which is related to Welsh ''cant'' 'rim, border', though Mills<ref name=Mills /> gives 'coastal district' or 'land of the hosts or armies' for the county.
*Traquair, Borders (''Treverquyrd'' 1124):  'homestead on the River Quair' (Welsh ''tre(f) y Quair'').<ref name="Mackay">Mackay, George (2002): Scottish Place Names, New Lanark: Lomond Books</ref>
*Penicuik, [[Midlothian]] (''Penicok'' 1250):  'hill of the cuckoo' (Welsh ''pen y cog'')<ref name=Mackay />
*Liscard, [[Wirral Peninsula]] (''Lisenecark'' 1260): possibly 'court of the rock' (Welsh ''llys y garreg''),<ref name=CelticCulture /><ref name=Ekwall /> but also suggested is Irish ''lios na carraige'' of identical meaning.<ref name=Mills />

===Absence of ''-ydd''===
Of all the names of possible Cumbric derivation, few are more certain than [[Carlisle, Cumbria|Carlisle]] and [[River Derwent, Cumbria|Derwent]] which can be directly traced back to their Romano-British recorded forms ''Luguvalium'' and ''Derventio''.

The modern and medieval forms of Carlisle (''Luel'' c1050, ''Cardeol'' 1092, ''Karlioli'' c1100 (in the [[Medieval Latin]] [[genitive case]]), ''Cærleoil'' 1130) and Derwent (''Deorwentan stream'' c890 (Old English), ''Derewent'') suggest derivations from Br *''Luguvaljon'' and ''*Derwentjō''. But the Welsh forms ''Caerliwelydd'' and ''Derwennydd'' are derived from alternative forms ''*Luguvalijon, *Derwentijō''<ref name=Jackson/> which gave the ''-ydd'' ending. This appears to show a divergence between Cumbric and Welsh at a relatively early date.

If this was an early dialectal variation, it can't be applied as a universal sound law, as the equivalent of W ''mynydd'' 'mountain' occurs in a number of Cumbric names with the spirant intact: E.g. Mindrum (''Minethrum'' 1050) from 'mountain ridge' (Welsh ''mynydd trum'').<ref name=Mills /> It might also be noted that Medieval Welsh forms of ''Caerliwelydd''<ref>Morris-Jones, J. (1918): Taliesin, London: Society of Cymmrodorion p209&nbsp;– ''Chaer Liwelyd'' in ''Marwnad Rhun'' (''[[Book of Taliesin]]'')</ref>
and ''Derwennydd''<ref>see extract from ''Peis Dinogat'' above</ref> both occur in poems of supposed Cumbrian origin whose rhyme and metre would be disrupted if the ending were absent.

Of additional relevance is that Guto Rhys demonstrated "some robust proof" of the presence of the ''-ydd'' ending in the closely aligned [[Pictish language]].<ref name="UGlas">{{cite thesis|last1=Rhys |first1=Guto|title=Approaching the Pictish language: historiography, early evidence and the question of Pritenic|degree=PhD |url=http://theses.gla.ac.uk/6285/7/2015RhysPhD.pdf |publisher=University of Glasgow|date=2015}}</ref>

===Use of the name element ''Gos-''===
One particularly distinctive element of Cumbric is the repeated use of the element {{lang|xcb|Gos-}} or {{lang|xcb|Cos-}} (W. {{lang|cy|gwas}} 'boy, lad; servant, attendant') in personal names, followed by the name of a saint. The practice is reminiscent of Gaelic names such as ''Maol Choluim'' "Malcolm" and ''Gille Crìosd'' "Gilchrist", which have [[Scottish Gaelic]] {{lang|gd|maol}} (Old Irish {{lang|sga|máel}} 'bald, tonsured; servant') and {{lang|gd|gille}} ('servant, lad', < Old Irish {{lang|sga|gilla}} 'a youth').

The most well-known example of this Cumbric naming practice is ''Gospatric'', which occurs as the name of several notable Anglo-Scottish noblemen in the 11th and 12th centuries. Other examples, standardised from original sources, include ''Gosmungo'' ([[Saint Mungo]]), ''Gososwald'' ([[Oswald of Northumbria]]) and ''Goscuthbert'' ([[Cuthbert]]).<ref name=Forbes/><ref name=Koch>Koch, J. T. (1983) 'The Loss of Final Syllables and Loss of Declension in Brittonic' in [Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies 30: 214-220]</ref>

==Date of extinction==
It is impossible to give an exact date of the extinction of Cumbric. However, there are some pointers which may give a reasonably accurate estimate. In the mid-11th century, some landowners still bore what appear to be Cumbric names. Examples of such landowners are Dunegal (Dyfnwal), lord of Strathnith or [[Nithsdale]];<ref>Oram, R.(2000): The Lordship of Galloway, Edinburgh: John Donald</ref> Moryn (Morien), lord of Cardew and Cumdivock near Carlisle; and Eilifr (Eliffer), lord of Penrith.<ref name="Phythian">Phythian-Adams, Charles (1996): Land of the Cumbrians, Aldershot: Scolar Press</ref>

There is a village near Carlisle called [[Cumwhitton]] (earlier Cumquinton). This appears to contain the Norman name Quinton, affixed to a cognate of the Welsh ''cwm'', meaning valley.<ref name=PNCu>Armstrong, A. M., Mawer, A., Stenton, F. M. and Dickens, B. (1952) The Place-Names of Cumberland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.</ref> There were no Normans in this area until 1069 at the earliest.

In the [[Battle of the Standard]] in 1138, the Cumbrians are noted as a separate ethnic group. Given that their material culture was very similar to their Gaelic and Anglian neighbours, it is arguable that what set them apart was still their language.<ref>Oram, Richard (2004), David: The King Who Made Scotland</ref> Also the castle at [[Castle Carrock]]&nbsp;– Castell Caerog – dates from around 1160–1170. [[Barmulloch]], earlier Badermonoc (Cumbric "monk's dwelling"<ref>Taylor, Simon. "The Glasgow Story&nbsp;– Early Times to 1560". {{cite web |url = http://www.theglasgowstory.com/story.php?id=TGSAG |title = The Glasgow Story: Beginnings: Early Times to 1560 |author = Taylor, Simon |publisher = The Glasgow Story |access-date= 2 August 2012 }}</ref>), was given to the church by [[Malcolm IV of Scotland]] between 1153 and 1165.

A more controversial point is the surname Wallace. It means "Welshman". It is possible that all the Wallaces in the Clyde area were medieval immigrants from Wales, but given that the term was also used for local Cumbric-speaking Strathclyde Welsh, it seems equally, if not more, likely that the surname refers to people who were seen as being "Welsh" due to their Cumbric language.

Surnames in Scotland were not inherited before 1200 and not regularly until 1400. [[Sir William Wallace]] (known in [[Goidelic languages|Gaelic]] as Uilleam Breatnach&nbsp;– namely William the Briton or Welshman) came from the [[Renfrew]] area&nbsp;– itself a Cumbric name. Wallace slew the sheriff of Lanark (also a Cumbric name) in 1297. Even if he had inherited the surname from his father, it is possible that the family spoke Cumbric within memory in order to be thus named.

There are also some historical pointers to a continuing separate ethnic identity. Prior to being crowned king of Scotland in 1124, [[David I of Scotland|David I]] was invested with the title Prince of the Cumbrians. [[William the Lion]] between 1173 and 1180 made an address to his subjects, identifying the Cumbrians as a separate group.<ref name="Broun" /> This does not prove that any of them still spoke Cumbric at this time.

The legal documents in the Lanercost Cartulary, dating from the late 12th century, show witnesses with Norman French or English names, and no obvious Cumbric names. Though these people represent the upper classes, it seems significant that by the late 12th century in the Lanercost area, Cumbric is not obvious in these personal names.<ref name=Todd>Todd, J. M. (ed.) (1991) The Lanercost Cartulary, Carlisle: CWAAS</ref> In 1262 in Peebles, jurymen in a legal dispute over peat cutting also have names which mostly appear Norman French or English,<ref name=Chambers>Chambers, W. (1864) A History of Peebleshire, Edinburgh: W & M Chambers</ref> but possible exceptions are Gauri Pluchan, Cokin Smith and Robert Gladhoc, where ''Gladhoc'' has the look of an adjectival noun similar to Welsh "gwladog" = "countryman".<ref name=GPC>Prifysgol Cymru. (2002) Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru: Caerdydd: Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru</ref> In the charters of [[Wetherall]] Priory near Carlisle there is a monk called Robert Minnoc who appears as a witness to 8 charters dating from around 1260.<ref name=Prescott>Prescott, J. E. (ed.) (1897) Register of Wetheral Priory, Carlisle: CWAAS</ref> His name is variously spelled Minnoc/Minot/Mynoc and it is tempting to see an equivalent of the Welsh "mynach"&nbsp;– "Robert the Monk" here.

Given that in other areas which have given up speaking Celtic languages, the upper classes have generally become Anglicised before the peasantry, it is not implausible that the peasantry continued to speak Cumbric for at least a little while after. Around 1200 there is a list of the names of men living in the area of [[Peebles]].<ref name="Watson" /> Amongst them are Cumbric names such as Gospatrick: servant or follower of [[Saint Patrick]], Gosmungo: servant of [[Saint Mungo]], Guososwald: servant of [[Oswald of Northumbria]] and Goscubrycht: servant of [[Cuthbert]]. Two of the saints&nbsp;– Oswald and Cuthbert&nbsp;— are from [[Kingdom of Northumbria|Northumbria]] showing influence on Cumbric not found in Welsh.

In 1305 [[Edward I of England]] prohibited the ''[[Leges inter Brettos et Scottos]]''.<ref>Barrow, G. W. S. (2005) Robert Bruce & the Community of the Realm of Scotland, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press</ref> The term Brets or Britons refers to the native, traditionally Cumbric speaking people of southern Scotland and northern England as well as the Pictish speakers in Northern Scotland.

It seems that Cumbric could well have survived into the middle of the 12th century as a community language and even lasted into the 13th on the tongues of the last remaining speakers. Certain areas seem to be particularly dense in Cumbric place-names even down to very minor features. The two most striking of these are around [[Lanercost]] east of Carlisle and around [[Torquhan]] south of Edinburgh. If the 1262 names from Peebles do contain traces of Cumbric personal names then we can imagine Cumbric dying out between 1250 and 1300 at the very latest.

==See also==
*[[Cumbrian dialect]]
*[[Cumbrian toponymy]]
*[[Kenneth H. Jackson]]
*[[Kingdom of Strathclyde]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
* {{Cite book |last=Davies |first=Wendy |chapter=The Celtic Kingdoms |editor1-last=Fouracre |editor1-first=Paul |editor2-last=McKitterick |editor2-first=Rosamond |title=The New Cambridge Medieval History: C. 500–c. 700 |date=2005 |location=Cambridge | publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-36291-1 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Elliott |first=Elizabeth |chapter=Scottish Writing |editor1-last=Fouracre |editor1-first=Paul |editor2-last=McKitterick |editor2-first=Rosamond |title=The New Cambridge Medieval History: C. 500–c. 700 |date=2005 |location=Cambridge | publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-36291-1 }}
* {{Cite book |last1=Filppula |first1=Markku |last2=Klemola |first2=Juhani |last3=Paulasto |first3=Heli |title=English and Celtic in Contact |date=2008 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-26602-4 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Rx-nFX9nY_kC}}
* {{Cite book |last=Jackson |first=Kenneth H. |author-link=Kenneth H. Jackson |title=Language and History in Early Britain | location=Edinburgh | publisher=Edinburgh University Press |date=1953}}
* {{Cite book |last=Jackson |first=Kenneth H. |author-link=Kenneth H. Jackson |title=The Gododdin: The Oldest Scottish poem | location=Edinburgh | publisher=Edinburgh University Press |date=1969 | isbn=0-85224-049-X }}
* {{Cite book |last=James |first=Alan G. |chapter=A Cumbric Diaspora? |editor1-last=Padel |editor1-first=O. J. |editor1-link=O. J. Padel |editor2-last=Parsons |editor2-first=D. |title=A Commodity of Good Names: Essays in Honour of Margaret Gelling |pages=187–203 |location=Stamford, Lancashire |publisher=Shaun Tyas / Paul Watkins Publishing |date=2008 |isbn=978-1-900289-90-0}}
* {{Cite book |last=Koch |first=John T. |author-link=John T. Koch |title=Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia |publisher=ABC-CLIO |date=2006}}
* {{Cite book |last=Oram |first=Richard |title=The Lordship of Galloway |location=Edinburgh |publisher=John Donald Publishers / Birlinn |date=2000 |isbn= 0-85976-541-5}}
* {{Cite book |last=Phythian-Adams |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Phythian-Adams |title=Land of the Cumbrians |location=Aldershot |publisher=Scolar Press |date=1996 |isbn=1-85928-327-6}}
* {{Cite book |last=Russell |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Russell (linguist) |title=An Introduction to the Celtic Languages |location=London |publisher=Longman |date=1995 |isbn=0-582-10082-8}}
* {{Cite book |last=Schmidt |first=Karl Horst |author-link=Karl Horst Schmidt |date=1993 |chapter=Insular Celtic: P and Q Celtic |editor1-last=Ball |editor1-first=M. J. |editor2-last=Fife |editor2-first=J. |title=The Celtic Languages |pages=64–98 |location=London |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-01035-7}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.cumbric.org Cumbric.org - Language and History]
=== Studies ===

* https://spns.org.uk/resources/bliton
===Constructed languages===
*{{cite web|title= Cumbraek: A modern reinvention of the lost Celtic language of Cumbric |url= https://cumbraek.wordpress.com/|website= Cumbraek|access-date=25 June 2017}}
{{Celtic languages}}{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Languages attested from the 6th century]]
[[Category:Languages extinct in the 12th century]]
[[Category:Western Brittonic languages]]
[[Category:Extinct Celtic languages]]
[[Category:Extinct languages of Scotland]]
[[Category:Languages of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Unsolved problems in linguistics]]
[[Category:History of Cumbria]]
[[Category:History of the Scottish Borders]]
[[Category:Medieval languages]]
[[Category:Languages of England]]
[[Category:Languages of Scotland]]
[[Category:North West England]]
[[Category:Hen Ogledd]]