Brithenig

Brithenig is constructed language that was made up by Andrew Smith from New Zealand in 1996. The idea behind it is the question what the Welsh language would have looked like if it had been a Romance instead of a Celtic language: a sister language to French, Spanish and Italian, but one that looks much like Welsh. It plays a key-role in the made-up world of Ill Bethisad, where Latin took the place of Old Celtic as the spoken language of the people in Great Britain, thus giving way to the development of Brithenig.

Brithenig
Created by	Andrew Smith
Date	1996
Setting and usage	A thought experiment in alternate history, Ill Bethisad, if Latin had replaced Celtic
Purpose	Indo-European Italic Romance British Romance Brithenig
Sources	constructed languages  a posteriori languages (Romance language based on Celtic)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bzt
Linguist List	bzt

Brithenig is the best known example of the so-called group of "alternative languages", languages that could have existed if history had been different. Another well-known example is Wenedyk, which does the same with Polish as Brithenig does with Welsh.

Words

The following list of 30 words shows what Brithenig looks like compared to a few other Romance languages:

Ten Romance languages compared

English	Latin	Portuguese	Spanish	French	Italian	Rhaeto-Romance	Romanian	Brithenig	Wenedyk
arm	brachium	braço	brazo	bras	braccio	bratsch	braţ	breich	brocz
black	nĭger	negro	negro	noir	nero	nair	negru	nîr	niegry
city, town	cīvĭtas	cidade	ciudad	cité	città	citad	oraş	ciwdad	czytać
death	mŏrs	morte	muerte	mort	morte	mort	moarte	morth	mroć
dog	canis	cão	perro	chien	cane	chaun	câine	can	kań
ear	auris	orelha	oreja	oreille	orecchio	ureglia	ureche	origl	urzykła
egg	ovum	ovo	huevo	œuf	uovo	ov	ou	ew	ów
eye	ŏcŭlus	olho	ojo	œil	occhio	egl	ochi	ogl	okieł
father	pater	pai	padre	père	padre	bab	tată	padr	poterz
fire	ignis, fŏcus	fogo	fuego	feu	fuoco	fieu	foc	ffog	fok
fish	pĭscis	peixe	pez, pescado	poisson	pesce	pesch	peşte	pisc	pieszcz
foot	pĕs	pé	pie	pied	piede	pe	picior	pedd	piedź
friend	amīcus	amigo	amigo	ami	amico	ami	prieten, amic	efig	omik
green	vĭrĭdis	verde	verde	vert	verde	verd	verde	gwirdd	wierdzi
horse	ĕquus, cabăllus	cavalo	caballo	cheval	cavallo	chaval	cal	cafall	kawał
I	ĕgo	eu	yo	je	io	jau	eu	eo	jo
island	īnsŭla	ilha	isla	île	isola	insla	insulă	ysl	izła
language, tongue	lĭngua	língua	lengua	langue	lingua	linguatg, lieunga	limbă	llinghedig, llingw	lęgwa
life	vīta	vida	vida	vie	vita	vita	viaţă	gwid	wita
milk	lac	leite	leche	lait	latte	latg	lapte	llaeth	łoc
name	nōmen	nome	nombre	nom	nome	num	nume	nôn	numię
night	nŏx	noite	noche	nuit	notte	notg	noapte	noeth	noc
old	vĕtus	velho	viejo	vieux	vecchio	vegl	vechi	gwegl	wiekły
school	schŏla	escola	escuela	école	scuola	scola	şcoală	yscol	szkoła
sky	caelum	céu	cielo	ciel	cielo	tschiel	cer	cel	czał
star	stēlla	estrela	estrella	étoile	stella	staila	stea	ystuil	ścioła
tooth	dĕns	dente	diente	dent	dente	dent	dinte	dent	dzięć
voice	vōx	voz	voz	voix	voce	vusch	voce	gwg	wucz
water	aqua	água	agua	eau	acqua	aua	apă	ag	jekwa
wind	vĕntus	vento	viento	vent	vento	vent	vînt	gwent	więt

Sample

The Lord's Prayer:

Nustr Padr, ke sia i llo gel:

sia senghid tew nôn:

gwein tew rheon:

sia ffaeth tew wolont,

syrs lla der sig i llo gel.

Dun nustr pan diwrnal a nu h-eidd;

e pharddun llo nustr phechad a nu,

si nu pharddunan llo nustr phechadur.

E ngheidd rhen di nu in ill temp di drial,

mai llifr nu di'll mal.

Per ill rheon, ill cofaeth e lla leir es ill tew,

per segl e segl. Amen.

References

• Higley, Sarah L., M/C Journal Archived 2005-06-16 at the Wayback Machine Vol 3 Issue 1.

Other websites

• The page of Brithenig Archived 2009-05-29 at the Wayback Machine
• The cultures of Ill Bethisad
• Romance glossary (a list of common words in all Romance languages, also Brithenig and Wenedyk)