The Indo-Europeans (of whom the present-day Latins, Germanics, Slavs, Celts, Greeks and others are descendants) arrived in western Europe about 2.500 B.C. (according to the warlike expansion theory) or 4.500 B.C. (agricultural expansion theory). The massive Indo-European settlement in the continent caused the extinction of the languages and peoples related to the Basques that could have existed. After this scenario, Euskara was the only language that could survive and stayed as the only linguistic remains of the pre-Indo-European past of Europe.

One of the first Indo-European peoples that spread throughout Europe were the Celts. Some philologists specialized in Proto-Celtic (the origin of the current Celtic languages that has been rebuilt) support the theory of the Basque substratum of this language. The experts have found words of non-Indo-European origin and noticed that those terms may have a Proto-Basque origin due to their similarity with the Basque words.

Once the Celts settled in Central Europe, they continued their journey to the British Islands and made contact with the western European population of that age who spoke languages of the Basque stock, as this theory affirms. Therefore, the Celtic people were the Indo-Europeans that most Basque influence received (of course, without taking account of the current peoples that surrounds the Basques like Castilians, Aragoneses or Gascons, that arose or spread throughout Basque-speaking territories). This influence is not only shown in the vocabulary, but also in other profiles like the acquisition of the Basque vigesimal numeral system (2), instead of the decimal system, which was a characteristic of the Indo-Europeans.

(2) Basque vigesimal numeral system: Castilian uses ten individual numerals (decimal system) like the rest of the Indo-European languages (except the Celtic languages). On the contrary, Basque uses twenty numbers and therefore, 'twenty' is said 'hogei'; 'thirty' is said 'hogeita hamar' (twenty and ten); 'forty' is 'berrogei' (twice twenty). 'Fifty' is said 'berrogeita hamar' (twice twenty and ten). 'Sixty is 'hirurogei' (three times twenty); 'seventy' is 'hirurogeita hamar' (three times twenty and ten); 'eighty' is said 'laurogei' (four times twenty), 'ninety' is 'laurogeita hamar' (four times twenty and ten) and finally, 'one hundred' is said 'ehun'.

The vigesimal system is used by many Celtic languages and there is evidence of it in Danish, French and in a Berber dialect called Tachelhit. Some traces of this numeral system were also found in Middle English due to the Celtic substratum, the Norman dialect of French or maybe due to the Scandinavian (Danish) invasions that could take the system to the British Islands. Even Gaelic Irish has some terms whose etymology cannot be explained by means of the Indo-European languages. It only receives light when it is possible to establish connection with any Basque word.

 

Proto-Celtic	Irish Celtic	Welsh Celtic	Euskara	Spanish	English
*Karri	Carrac	Carreg	Harri	Piedra	Stone
	Adarc		Adar	Cuerno	Horn
*Esok-	Eo	Eog	Izokin	Salmón	Salmon
	Ainder		Andere	Mujer	Woman

 

 

 

 

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