Cronological order of french oikonyms classification (celtic- preceltic lexical formations)

Abstract

Preceding views of scholars on the history of the names of settlements in different chronological periods and at the time of their formation give us grounds to claim that placenames are quite permanent onomastic formations, notwithstanding the fact that the language of the whole nation tended to undergo considerable changes. Our research sets chronological classification as a principle and, thus, we try to divide French placenames of Celtic-Preceltic periods according to various strata of linguistic legacy. We would like to refer to the fact that in terms of our research we have found a number of scientific statements on Celtic-Slavic linguistic ties. It is quite possible that the placenames Galych, Galychyna, Galicia are associated with the name of the Galatians (hypothesis, which is adhered to in our research). It should be taken into account that Celtic-Slavic linguistic and ethnic contacts are still considered to be controversial. Although the ancient Celtic-Wends of Indo-Europeans in the middle of I millennium BC were settled over vast areas of Europe, namely from Gaul toGalicia (Spain) to Ukrainian Galicia and Turkish Galatia. Very little information have we as of today regarding the Celtic language and even less regarding its grammar and linguistic rules, which in its turn, makes it almost impossible to competently evaluate its real impact on the Roman and Germanic languages. Celtic Indo-European language, being the resemblance of Old Germanic and Scandinavian languages, bears traces of many ancient peoples like the Greeks, Macedonians, Romans, Marseilles, Belgians, Iberians, Ligurians and others. At that time Gauls were operating Celtic language as the basic means of communication, the written variant of which was not legally unified or codified. There has not been discovered any evidence of texts, the authorship of which could be attributed to Gauls. As a matter of fact, only Roman and Greek sources supply us with the information about the spoken variant of the Celtic language.