Primitive Irish
| Primitive Irish | |
|---|---|
| Archaic Irish Proto-Goidelic | |
Ogham stone from Ratass Church, 6th century AD. It reads: [A]NM SILLANN MAQ VATTILLOGG ("[in the] name of Sílán son of Fáithloga") | |
| Native to | Ireland, Isle of Man, western coast of Britain |
| Region | Ireland and Britain |
| Era | Evolved into Old Irish about the 6th century AD |
Indo-European
| |
| Ogham | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | pgl |
pgl | |
| Glottolog | prim1243 |
Map of locations where Orthodox Ogham inscriptions have been found. | |
Primitive Irish or Archaic Irish (Irish: Gaeilge Ársa, Gaeilge Chianach), also called Proto-Goidelic, is the oldest known form of the Goidelic languages, and the ancestor of all languages within this family.
This phase of the language is known only from fragments, mostly personal names, inscribed on stone in the Ogham alphabet in Ireland and western Great Britain between the 4th and the 6th century AD, before the advent of Old Irish. These inscriptions are referred to as Orthodox Ogham, although scholastic use of the script continued residually until the early 19th century.