The Question of a Hamito‐Semitic Substratum in Insular Celtic

Abstract

Abstract The hypothesis of a Hamito‐Semitic (or Afro‐Asiatic) substratum in the Insular Celtic languages elaborated successively by Morris Jones, Pokorny and Wagner to explain striking structural resemblances between Insular Celtic and Hamito‐Semitic is enjoying a revival. Linguists have generally assumed that the parallels between Insular Celtic and Hamito‐Semitic are to be explained in terms of Greenbergian typology (all languages of the VSO type). However, recent work by Gensler, and also Jongeling and Vennemann, compels us to revisit the substratum hypothesis. This article presents the main contributions on the question, provides a table showing the principal points of similarity by author and language, briefly comments on each of these points, and, regretting the reluctance of substratalists to consider typological explanations, sounds a note of caution against what might be termed ‘substratum frenzy’.