MODERN GAULISH Steve Hansen

5 The Verbal Paradigm - 5.1 Verb classes - 5.2 Present tense - 5.3 Past tense - 5.4 Future tense - 5.5 Conditional tense - 5.6 Present perfect - 5.7 Past perfect - 5.8 Future perfect - 5.9 Conditional perfect - 5.10 Imperative - 5.11 Verbal noun - 5.11.a Direct object of a verbal noun - 5.12 Summary of verbal - paradigm - 5.13 The verb “to be” - 5.13.a Summary of “to be” paradigm - 5.14 The verb “to have” - 5.15 Passive or impersonal forms - 5.16 Ablative absolute - 5.17 Progressive form 5 The Verbal Paradigm The verbal paradigm is an area of greyness and uncertainty in the study of Gaulish. While a considerable number of verbal forms are known and understood, no full conjugations are available in any tense, mood or aspect. Therefore, modern Gaulish proposes a verbal paradigm in which verbs are not conjugated, but are instead marked for number and person by way of personal pronouns. This is not unusual in the context of Celtic languages and in the broader framework of western and northern European languages. For instance, the Gaelic languages conjugate only two out of seven persons and number for regular verbs, their copula is uniform across all seven persons and numbers, all Brittonic languages have verbal constructions where all persons use the third person singular form, in the French language the conjugations of all but the first and second plural number are phonetically indistinguishable, western Germanic verbs often only have two or three forms, and continental Scandinavian languages only have one. 5.1 Verb classes Gaulish shows indications of having had several classes of verbs. Among these, thematic as well as athematic forms can be distinguished. Examples of some of these are: Thematic: uediiu-mi, liiu-mi, iegu-mi Athematic: peta-me, senant, dama, axat Tentative, approximative historical paradigms for the present tense of the above could be drawn up as such for the verbs uedi- (to pray) and peta- (to ask):

Thematic Athematic

uediiu mi peta mi uedies ti petas ti uediet e/i/id petat e/i/id uediemu ni petama ni uediete suis petata suis uedient sies petant sies

It would seem that personal pronouns were used as clitics in combination with conjugation endings. It is posited here that with the evolution of apocope and phonetic erosion, these conjugation endings were eroded and lost, leaving a bare stem or verbal root, followed by personal pronouns to convey information regarding person, number and gender. In modern Gaulish, ten tenses are constructed using this verbal root and a number of pre-verbal particles and suffixes that are attested in the Gaulish material. 5.2 Present tense It is proposed here that through apocope and phonetic erosion verbal stems are left with a vestigial conjugation vowel, accompanied by a personal pronoun (itself reduced and eroded) to accord information about person and number. For reasons of practicality, unambiguousness and ease of pronunciation, it is suggested here that all verbal stems take the vowel –a of the erstwhile athematic ending in combination with the appropriate personal pronoun. Verbal stems ending on a vowel (i or é) therefore drop that vowel and add –a: For instance, the verbal stem uedi- goes through the following evolution: uediiu > uedii- > guedi > gwédhi The form “gwédhi” has thus become the new verbal stem for the verb “to pray”. This verbal stem is a verbal noun with specific and special properties, which will be discussed in detail below. To mark the new verbal stem “gwédhi” for person and number in the present tense, the word final vowel –i is dropped, and replaced with –a: gwédhi > gwédha This present tense form of the verb “gwédhi” is then endowed with the appropriate personal pronoun to convey information about person and number: gwédha mi: I pray gwédha ti: you pray gwédha é/í: he/she prays gwédha ni: we pray gwédha sú: you (pl.) pray gwédha sí: they pray Exceptions to this model are mono syllabic verbs on a vowel, -í or other. Unlike all other verbal stems, these forms do not lose their word final vowel, but instead add the present tense marking word final vowel –a on after the vowel: e.g.: bé: to cut > béa mi: I cut gní: to know > gnía mi: I know Verbal stems ending in consonants simply add the vowel –a to the end of the word:

e.g.: gwel: to want gwéla mi: I want e.g.: ápis: to see apísa mi: I see The verb “ávó”, the only modern Gaulish verbal stem to end in –o, drops its word final –ó and replaces it with the present tense marker –a: e.g.: ávó: to do, to make áva mi: I do, I make There are some verbal stems that end in –a. These retain their final –a and remain unchanged throughout the present tense: e.g.: cara: to love cara mi: I love 5.3 Past tense The past tense in modern Gaulish is constructed by way of the preverbal particle “ré” placed before the verbal stem. This particle is identified in readdas, “(has) placed” (Delamarre 2003, p. 255), and is asserted as having been used to construct the past tense by Eska (2008, p. 869). Similar use of this particle is known in the Insular Celtic languages (e.g. Old Irish, Cornish). There is no change to the end of the verbal stem: stems in -i or -é retain these. However, the initial consonant of the verbal stem changes in accordance to the systematic modification of word initial consonants known as Initial Consonant Mutation (ICM). This will be discussed in great detail further below. e.g.: gwel: to want ré chwel mi: I wanted e.g.: ápis mi: to see ré hápis mi: I saw This construction is postulated on the basis of the attestation of preverbal particle “re” in Gaulish past tenses (e.g. readdas, Lambert 2003, p.66, Delamarre p. 255), which has been identified as giving a “perfective value” or “diverse modalities” to verbs (Delamarre 2003, p. 261). Furthermore, the use of re (> *ro) in the formation of past tenses is well attested in insular Celtic, not only in Old Irish (De Bernardo-Stempel n. d., Williams 1908), but also in Late Cornish (Norris 1859, p. 49, Williams 1908) and Old to Middle Welsh (Williams 1908). While “re” is most often, though not always, associated with the perfective tense in the other languages, it has been identified by Eska (2008, see above) as being used in Gaulish to construct the past tense. Therefore, modern Gaulish employs it as such. An important corollary of this past tense formation is that it illustrates quite clearly that ancient Gaulish used the process of re-analysis of a preposition as an aspect marker. The pre-verbal, past tense-marking particle “re” is derived from an inherited Indo European preposition *pre-, meaning “before” (Indo European *pre- > Proto Celtic *φre- > Celtic re-), well attested in other languages (e.g. Latin). As such the phrase “ré hápis mi”, “I saw”, is semantically derived from a prepositional phrase “before I see” > “I saw”. This fact is very

important in the discussion about the formation of the progressive form, which will be discussed in detail in the appropriate section below. 5.4 Future tense The future is constructed by way of the suffix –sí, from attested *-si(o), which is identified as a marker for the future (Delamarre 2003, p. 251; Lambert 2003, p. 65). The emphasis is put on this marker: apisí mi. e.g.: gwelsí mi: I will want ápisí mi: I will see Verbal stems ending on vowels add the suffix –sí to the end vowel: e.g.: rethi: to run rethisí mi: I will run e.g.: ávó: to do / make ávósí mi: I will do / make 5.5 Conditional tense A conditional tense is formed by the combination of the two affixes discussed above: the preverbal particle “ré” and the suffix “-sí”: e.g.: ré chwelsí mi: I would want ré hapisí mi: I would see ré rhethisí mi: I would run ré hávósí mi: I would do / make 5.6 Present perfect The present perfect formation of ancient Gaulish is reliably attested in a number of instances. The first of these involve the well-known and discussed form carnitu, found in the funerary inscriptions of Todi: carnitu artuas Coisis Druticnos = has-built tomb Coisis Druticnos > C. D. has built the tomb > carnitu- = has built (Delamarre 2003, p. 106; Lambert 2003, p. 75-77) The form carnitu is universally accepted as being the present perfect form of a verb carni-, “to pile up stones” (Delamarre 2003, p. 106). A further attestation of a present perfect form is found at Chateaubleau: iexstumisendi = iexstu-mi-sendi = have-cursed-I-this > I have cursed this (Mees 2010, p. 105)

From the above examples it is possible to deduce that the present perfect verbal form in ancient Gaulish was constructed with the suffix “-tu”, followed by the subject of the phrase: carnitu C. D. = has built C. D. iexstu mi = have cursed I A similar construction is found in the Irish verbal adjective on –te, -ta, –the, -tha, which is also attested in ancient Gaulish, e.g. Nantosuelta. This is translated as val-ensoleillé, “sunned valley” (Hansen 2012, Bhghros 2012 pers. com.), with the second component suelta literally meaning ensoleillé, i.e. “sunned”, or, in English, “sunny”. See also lubitias and caratos (Delamarre 2003, p. 209, 107). Therefore, it is posited here that the present perfect form in modern Gaulish will be constructed with the verbal suffix “–thu”, followed by the subject of the phrase. e.g.: carni: to build carníthu mi: I have built gar: to call: garthu mi: I have called gwelthu mi: I have wanted gní: to know gníthu mi: I have known However, for verbal stems ending on –thi, -dhi or –s, this suffix is reduced to -ú. Stems on –thi and –dhi drop their final vowels –i and instead affix –ú. Stems on –s affix –ú after the –s. In both cases, this perfective marker –ú receives the emphasis. The reason for the use of emphasised –ú rather than regular –thu for stems on –thi and –dhi is that the addition of –thu would result in a word that is altogether too fricative for ease of pronunciation: rethíthu would be awkward to pronounce. Therefore a position is adopted here that holds that the two successive fricatives have assimilated to form just one: *rethíthu > *rethú; *gwedhíthu > *gwedhú. In the case of verbal stem on –s, a perfect form with ending –sú would be the normal phonetic end-result of the suffixation of –s with (pre-sound change) –tu, giving *-stu, which, through regular Gaulish sound changes, would assimilate to –sú (-stu > -tsu > -ssu > -su). Therefore, stems on –s take the perfective marker –ú. The use of a perfective marker –u is attested in the forms ieuru, iouru, “has offered/ has dedicated” (Delamarre 2003, p. 188-89) and tioinuoru, “has produced” (Delamarre 2003, p. 297). e.g.: rethi: to run rethú mi: I have run gwédhi: to pray gwedhú mi: I have prayed ápis: to see apisú mi: I have seen brís: to break brisú mi: I have broken 5.7 Past perfect

The past perfect is constructed with the preverbal particle “ré” before the present perfect form: e.g.: ré garníthu: I had built ré chwelthu: I had wanted ré rhethú mi: I had run re hapisú mi: I had seen As with the past tense, the first consonant of the verbal stem undergoes mutation. 5.8 Future perfect For the future perfect the future marking suffix –sí is inserted between the verbal stem and the perfective marker –thu, which is the only one used, since the insertion of the future marker –si between the verbal stem and the perfect marker removes the phonetic issues that give rise to the use of –ú only in the present and past perfect: e.g.: carnisíthu mi: I will have built gwelsíthu mi: I will have wanted rethisíthu mi: I will have run apisíthu mi: I will have seen 5.9 Conditional perfect For the conditional perfect, the preverbal preterising particle “ré” is placed before the future perfect form: e.g.: ré garnisíthu mi: I would have built ré chwelsíthu mi: I would have wanted

ré rhethisíthu mi: I would have run ré hapisíthu mi: I would have seen 5.10 Imperative The imperative form is well attested in ancient Gaulish (Delamarre 2003, p. 173, 209), and consists of the bare verbal stem, with imperative intonation: e.g.: carni!: build! gar!: call! réthi!: run! ápis!: see! 5.11 Verbal noun In addition to not having any conjugations, Gaulish does not have an infinitive either. Instead it uses the bare stem of the verb, referred to as a “verbal noun”. The verbal noun in the Celtic languages is a word that can at the same time function as a verb and as a noun, and is an important component of the verbal paradigm. As a verb, it carries an infinitival meaning: “gar” means “to call”. However, as a noun “gar” also has the meaning of “the calling”.

e.g.: gar: to call / the calling ápis: to see / the seeing réthi: to run / the running The verbal noun follows modal verbs directly: e.g.: gwéla mi ápis: I want to see / I want seeing gwéla mi réthi: I want to run / I want running 5.11.a Direct object of a verbal noun An important aspect of the fact that the verbal noun is a noun is the treatment of the direct object of a verbal noun: e.g.: gwéla mi ápis ép: I want to see a horse (ép < epos “horse”, Delamarre 2003, p. 163- 64) This is actually a genitival construction, of which more further below. Because genitive in modern Gaulish is expressed by apposition, the phrase “ápis ép” really means “the seeing of a horse”. Because the genitive in Gaulish is not marked in any way on a noun, this looks and translates exactly the same as “to see a horse”. However, when personal pronouns are the direct object of a verbal noun, this genitive is expressed explicitly. For this the genitive particle i- is used, derived from the attested forms “imon” and “imi”, both meaning “mine” (masculine and feminine respectively) (Delamarre 2003, p. 189-90). This particle is followed by fused forms of the personal pronouns: e.g.: gwéla mi ápis ithí: I want the seeing of you = I want to see you Without the use of the particle i-, the above phrase would be: gwéla mi ápis ti = I want the seeing you This is not possible. The particle i- is not otherwise used in many other contexts: it only occurs as the genitival marker for the personal pronouns as used as direct object of a verbal noun, and to indicate ownership of objects in conjunction with personal pronouns only. As such, it behaves like a preposition in the way it fuses with the pronouns: imí: of-me ithí: of-you iché: of-him ichí: of her iní: of-us isú: of-you (pl.) ichís: of them The third person singular and plural forms are formed with the semantically empty particle –ch- for phonetic reasons, as in the fusion of prepositions with pronouns. See above.

5.12 Summary of verbal - paradigm The following table provides an overview of the verbal paradigm in modern Gaulish. Examples are given for verbal stems on a consonant, on –thi and on –s. All verbal forms are marked for person and number by personal pronouns only; only the first person singular is given.

verbal noun present past future conditional imperative gar gara mi ré ghar mi garsí mi ré gharsí mi gar! réthi rétha mi ré rhéthi mi rethisí mi ré rhethisí mi réthi! ápis apísa mi ré hápis mi apisí mi ré hapisí mi ápis! present perfect past perfect future perfect conditional perfect

garthu mi ré gharthu mi garsíthu mi ré gharsíthu mi rethú mi ré rhethú mi rethisíthu mi ré rhethisíthu mi apisú mi ré hapisú mi apisíthu mi ré hapisíthu mi

5.13 The verb “to be” The verb “to be”is the only irregular verb in the modern Gaulish language. Its formation is different from that of all other verbs. The verbal noun may be derived from the attested Gaulish word bissiet (Delamarre 2003, p. 76). This can be analysed as containing the future marker –si, suffixed to what appears to be the verbal root “bis-”: bis+si (future marker)+ -et (3rd p.s. ending) (analysis by Lambert, discussed in Delamarre 2003, p. 76). The attested form has a double –ss- which does not appear to indicate a Tau Gallicum. A similar double –ss- is found in the attested form pissiiumi (Demarre 2003, p. 251). Since in the latter case the word pissiiumi is analysed as consisting of a future marker –si- suffixed to a verbal stem “pis-”, it is reasonable to extend this to “bissiet” and by analogy to deduce that “bis-“ represents the verbal stem or verbal noun. The present tense is thought to be attested in the form esi (Delamarre 2003, p. 167). While esi is thought to be either a 2nd or a 3rd person singular, a position is proposed here where esi is the verbal stem that is used across the present tense, augmented with personal pronouns to mark for person and number, as is the case with all other verbs in modern Gaulish. The past may be derived from the form buetid, (Delamarre 2003, p. 93-94). Comparisons with Welsh (Modern Welsh bues i = “I was”; Middle Welsh bu 3rd p. s., “was”) suggests that it is reasonable to accord a past value to this form. As such, the verbal stem to be used across the past tense will be “bú”. The future form may be found in the attested forms bissiet, bisiete (Delamarre 2003, p. 76), as well as, possibly, in the form biiete (Delamarre 2003, p. 74-75). Again, comparison with Welsh (Modern Welsh bydda i: “I will be”; Middle Welsh byd 3rd p. s., “will be”) permits to posit that this form holds a future indicating connotation. As such, the verbal stem to be used across the future tense will be “bí”. A conditional form is not attested, but may be constructed by analogy with the paradigm of all other Gaulish verbs. As such, the preceding of the future form “bí” by the preverbal particle

“ré” will denote the conditional form: “ré ví”, with mutation of the first letter of the verbal form, as discussed previously. An imperative is attested in Chamalieres as sete, from which a modern form “séthé”, “be!” can be derived (Mees 2010). Finally, a perfect present may be attested in the form biietutu (Delamarre 2003, p. 75). While this is unsupported academically, a position is proposed here where the component “-etu-“ represents the perfect present form of to be: éthu mi = I have been. The above form can further be analysed as a fusion of future stem “bi” + “etu”, which would, in analogy with the perfective tense formation of the other Gaulish verbs, therefore amount to the construction of the perfect future: bietu-, becoming “biéthu mi”, “I will have been”. Again, this is unsupported academically, but is plausible and can reasonably be argued in favour of. An analogy with the above would then permit the construction of a perfect past with the past verbal stem bu-, fused with the perfective etu-. This would give “buéthu mi”, “I had been”. Once again, there is no academic support for this position, but it is plausible and can reasonably be argued in favour of. Lastly, a perfect conditional would then, by analogy with the construction of other verbs in modern Gaulish, be able to be constructed by means of the preverbal particle “ré”, preceding the perfect future form. This would give “ré viéthu mi”, “I would have been”. 5.13.a Summary of “to be” paradigm The paradigm of the verb “to be” can be summarised in the following table. All verbal stems are marked for person and number by personal pronouns, as with all other verbs. Only the first person is given here.

tense verbal stem attested form verbal noun bis bissiet present esi mi esi past bú mi buetid future bí mi biiete, bissiete conditional ré ví mi particle “re” attested perfect present éthu mi bi-etu-tu perfect past buéthu mi - perfect future biéthu mi bietu-tu perfect conditional ré viéthu mi - imperative séthé sete

5.14 The verb “to have” Modern Gaulish, like all other modern Celtic languages, does not have a separate verb “to have”. Instead, as is the case in its related languages, it uses a construction with the verb “to be”. This construction is attested in the inscription of Banassac (Delamarre 2003, p. 167; Lambert 2003, p. 142): tieđi ulano celicnu, translated as “at-you-is the satisfaction of the banquet”, where “at-you-is” translates as “you have”.

The formation therefore of the expression “to have” in modern Gaulish consists of the appropriate personal pronoun, suffixed by the appropriate verbal stem of the verb “to be” (bis). The pronoun and the stem will be separated by a hyphen, and internal spirantisation will apply to the first consonant of the stem of “bis”. e.g.: mi-esi: I have ti-esi: you have é-esi: he has í-esi: she has ni-esi: we have sú-esi: you have (pl.) sí-esi: they have The various tenses are constructed by analogy: mi-vú: I had ti-ví: you will have é-rhé-ví: he would have í-éthu: she has had ni-vuéthu: we had had su-viéthu: we will have had si-rhé-viéthu: they would have had Alone among the verbs of modern Gaulish, this verbal construction has neither a verbal noun, nor an imperative form. Intentional and imperative phrases can be constructed as a subordinate clause, using the relative pronoun “o”, seemingly attested in Chateaubleau (Mees 2010) and in Marcellus of Bordeaux (Delamarre 2003, p. 268): gwéla mi o mi-esi: I want that I have = I want to have gwéla mi o ti-esi = I want that you have =I want you to have 5.15 Passive or impersonal forms Ancient Gaulish had passive (or impersonal) verbal forms on –r, analoguous with Brittonic and Goidelic. Attested are uelor (one wants, is wanted; Delamarre 2003, p. 312), nitixsintor (p. 236) and diligentir (p. 144-45). It is widely agreed upon that the suffix –or marks the verbal form for the passive construction. Therefore, this suffix is adopted for that purpose. It occurs in concurrence with all other regular verbal particles and suffixes. However, while the perfective suffix –thu is added after the passive marker -or, the future marker –sí- is added after the verbal stem itself, and therefore before the passive marker. This is attested in the form nitixsintor sies (ni-tix-si-ntor + pers. pron. 3rd p.pl.fem., Delamarre 2003, p. 236). The order of suffixes and particles is thus as follows: ré [verbal stem]+sí+or+thu + personal pronoun An overview, using the verb “ápis”, “so see”, is provided below: apísor mi: I am seen (“one sees me”) ré hapísor mi: I was seen

apisíor mi: I will be seen ré hapisíor mi: I would be seen apisorthu mi: I have been seen ré hapisorthu mi: I had been seen apisíorthu mi: I will have been seen ré hapisíorthu mi: I would have been seen apísor!: be seen! An intentional passive phrase can be expressed by means of a subordinate clause: gwéla mi och apísor mi: I want that I am seen/ that one sees me > I want to be seen In the above phrase, the particle “o” is the subordinating pronoun. It receives the semantically empty particle “-ch-“ before a vowel, as is the case with prepositions (see that section). Parallel with the attested passive system on –or, it is also possible to achieve a passive construction by using the appropriate form of “bis” (to be) combined with the perfect present participle, exactly as in other Western European languages: esi mi apisú: I am seen bú mi apisú: I was seen bí mi apisú: I will be seen ré ví mi apisú: I would be seen éthu mi apisú: I have been seen buéthu mi apisú: I had been seen biéthu mi apisú: I will have been seen ré viéthu mi apisú: I would have been seen séthé apisú!: be seen! Both forms can be used at will. There are no semantic differences between them. 5.16 Ablative absolute In the important long running text of Late Gaulish known as the tablet of Chateaubleau the following verbal form is attested: anmanbe gniiou: the names which know sini siaxsiou: these which seek sue cluiou: you (pl.) who hear (Mees 2010) It appears that the verbal form with suffix –iou, used in the above context, refers back to a predicate subject in a way which has been interpreted by Mees (2010) as resembling a relativising or subordinate construction. The form appears to fulfill a function that is very similar to that fulfilled by a Latin ablative absolute (Bellouesus 2012, pers. com.). Furthermore, it bears a close resemblance to the suffixed relative pronoun –io well attested in Gaulish: the suffixed particle –iou appears to act in the same way as the attested particle –io. A position is adopted by modern Gaulish where, due to regular evolution of the diphthong –ou [o:w] to –o [o:], the ablative absolute suffix –iou and the relativising pronoun –io have amalgamated in the modern suffixed particle –íó. As such, -íó functions as a verbal suffix to

refer back to a predicate subject immediately preceding it, and can be used to construct subordinate clauses: apísa mi ép rethíó: I see a horse that/which runs This will be further explored in the section on subordinate clauses, further below. 5.17 Progressive form A progressive verbal form expresses an action that is ongoing, happening right at the moment of discussion. Within the attested Gaulish material, there are two indications of how such a form might be constructed. While the interpretation of these attestations is not uniformly agreed upon, there is nevertheless a degree of consensus regarding their plausibility and historical acceptability (Bhrghros 2012, pers. com.) and their practicality of use in terms of clarity of expression (Bellouesus 2012, pers. com.) for the modern language. One potential attestation of a progressive form in the attested ancient Gaulish material is the word atenoux, found on the Coligny calendar (see Lambert 2003, p. 111-18). While there is contention over the interpretation of this word, as there is over everything remotely connected with the Coligny calendar, Lejeune (1995, In Delamarre 2003, p. 58) proposes the following etymology: atenoux = ate-en-oux, “again-in-rising” This was supported by Schmidt (1999, in Delamarre 2003, p. 58) and is considered plausible by Delamarre (2003, p. 58) and Bhrghros (2012, pers. com.). A second potential attestation of a progressive form may be found in the etymology of the Gaulish names Enistalus (Delamarre 2003, p. 163) and Enissa (Gwinn 2012, pers. com.). These words have been linked to the widely accepted etymology for the insular Celtic word inis, meaning “island” (Finsen 2012, pers. com.; Wiktionary, etymology of “inis”): inis = *enisti (standing in [the water]/ in-standing), from eni- (in)+ *steh2 The above can be interpreted as eni-sti = “in-standing” (Strachan, in MacBain 1982, “innis”). This would provide a construction identical to at-en-oux. The preposition eni-, “in”, is attested in ancient Gaulish (Delamarre 2003, p. 163). Based on these admittedly scant and contentious indications, a position is proposed here where modern Gaulish uses the preposition “en” to construct a progressive verbal form in conjunction with the verb “bis”, “to be”. Direct parallels are found in all Celtic languages, and in western Germanic. Because “en” is a preposition, it causes mutation on the first letter of the verbal noun following it. This will be discussed in greater detail in the section dealing with initial consonant mutation. e.g.: esi mi en garni: I am building esi mi en ghar: I am calling esi mi en rhéthi: I am running

While the periphrastic construction thus achieved is not attested in the ancient Gaulish material, its inclusion in modern Gaulish may be deemed acceptable for two reasons. First, such forms are by no means unusual or exceptional in modern Western European languages (see Isaac 2007) and may as such be considered a development that may reasonably be expected to have occurred. Second, and more importantly, the use of a preposition to form a verbal form requires a process of re-analysis of a preposition as a verbal aspect marker (Borsley, Tallerman & Willis, 2007). This process is attested precisely as such in ancient Gaulish, with the re-analysis of the ancient IE preposition *pre-, “before”, via Proto-Celtic *φre- to Gaulish re-, used as a pre-verbal particle to mark the past or preterite aspect of a verbal form. This shows that the process of re-analysis of a preposition as a verbal aspect marker was internal to the Gaulish language, as it manifestly is to its related languages, all of which have used the same process. As such it is perfectly reasonable to posit this process happening to construct a progressive verbal form in modern Gaulish.