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Galicians
Galicians (Galician: galegos [ɡaˈleɣʊs] or pobo galego; Spanish: gallegos [ɡaˈʎeɣos]) are an ethnic group primarily residing in Galicia, northwest Iberian Peninsula. Historical emigration resulted in populations in other parts of Spain, Europe, and the Americas. Galicians possess distinct customs, culture, language, music, dance, sports, art, cuisine, and mythology. Galician, a Romance language derived from the Latin of ancient Roman Gallaecia, is their native language and a primary cultural expression. It shares a common origin with Portuguese, exhibiting 85% intelligibility, and similarities with other Iberian Romance languages like Asturian and Spanish. They are closely related to the Portuguese people. Two Romance languages are widely spoken and official in Galicia: the native Galician and Spanish.
The ethnonym of the Galicians (galegos) derives directly from the Latin Gallaeci or Callaeci, itself an adaptation of the name of a local Celtic tribe known to the Greeks as Καλλαϊκoί (Kallaikoí). They lived in what is now Galicia and northern Portugal and were defeated by the Roman General Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus in the 2nd century BCE and later conquered by Augustus. The Romans later applied that name to all the people who shared the same culture and language in the north-west, from the Douro River valley in the south to the Cantabrian Sea in the north and west to the Navia River. That encompassed such tribes as the Celtici, the Artabri, the Lemavi and the Albiones.
The oldest known inscription referring to the Gallaeci (reading Ἔθνο[υς] Καλλαικῶ[ν], "people of the Gallaeci") was found in 1981 in the Sebasteion of Aphrodisias, Turkey; a triumphal monument to Roman Emperor Augustus mentions them among other 15 nations that he conquered.
The etymology of the name has been studied since the 7th century by authors such as Isidore of Seville, who wrote, "Galicians are called so because of their fair skin, as the Gauls" and related the name to the Greek word for "milk," γάλα (gála). However, modern scholars like J.J. Moralejo and Carlos Búa have derived the name of the ancient Callaeci either from Proto-Indo-European *kl̥(H)‑n‑ 'hill', through a local relational suffix -aik-, also attested in Celtiberian language and so meaning 'the highlanders'; or either from Proto-Celtic *kallī- 'forest' and so means 'the forest (people)'.
Another recent proposal comes from the linguist Francesco Benozzo, who is not specialized in Celtic languages and identified the root gall- / kall- in a number of Celtic words with the meaning "stone" or "rock", as follows: gall (old Irish), gal (Middle Welsh), gailleichan (Scottish Gaelic), galagh (Manx) and gall (Gaulish). Hence, Benozzo explains the name Callaecia and its ethnonym Callaeci as being "the stone people" or "the people of the stone" ("those who work with stones"), in reference to the ancient megaliths and stone formations that are so common in Galicia and Portugal. Specialists of the Celtic languages do not consider there is a hypothetical Gaulish root *gall meaning "stone" or "rock", but *galiā "strength" (> French gaill-ard "strong"), related to Old Irish gal "berserk rage, war fury", Welsh gallu and Breton galloud "power". It is distinct from Gaulish *cal(l)io- "hoof" or "testicle", related to Welsh caill, Breton kell "testicle" (> Gaulish *caliavo > Old French chaillou, French caillou), all from the Proto-Indo-European root *kal- "hard hardness" (perhaps via suffixed zero-grade *kl̥H-no-(m)). For instance, in Latin callum "hard or thick substance" is also found and so both E. Rivas and Juan J. Moralejo relate the toponym Gallaecia / Callaecia with the Latin word callus.
Galician is a Romance language belonging to the Western Ibero-Romance branch, deriving from Latin, and holds official status in Galicia. It is also spoken in bordering areas of Asturias and Castile and León.
Medieval or Old Galician, known linguistically as Galician-Portuguese, evolved in the Northwest Iberian Peninsula from Vulgar Latin, becoming the written and spoken language of the medieval Galicia and Portugal. This language developed a notable literary tradition from the late 12th century and gradually replaced Latin in public and private documents in Galicia, Portugal, and neighboring regions.
From the 15th century, Galician-Portuguese diverged into Galician and Portuguese. Galician evolved primarily as a regional spoken language influenced by Castilian Spanish, while Portuguese became an international language. Despite this divergence, the two languages remain closely related, particularly northern Portuguese dialects and Galician. The Royal Galician Academy, the official regulatory institution for the Galician language, considers modern Galician an independent Ibero-Romance language closely related to Portuguese, particularly its northern dialects.
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Galicians
Galicians (Galician: galegos [ɡaˈleɣʊs] or pobo galego; Spanish: gallegos [ɡaˈʎeɣos]) are an ethnic group primarily residing in Galicia, northwest Iberian Peninsula. Historical emigration resulted in populations in other parts of Spain, Europe, and the Americas. Galicians possess distinct customs, culture, language, music, dance, sports, art, cuisine, and mythology. Galician, a Romance language derived from the Latin of ancient Roman Gallaecia, is their native language and a primary cultural expression. It shares a common origin with Portuguese, exhibiting 85% intelligibility, and similarities with other Iberian Romance languages like Asturian and Spanish. They are closely related to the Portuguese people. Two Romance languages are widely spoken and official in Galicia: the native Galician and Spanish.
The ethnonym of the Galicians (galegos) derives directly from the Latin Gallaeci or Callaeci, itself an adaptation of the name of a local Celtic tribe known to the Greeks as Καλλαϊκoί (Kallaikoí). They lived in what is now Galicia and northern Portugal and were defeated by the Roman General Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus in the 2nd century BCE and later conquered by Augustus. The Romans later applied that name to all the people who shared the same culture and language in the north-west, from the Douro River valley in the south to the Cantabrian Sea in the north and west to the Navia River. That encompassed such tribes as the Celtici, the Artabri, the Lemavi and the Albiones.
The oldest known inscription referring to the Gallaeci (reading Ἔθνο[υς] Καλλαικῶ[ν], "people of the Gallaeci") was found in 1981 in the Sebasteion of Aphrodisias, Turkey; a triumphal monument to Roman Emperor Augustus mentions them among other 15 nations that he conquered.
The etymology of the name has been studied since the 7th century by authors such as Isidore of Seville, who wrote, "Galicians are called so because of their fair skin, as the Gauls" and related the name to the Greek word for "milk," γάλα (gála). However, modern scholars like J.J. Moralejo and Carlos Búa have derived the name of the ancient Callaeci either from Proto-Indo-European *kl̥(H)‑n‑ 'hill', through a local relational suffix -aik-, also attested in Celtiberian language and so meaning 'the highlanders'; or either from Proto-Celtic *kallī- 'forest' and so means 'the forest (people)'.
Another recent proposal comes from the linguist Francesco Benozzo, who is not specialized in Celtic languages and identified the root gall- / kall- in a number of Celtic words with the meaning "stone" or "rock", as follows: gall (old Irish), gal (Middle Welsh), gailleichan (Scottish Gaelic), galagh (Manx) and gall (Gaulish). Hence, Benozzo explains the name Callaecia and its ethnonym Callaeci as being "the stone people" or "the people of the stone" ("those who work with stones"), in reference to the ancient megaliths and stone formations that are so common in Galicia and Portugal. Specialists of the Celtic languages do not consider there is a hypothetical Gaulish root *gall meaning "stone" or "rock", but *galiā "strength" (> French gaill-ard "strong"), related to Old Irish gal "berserk rage, war fury", Welsh gallu and Breton galloud "power". It is distinct from Gaulish *cal(l)io- "hoof" or "testicle", related to Welsh caill, Breton kell "testicle" (> Gaulish *caliavo > Old French chaillou, French caillou), all from the Proto-Indo-European root *kal- "hard hardness" (perhaps via suffixed zero-grade *kl̥H-no-(m)). For instance, in Latin callum "hard or thick substance" is also found and so both E. Rivas and Juan J. Moralejo relate the toponym Gallaecia / Callaecia with the Latin word callus.
Galician is a Romance language belonging to the Western Ibero-Romance branch, deriving from Latin, and holds official status in Galicia. It is also spoken in bordering areas of Asturias and Castile and León.
Medieval or Old Galician, known linguistically as Galician-Portuguese, evolved in the Northwest Iberian Peninsula from Vulgar Latin, becoming the written and spoken language of the medieval Galicia and Portugal. This language developed a notable literary tradition from the late 12th century and gradually replaced Latin in public and private documents in Galicia, Portugal, and neighboring regions.
From the 15th century, Galician-Portuguese diverged into Galician and Portuguese. Galician evolved primarily as a regional spoken language influenced by Castilian Spanish, while Portuguese became an international language. Despite this divergence, the two languages remain closely related, particularly northern Portuguese dialects and Galician. The Royal Galician Academy, the official regulatory institution for the Galician language, considers modern Galician an independent Ibero-Romance language closely related to Portuguese, particularly its northern dialects.
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