Exploring hearing and ear disease in a non-literate society: The use of historical linguistics

Abstract

Our objective was to investigate the attitudes to hearing and ear disease in the Gallo-Celtic society. An approach using historical linguistics to examine changes in words and their implications was used based on the six living Celtic languages and additional data from the Gaulish language found mainly in surviving inscriptions. There appeared to be a broadly negative attitude towards deafness, as implied by the connotations associated with that term. In the Brythonic languages (Breton, Cornish and Welsh), the term ‘hear’ was used in a generic way for all the senses. There was some overlap between the terms ‘hear’ and ‘listen’ in many of the languages despite the presence of early words for both. The houseleek (Sempervivum tectorum) appears to have been used throughout the Celtic world in the treatment of ear disease. The results of these analyses indicate that historical linguistics can provide a source of useful additional information when the practices of a pre-literate society are being investigated.

Key words::

• historical linguistics
• attitudes to deafness
• Celtic Britain
• Gaul
• treatment of ear disease

Acknowledgements

We are most grateful to Janig Stephens for advice on Breton sources and translation of some of the terms quoted.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.