Uploaded October 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

---

Get my book:
Middlechester Chronicles and the Story of Idioms: A witty and satirical look at 347 English idioms and their origins told through stories
To read the first chapter free and purchase the book go to aunty.co.uk
===
- The Celts were the dominant culture in England for many centuries from about 900 BC until 43 AD but who were there before them. Who built Stonehenge and the other Neolithic sites in Britain? And how did the Celts influence the English language. New research and DNA evidence tells us more than we knew even a few years ago. The answer is that they had a massive influence on English. In this video we see how.

Love the English language? Get the LetThemTalkTV newsletter here - IT'S FREE!
eepurl.com/izRKww

00:00 Who were the native Britons?
00:52 A word about sources
01:13 Pre-Celtic history of Britain
02:05 The first inhabitants
03:05 Mesolithic period
03:39 The Neolithic period
05:26 The Bell Beakers
07:47 The Celts arrive
09:16 The Roman Rule
11:42 The Anglo-Saxons and the Celts
13:56 Celtic vocabulary in English
21:09 The "meaningless DO"
26:38 1000 years to adopt DO. Why?
27:37 The present continuous

.If you are a grammar lover you might be interested in our new range of grammarian merchandise exclusive to LetThemTalkTV
teespring.com/stores/my-store-10219664

CREDITS
Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English by John McWhorter
Amazon affiliate link
amzn.to/3rug407

The History of English Podcast
historyofenglishpodcast.com
Kevin Stroud

Verduria.org
verduria.org/viewtopic.php?t=512

The development of the Periphrastic Do by RÜDIGER ZILM
grin.com/document/95594

Many thanks to Bill Hicks for the Welsh recordings.

Pytheas
Par Rvalette — Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=111319470

DOGGERLAND
By Max Naylor - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6011686

ANATOLIA
De Svenurban - Trabajo propio, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=107146207

STONEHENGE
By garethwiscombe - flickr.com/photos/garethwiscombe/1071477228/in/photostream/, CC BY 2.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13278936

BELL BEAKER
By Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden - Edited version of this image: File:Bell Beaker Rijksmuseum of Oudheden 136.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=119581868

BRONZE AGE TOOLS
Zde, CC BY-SA 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

PONTIC CASPIAN STEPPE
By Terpsichores - Own work Source :background : Natural Earth II (public domain) by Tom Patterson, US National Park Servicenational borders : File:NED worldmap 110m.svg by Gringerecoregion shape : File:Western palearctic biomes.svg by Terpsichores, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22346006

THE CELTS
By QuartierLatin1968, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=638312

MAKING CRUMPETS by Kevin T Quinn via Flickr