Debate: why are there so few etymologically Celtic place-names in England? Celtic language decline in England
map of place-names between firth of forth , river tees: in green, names containing brittonic elements; in red , orange, names containing old english elements -ham , -ingaham respectively. brittonic names lie north of lammermuir , moorfoot hills. bilingual welsh-english town boundary sign, on modern welsh/english border place-names traditionally seen important evidence history of language in post-roman britain 3 main reasons: post-roman place-names in england begin attested around 670, pre-eminently in anglo-saxon charters; have been intensively surveyed english , scottish place-name societies. except in cornwall, vast majority of place-names in england etymologised old english (or old norse, due later viking influence), demonstrating dominance of english across post-roman england. has traditionally been seen evidence cataclysmic cultural , demographic shift @ end of roman period, in not brittonic , latin languages, brittonic , latin place-names, , brittonic- , latin-speakers, swept awa...