Dumnonii the British population, suggesting an ancient connection of peoples along the western Atlantic seaboard. The Latin name for Exeter is Isca Dumnoniorum ("Water of the Dumnonii"). This oppidum (a Latin term meaning an important town) on the banks of I River Exe certainly existed prior to the foundation of the Roman city in about AD 50. "Isca" is derived from the Brythonic word for flowing water, which was given to the River Exe. This is reflected in the Welsh name for Exeter: "Caerwysg" meaning "fortified settlement on the river Uisc". Isca Dumnoniorum originated with a settlement that developed around the
Celtic language decline in England a "vicus", and others end in elements denoting Roman features, such as "-caster", denoting "castra" ('forts'). There is a substantial body of names along the lines of "Walton"/"Walcot"/"Walsall"/"Walsden", many of which must include the Old English word "wealh" in the sense 'Celtic-speaker', and "Comberton", many of which must include Old English "Cumbre" 'Britons'. These are likely to have been names for enclaves of Brittonic-speakers─but again are not that numerous. In the last decade, however, scholars have stressed that Welsh and Cornish place-names from the Roman period seem no more likely to survive than Roman names in England: 'clearly name loss