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10 - The History of the Celtic Languages in Britain and Ireland

from Part II - Multilingualism in Britain and Ireland: The Celtic Languages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 October 2024

By
Paul Russell
Edited by
Susan Fox
Susan Fox
Affiliation:
Universität Bern, Switzerland
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Summary

This chapter provides an overview of the early history of the Celtic languages. The first part offers a tour of Britain and Ireland, pausing at key points, both historical and geographical, from which we may consider the development of the Celtic languages. The second part of the chapter then goes on to examine a number of features of the Celtic languages in greater detail: the stress accent, lenition and mutations, the loss of final syllables, and the verbal system.

Keywords

BretonCornishfinal syllablesGaulishIrishlanguage contactlenitionManxmutationsstress accentverbal systemWelsh
Type
Chapter
Information
Language in Britain and Ireland , pp. 269 - 287
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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