The Syntax of Welsh

Welsh like the other Celtic languages is bestknown amongst linguists for itsverbinitial word order and its use of initial consonant mutations. However ithas man... » 

Welsh like the other Celtic languages is bestknown amongst linguists for itsverbinitial word order and its use of initial consonant mutations. However ithas many more characteristics which are of interest to syntacticians. This is aconcise and accessible overview of the major syntactic phenomena of Welsh. Abroad variety of topics are covered including finite and infinitival clausesnoun phrases agreement and tense word order clause structure dialectvariation and the languages historical Celtic background. Drawing on workcarried out in both Principles and Parameters theory and Headdriven PhraseStructure Grammar it takes contemporary colloquial Welsh as its starting pointand draws contrasts with a range of literary and dialectal forms of thelanguage as well as earlier forms Middle Welsh were appropriate. An engagingguide to all that is interesting about Welsh syntax this book will be welcomedby syntactic theorists typologists historical linguists and Celticists alike. «