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The Celtic Languages

The Celtic Languages

The Celtic Languages

Donald MacAulay, University of Glasgow
October 2008
Paperback
9780521088916
$92.00
USD
Paperback
USD
Hardback

    This volume describes the six modern Celtic languages. Four of these, Modern Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh and Breton, are living community languages. The other two, Manx and Cornish, survived into the modern period, but are no longer extant as community languages, though they are the subject of enthusiastic revivals. The Celtic Languages sets them briefly in their Indo-European context, and states their general relationships within the broader Celtic language family. Individual linguistic studies are first placed in their sociolinguistic and sociohistorical context. A detailed synchronic account of each language then follows, including syntax, morphology, phonology, morphophonology, dialect variation and distribution. Each description is based on a common plan, thus facilitating comparison amongst the different languages. This latest volume in the Cambridge Language Surveys will be welcomed by all scholars of the Celtic languages, but has also been designed to be accessible to any reader with only a basic knowledge of linguistics. It is the only modern account to deal with all surviving Celtic languages in this detail.

    • No other book deals with a full range of modern Celtic languages
    • Accessible not only to advanced linguist but designed to be intelligible also to those with an interest in these languages at a more general level
    • Brings out the links between these languages in an effective way. The Green series is instantly recognisable, and people have been waiting for this volume for a long time

    Reviews & endorsements

    "The Celtic Languages is an admirable book, providing clear and detailed analyses of these six languages. It should prove to be an excellent introduction to new students, as well as a solid reference work for the more experienced linguist." Language Quarterly

    See more reviews

    Product details

    October 2008
    Paperback
    9780521088916
    488 pages
    229 × 152 × 3 mm
    0.71kg
    7 maps
    Available

    Table of Contents

    • 1. Introduction
    • 2. The Celtic languages: an overview
    • Part I. The Gaelic Languages:
    • 3. The Irish language
    • 4. The Manx language
    • 5. The Scottish Gaelic language
    • Part II. The Brittonic Languages:
    • 6. The Welsh language
    • 7. The Cornish language
    • 8. The Breton language.
      Contributors
    • Donald Macauley, Cathair O Dochartaigh, Elmar Ternes, Alan Thomas, Robert L. Thompson

    • Editor
    • Donald MacAulay , University of Glasgow