The development of postverbal lenition in Middle Welsh

Abstract

Middle Welsh shows a remarkable usage of lenition: the first consonant of a constituent may be lenited when following a verbal phrase. Postverbal lenition may be triggered by specific verbal endings, and it may be triggered based on whether whatever follows the verb is a subject, object or adverb, etc. The exact working implementation of such a syntactic rule has not yet been described in a manner that accounts for inconsistencies. Moreover, no compelling account of its historical function exists. Finally, its development throughout the Middle Welsh period is not fully charted. This thesis aims to fill this gap in knowledge by charting how postverbal lenition is conditioned in several texts held to be representative of the Middle Welsh period.