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Configuring Mutation in Irish

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2016

Nigel Duffield
Nigel Duffield*
Affiliation:
McGill University
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Abstract

This article offers a unified syntactic treatment of initial mutation in Modern Irish, one of the best-known characteristics of that language. Both types of consonant mutation, as well as the less-studied mutations affecting vowels, are discussed. It is proposed that the appearance of initial mutation is a function of particular structural configurations: mutation is triggered by lexicalized functional heads. It is shown how this analysis applies in three syntactic contexts: before clausal predicates; within noun phrases; and following prepositions. Special attention is given to the problem raised by exceptional forms, and, in particular, to the problem of variable constraints on “spreading” (whereby mutation spreads to following modifiers only in certain instances).

Résumé

Résumé

Cet article propose une analyse unifiée des deux types de mutations consonan-tiques, de même que des cas moins étudiés de mutations vocaliques, en irlandais moderne. Il est proposé que l’occurrence de mutation initiale est liée à certaines configurations structurales particulières : la mutation affecte les éléments situés dans le domaine d’une tête fonctionnelle lexicalisée. Cette analyse s’applique dans trois contextes syntaxiques : avant le prédicat à l’intérieur de la projection phrastique, à l’intérieur des syntagmes nominaux, et après préposition. Une attention particulière est accordée au problème soulevé par certaines formes exceptionnelles, surtout en ce qui a trait au problème des contraintes variables sur la propagation de la mutation aux adjectifs post-nominaux.

Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique , Volume 42 , Special Issue 1-2: Topics in Celtic Syntax , June 1997 , pp. 75 - 109
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Linguistic Association 1997

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