I would like to continue my notes on Cornish with some observations from Alan Thomas' Cornish contribution to _Language in the British Isles_ edited by Peter Trudgill. I am leaving my primary source because Norris seems a bit dated when it comes to phonology and I would like to approach to question of phonology from a more modren viewpoint. Thomas notes: "...I will give the phonological structure which can be deduced from analysis of the written forms, with comment on its orthographic representation.. ..It goes without saying that, with no spoken record avaliable [referring of course to native speakers], we can do no more than set up an abstract configuration of contrasting units, though we have for guidance Edward Lhuyd's description of the sounds of Cornish as they were spoken in the early eighteenth century..." (Trudgill [ed],1984:278-279) Thomas uses IPA symbols in his discussion of Cornish phonology. Some IPA symbols cannot be typed on computers so I would like to beg pardon to use the following conventions in this particular contribution: TH For the IPA symbol of a dental voiceless fricative DH For the IPA symbol of a dental voiced fricative @ For the IPA symbol of a mid central vowel (written 'e' upside down) The source for these present notes comes from _Language in the British Isles_(1984) pp. 284-285. CORNISH INITIAL MUTATIONS There are three kinds of initial consonant mutations in Cornish that occur in various grammatical and syntaxical situations. One may have noticed one of these mutations in my notes on the Cornish article. The mutations are as follows (using terms used by Thomas): 1. The Soft Mutation which involves the following changes (and should be familiar Welsh speakers): /p/ > /b/ /t/ > /d/ /k/ > /g/ /b/ > /v/ /m/ > /v/ /d/ > /DH/ /g/ > -- An example: Feminine nouns after the definite article undergo the soft mutation: /an vro/ the area /f/ /t/ > /TH/ /k/ > /x/ An example: a noun after the 3rd singular feminine possessive adjective undergoes the spirant mutation: /i THir/ her land < /tir/ /i xolon/ her heart < /kolon/ 3. Provection is the last type and involves the following changes: /b/ > /p/ /d/ > /t/ /g/ > /k/ An example: a verbal noun after the particle /ou/ /ou peue/ living < /beue/ /ou tos/ coming < /dos/ There is a secondary set of changes that Thomas remarks on which he calls "historical products of soft mutation" (Trudgill [ed],1984:284) which involve the following changes: /v/ > /f/ /DH/ > /t/ /TH/ > /h/ An example: adjectives following the particle /@n/ /@n ta/ good < /da/ /@n haru/ rough < /garu/ ================================================================================ I will endeavor to note when these mutations occur in future grammatical notes as well. Of course, please feel free to contact me with comments, questii ons or suggestions at my E-mail address. Anthony Velasquez Oregon State Univeristy (E-mail) velasqua@ucs.orst.edu ========================================================================= I realize I've never formerly introduced myself: I am a senior at OSU where I study Anthropology with concentrations in Linguistics and Archaeology. I have minors in French and Aesthetic Philosophies and one of my hobbies is learning other languages. The Celtic languages have always been my favorites though. ==========================================================================