From: guto rhys
Message: 12192
Date: 2002-01-30
I have browsed through Whatmough's "Dialects of Ancient Gaul" a number of times but I can�t recollect any mention of lenition in late Gaulish - does anyone have any more information on more recent research? Does anyone have any information on the Swiss toponymy which suggests that the local Celtic dialect had undergone similar lenition to Brittonic?
I am particularly interested in Brythonic survival in the Northern British kingdoms. The survival into the modern period of counting systems used by shepherds (yan tan etc) is intriguing. Also the last king of Strathclyde �Owain� (or some other variant on this Latin derived name) is interesting but obviously not evidence of significant survival of the language in lower strata of society, compare with Caedwalla of Mercia for example. When recently visiting a Roman Fort on the Western end of Hadrian�s Wall I visited also a monastry where Ed.I had stayed and in documents there relating to local farms I was surprised to see that even in the late 13th century many smallholding still had names that were very recognisably British. T.M. Charles Edwards after a lecture a few years ago expressed the opinion that the language died with the Viking incursions. Is there any academic work dealing with this subject?