The Celtic inscriptions of Britain : phonology and chronology, c. 400-1200

"This is the first comprehensive linguistic study for 50 years of the stones from Western Britain and Brittany, inscribed in the Roman and Irish Ogam alphabets." "The stones are a major source for the history of the Celtic-speakers of post-Roman Britain and for the development and divergence of their languages, yet the dating of the 370 inscriptions remains uncertain. Now, through a new study of the phonological development of the Brittonic and Irish branches of Celtic, Patrick Sims-Williams places the chronology of the inscriptions on a surer footing." "The book will be of interest to archaeologists, historians and art historians as well as to philologists interested in the methods and problems of historical phonology and onomastics."--BOOK JACKET 1. Introduction -- 2. Brittonic Phonology [actual Symbol Not Reproducible] -- 3. Brittonic Chronology -- 4. Irish Phonology [actual Symbol Not Reproducible] -- 5. Irish Chronology -- 6. Conclusion And List Of Proposed Dates -- App. 1. Simplified Texts Of Inscriptions -- App. 2. Concordance To Ecmw And Ciic Numbering -- App. 3. Absolute Dates In Lheb For Sound Changes [actual Symbol Not Reproducible]. Patrick Sims-williams. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [396]-420) And Indexes. The corpus of 371 inscriptions examined in this book comprises nearly all the inscriptions listed by R.A.S. Macalister in his Corpus Inscriptionum Insularum Celticarum (1945-49), other than those in Ireland and Iona (CIIC 1-317, 521-967, 1070-95), with the addition of 25 inscriptions from Brittany, plus a large number of inscriptions from western Britain and Man which were unknown to Macalister. This is the first comprehensive linguistic study for 50 years of the stones from western Britain and Brittany, inscribed in the Roman and Irish Ogam alphabets. Provides a linguistic analysis of the 370 Brittonic and Irish inscriptions. Presents new phonological evidence for the dating of the inscriptions.