Rare and endangered linguistic subsystems in Celtic and Welsh

Abstract

The Celtic languages have a number of cross-linguistically rare and interesting features, but all are endangered with small and declining numbers of active speakers. Welsh has recently shown signs of recovery, but the linguistically interesting features of Welsh seem to be recessive or already extinct in the language of younger speakers. This paper looks at some linguistically interesting features of the Celtic languages, the present state of endangerment, and the recent development of the features in Welsh.