Andrew 'fesses to a webpage update!

[Andrew Smith <hobbit@mail.earthlight.co.nz>]

Just to warn list members, and other interested parties, that at the
weekend (my time) the Brithenig pages were updated.  Some changes to
Brithenig grammar were introduced:

1. nn clusters have been simplified to n.  There is no change in
pronunciation, just spelling.  The thought that influenced me was how
Spanish can simplify grande to gran before a noun.  In Brithenig I allowed
it to become universal.  Note to list members, the present participle got
affected by this, my reply below.

2. The third person plural verb ending is now -nt, although the t is
silent and there is no difference in pronunciation between that and the
first person plural verb ending.  I have done this on analogy with Welsh.

3. The predicate adjective, and the adverb, no longer undergo soft
mutation.  I decided that the conditions that cause this to occur in Welsh
don't necessarily occur in Brithenig and deleted this feature. 

On Mon, 26 Oct 1998, John Cowan wrote:

> Padrig yscrifef:
> 
> > There's not enough information on Brithenig to form an opinion, as the
> > participle (sneakily) ends in -n (can't tell if it's from -nd- or -nt-,
> > though) and there's no mention of a gerund.  I could have sworn that last
> > week they ended in -nn (as evidenced by the Horse story, with participles
> > in -nn), which would indicate -nd- --> -nn, assuming that n follows the
> > same pattern as ng.
> 
> It did, but it's only a spelling change (which could have happened *there*,
> since nn and n are the same in Brithenig.
> 
It is derived from -nd-, lenited to -nn, and has now been simplified to
-n.  I have never managed to successfully grok the differences between
present participles and gerunds though.  Where the -nt- ending survives in
Brithenig it is usually used as a noun or an adjective.

Thank you for your patience.  Normal transmission will now resume.  Have a
nice day!

- andrew.

Andrew Smith, Intheologus 			hobbit@earthlight.co.nz
Life is short, so am I!