Late Old Irish lenition and the modern Gaelic verb

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Late Old Irish lenition and the modern Gaelic verb traces the evolution of lenition from Old Irish through the medieval period to the present. It meticulously examines dialect maps of modern Gaelic languages in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man, presenting 19 new maps. The study discusses the particles ro, no, and do, which were 'geminated' in Old Irish, merging in late Old Irish with the leniting neuter infixed pronoun a to create new preverbal forms. Notably, Modern Irish retains older geminating forms, particularly in the copula and certain dialects in Munster and Galway. The increasing use of lenition as a relative marker from late Old Irish is analyzed, shedding light on the distribution of secondary lenited forms like thá in Scotland and Waterford, contrasted with non-lenited forms in other Gaelic regions. Specific chapters focus on Rathlin Gaelic as a frontier dialect, the lenited forms of Middle Irish verbs in the modern era, and the dating implications of linguistic developments over thirteen centuries. This work combines elements of linguistic geography and geology, appealing to historical linguists in Celtic Studies and beyond.