Fifty years on: absolute/conjunct, the 2pl. copula, verbal accent and a pointless particle

Abstract

The focus below is upon attempts made in the last fifty years or so to account for the absolute and conjunct verbal inflections peculiar to the Insular Celtic branch of the large Indo-European language family. A critical survey of various proposals regarding the endings themselves and associated irregularities in compound verbs is accompanied by some new considerations, notably a hitherto overlooked 2pl. abs. form of the copula in the Würzburg Glosses and the negative passive preterite’s potential as a means of generating enclitic pronouns with geminated initial consonant. These lead to a somewhat modified version of the author’s previously published views on the topic.