Modern Welsh: A Comprehensive Grammar (ISSN)

This is an excellent grammar for spoken Welsh. Unfortunately, while it broadly includes North and South Welsh spoken dialect forms (mostly), it does not include literary Welsh. The author is forthright about this - on pages 2-5, he is clear that the "comprehensive grammar" does not include literary Welsh, and he alleges that there are "manuals and grammars aplenty" to meet the needs of anyone who wants a grammar of literary Welsh. Has he looked recently? There are none - one is forced to rarities in the used book markets or to download old-fashioned treatises, themselves written in archaic English for readers familiar with Latin and (ancient) Greek. To justify the omission of literary Welsh, he states that it would do the user of this book a disservice to try to reconcile two different forms of the language and pass them off as one. He alleges that there are grounds for regarding literary Welsh and spoken Welsh as separate languages. I disagree. Northern and southern dialects of spoken Welsh are already quite different forms of the language from each other, and they are included in the grammar and "passed off as one". Any grammar billing itself as comprehensive should include the literary language, especially as there are many current books teaching the grammar of spoken Welsh but none of literary Welsh, and that anyone who cares to have a detailed grammar like this is likely to want to read classic literature as well as understand quotidian Welsh. The devisers of literary Welsh, whom the author denigrates as elitists, ignored the then spoken Welsh dialects; but for the last 50 years, Welsh-language teachers have been making the same mistake by ignoring literary Welsh and hoping it will go away. At the very least, the title of this book could be changed to "Spoken Welsh: A Comprehensive Grammar". A further issue is the editorializing of grammar. For example, past tense (1st sing. and second sing. active indicative) are listed as -es and -est. No, sorry - the endings are -ais and -aist. To justify it, he notes that -ais and -aist do not reflect the pronunciation of these endings. True. But -es and -est are S. Walian pronunciations and do not reflect the pronunciations in North Wales either. This piece of editorializing will immediately confuse the beginner following the latest Teach Yourself books, which give -ais and -aist respectively.In sum, modern language teachers - and now apparently university level academic authors - are basically instituting sweeping editorial reforms of their subject according to their personal views and taste. This seems to have started with the so-called Living Welsh movement, and yet continues (in a different way) in this grammar. The result is that each author presents their version of the language, rather than a comprehensive overview (including literary forms and all dialect forms). This is particularly unforgivable in a grammar purporting to be "comprehensive".

I bought this book after being baffled by the difference between the Welsh taught in Duo Lingo and my old Teach Yourself Welsh book - they appeared to be different languages.This book explains why, and does so in a very clear, thorough and readable way. The prefaces give a clear and concise background. The main differences between Welsh in the North and South of Wales are covered throughout.I'm obviously not an expert on modern spoken Welsh so can't comment on the accuracy, but I've studied grammars for many languages and I can say this is one of the most enjoyable to read. The author explains everything at some length, which might be tedious for some but for me this means there are no frustrating ambiguities, and there are plenty of examples to make things clear.Mutations are covered in a very clear and consistent way, and I haven't found any section in the book which was less than clear in its explanations.I've knocked off a point for the way the print version of the book is laid out - I assume this is down to the publisher. The print is in quite a small typeface to leave room for massive margins on each page which includes a sidebar showing (at the top) the range of paragraphs in the current section (e.g. "160-197 Numerals and quantifiers"), and at the bottom the page number ("144"). The problem is that every cross-reference is to a paragraph (or subsection?) number, e.g. "see §71" - but these are for some incomprehensible reason *not* shown in the sidebars, so you're left thumbing through *every* page in the "34-92" section trying to spot subsection 71. Given that this (like most grammars) has a *lot* of cross-references, you're left with a frustrating experience for the reader. All that white space in the sidebars - Routledge, could you really not have printed the subsection numbers for that page somewhere in the middle?!So I highly recommended this book - I think the author has done an excellent job. Just make sure (if you plan to buy the print version) that you have good eyesight (or good glasses) for the small, thin typeface, and be prepared to be patient when when trying to look up cross-references.

The author has a deep understanding of the language. He is able to explain modern usage in an easy to understand format, which is sometimes at variance with traditional (archaic) teaching.Both northern and southern variants are explained well. Any learner, like me, can do no better to rely on these textbooks for guidance. I just wish the publishers were not quite so expensively priced.

I usually dislike studying grammar intensely, but this book explains the complexities of Welsh grammar in a very clear manner with a focus on modern spoken Welsh. Well worth the price.

Fast delivery and will be a very handy reference book for my welsh course, very pleased.....

Excellent reference book for learners of Welsh.Third edition content is pretty much as the second edition, but with revised typeface and layout which somehow makes it easier to read. Some verb tables have been added as an appendix, and (according to the description, but I've not been able to compare closely enough to verify) other content has been added throughout compared to the earlier edition.Not cheap, but a solid investment for serious learners.