> ( From various grammars I have gathered that there is a > ) vowel-copying rule in Welsh which changes words like > ( aml, pobl, cefn > ) into > ( amal, pobol, cefen > > Are there really rules that determine what intrusive vowels get used? Since > they depend on accent (or do I mean dialect?) the rules will have to vary > too. Because the intrusive vowel is always unaccented it is sometime hard > to tell, but I think that I always put a dark "y" in aml, not an "a"; also > an "y" in "lleidr", whereas I would bet that someone from Bangor would put > an obvious "a" in it, and someone from Corwen an "i" (except that I may > have the Corwen and Bangor accents the wrong way around...). > It's possible that I got the impression that there is a vowel copying rule by comparing "aml" as pronounced in an "a"-inserting dialect with "llyfr" as pronounced in a "y"-inserting dialect. Another issue is that, even if there is a copying rule, certain words with apparently copied vowels, like "pobol" have become fairly standard (I am assuming so since they are written this way) & may be used in dialects with no such rule. My only solid source on the copying issue is an (annoyingly short) section in Pedersen's Vergleichende Grammatik, which has very few examples. Anyway, even if the vowel inserted is not a copy, I'm still curious as to whether it causes w & dark-y to become schwa-y. Diolch yn fawr! Nick Kibre 6500njk@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu Adran Ieithyddiaeth, Prifysgol Califfornia Santa Barbara