Introduction to Middle Welsh

Introduction to Middle Welsh offers a comprehensive introduction to Middle Welsh grammar, leading the student through sixty chapters of carefully scaffolded exercises and readings. Written in an engaging style and aimed toward learners without any knowledge of Modern Welsh, this book guides students to a high intermediate level of proficiency with the language, focusing particularly on prose.

The first twenty chapters employ both original Middle Welsh sentences and simplified sentences based on originals, allowing learners to master basic grammatical concepts without being overwhelmed by vocabulary. New vocabulary is introduced at the end of each lesson, so that learners can complete the exercises and translation without looking up words in the glossary. The glossary, for its part, contains over 1,500 vocabulary items,which provides students with many of the most commonly used words in Middle Welsh literature. When available, useful etymologies are also provided, making connections to languages that students might already know. In addition to several hundred carefully chosen sentences for translation exercises, Introduction to Middle Welsh includes eighteen selections from literature, ranging from poetry to law, showing the variety of the Middle Welsh literary corpus.

Ideal for the classroom or self-taught learners, Introduction to Middle Welsh will appeal to those with an interest in Welsh, medieval literature, and Celtic studies.

Joshua Byron Smith is associate professor of English at the University of Arkansas, where he teaches medieval languages and literature. He has been teaching Middle Welsh to undergraduates, graduate students, and independent learners for over a decade.