The morphosyntax of the modern Irish verb: Insights from initial mutation

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel analysis of the Modern Irish verbal complex based on the distribution of Initial Consonant Mutation. I argue that the widely assumed Trigger-Word Hypothesis, which states that Mutation is induced by preceding morphemes, does not adequately account for Irish verbal morphology. Instead, I propose that Mutation is the phonological realization of specific functional morphemes. This analysis captures cases in which Mutation appears without an overt trigger and cases in which putative triggers occur without Mutation. I further argue that this approach supports a more articulated clausal structure for Irish than previously thought. Furthermore, this paper shows that Irish verbal morphology provides evidence for theories of allomorphy that take the conditioning environment to be the entire complex morphosyntactic head. By identifying the morphosyntactic features associated with verbal Initial Consonant Mutation in this way, this paper contributes to a more principled understanding of the role of Mutation in Irish morphosyntax.