Note: This site is completely a work of fiction, a background for my fictional language Wessisc. For real information on tourism on the Isle of Wight, a site we may suggest is http://www.iwight.com/.

Wight Tourist Information

Wessisc Language Primer Mutations

As has already been noted, Wessisc is a Germanic Language, descended parallel to English from Anglo-Saxon. In Germanic languages, unlike Celtic languages, initial mutation does not occur in a word. However, Wessisc, being in essence an offshoot of Anglo-Saxon under influence of the remnants of the P-Celtic language in the Wessex region, inevitably adopted numerous Celtic attributes, one of which is the tendency to mutate words under certain conditions.

It is clear however that mutation is found to be difficult for many people, and it is inevitable that the original speakers of Wessisc were not able to incorporate all mutations into Wessisc from P-Celtic, and thus only the Soft mutation was adopted. It may also be noted also that there was Germanic influence on the mutations, namely the addition of several sounds to the mutations table which are not found in regular P-Celtic or P-Celtic-influenced languages.

Here then is the table of mutations:
 

Radical Form	Mutated Form
b	v
c	g
d	ð
g	-
gw	hw
k	g
m	v
p	b
t	d
w	hw
sc	cs
þ	ð
cs	cg
hl	l
hr	r

A mutation occurs under prescribed circumstances, changing the initial sound to that of the mutated sound. An example is

Caþ - Cat (feminine noun)
Se* Gaþ - The Cat (Se causes mutation - see the definite and indefinite articles for more information.)

Orthography itself and other matters concerning the inclusion of certain sounds will be discussed in the chapter on Revived Wessisc.

(C) 2001 Damon M. Lord