Lenition

From UniLang Wiki

Lenition is a consonant mutation present in the Celtic languages that causes the initial consonant of a word to change under certain conditions.

For example, the Welsh word for “stone” is carreg. However, to say “the stone” you must say y garreg because feminine words are lenited after the article y.

Another example:

Cymru = Wales.

Dw i’n dod o Gymru. = I’m from Wales.

In Scottish and Irish Gaelic, these mutations are usually represented by writing an “h” after the consonant.

There is always a phonological reason for these changes. For example, it is possible that Welsh underwent a sound change that caused voiceless consonants to become voiced between vowels. If the article y was considered to be part of the noun, then the “word” ycarreg would have become ygarreg, while the indefinite form carreg remained unchanged.