Middle Welsh
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Middle Welsh Kymraec |
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Spoken in: | Wales | |
Language extinction: | Evolved into Modern Welsh about the 15th century | |
Language family: | Indo-European Celtic Insular Celtic Brythonic Middle Welsh |
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Writing system: | Latin | |
Language codes | ||
ISO 639-1: | none | |
ISO 639-2: | — | |
ISO 639-3: | wlm
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Middle Welsh (Cymraeg Canol) is the label attached to the Welsh language of the 12th to 14th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This form of Welsh developed from Old Welsh.
Middle Welsh is the language of nearly all surviving early manuscripts of the Mabinogion, although the tales themselves are certainly much older. It is also the language of most of the manuscripts of Welsh law. Middle Welsh is reasonably intelligible, albeit with some work, to a modern-day Welsh speaker.