Guillaumean Linguistics

R.M. Jones

It has long been suspected that Guillaumean linguistics provided suggestions for literary critics or theorists. Gabriel Guillaume (1962, 1967, 1968) was a pioneer. The most useful summary is Wilmet (1980). But what was lacking was a composite, over-all survey of literary theory that examined qualitatively the crucial areas. Such an attempt over some decades has been made through the medium of Welsh. And perhaps an opportunity may be seized now to summarise some conclusions in a festschrift honouring someone who is, amongst other matters, one of the most distinguished Guillaumean scholars of our time. The present essay is therefore a brief survey of some of the conclusions reached in four works in particular: Jones (1974, 1984-8, 1997, 1998a).