ÑÇÖÞÉ«°É

Raised on Anglesey, I received my early education in Wales before going to England for university. My undergraduate degree was in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic Studies at Queens’ College at the University of Cambridge, where I specialised in medieval Welsh language and literature, and old Germanic language and literature, particularly Old English. I also completed an MPhil in this field in 2004, writing my dissertation on Old English semantics (on different words for horses).

After working briefly as a researcher in the School of Welsh at ÑÇÖÞÉ«°É, in 2005 I started a PhD in Linguistics at ÑÇÖÞÉ«°É, supervised by Professor Margaret Deuchar; I graduated in 2010. The focus of my PhD research was on bilingualism and code-switching, which is the phenomenon of inserting words from one language into sentences from another language - something particularly common in informal Welsh speech.

I have been a member of teaching staff in Linguistics at ÑÇÖÞÉ«°É since 2009, initially as a Welsh-medium Teaching Fellow, then from September 2012 as a Lecturer in Welsh Linguistics, in both cases primarily funded by the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol. In 2016 I was promoted to Senior Lecturer in Linguistics (Bilingualism). I am currently a member of staff of the Department of Linguistics, English Language and Bilingualism within the School of Arts, Culture and Language.

I primarily teach Welsh-medium modules at the School, particularly related to bilingualism, plus English-medium modules on sociolinguistics, Welsh Linguistics and/or Historical Linguistics, depending on their availability. The subjects I teach include general overviews of the grammar and linguistics of Welsh, aspects of bilingualism (both grammatical and social), historical linguistics and language change, and sociolinguistics.

I prefer to supervise dissertation topics in the above fields and/or in fields related to my research interests (as described elsewhere on this page), and am especially interested in supervising students on topics in Welsh grammar, change in the Welsh language and/or bilingualism in a minority language context.

My research interests focus on bilingualism (primarily in the Welsh context), especially relating to Welsh-English code-switching and on contact linguistics, specifically the effect of language contact on minority language grammar, with a particular focus on Welsh. In general I am interested in sociolinguistics, particularly grammatical variation, and have published on grammatical variation and change in Welsh due to contact with English. I also have an interest in historical linguistics, primarily in the Celtic and Germanic languages.

Additionally I am an author, primarily in Welsh. My book of cosmic horror Pumed Gainc y Mabinogi was published in spring 2022.

I am willing to supervise a PhD

2025

• Published
  Webb-Davies, P. (Translator) & Lovecraft, H. P., 22 Feb 2025, Melin Bapur. 148 p. (Clasuron Byd Melin Bapur)
  Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review

2024

• Published
  Webb-Davies, P., 15 Jul 2024, Talybont: Y Lolfa. 415 p.
  Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review

2023

• Accepted/In press
  Webb-Davies, P., 18 Aug 2025, The Palgrave Handbook of Celtic Languages and Linguistics. Eska, J., Nurmio, S., Ó Muircheartaigh, P. & Russell, P. (eds.). Palgrave Macmillan, 17 p.
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
• Published
  Bell, E., Archangeli, D., Anderson, S., Hammond, M., Webb-Davies, P. & Brooks, H., Aug 2023, In: Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 53, 2, p. 487 - 510 24 p.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• Accepted/In press
  Webb-Davies, P., 23 Nov 2023, (Accepted/In press) The acquisition of Celtic languages. Chondrogianni, V., O'Toole, C. & Thomas, E. (eds.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 21 p.
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

2022

• Published
  Glyn, P., Apr 2022, Talybont: Y Lolfa. 222 p.
  Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review
• Published
  Webb-Davies, P., 22 Nov 2022, The Conversation.
  Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Article

2020

• Published
  Webb-Davies, P., Cooper, S. & Arman, L., Nov 2020, Cyflwyniad i Ieithyddiaeth. Cooper, S. & Arman, L. (eds.). Caerfyrddin: Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol, p. 181-214
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
• Published
  Hammond, M., Bell, E., Anderson, S., Webb-Davies, P., Ohala, D., Carnie, A. & Brooks, H., 3 Jan 2020, In: Glossa. 5, 1, 1.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• Published
  Webb-Davies, P. & Shank, C., Mar 2020, In: Gwerddon. 30, p. 23-39
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• Published
  Vaughan-Evans, A., Parafita Couto, M. C., Boutonnet, B., Hoshino, N., Webb-Davies, P., Deuchar, M. & Thierry, G., 17 Nov 2020, In: Frontiers in Psychology. 11, 549702.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2018

• Published
  Deuchar, M., Webb-Davies, P. & Donnelly, K., 15 Jan 2018, John Benjamins Publishing Company. 199 p. (Studies in Corpus Linguistics; no. 81)
  Research output: Book/Report › Book

2017

• Published
  Thomas, E. & Webb-Davies, P., 6 Aug 2017, Caerfyrddin, Wales: Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol.
  Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review
• Published
  Parafita Couto, M., Boutonnet, B., Hoshino, N., Webb-Davies, P., Deuchar, M. & Thierry, G., 1 Feb 2017, Bilingualism and minority languages in Europe: Current trends and Developments. Lachlan, F. & Del Carmen Parafita Couto, M. (eds.). Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, p. 240-254
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
• Published
  Webb-Davies, P., 23 Jun 2017, The Conversation.
  Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Article

2016

• Published
  Webb-Davies, P., 11 Dec 2016, Sociolinguistics in Wales. Durham, M. & Morris, J. (eds.). London: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 31 60 p.
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

2014

• Published
  Webb-Davies, P. G., Davies, P. & Deuchar, M., 30 Mar 2014, In: Lingua. 143, p. 224-241
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• Published
  Webb-Davies, P., Deuchar, M., Herring, J., Parafita Couto, M. & Carter, D., 9 May 2014, Advances in the Study of Bilingualism. Thomas, E. & Mennen, I. (eds.). Bristol: Multilingual Matters, p. 93-110
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
• Published
  Parafita Couto, M. D., Webb-Davies, P. G., Carter, D. M. & Deuchar, M., 9 May 2014, Advances in the Study of Bilingualism. Thomas, E. M. & Mennen, I. (eds.). 2014 ed. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, p. 111-140
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

2011

• Published
  Webb-Davies, P. G., Carter, D., Deuchar, M., Davies, P. & Parafita Couto, M. C., 1 Sept 2011, In: Journal of Language Contact. 4, 2, p. 153 – 183
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2010

• Published
  Webb-Davies, P. G., Carter, D., Davies, P., Parafita Couto, M. C. & Deuchar, M., 1 Jan 2010, In: Revista Española de Lingüística.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• Published
  Webb-Davies, P. G., Parafita Couto, M. C., Carter, D., Davies, P. & Deuchar, M., 1 Jan 2010.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• Published
  Webb-Davies, P. G., Deuchar, M., Breitbarth, A. (Editor), Lucas, C. (Editor), Watts, S. (Editor) & Willis, D. (Editor), 1 Jan 2010, Continuity and Change in Grammar.