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 Bangor University, in 2005 I started a PhD in Linguistics at Bangor, 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 Bangor 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

2022

  • PublishedPumed Gainc y Mabinogi
    Glyn, P., Apr 2022, Talybont: Y Lolfa. 222 p.
    Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review

2021

  • E-pub ahead of printNorthern Welsh: Illustrations of the IPA
    Bell, E., Archangeli, D., Anderson, S., Hammond, MI., Webb-Davies, P. & Brooks, H., 18 Aug 2021, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Journal of the International Phonetic Association. FirstView, 24 p.
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2020

2018

2017

2016

2014

  • PublishedAuxiliary deletion in the informal speech of Welsh–English bilinguals: A change in progress
    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
  • PublishedBuilding bilingual corpora
    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
  • PublishedFactors influencing code-switching
    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

2010

2009

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014