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It is uncontroversial that Proto-Indo-European *-nti# regularly becomes -t /d/ in Old Irish, as in berait ‧berat ‘(they) carry’ (< *b^heronti).  Nevertheless, my principal claim in this talk is that just in the copula, and under certain specifiable conditions, the same sequence results instead in -n.  In the course of using this new phonological rule to uncover a couple of hitherto unnoticed copular forms, I also comment on morpho-phonological curiosities in the paradigm of the Old Irish copula more generally.

Abstract: "Linguists have been teaching the general public for several decades now that traditional conceptions of "bad" versus "good" grammar are not based on scientific argumentation, but certain fashions laid down by assorted thinkers mostly in the eighteenth century. However, the public remains convinced that most speakers of English go about speaking it "wrong." In this talk, I try to present the linguist's perspective in a new way, showing that while all people must learn standard grammar for public purposes, nonstandard grammar is distinct, but not logically mistaken."