Accidence
The article
§ 114. i. The definite article isỿr,’r orỿ. There is no indefinite article in Welsh.
ii. The full formỿr is used before a vowel orh, asỿrafon ‘the river’,ỿrhaul ‘the sun’,dwfrỿrafon,gwresỿrhaul; theỿ is elided after a vowel, asi’r afon ‘into the river’,o’rtɥ ‘from the house’; before a consonant ther is dropped, unless theỿ has been elided as above, asỿnỿtɥ ‘in the house’.
w̯- counts as a consonant:ỿw̯aedd ‘the cry’;i̯- as a vowel in Mn. W.ỿri̯aith ‘the language’; in Ml. W. as a vowel or a consonant, asỿri̯arllr.m. 188 l. 25; 189 ll. 13, 30; 190 l. 7;ỿiarll 189 ll. 2, 20. As initialwy isw͡y§ 38 iv, we have in the standard languageyr ŵy ‘the egg’,yr ŵyr ‘the grandson’,yr ŵyth ‘the eight’,yr w͡ythnos ‘the week’,yr w͡ylo ‘the weeping’,yr w͡yneb ‘the face’,yr w͡ybren ‘the sky’. Similarlyyr W͡yddfa ‘Snowdon’,yr W͡yddgrug ‘Mold’, with radicalgw͡y- fem., seev.
iii. O. W. has only the first two forms, writtenir andr; thusirtriox. ‘the three’,irpimphet do. ‘the fifth’,irbis bichan do. ‘the little finger’,irmant do. ‘the thumb’,irguolleunijuv. ‘the light’,ordeccolionm.c. gl. decadibus,orbardaul leteineppm.c. gl. epica pagina,direscipl.l. 120 ‘to the bishops’. After a diphthong we haveir, asnouiremidm.c. ‘that of the brass’. The formỿ is in regular use in early Ml. W., asEbetev ae gulichyglavb.b. 63 ‘the graves which the rain wets’.
In Ml. W.r is used aftera ‘and; with’,o ‘from’,ẏ ‘to’,na ‘nor’,no ‘than’; but usuallyy oryr after other words ending in vowels, askyrchuyllys, …a chyrchuybordeuw.m. 5,llynayllys do. 6, etc. The reason is probably that the article, as a proclitic, was generally joined to the following word, thusyllys ‘the court’, so that these groups became isolated in the scribe’s mind, and were written in their isolated forms. On the other hand, the article could not be separated from the above monosyllables (cf.yny which is the regular form ofyn y ‘in the’), hence after these it assumes its post-vocalic form. It was undoubtedly spokenr after all vowels then as now, except when a pause came between the words; for we find early examples ofr even after diphthongs; thuskir llawreirccheidb.b. 10 ‘beside the suppliants’,mi ywriarllw.m. 137 ‘I am the earl’,gwirẏon ywrvorwyn do. 138 ‘the maid is innocent’,erglywrpobloeẟr.p. 1201 ‘the peoples will hearken’. In some casesy is written where the metre requiresr asPa gur ywyporthawr?b.b. 94 ‘What man is the porter?’, where we should haveywr, as the line is 5 syll. Sometimesyr is written before a consonant:Pieuirbetb.b. 66 forpieu’r beẟ ‘whose is the grave?’;llymayrweẟr.m. 2 forllyma’r weẟ ‘this is the manner’. In the early Mn. bards’r is regular, esp. after pure vowels; and it is general in later prose, e.g. the 1620 Bible, though not without exception here. Pughe attempted to substitutey for it everywhere, and under his influencey was adopted in many late edns. of the Bible, except aftera,o,i,na. This preference fory is chiefly due to the mistaken notion thatr forms no part of the word, but was put in before vowels “for the sake of euphony”. We have seen above that the article isyr, and of the clipped forms’r is older thany.
iv. The Ir. article isind, after prepositionssind, from Kelt. *sendos, which gives W.hynn ‘this’, see§ 164 vi. This occurs in W. inyn awr ‘now’, lit. ‘this hour’ (O. Bret.annaor, Ir.ind or sa), andy naill for *yn aill§ 165 (Bret.ann eil§ 166 iii, Ir.ind-ala). The art. in Corn. isen oran; in Ml. Bret.an; in Mn. Bret.ann before vowels,t‑,d‑,n- andh‑,al beforel‑,ar before other consonants (so the Bret. indef. art.eunn,eul,eur, fromun ‘one’).
Pedersen Gr. i 153 ff. quotes late examples ofn >r after a cons. in Ir. dialects and Bret., and one or two cases of the change before a cons. as Ml. Ir.marbad for O.Ir.mainbad, Bret.mor-go ‘horse collar’ for *mon-go (obviously cases of dissim. of nasals). No such change asn >r is known in Welsh, which prefers to changer to the easiern§ 100 i (2). W.yr can only be identified with Ir.ind by a rule made ad hoc; this is the only form of the art. in W. (yn awr is not‘the hour’ but‘this hour’); the‑r abounds in the earliest period, and cannot be compared with Bret.‑r, which is late, and may have spread fromar beforer‑. The fact that there is a demonst. pron.ar in W. used before the rel., see§ 164 v, makes the derivation ofyr fromhynn still less probable. There is no reason why the W. and Ir. articles should be the same word; the use of a demonst. as art. is much later than the separation of the P and Q groups. Gaulish has no art.; Pedersen Gr. ii 177 quotesσοσιν νεμητον ‘this temple’ as an example of the art. in Gaul., which is as if one were to quotein hoc tumulo from a Lat. inscr. as an example of the Latin “article”hic.
Though common in the O. W. glosses and prose fragments, the art. seldom occurs in the early poetry; it is not found injuv. sk., and is rare in theb.a.:Gwyr a aeth Gatraeth ‘[the] men who went to Catraeth’. It does not occur in O. Corn. or O. Bret., see Loth Voc. 38 (ann is the demonst. inannaor above). Brit. no doubt had several demonstratives used before nouns; but the adoption of one to be used as an art. seems to be later than the separation of W., Corn, and Bret., and independent in each. The origin of the W.yr is not clear. Brit. had anl-demonstrative seen in Ml. W.y lleill besidey neill§ 165 vi, cf.yll§ 160 i (2); and‑l is more likely than‑n to have become‑r. Butyr may come from a demonst. with locative‑r- suffix, as in E.here,there, which might be declined with stem‑ro‑, cf. Lat.suprā;yr < *is-ros? cf. Lat.ille <[W 1]is-le.
v. The initial consonant of a fem. sg. noun (exceptll- andrh-) undergoes the soft mutation after the art.
Note initialgw͡y‑:yr ŵyl ‘the holiday’,yr ŵydd ‘the goose’; initialgw̯y‑:y w̯yrth ‘the miracle’,y w̯ŷs ‘the summons’.
The mutation shows that the art. had theo/ā-declension in Brit.
Nouns
§ 115. i. The old Keltic declension is lost in W.,§§ 4,§ 113; a noun has one form for all cases. This is usually derived from the old nominative, asciwed ‘rabble’ < Lat.cīvitas; sometimes from the accusative, asciwdod ‘people’ <cīvitātem. (In W.,ciwed andciwdod are different words, not different cases of the same word.) Traces of the oblique cases survive in adverbial and prepositional expressions,§§ 215,220.
ii. The noun in W. has two numbers, the singular and the plural. Traces of the use of the dual are seen indeurudd ‘cheeks’,dwyfron ‘breasts’,dwylaw ‘hands’; the last has become the ordinary pl. ofllaw ‘hand’.
The dual ofo-stems may have given the same form as the sg., as in Ir., where we havefer ‘man’ < *u̯iros, andfer ‘(two) men’, apparently from *u̯irŏ, as *u̯irō would have given *fiur (cf. Gk.δύο, Vedic voc.‑a; but W.dau implies‑ō in *dúu̯ō itself). Thus W.dau darw ‘two bulls’ (deudarw̯p. 52),déu-wr L.G.C. 185 ‘two men’ (‑wr keeps its sg. form while the pl. becamegwŷr§ 66 iii (1)). But in nouns with consonant stems the dual must have taken the same form as the pl.; thus Ar. *uqsō > W.ych ‘ox’, but the dual *uqsene and the pl. *uqsenes both gaveychen; so we have Ml. W.deu ychenr.m. 121 ‘two oxen’,deu vroder do. 26 ‘two brothers’; and, by analogy,dwy wrageẟa.l. ii 98 ‘two women’. In Late Mn. W. the sg. form only is used.
The dual, whether it agreed in form with the sg. or the pl., formerly preserved the effect of its old vocalic ending in the soft mutation of a following adj., asdeu wyẟelvonllwmw.m. 56 ‘two bare-backed Irishmen’,y ddwy wrageddrywiogach L.G.C. 127 ‘the two women [who are] kinder’.
iii. In W. the noun has two genders only, the masculine and the feminine.
The following traces of the old neuter survive: (1) nouns of vacillating gender§ 142 i.—(2) The neut. dual in Kelt. had been reformed with‑n on the analogy of the sing., e.g. Ir.da n‑droch ‘2 wheels’; hence in W. afterdau, some nouns, originally neuter, keepp‑,t‑,c- unmutated§ 106 iii (4); thusdau cant ordeucant ‘200’,dau tu ordeutu ‘both sides’; and by analogydau pen ordeupen ‘two ends’.
Number.
§ 116. The plural of a noun is formed from the singular either by vowel change or by the addition of a termination, which may also be accompanied by vowel change. But where the singular has been formed by the addition to the stem of a singular termination, this is usually dropped in the plural, and sometimes a plural termination is substituted for it, in either case with or without change of vowel. There are thus seven different ways of deducing the pl. from the sing.: i. change of vowel; ii. addition of pl. ending; iii. addition of pl. ending with vowel change; iv. loss of sg. ending; v. loss of sg. ending with vowel change; vi substitution of pl. for sg. ending; vii. substitution of pl. for sg. ending with vowel change.
Parisyllabic Nouns.
§ 117. i. The vowel change that takes place when the pl. is formed from the sg. without the addition or subtraction of an ending is the ultimatei-affection; see§ 83 ii. This was originally caused by the pl. termination‑ī ofo-stems; thus *bardos gavebarẟ ‘bard’, but *bardī gavebeirẟ ‘bards’; and also by‑ī of neut.i-stems, as inmŷr ‘seas’ < *morī§ 122 ii (4); possibly-ū of neut.u-stems, but original examples are doubtful. Later, when the cause of the affection had been forgotten, it came to be regarded merely as a sign of the pl., and was extended to all classes of stems.
Examples: Ml. and Mn. W.march ‘horse’, pl.meirch;tarw̯ ‘bull’, pl.teirw̯;carw̯ ‘deer’, pl.ceirw̯;gwalch ‘hawk’, pl.gweilch;alarch ‘swan’, pl.eleirch,elyrch;salm ‘psalm’, pl. Ml.seilɏmỺ.A. 107, besidesalmeur.p. 1303, Mn.salmau;llygad ‘eye’, pl. Ml.llygeit, Mn.llygaid;dafad ‘sheep’, pl. Ml.deveit, Mn.defaid;brân ‘crow’, pl. Ml.brein, Mn.brain; Ml.manach, Ml. and Mn.mynach ‘monk’, pl. Ml.meneich,myneich, Mn.menych,myneich (latemynachod);paladr ‘beam, ray’, pl.peleidr,pelydr; Mn.bustach ‘bullock’, pl.bustych; Ml. and Mn.maen ‘stone’, pl. Ml.mein, Mn.main Dat. xvii 4 (latermeini);cyllell ‘knife’, pl.cyllyll;castell ‘castle’, pl.cestyll;gwaëll ‘knitting needle’, pl.gwëyll D.G. 458;kerẟ ‘song’, pl.kyrẟr.p. 1245 (poet.);môr ‘sea’, pl.mŷr D.G. 146 (poet.; in prose generallymoroedd);porth ‘gate’, pl.pyrth;Cymro, pl.Cymry;esgob ‘bishop’, pl.esgyb, see§ 129 i (1); amwsw.m. 472 (‘horse’, pl.emys do. 85;asgwrn ‘bone’, pl.esgyrn;croen ‘skin’, pl.crŵyn;oen ‘lamb’, pl.ŵyn;croes ‘cross’, pl.crwys, latercroesau, butcrwys as late as Wms. 102.
‘I would not exchange my swans in Hiraddug for ten of a duke’s horses.’
‘Maredudd Fychan of the bright court, many were his goods and his horses.’
‘Monks with a rental, [and] stones and crosses, a prosperous community in three churches.’
There does not seem to be an example ofaw >eu in a pl. noun; but another affectionaw >yw (§ 76 v (2)) occurs inalaw ‘water-lily’, pl.elywb.t. 32.
ii.haearn ‘iron’ has pl.heyrn, andrhaeadr ‘cataract’ hasrhëydr,rhyeidr§ 69 ii (3),§ 75 vi (3);pennog ‘herring’ haspenwaig§ 36 iii;i̯wrch ‘roebuck’ hasɥrch§ 36 ii, lateri̯yrchodg. 167;gŵr ‘man’ is for *gw̯ŵr and has pl.gw̯ɥ̂r§ 66 iii (1), and so its compounds, aspregethwr ‘preacher’, pl.pregethw̯yr;gwrda ‘goodman’, pl.gw̯ɥrda.
D. 38 givesieirch rh. withlleneirch; but the pl. ofllannerch ‘glade’ isllennyrch; the correct reading seems to beɥrch/llennyrch see I.G. 287.
iii. Anomalous vowel changes occur in—(1)troed ‘foot’, pl.traed§ 65 ii (1); andtɥ̂ ‘house’, pl. Ml.tei, Mn.tai§ 104 ii (2). The compounds of the latter have‑tei Mn.‑tai, or‑tyeu Mn‑tyau; asMordeib.a. 1,gwindeir.p. 1202 ‘banqueting houses’;llettyeur.p. 1274 ‘lodgings’,clafdyeu do. 1269 ‘hospitals’,hundyeuw.m. 5 ‘sleeping rooms’.
In Gwynedd‑dai is generally accented, asbeu-dắi ‘cow-houses’,pop-tắi ‘ovens’,gweith-dắi ‘workshops’; buteleuséndai ‘alms-houses’.
(2) Ml. W.biw ‘ox’ (e.g.karcharaur goruit, cul biwb.b. 90 ‘the horse is a prisoner, the ox is lean), pl.bu (e.g.can-muw.m. 455 ‘100 oxen’);biw is also frequently pl., e.g.b.t. 59.
biw < Brit. *būu̯s < *ɡu̯ōus;bu < *bāu̯es < *ɡu̯ōu̯es; pl.biw from a re-formed *būu̯es.
(3) Other cases arecarreg, pl.cerrig (forcerryg)§ 77 i;crogen,cragen, pl.cregin (forcregyn)§ 77 ii;asyn ‘ass’, Ml. pl.essynnw.m. 81,h.m. ii 226 (the irregularity is in the sg., where the orig.a was restored), Mn. pl.asynnod;llo ‘calf’ pl.lloi forllo-ïb.t. 59.
iv. Ml.W.pebyll m. ‘tent’§ 70 i (pl.pebylleu), Mn.pebyll sg. W.Ỻ. 216, is treated as pl. in the Bible, with a new sg.pabell f., from Wm.S.’s hypotheticpabell hwn glossingy pebyll hynn sg. 2 Cor. v 4. It is generally supposed thatamws is a similar, but natural and early, analogical sg. fromemys assumed to be pl. <admissus (rather *ammissus since‑dm- >ẟf) foradmissārius, but such an error is unlikely at an early period when the word was in common use ;e…y in the sg. is not unusual, e.g.ceffyl.
§ 118. i. In many parisyllabic nouns, after the loss of the Brit. endings, the pl. was not distinguished from the sg. by affection as above. These were (1) neut. nouns, whose pl. ending‑ā did not affect; thus Brit. *arganton, pl. *argantā > W.arian, which is sg. and pl.§ 133 ii.—(2) Nouns in which the vowel is not capable ofi-affection (Brit.ĭ,ā, etc.) ; thus Lat.piscis, pl.pisces > W.pysc ‘fish’ sg.r.m. 131, usually pl.—(3) Nouns in which the vowel is affected in the sg. and pl.; thus Brit. *u̯radi̯os, pl. *u̯radi̯ī > W.gwraidd ‘root’ or ‘roots’.
ii. As it is inconvenient to have the same form for sg. and pl., new distinctions grew up. These took three forms: (1) Nouns belonging to the first of the above classes had their vowel affected to form a pl.; probably some of those mentioned in§ 117 i are examples of this.—(2) A pl. termination was added; thus as Lat.medicus,medicī had both becomemeẟyg, a new pl.meẟygon was formed; and for pl.pysg a collectivepyscawt Mn. W.pysgod was used,§ 123 iii.—(3) A sg. termination, m.‑yn(n), f.‑en(n) was added; thusgwraidd in the sg. becamegwreiddyn; and aspysg continued to be used as a pl., a new sg.pysgodyn was formed from the pl.pyscawt.
Imparisyllabic Nouns.
§ 119. The W. pl. terminations are the Brit, stem-endings of imparisyllabic nouns, which were lost in the sg. representing the old nom. sg., but survived in the pl. after the loss of the pl. endings *‑es, neut. *‑a,§ 113 i. Thus Lat.latrō and its Brit. pl. *latrŏnes gave W.lleidr, pl.lladron, by regular sound-change; then the‑on of the latter and similar nouns naturally came to be regarded as a pl. ending, and was added to nouns of other declensions where a pl. sign was needed, as tomeddyg, see above. Such additions were made on some analogy, mostly of meaning, sometimes of form.
u-stems.
§ 120. i. Mn. W.‑au, Ml. W.‑eu, O. W.‑ou comes from Brit. *´‑ou̯es, *´‑ou̯a the pl. endings ofu-stems; thus Brit. *katus, pl. *kátou̯es, gave W.cad ‘battle’, pl.cadau. This termination spread and became the commonest in W. (and Bret.). It was added to—
(1) most names of common objects; aspenn-euw.m. 41, Mn. W.pennau ‘heads’;clust-eu ib., Mn.clusti̯au ‘ears’;guefl-eu ib., Mn.gweflau ‘lips’;amrann-eu ib.,r.p. 1270, Mn.amrannau, lateamrantau, sg.amrant ‘eyelid’;arv-euw.m. 7, Mn.arfau ‘arms’;tlyss-eu do. 37, Mn.tlysau, sg.tlws ‘jewel’;loggoul.l. 120 (gg ≡ŋŋ),llongeuw.m. 39, Mn.llongau ‘ships’;badeuw.m. 39, Mn. badau ‘boats’;tonnoujuv., Ml.tonneu, Mn.tonnau ‘waves’;pebylleuw.m. 44 ‘tents’;betev (t ≡ẟ)b.b. 63, Mn.beddau ‘graves’;fruytheu,llannev do. 56, Mn.ffrwythau ‘fruits’,llannau ‘churches’, etc. Sodrysau ‘doors’,cadeiriau ‘chairs’,canhwyllau ‘candles’,llyfrau ‘books’, etc. etc.
The chief exceptions are nouns taking‑i, see§ 122 ii (2), and names of implements taking -ion,§ 121 ii (2).
(2) Some nouns denoting persons, astadau ‘fathers’;mamau ‘mothers’;kenhadeuw.m. 184 ‘messengers’, Late Mn. W.cenhadon;meicheuw.m. 25 ‘sureties’, nowmeichiau;dwyweur.b.b. 67 ‘gods’, Mn. W.duwiau; fem. nouns in‑es, asbreninesau ‘queens’, etc.
(3) A few names of animals, ashebogeuw.m. 12 ‘hawks’;keffyleuw.m. 119;keilogeuỺ.A. 165;bleiddiau§ 123 iv (4).
(4) Many abstract nouns, asdrygau ‘evils’;brodẏeur.p. 1238 ‘judgements’;poeneuw.m. 49,poenau ‘pains’;gofidiau ‘sorrows’;meddylẏeu§ 121 ii (3) ‘thoughts’, etc.; and abstract derivatives in‑ad or‑iad,‑aeth,‑as,‑der,‑did,‑dod,‑edd,‑yd; asbwriadau ‘intentions’,gweledigaethau ‘visions’,priodasau ‘weddings’,mwynderau ‘delights’,gwendidau ‘weaknesses’,pererindodau ‘pilgrimages’,troseddau ‘transgressions’,clefydau ‘fevers’. Also some names of times, seasons, etc., afterdieu§ 132 (2):oriau ‘hours’;bore-eur.p. 1290 ‘mornings’;nosseuc.m. 1, sg.nos ‘night’,wythnosau ‘weeks’; butmisoedd,blynyddoedd§ 122.
(5) The neologists of the 16th cent. tookaroglau ‘smell’ for a pl., in spite of popular usage which treats it as sg. to this day. They manufactured a sg.arogl and a v.n.arogli, vb.aroglaf, which with various derivatives are used in the Bible. But the word isaroglau, seearogleuỺ.A. 81 translating “odor” 232, vb.arogleuafb.t. 79, v.n.arogleuo, present-day coll.’ogleuo.
ii. When‑au is added to a stem ending ini̯,§ 35, the combination is‑iau; e.g. O.W.hestoriou,cloriou,enmeituou,dificiuou§ 25 i, Ml. W.gruẟẏeuw.m. 140, Mn. W.gruddi̯au ‘cheeks’;glivẏeuw.m. 434,glini̯au ‘knees’. In Mn. W.i̯au is used after‑ei‑, asgeiri̯au ‘words’§ 35 ii. It came to be generally used to form new plurals, especially of borrowed words, e.g. words in‑p,‑t,‑c,§ 51 ii, asheti̯au ‘hats’,capi̯au ‘caps’,brati̯au ‘aprons’ (but Ml. W.bratteuw.m. 23 ‘rags’),carpi̯au ‘rags’,llanci̯au ‘youths’, etc.
iii. (1) In Brit. the nom.-acc. sg. neut. ending must in some cases have been *‑ū (instead of *‑u), cf. Lat.cornū, etc. (so sometimes in Skr., see Brugmann² II ii 144), as in *dakrū > W.deigr ‘tear’ (e.g.llawer deigɏr a wyleis ih.m. ii 129 ‘many a tear have I wept’,bob deigr Dat. vii 17 “πᾶν δάκρυον”). The pl. ending might be *‑ou̯a (< *‑uu̯ə) or‑ū (< *‑uu̯ə contracted,§ 63 vii (2));deigr ‘tears’ from the latter is doubtful, though used by Gr.O. 50; the former gives the usual pl.dagrau§ 76 iii (2). See also§ 125 iii Note.
(2)cainc ‘branch’ may be a fem.u̯ā-stem, with nom. sg. in‑ū, Thurneysen Gr. 182; thuscainc < *kaŋkū, pl.cangau, Ml. W.cag̃eub.b. 48 < *káŋkou̯ās.
iv. The pl. ending‑au does not affect a preceding vowel, see§ 76 iii (2);ceg̃eub.b. 47 is a scribal error as shown bycag̃eu 48.
n-stems.
§ 121. i.‑i̯on and‑on come from Brit.‑i̯ones and‑ones, pl. endings ofn-stems.
The Brit. forms were *‑ǖ < *‑ō, pl.‑ones, as inBrittones; but *‑i̯ǖ <‑i̯ō, pl.‑i̯ones, as inVerturiones, Gaul.Suessiones, seems to have predominated, as in Goidelic (Thurneysen Gr. 202). Hence the greater prevalence of‑i̯on. in W. Borrowed words were of course declined like native, and Lat.latrōnes > Brit. *latrŏnes > W.lladron.
In Ar., nouns in‑ō(n),‑i̯ō(n),‑ii̯ō(n) (loss of‑n§ 101 ii (4)) were (a) nomina agentis, frequently from adjectives witho‑,i̯o‑,ii̯o- stems; thus Gk.στράβων ‘squinter’:στραβός ‘squinting’;οὐρανίων ‘heavenly one’:οὐράνιος ‘heavenly’; (b) abstract nouns, as Lat.ratio. Thus the use of‑ion in W., which is added to names of persons and instruments, and to abstract nouns, corresponds roughly to the original value of the suffix.
‑on goes back to Brit. in nouns in which the vowel is affected in the sg.,§ 125 iii; after‑hai < *‑sagi̯ō, pl.‑heion re-formed for *‑haeon < *‑sagi̯ones, and after‑ydd, pl.‑yddi̯on, re-formed for‑yẟon <‑íi̯ones, as ingweryddon§ 110 ii (3). But in most cases it is a new addition in W., as inymerodron, pl. ofymherawdr < Lat.imperātor. W.dyni̯on is also prob. an analogical formation, for Ir.duine implies *donii̯os, and Bret. and Corn. usetud,tus ‘people’ for the pl. The adj. *doni̯os and its pl. *doni̯ī would both givedyn, to which‑i̯on was added to form the new pl.
ii.‑i̯on is added to (1) many nouns denoting persons, asdyn ‘man’, pl.dynion;mab ‘boy, son’, pl.meibion, Ml.meibon§ 35 ii (1), O. W.mepion§ 70 ii (1);gwas ‘servant’, pl.gweision, Ml.gweissonw.m. 33;ŵyr ‘grandson’, pl.w͡yrion, Ml.wyronr.b.b. 49;gwastrawd ‘groom’, pl.gwastrodẏonw.m. 33; including derivatives in ‑(h)ai,‑ydd,‑og Ml.‑awc,‑or Ml.‑awr,‑ig,‑awdr, asgwestai ‘guest’, pl.gwesteionỺ.A. 168;crydd, pl.cryddion, Bret.kere, pl.kereon§ 86 i (5);gwehydd ‘weaver’, pl.gwehyddion;marchog ‘knight’, pl.marchogion;cantor ‘singer’, pl.cantorion;pendefig ‘chieftain’, pl.pendefigion;dysgawdr ‘doctor’, pl.dysgodron (in Recent W. re-formed asdysgawd-wr,‑w̯yr); and adjectives used as nouns§ 145 iii. In a few cases the ending is‑on, asmeddygon§ 118 ii;Iddew ‘Jew’, pl.Iddewon, Ml. W.IẟewonỺ.A. 19,Iẟeon do. 17;athrawon, etc.§ 125 iii.
(2) Some names of implements:cŷn ‘chisel’, pl.cynion;ebill ‘auger’, pl.ebillion;trosol ‘bar, lever’, pl.trosolion;ysgol, Ml.yscawl ‘ladder’, pl.ysgolion, Ml.yscolẏonw.m. 189;ysgolion ‘schools’ follows this probably.
(3) Some abstract nouns:rhybuddion ‘warnings’ (Ml.r͑ybuẟẏeuw.m. 72);esgusion ‘excuses’;trafferthion ‘troubles’; with‑on:gofalon ‘cares’;cysuron ‘comforts’; but most take‑au§ 120 i (4). H.M. hasmeddylion ii 194,m 147/639r., for the usualmeddyliau, Ml. W.meẟylẏeur.p. 1201, 1303.
(4)ebol, Ml.ebawl ‘colt’, pl.ebolion, Ml.ebolẏonw.m. 45;keneu, see§ 125 iii;planhigion ‘plants’, sg.planhig-yn.
iii.‑en < Brit. *‑enes < Ar. *‑enes survives only inychen ‘oxen’, sg.ych§ 69 v; and in Ml. W.Pryden ‘Picts’ (Gynt a Gwyẟyl a Phrydenb.a. 24 ‘Danes and Irish and Picts’), O. W.Pritengen. xix.
Ar.‑en- was the F-grade of the suffix, of which‑on- was the F°-grade, and‑ōn the L°-grade§ 63 iii.
The first occurrence of the misspellingychain,§ 31 ii (2), known to me is inRhydychain in the title of the 1690 Bible; it did not come into common use before the 19th cent. The form is alwaysychen in Ml. W. and in the rhymes of the bards before the recent period. Seeychenw.m. 480,r.m. 121,b.t. 59,Ỻ.A. 109,r.p. 1241,m.a. i 230, 426;r͑yt ychen ‘Oxford’ see indexes ofr.m. andr.b.b.
‘Well do oxen plough at the end of a valley.’
‘I am wroth because the muse of our chief is silenced in fair Oxford.’—Seeben/ychen D.G. 400,gên/ychen do. 318,men/ychen L.G.C. 189;wên/Rhydychen S.Ph.c.c. 189;rryd ychen/dalenp 54/242r.
iv. The R-gradeₑn of the stem-ending became‑ann- in Kelt.§ 62 i (2). In Ir. it appears as‑ann; in W. as a pl. ending it was affected in every case to‑ein(n), tending to become‑eint or to be replaced by‑eu. The affection prob. comes from neut. dual forms, of which the ending in Pr. Ar. was *‑ī. Thus Ml. W.ysgyveintm.m. 2, Mn. W.ysgyfaint ‘lungs’ < *squmₑn-ī, old neut. dual; the noun has no sg.;—O.W.anu ‘name’ pl.enuein. Ml. W. pl.enweu, with a new sg.enw, Mn. W.enw, pl.enwau (thea- survived inanwedig G.R. [122, 220], Gwyn. dial.§ 112 i (2)): Ir.ainm, pl.anmann, neut.;—cam ‘step’, O.W. pl.cemmein, nowcamau: Ir.cēim, pl.cēimmenn, neut.;—rhwym ‘band’, O. W. pl.ruimmein, nowrhwymau;—gof ‘smith’, alsogofan(n)b.t. 7, pl. Ml. W.goveẏna.l. i 72, Mn. W.gofaint: Ir.goba, gen.gobann;—edn ‘bird’, onceednanm.a. i 195, pl.ednein (printedednainm.a. i 207),etneintr.p. 1245, Mn.ednaint Gr.O. 10;—llw ‘oath’, Ml. W. pl.cam lyeinỺ.A. 158,camlyeur.p. 1201 ‘false oaths’, Mn. W.llŵon, Gwyn. dial.llyfon.
i-stems.
§ 122. i.‑i,‑ydd,‑oedd,‑edd represent the Brit. endings ofi‑,i̯o‑,i̯ā- andi̯e- stems.
ii.i-stems, (1) The vowel is not affected in the sg. All the above endings occur in the pl.
The Ar. nom. endings were m.f. sg. *‑is, pl. *‑ei̯es; neut. sg. *‑i, pl. *‑ii̯ə, *‑ī. In Brit. the sg. *‑is, *‑i became *‑es, *‑e and did not cause affection; the pl. *‑eies became *‑ii̯es which gave‑i,‑ydd or‑oedd according to the accentuation§ 75 v, iv; the neut. pl. *‑ii̯ə > *‑iia >‑edd or‑oedd according to accentuation; and *‑ī affected the preceding vowel and dropped.
(2)‑i and‑ydd both form the pl. oftref ‘town’; thustrewi (≡trefi)b.b. 54,trewit (≡trefyẟ) do. 91, Mn. W.trefi§ 160 iii (2), andtrefydd D.G. 3;cantref ‘cantred’ makescantrevoeẟr.b.b. 407 ff., but Mn. W.cantref-i,‑ydd liketref; see§ 75 iv, v.
eglwys ‘church’ followstref in Mn.W. (eglwysyẟp 147/5r.), but Ml. W. haseglwysseur.p. 1046,m.a. i 273a. In Ml. W.fforest followstref:forestir.b.b. 199,fforestyẟr.m. 195, Mn. W.fforestydd only.plwyf ‘parish’ (a late meaning) also takes‑i or‑ydd in Recent W., but earlierplwyvaum.a. ii 613.
‑i was added to some names of persons:saer ‘craftsman’, pl.seiriw.m. 189;maer ‘steward’, pl.meirib.b. 54;cawr ‘giant’, pl.cewri (rarelyceuri)§ 76 iv (3);merthyr ‘martyr’, pl.merthyriỺ.A. 126;prophwydi ib.;arglwydd, pl.arglwyẟi M.A. i 198a; so all in Mn. W. (in Late W.merthyron also).
‑i was also added to many names of things withe ora in the sg., the‑i of course affecting the latter; asllestr-iw.m. 6 ‘vessels’;gwernenn-i a hwylbrenn-i do. 51 ‘masts and yards’;canhwyllbrenn-i, also‑au, both in 1 Chron. xxviii 15 ‘candlesticks’;fenestr-im.a. i 216a ‘windows’;cethr-i I.G. 584 ‘nails’;perth-ir.p. 1272 ‘bushes’;—banier-im.a. i 197b ‘banners’, sg.bani̯ar;per-i ib. ‘spears’, sg.pâr;defn-i ‘drops’§ 202 v (3), fordafneur.p. 1184;der-ir.p. 1318 ‘oaks’, sg.dâr f.
The use of‑i has been extended in Mn. W.; thus Ml. W.kerẟeuw.m. 6 ‘songs’, Mn. W.cerddi T.A. and later; Ml. W.garẟeur.b.b. 145 ‘gardens’, Mn. W.gerddi D.G. 258; Ml. W.llwyneur.b.b. 40 ‘bushes’, sollwynau D.G. 60, laterllwyni; Ml. W.mein ‘stones’ (sg.maen), Late Mn. W.meini (Ml.meini in ZE. 284 is an error formein, seer.m. 196, l. 5);beddib.cw. 59 beside the usualbeddau, Ml.beteu (t ≡ẟ)b.b. 63.
(3)‑ydd and‑oedd are found inavon-it (≡‑yẟ)b.b. 91 ‘rivers’,avon-oeẟr.b.b. 40, Mn. W.afonydd;gwladoeẟm.a. i 199a,c.m. 2,r.b.b. 44,w.m. 190, latergwledyẟ in the last-quoted passage inr.m. 91, Mn. W.gwledydd;keyryẟw.m. 192 ‘castles’,kaeroeẟr.p. 1230, alsocaereub.a. 26, Mn. W.keyrydd W.Ỻ. 64,caerau G.Gl.m 146/163;dinassoeẟw.m. 190,r.m. 91, 93, Mn.W.dinasoedd, rarelydinessyẟp 147/5r., G.Gl.p 152/201. They are added to nouns in‑fa, as Mn. W.porfeydd,porfaoedd ‘pastures’ (most of them with only one in use), Ml. W.tyrvahoeẟr.p. 1241 ‘crowds’; as well as‑au, Ml. W.‑eu:presswylvaeuỺ.A. 57 ‘habitations’,eisteẟvaen do. 62, ‘seats’ (‑aeu later contr. to‑ā́u).
‑ydd alone occurs inmeyssyẟr.p. 1188 ‘fields’, Mn. W.meysydd (wrongly speltmeusydd), sg.maes;heolyẟr.m. 175 ‘streets’;bro-yẟr.p. 1189 ‘regions’;dolyẟ do. 1188 ‘meadows’ (alsodoleub.t. 33);gweunyẟr.p. 1286 ‘meadows’, sg.gweun,gwaun;lluoss-it (≡‑yẟ)b.b. 66,r.p. 1188 ‘hosts’, sg.lliaws;nentydd ‘brooks’, poet.naint D.G. 25, sg.nant;coedydd ‘trees’,ystormydd ‘storms’, etc.
(4) Old neut. nouns take‑oedd or‑edd, sometimes alternating with vowel-affection; asmôr m. ‘sea’, pl.moroedd < *mórii̯a besidemŷr < *morī,§ 117 i;dant m. ‘tooth’, pl.dannedd < *dantíi̯a besidedeintr.p. 1036,daint D.D. s.v.;deint is also sg., see§ iii (2).‑oedd may be orig. m. or f. also, see(1). ‑edd and‑oedd are added to nouns orig. of other declensions as follows:
‑eẟ in Ml. W.,‑oedd in Mn. W. are added totir m. ‘land’ (an old neut.s-stem), pl.tiret (‑t ≡‑ẟ)b.b. 33,tireẟr.b.b. 40 (besidetirion§ 35 iii), Mn. W. tiroedd D.G. 436, 524;mynydd m. ‘mountain’ (< *moníi̯o‑), pl.mynyẟeẟw.m. 250,b.t. 11,r.b.b. 40, Mn.mynyddoedd;dwfr m. ‘water’ (neut.o-stem), pl.dyfreẟỺ.A. 54, 65, Mn.dyfroedd.
mynyẟeẟ having becomemynyẟe in S. W. dialects (cf.eiste§ 110 iv (3)), this was wrongly standardized asmynyddau by some recent writers, but the traditional lit. formmynyddoedd prevails. The same remark applies toblynyddoedd, now sometimes writtenblynyddau for dial.blynyẟe < *blynyẟeẟ. In the above words‑oeẟ may be old as a N. W. form, the prevailing forms in Ml. W. being S. W.
‑oedd was added tocant m. ‘hundred’ (neut.o-stem), pl.cannoedd;nerth m. ‘strength’ (neut.o-stem);mil f. ‘thousand’;mur m. ‘wall’, pl.muroeẟw.m. 191,muroeddg. 237, latermuriau;llu m. ‘host’ (m.o-stem), pl.lluoeẟr.m. 175, Mn.lluoedd;byd m. ‘world’ (m.u-stem), pl.bydoeẟm.a. i 199, Mn.bydoedd;nifer m. ‘host’, pl.niveroeẟw.m. 54, Mn.niferoedd;mis m. ‘month’, pl.misoedd;teyrnas f. ‘kingdom’, pl.tyrnassoeẟw.m. 50, Mn.teyrnasoedd;tŵr m. ‘tower’ (< E. < Fr.), pl.tyroeẟw.m. 191,tyreu do. 133, Mn.tyrau;iaith f. ‘language’, pl.ieithoeẟw.m. 469,b.t. 4, Mn.ieithoedd;gw̯ledd f. ‘feast’, pl.gwleddoedd D.G. 524,gwleddau do. 8;gwisg f. ‘dress’, pl.gwisgoedd;oes f. ‘age’, pl. O. W.oisou (withð added at some distance, see fac.b.s.ch. 2, for ‘deest’ according to Lindsay, EWS. 46), Ml. W.oessoeẟỺ.A. 103,oesseub.t. 15, 19, Mn. W.oesoedd,oesau;achoet (t ≡ẟ) B.B. 53, Mn.achoedd,achau ‘lineage’ both in L.G.C. 213, sg.ach f.;dyfnderoedd ‘depths’,blinder-oedd,‑au ‘troubles’.
iii.i̯o-stems. (1) The vowel is affected in the sg.; the pl. ends in‑ydd,‑oedd,‑edd.
The Ar. nom. endings were m. sg. *‑(i)i̯os, pl. *‑(i)i̯ōs; neut. sg. *‑(i)i̯om, pl. *-(i)i̯ā. In Kelt. *-(i)i̯ōs gave place to *‑(i)i̯oi > *‑(i)i̯ī; this gave‑yẟ or‑oeẟ according to the accent; neut. *‑íi̯ā gave‑eẟ;‑eẟ in m. nouns is prob. for‑oeẟ. Where neither sg. nor pl. hadi beforei̯, we had e.g.dyn ‘man’ and ‘*men’; then a newdynion for the latter§ 121 i.
(2) Ml. W.bugeil ‘shepherd’, pl.bugelyẟỺ.A. 109,r.b.b. 245 < *boukoli̯os pl. *boukolíi̯ī. This was a rare type, and in Mn. W. a new pl. was formed:bugail, pl.bugeiliaid. But the f.adain ‘wing’ (i̯ā-stem), pl.adanedd, had a new pl. made by affecting this, as if the word belonged to the‑i̯o- declension:adain, pl.adenydd§ 125 iii.
The word for ‘tooth’ seems partly to have passed over to this declension; thus *danti̯on pl. *dantíi̯ā giving sg.deintỺ.A. 67 translating “dens”, Mn. W. daint, as heb un-daint D.G. 323 'without one tooth ', pl. dannedd as for sg.dant§ ii (4) above. In Gwyn. dial. the sg. isdaint.
The ending was‑oeẟ inbrenhinoetb.b. 53 ‘kings’, Mn. W.brenhinoedd; but the more usual Ml. form isbreenhineẟl.l. 120,brenhineẟw.m. 178–9, prob. with‑eẟ for‑oeẟ§ 78 ii. Soteyrneẟr.p. 1313, D.G. 181 ‘kings’,ewythreẟr.m. 140 ‘uncles’;cystlwn ‘family’, pl.cystlyneẟr.p. 1267.
‘All the families of Gwynedd, and the scions of Hwlcyn too.’
iv. Fem.i̯ē- andi̯ā-stems. (1) The vowel is affected in the sg. Pl. ending‑edd.
i̯ē- andi̯ā-stems have R-grade forms in‑ī,p. 81. In Lat. and Balt. they remain distinct or have become so (Lat.dūritia:dūritiēs). In Kelt. they seem to be mixed, see Thurneysen, Gr. 180 f.; but asē >ī in Kelt., the meaning of the facts is often obscure. In other branches‑i̯ē- and‑i̯ā- are indistinguishable. The W. sg. may come from *‑i̯ā, *‑i̯ē, or *‑ī; pl.‑eẟ < *‑íi̯ās.
(2)blwyddyn ‘year’ (Ir.blīadain) < *bleidonī, pl.blynedd < *blidníi̯ās§ 125 v (1); this pl. form is used only after numerals; for other purposes a new pl. was formed by adding‑edd to the sg., asblwyẟyneẟw.m. 37, then by metath.blwynyẟeẟỺ.A. 105, Mn. W.blynyddoedd, S. W. dial.blynyẟe(ẟ) (whence latterly a falseblynyddau seeii (4)).—modryb ‘aunt’ < *mātr-aqu̯ī (√ōqu̯-§ 69 ii (4)), pl.modrabeddc.c. 282 (so in Gwyn. dial.;‑o- < sg.) < *mātraqu̯íi̯ās; the formmodrybeẟr.p. 1362 seems to be re-made from the sg., asmodrepedox. 2.—edau ‘thread’, pl.edafedd§ 76 vii (1);adain ‘wing’ pl.adanedd, etc., see§ 125 iii.
blwydd means ‘a year of one’s age’ or adj. ‘year old’ pl.blwyddiaid,§ 145 iii Note,teirblwydd ‘three years old’,pymtheg̃mlwyẟr.b.b. 185 ‘fifteen years old’, etc. The use by recent writers ofblwydd for ‘year’ is as foreign to the spoken language as it is to the literary tradition, and the formsblwyddau, blwyddi for ‘years’ are pure fabrications.
(3)‑edd, later replaced by‑ydd, was added to *chwïor < *su̯esores, the pl. ofchwaer ‘sister’, aschwioreẟỺ.A. 38,r.b.b. 39,w.m. 158; in the last passagechwioryẟ inr.m. 226; Mn. W.chw̯ïóredd T.A., Wm.S., later onlychw̯ïórydd;§ 75 vi (2).
t-stems.
§ 123. i.‑ed < Brit. *‑etes occurs inmerched ‘daughters’, Ml. W.merchetw.m. 469,merched (d ≡d) 468;pryfed ‘worms’, Ml. W.pryved (d ≡d)b.b. 81. D.G. hashued 30, 93 ‘hounds’ (sg.huad W.Ỻ. 166, O.G.c 82 s.v.). In Ml. W. we also haveguystviledb.b. 53 ‘beasts’; and in O. W.ætinet brounbreithetox. gl. cicadae.
The stem-form is seen in Gaul.Cing-es, gen.‑etos, andNemetes ‘nobiles?’ beside the‑eto- stem innemeto- ‘temple’. As it seems to have been used to form names of persons it may be original inmerch, which would so be from *merke(s)s < *merkets (pl. *merketes) < *mer(i)k-et‑: Skr.maryakáḥ§ 101 iv (1), √merēi̯-§ 125 v (1).—pryf is an oldi-stem§ 61 i (1), ending therefore in *‑es (< *‑is), which seems to have been mistaken for *‑e(s)s < *‑ets.
ii.‑od, Ml. W.‑ot < Brit. *‑otes occurs inllygod ‘mice’, sg.llyg (< *lukō(s)s) andllygoden (Ir.luch ‘mouse’, gen.lochad, Bret.logodenn, pl.logod): Gaul.Lucot-ios,Λουκοτ-ικνος.
The above is an example of the survival in W. of Brit.‑ot- as seen by its cognates; but the ending‑od became fertile in the formation of new plurals. It was added to diminutives, and forms with gemination, which is a peculiarity of child language, and of names of animals§ 93 iii (2).
(1) It was added to most names of animals:llewotw.m. 229,Ỻ.A. 165 ‘lions’, nowllewod;eryrotỺ.A. 167 ‘eagles’, noweryrod;llydnotr.m. 52,w.m. 73, nowllydnod, sg.llwdn ‘pullus’;hyẟotw.m. 158, nowhyddod ‘stags’;gwiberot do. 229, nowgwiberod ‘vipers’;ednotỺ.A. 130, nowednod ‘birds’ (alsoednaint,§ 121 iv, and in O. W.ætineti above). In Mn. W. cathod,llwynogod,ewigod (Ml. W.ewigeẟr.m. 118),ysgyfarnogod,crancod (Bardseycrainc, so G.Gr.p 77/193),colomennod, etc.
(2) It was added to some names of persons:gwiẟonotw.m. 178 ‘witches’;meudwyotỺ.A. 117 ‘hermits’ (alsomeudwyaid D.G. 409);gw̯rach ‘hag’, pl.gwrachiotp 12/124r., Mn. W.gwrachḯod D.G. 332, in which‑od seems to be added to an old pl. *gw̯rechi (cf. the adj.gw̯rachḯaidd).
‘For lambs and wool he brings praise and song to old women.’
It is found ingenethod ‘girls’ sg.geneth (old geminated form,§ 93 iii (2)); and is added to diminutives in‑an, as inbabanod ‘babies’,llebanod ‘clowns’ (whence by analogy the biblicalpublicanod); in‑ach, as inbwbachod ‘bugbears’,corachod ‘dwarfs’ (by analogy in Late W.mynachod formyneich ‘monks’); in‑yn(n) or‑en(n), as inlliprynnod ‘weaklings’,mursennod ‘prudes’,dyhirod ‘knaves’ sg.dyhiryn; and to other nouns originally in a contemptuous sense, aseurychod ‘tinkers,’twrneiod a chlarcodb.cw. 62,Gwyddelod in Late W. forGwyddyl ‘Irishmen’,Ffrancod forFfrainc. The substitution in Late W. of‑od for another termination in the names of relatives etc. comes from child-language, as intadmaethod Esa. xlix 23 fortadmaethau. Ml. W.tatmaetheuw.m. 37;ewythrod forewythredd§ 122 iii (2),cyfnitherod forcyfnitheroedd W.Ỻ.C.Ỻ. 132.
(3) It occurs after a few names of things: (α) geminated forms, or what appeared to be such, ascỿchod sg.cwch ‘boat’;nythod ‘nests’, Ml. W.nethod (e ≡ỿ)a.l. i 24;bythod, sg.bwth ‘hut’; (β) diminutive forms, astenynnod ‘halters’ sg.tennyn;bythynnod ‘cottages’, sg.bwthyn; and by false analogy Mn. W.tyddynnod ‘small farms’, for Ml. W.tyẟynneua.l. i 168, 182;bwlanod sg.bwlan ‘a vessel of straw’; (γ) some names of coins:dimeiotr.b.b. 384 nowdimeiau ‘halfpennies’;ffyrllig̃ot ib. nowffyrlingod ‘farthings’;ffloringod D.G. 287 ‘florins’,hatlingod ‘half-farthings’; (δ) personifications etc.:angheuodb.cw. 65 ‘death-sprites’;eilunod ‘idols’,erthylod ‘abortions’.
iii. Ml. W.‑awt occurs inpyscawtr.m. 52,w.m. 73,r.b.b. 149,b.t. 8,b.b. 89 ‘fish’ < Lat.piscātus,§ 118 ii (2); and in gorwyẟawtb.t. 36 ‘horses’, sg.gorw͡yẟ;eẟystrawtb.t. 70 ‘horses’ sg.eddystr oreddestr. The first survives aspysgod, in which the ending is now indistinguishable from old‑od.
iv.‑i̯aid, Ml. W.‑ẏeit,‑eit, is the pl. formed by affection of the ending‑i̯ad, Ml. W.‑ẏat§ 143 iv (5); thusoffeiriad ‘priest’ pl.offeiriaid, Ml. W.offeireitỺ.A. 117. All names of living things in‑i̯ad (exceptcariad) form their pl. so; thusceinẏeidm.a. i 285 ‘singers’,lleitẏeid (t ≡ẟ) ib. nowlleiddiaid ‘murderers’,gleissẏeid ib., nowgleisiaid, sg.gleisiad ‘salmon’; but abstract nouns in‑iad have‑iadau§ 120 i (4); cariad ‘lover’ is the same ascariad ‘love’ and has pl.cariadau Hos. ii 5, 7, 10.
But‑iaid is also added to form the pl. of names of living things whose sg. does not end in‑iad:
(1) Names of classes and descriptions of persons:personnẏeitỺ.A. 117, nowpersoniaid, sg.person ‘parson’;conffessorieit do. 70;r͑aclovẏeitw.m. 456, Mn. W.rhaglofiaid, sg.rhaglaw ‘deputy’;barwnẏeitr.m. 179, nowbarwniaid, sg.barwn ‘baron’;makwyveitw.m. 15,mackwyeitr.m. 9, sg.maccwy(f) ‘youth’;bẏleẏnẏeẏta.l. i 24, sg.bilaenr.b.b. 123 ‘villain’;cythreulẏeitm.a. i 251b ‘devils’;ysgwierẏeits.g. 11 ‘squires’; in Mn. W.pennaethiaid Ps. ii 2, sg.pennaeth;estroniaid ‘strangers’,meistraid ‘masters’,gefeilliaid ‘twins’,Protestaniaid,Methodistiaid, etc. Also adjectives used as nouns,§ 145 iii.
(2) Tribal and national names:Albanẏeitr.b.b. 271, alsoAlbanwyr do. 270, sg.Albanwr ‘Scotchman’;Corannyeitr.m. 96, no sg.;Brytanẏeit do. 91, no sg.; yGroecieit a’r Lhadinieit J.D.R. [xiv] ‘the Greeks and Latins’;Rhufeiniaid,Corinthiaid, etc. Also family and personal names:y Llwydiaid ‘the Lloyds’,y Lleisioniaid L.G.C. 110 ‘the Leyshons’,Koytmoriaidp 61/33r.
(3) All names in‑ur of living things:pechadurẏeitỺ.A. 152 nowpechaduriaid, sg.pechadur ‘sinner’;kreadurẏeit do. 4, nowcreaduriaid, sg.creadur ‘creature’;awdurieid J.D.R. [xiv],awdurẏeitr.p. 1375, sg.awdur ib. ‘author’ (the pl.awduron seems to come from the gorseddic writings, the source of numerous fabrications); Mn.W.ffoäduriaid,cysgaduriaid,henuriaid, etc.
Other nouns in‑ur take either‑i̯au, asgw̯niaduri̯au ‘thimbles’,pladuri̯au ‘scythes’, or‑au aspapurau ‘papers’,mesurau ‘measures’, or‑on asmurmuron,cysuron.
(4) Some generic names of animals; asanifelleitỺ.A. 165,w.m. 238, nowanifeiliaid, sg.anifail ‘animal’;mileitr.m. 129, Mn. W.milod, sg.mil ‘animal’; sobwystvileitr.b.b. 40 nowbwystfilod, sg.bwystfil;ysgrubliaid Gen. xlv 17 ‘beasts’. Also a few specific names, ascameleitỺ.A. 165, Mn. W.camelod; Mn. W.bleiddiaid Matt. vii 15 ‘wolves’, alsobleiddiau T.A.g. 233, Ml.bleẏẟẏeum.a. ii 230;gwenoliaid D.G. 20, sg.gwennol ‘swallow’.
Strictly, of course,‑i̯aid is not at-stem but ato-stem; thus‑i̯ad from *‑i̯atos, pl.‑iaid < *‑i̯atī.
v.‑ant < Brit. *‑antes, m. f. pl. participial ending occurs incarantb.a. 14,b.b. 46,Ỻ.A. 153,r.m. 130, sg.câr ‘kinsman’ < *karants (Ir.care < *karants) < *k̑ₑr‑: Armen.ser ‘progeny, family’, E.her‑d, Lat.crēsco, √k̑er- ‘grow’. In Early Ml. W.carant was already affected intokereint C.m.a. i 244, Mn. W.ceraint, later alsocerynt M.K. [71] ‘kinsmen’ (not ‘lovers’). On the analogy of this was formed the pl. of Ml. W.nei (nownai) ‘nephew’:neẏeẏnta.l. i 8,nẏeintw.m. 89,Ỻ.A. 121, Mn.W.neiaint; and ofceifn ‘3rd cousin’:keywneynt (≡keivneint)b. ch. 76 defined ib. as ‘children of the 4th mother’ (those of the 2nd being ‘cousins’, etc.). Ml. W.meddweintỺ.A. 55 ‘drunkards’ may be an old participial form. A few other nouns have‑eint, Mn. W.‑aint affected for an earlier *‑ann,§ 121 iv.
r-stems.
§ 124. i.‑er < Brit. *‑eres occurs inbroderw.m. 38,r.m. 26, later affected tobrodyrr.m. 140;broder survived, as in T.A.g. 229, Wm.S. e.g. Act. xv 23, but was at length ousted bybrodyr, cf.§ 122 iv (3). In Ml. W.brodorion also is used,R.M. 203, 207. Sg.brawd ‘brother’,§ 59 ii,§ 63 iii.
brodorion also meant ‘fellow-countrymen, clansmen’b.b. 51, 55 (cf. Gk.φρᾱ́τωρ); in Late Mn. W. it came to mean ‘natives’;brodor ‘a native’ is a new sg. deduced from this pl.
-yr was added (instead of the old‑awr) togwayw ‘spear’ (also in Mn. W. ‘pain’), givinggw̯aew̯yrc.m. 48, but more usuallygwewyrr.b. 1074 (for *gw̯eyw̯yr).
‘It was the vainest task for men to anoint the marks of his spears.’
ii.‑awr is common in Early Ml. W. poetry:gwaewaurb.b. 58,b.a. 9 (see fac.) ‘spears’,ysgwydawrb.a. 9 ‘shields’,cleẟyvawr,byẟinawr,llavnawr ib. ‘swords, armies, blades’; later (in prose)gwaewarw.m. 182,r.m. 85.
-awr < Brit. *‑āres < Ar. *‑ōres.
Vowel Changes.
125. The vowel changes which occur when an ending is added to form the pl. are the following:
i.Mutation§ 81:brawd ‘brother’, pl.brodyr;brawd ‘judgement’, pl.brodiau;daw ‘son-in-law’, pl.dofẏonr.b.b. 68;rhaw ‘spade’, pl.rhofiau§ 110 iii (1);cwrr ‘edge’, pl.cỿrrau;dɥn ‘man’, pl.dỿni̯on;sail ‘foundation’, pl.seiliau;ffau ‘den’, pl.ffeuau;gwaun ‘meadow’, pl.gweunydd;buwch ‘cow’, pl.buchod, etc. etc.
ii.Penultimate Affection§ 83 iii: The endings which cause affection are‑i,‑ydd,‑i̯aid,‑i̯on:pâr,peri;dâr,deri;maer,meiri;cawr,cewri;§ 122 ii (2);—caer,ceyrydd;maes,meysydd;do. (3);—cymar ‘mate’, pl.cymheiriaid;gefellr.p. 1302 ‘twin’ (< Lat.gemellus), pl.gefeilliaid;penkeirẟẏeit,anr͑eigẏon§ 70 ii (2);mab ‘son’, pl.meibion, etc.; see§ 128 ii.
iii.Reversion. In some cases the vowel is affected in the sg., but reverts to (or, historically speaking, retains) its original sound in the plural:
Fem.iē- oriā-stems, with pl. ending‑edd,§ 122 iv:adeinb.b. 82,adain D.G. 132, 421 ‘wing’, pl.adaneẟr.m. 155,r.b.b. 64, later affected toadenydd;celain ‘corpse’, pl.celanedd orcalaneẟr.b.b. 49;edeu,edau ‘thread’, pl.edafedd oradaveẟr.m. 154;elain ‘fawn’, pl.elanedd oralaneẟa.l. i 20;gw̯raig, Ml. W.gwreic, pl.gw̯rageẟ;neidr ‘snake’, pl.nadredd,anadreẟ§ 21 iii, laternadroedd;r͑ieinr.p. 1239,m.a. i 329b, 421b, Mn. W.rhiain D.G. 39, 95, 117, 130, 308, etc. ‘maiden’, pl.r͑ianeẟw.m. 166,r.p. 1282,rhianedd D.G. 125, 234, 371.—Neut.io-stem:daint, pl.dannedd§ 122 iii (2).—Fem.uā-stem, pl. ending‑au:cainc ‘branch’, Ml. W.ceingw.m. 108, pl.cag̃eub.b. 48, nowcangau, see§ 120 iii (2).—Neut.u-stem, pl. ending‑au:deigr ‘tear’, pl.dagrau, see§ 120 iii (1).—Mas. and fem.n-stems, pl. ending ‑on (Brit. nom. sg.‑ō, pl.‑ones)§ 121 i:athro, pl.athrawon§ 76 v (5),athraon§ 36 iii;keneuw.m. 483 ‘whelp’, pl.kanawonw.m. 28,canaon§ 36 iii,cỿnawonr.m. 18,cỿnavonr.p. 1209, latecenawon;draig ‘dragon’, pl.dragon, laterdreigeuỺ.A. 153, nowdreigiau;lleidr ‘thief’, pl.lladron;Sais ‘Englishman’, pl.Saeson§ 69 ii (2), Ml. W. sg.SeisỺ.A. 120, pl.Saesonb.b. 60, 66,r.b.b. 41, 71, etc.,Saessonb.b. 48, 51,b.a. 4. Onych (affection of *wch), pl.ychen, see§ 69 v.
‘I am a bird with his feet in the thorns, and the lime on the edge of his wing.’
‘Take one of its [the swallow’s] wings; it will fly always till death’ [lit. ‘till the grave’].
‘There is a yard without the feathers in the arrow which he drew.’
‘As a needle threaded, does her aspect make me spare.’
‘Gold grows on threads on the bush [of broom] for the sake of [her] who owns it.’
‘My damsel will not have me: my slender love will not reject me.’
‘Though there be [of] maidens’ money more than his weight on the gravestone.’
‘My brother, I have set my heart on two whelps that thou hadst.’
‘Strong and young are they; they are the golden scions of Cynfyn.’
Note.—Reversion has puzzled writers of the late modern period, and lexicographers.adain was used regularly by the Early Mn. bards; but the Bible hasaden, deduced from the pl.adenydd; fromaden a spurious pl.edyn was formed, which seems to occur first in E.P.,ps. lvii 1, but did not make its way into the spoken language. In the 1620 Bibleceneu is, by a slip, correctly written in Esa. xi 6, elsewhere it is carefully misspeltcenew; in later editions this becamecenaw, an impossible form, since‑aw could not affect the originala toe; see§ 76 v (5). Onathro, misspeltathraw, see ibid. Pughe giveseleined as the pl. ofelain, and actually asserts that the pl. ofgwraig isgwreigedd! He also invented the singularsrhian,edan. Silvan Evans s.v.celan notes this; but himself inserts the equally spuriousdagr ‘tear’ anddeigron ‘tears’. In his Llythyraeth p. 17 he attempted to change the spelling ofSaeson toSeison.
iv. Exchange of ultimate for penultimate affection: Ml. W.bugeil,bugelyẟ, Mn. W.adain,adenydd§ 122 iii (2); Ml. W.gwelleur.m. 123,w.m. 483, ‘shears’, Mn. W.gwellau, pl. gwelleifiau, new lit. sg.gwellaif§ 76 vii (1).
v. Anomalous changes: (1)morw͡yn ‘virgin’, pl.morỿnionb.b. 61,morynẏonw.m. 99,Ỻ.A. 109,r.b.b. 70. This was altered tomorwynion in the Bible, but persists in the spoken language asm’rỿni̯on. Note the double rhymes in
‘Sad verses [to her of] the colour of white roses, the moon of the maidens of the land of Merioneth.’
The same change occurs inblw͡yddyn, pl.blỿnedd§ 122 iv (2).
This change seems to be due to the survival in Brit. under different accentuations of two R-grades ofēi, namely R1eei, and R2i,§ 63 vii (5). Thusmorw͡yn < Brit. *moréini̯ō < *marei- < *mₑrei‑;morỿni̯on < Brit. *morini̯ónes < *mₑri‑, √merēi‑: Lat.marī-tus < *mₑrī- with R3ī.—blw͡yẟyn ‘year’, Ir.blíadain < *bleidonī, a fem.i̯ā-stem from an adj. *blei-d-ono‑s from a vb. stem *blei‑d- ‘to blow’, √bhlēi‑, extension of *bhelē‑, *bhelō- whence O.H.G.bluo-ian (< *bhlō‑) ‘to blossom’, Ml. W.blawt ‘blossom’, Lat.flōs, etc.§ 59 v, thusblwyẟyn ‘*budding season’; pl.blýneẟ < *blidníi̯ās;tair blyneẟ ‘three < *seasons’.
(2)chwaer pl.chwïorydd§ 75 vi (2),§ vii (2).
(3)achos pl.achosion, Ml. W.achaws pl.achwyssonỺ.A. 129, see§ 75 i (3).
(4)celfyẟyd ‘art’, Ml. W. pl.kelvydodeu.
celfyẟyd < *kalmíi̯o-tūts;kelvydod- < *kalmii̯o-tā́t-es, owing to the interchange of‑tūt‑,-tāt‑;§ 99 ii (2),§ 143 iii (10),(24).
Plural of Nouns with Singular Endings.
§ 126. Nouns with the singular endings‑yn and‑en fall into three classes for the purposes of pl. formation.
i. Class 1. The sg. ending is dropped, with or without vowel change; thus, without vowel change:pluen ‘feather’, pl.plu;mochyn ‘pig’, pl.moch;cwningen ‘rabbit’, pl.cwningg. 226;blewyn ‘a hair’, pl.blew. The vowel changes that take place when the ending is dropped are the following:
(1)Mutation:conyn ‘stalk’, pl.cawn;deilenb.t. 28, Gen. viii 11, ‘leaf’, pl.dail;cneuen ‘nut’, pl.cnau;gwenỿnen ‘bee’, pl.gwenɥn, etc.
(2)Ultimate Affection:collen ‘hazel’, pl.cɥll;onnen ‘ash’, pl.ɥnn;dalenw.m. 231,r.m. 167, Ps. i 3 ‘leaf’, pl.dail,chwannen ‘flea’, pl.chwain;draenen ‘hawthorn’, pl.drain;tywarchen ‘sod’, pl.tyweirch,tywyrch:
‘The cutter of a furrow to turn up the bed of the corn, an iron tooth under the sods.’
(3)Reversion. As‑yn causes penultimate affection, when it drops the vowel reverts to its original sound:plentyn ‘child’, pl.plant;aderyn ‘bird’, pl.adar.
(4) Exchange of penultimate for ultimate affection:giewyn ‘sinew’, pl.gḯau; Ml. W.llyssewynỺ.A. 97, 166 ‘plant’, pl.llysseum.m. 3, Mn.llyssau W.Ỻ. 99,llysiau.
ii. Class 2. A plural ending is substituted for the sg. ending, asdiferyn ‘drop’, pl.diferion;crwydryn ‘vagrant’, pl.crwydraid;meddwyn ‘drunkard’, pl.meddwon;planhigyn ‘plant’, pl.planhigion;cwningen ‘rabbit’, pl.cwningod. The following vowel changes occur:
(1)Affection:mïaren ‘bramble ’, pl.mïeri (mwyerir.b.b. 48).
(2)Reversion:gelyn ‘enemy’, old pl.galonb.a. 26, and some nouns with two singulars, asdeigryn ‘tear’, pl.dagrau§ 130 ii.
iii. Class 3. A pl. ending is added to the sg. ending, asgelyn ‘enemy’, pl.gelinionb.b. 71,gelynẏonr.b.b. 71, Mn. W.gelỿni̯on;defnyn Gr.O. 48,defnynnau Luc xxii 44;dalen ‘leaf’, pl.dalennau Ex. xxxix 3;mursennod,bythynnod§ 123 ii.
iv. In some nouns final‑yn or‑en is not the singular ending but part of the stem; in these then of‑yn is not necessarily double when an ending is added; and‑en is affected to‑yn; thustelɥn f. ‘harp’, pl.telỿnau;tyddɥn m. ‘small farm’,§ 98 i (3), pl.tỿddỿnnod, Ml. W.tyẟynneua.l. i 168, 180, 182;maharen m.c.m. 26,myharen D.G. 202 ‘ram’, pl.meheryn;crogen,cragen, ‘shell’, pl.cregin§ 117 iii (3);elltrewyn§ 76 v (5), pl. *‑yneẟ not found;blwyẟyn§ 122 iv (2).
Plural Formed from Derivatives.
§ 127. The pl. of a few nouns is formed by adding a pl. ending to a derivative:glaw ‘rain’, pl.glawogyẟr.b.b. 324,g. 98; Ml. W.cristawn ‘christian’ pl.cristonogionb.b. 71, Mn.W.cristi̯on, pl.cristi̯onogi̯on,cristnogi̯on;llif ‘flood’, pl.llifogydd;addurn ‘adornment’, pl.addurniadau;crwydr ‘wandering’, pl.crwydr(i̯)adau;serch ‘affection’, pl.serchi̯adau;dychryn ‘terror’, pl.dychryni̯adau,dychrynfeydd;rheg ‘curse’, pl.rhegfeydd;dyn ‘man’, pl.dyniabonr.p. 1196,dyneẟonỺ.A. ii besidedyni̯on;cas Deut. vii 10 ‘hater, foe’, pl.caseion W.Ỻ. 8, also pl.cas do. 5.
Besideglawogydd the dialects haveglawiau, evidently a new formation, though Bret. hasglaoiou. The misspellinggwlaw occurs first about the end of the 17th cent., and was substituted in the Bible for the correct formglaw by R.M., 1746. The word always appears withgl- in Ml. W., asglavb.b. 63, glawỺ.A. 13, 42,r.m. 146,m.a. i 396,r.p. 585, 1032 (4 times), 1055;gwlaws.g. 147 is of courseglaw in thems., see P 11/95b; and of course there is no trace ofgw̯- in the spoken language. The word cannot be from *u̯o-lau̯- as is usually assumed, for there is no example of the reduction of the prefix *u̯o- before a consonant tog- or even togw‑; and that the same reduction took place also in Bret.glao, Corn.glaw is incredible. The etymology of the word is doubtful, but it probably represents Brit. *glou- (? *glo-u̯o‑: Skr.jala- ‘water, rain’).
camrau is used in the Bible for ‘steps’; but the true pl. ofcam iscamauỺ 28/96r., Ml.W.kammeur.b.b. 149, O.W.cemmein§ 121 iv; andcamrau is a mere misspelling ofkam-re, see§ 31 ii (2).
Double Plurals.
§ 128. Double plurals are of common occurrence, and are formed in the following ways:
i. A second pl. ending is added to the first:celain ‘corpse’, pl.celanedd, double pl.celaneddau Ps. cx 6;deigr ‘tear’, pl.dagrau, double pl.dagreuoeẟỺ.A. 71,r.b.b. 146, 149; soblodeu ‘flowers’, double pl.blodeuoeẟr.b.b. 40, sg.blodeuyn;dieu ‘days’, double pl.dieuoeẟ do. 9, 25, sg.dyẟ;llysseu ‘plants’, double pl.llysseuoeẟỺ.A. 70;dynion, double pl.dynẏoneur.p. 1303;neges ‘errand’, pl.negesau, double pl.negeseuaum.l. ii 97;peth ‘thing’, pl.pethau, double pl.petheuau do. 112, 119 ‘various things’;esgid ‘shoe’,esgidiau ‘shoes’,esgideuau ‘pairs of shoes’;mach ‘surety’, pl.meichi̯au, double pl.meichiafon.
ii. A pl. ending is added to a pl. formed by affection: thuscloch ‘bell’, pl.clychs.g. 380, double pl.clychau;sant ‘saint’, pl.seintb.b. 85,Ỻ.A. 69, double pl.seinnẏeuh.m. ii 227, Mn. W.seintiau;angel ‘angel’, pl.engylm.a. i 282, double pl.engylẏonỺ.A. 155,w.m. 118,b.b. 70 etc., Mn. W.angỿli̯on (e- >a-§ 83 iii Note 2).
In old formations‑i̯on affected the preceding vowel, thus theei ofmeibi̯on is the affection ofa byi̯, as shown by the intermediate formmepion§ 70 ii (1). But meibion seemed to be the pl.meib with‑i̯on added; and on this analogy‑i̯on was added toengyl. They inangylion is not an old affection of thee byi̯, for that would beei, cf.anr͑eigẏon, etc.,§ 70 ii (2).angelion is a new formation probably due to Wm.S., and, though used in the Bible by Dr. M. and Dr. P., has failed to supplantangylion as the spoken form. Silvan Evans’s statement thatangelion very frequently occurs in Ml.mss. is a gross error, supported only by a quotation from a 17th cent. copy,h.m. ii 337, of a tract appearing inỺ.A., where the reading iseg̃ylẏonn 129.
In most cases however‑i̯on is added to the sg., and does not affectae,e,o:kaethẏonr.p. 1272,ysgolion ‘schools’.
iii. The diminutive pl. endings‑ach (‑i̯ach) and‑os are added to pl. nouns, ascryddionach Gr.O. 208,dynionach do. 93, J.D.R. [xx];dreiniach ‘thorns’;plantos,gwragedhos,dilhados (dh ≡ẟ,lh ≡ll) J.D.R. [xv] ‘children, women, clothes’;cỿnos ‘little dogs’; more rarely to sg. nouns:branosr.m. 154, L.G.C. 148, ‘little crows’,caregos ‘pebbles’,dernynnach ‘bits’.
Sometimes a final media is now hardened before the ending:pryfetach,merchetos. This is prob. due to late diminutive doubling (d‑d >tt, etc.).
iv. A noun with a pl. ending sometimes has its vowels affected as an additional sign of the pl., asceraint forcarant§ 123 v,adenyẟ foradaneẟ§ 125 iii, brodyr for broder§ 124 i, which are therefore, in a sense, double plurals.
Plural Doublets.
§ 129. i. A noun not ending in‑yn or‑en may have more than one pl. form in the following ways:
(1) One pl. may be formed by affection and one by the addition of an ending:môr ‘sea’, pl.mŷr,moroeẟ§ 122 ii (4);arf ‘weapon’, pl.arveuw.m. 97, 99, etc., poet,eirf D.G. 2;esgob ‘bishop’, pl.esgyb, lateresgobion (15th cent, Gnt.O.a 14967/87),esgobiaid (T.A.a 14975/61), the first and last now obsolete; Ml.W.kévɏnderw̯ ‘cousin’, pl.kévɏndɥru,a.l. i 222, Mn. W.cefnder, pl.cefndyr,cefnderoedd L.G.C. 167.
In Recent Welsh new and inelegant weak forms are sometimes found, ascastelli,alarchod forcestyll,elyrch. On the other hand in the late period we meet with spurious strong forms, such asedyn§ 125 iii Note; and latterlyemrynt foramrannau (amrantau)§ 120 i (1);brieill forbriallu§ 134 ii;creig forcreigiau.
(2) Two or more plurals may be formed by adding different endings:tref ‘town’, pl.trefi,trefydd§ 122 ii (2);kaer ‘castle’, pl.keyrydd,kaeroedd,caereu, do. (3);achau,achoedd L.G.C. 213 ‘ancestry’; dyn§ 127, etc. See§ 131 i.
(3) Two plurals with the same ending may have different vowel changes; thus Ml. W.ceing old pl.cangeu§ 125 iii, newer pl.ceingheuỺ.A. 144; these survive in Mn. W. ascainc pl.cangau,ceinciau. Socawr ‘giant’, pl.ceuri,cewri§ 76 iv (3);achaws,achos ‘cause’ pl.achwysson§ 125 v (3),achuysẏona.l. i 30, andachosion.
ii. A noun ending in‑yn or‑en may have more than one pl. form as follows:
(1) Some nouns of class 1,§ 126 i, have two plurals, one without and one with the vowel affected; asgwïalen ‘twig’, pl.gwḯal orgwḯail;seren ‘star’, pl.sêrb.t. 26, orsɥ̂rỺ.A. 5, the latter now obsolete;collen ‘hazel’, pl.collm.m. 32, generallycɥll;onnen ‘ash’, pl.onn, more usuallyɥnn;mellten ‘flash of lightning’, pl.melltỺ.A. 107, rarelymɥlltr.b.b. 259.
‘I will not be silent, though I go without pay, more than anightinggale in the branches.’
‘May has blocked up with twigs the paths into masses of leaves.’
‘Great is the star of the mariners, greater than a cluster of small stars.’
‘Thy kindred are as numerous as ash-trees, but the brave dragons are oaks.’
(2) A noun may fall in more than one of the classes mentioned in§ 126; thuscwningen, pl. 1cwning, 2cwningod;gelyn, pl. 1galon, 3gelynion;dalen, pl. 1dail, 3dalennau;defnyn, pl. 2dafnau, 3defynnau;asen ‘rib’, pl. 1ais, 2asau, 3asennau.
‘Strange are my ribs, and to be counted, like rafters where the roof has been taken away.’
‘It is evident from my ribs that I have become lean through concealing this [secret].’
‘Siôn, of the face and frame of a Frank, is a spirited lion—young Salesbury.’
Singular Doublets.
§ 130. i. A noun not ending in‑yn or‑en may have two forms of the sg. owing to various phonetic accidents: (1)‑yf:‑eu§ 76 vii:cleẟyfr.p. 1236 ‘sword’,cleẟeu do. 1369, pl.cleẟyfeu;neẟyf do. 1237 ‘adze’, andneẟeu.
(2)dant,daint ‘tooth’, pl.dannedd§ 122 iii (2).
(3)gwyry,gwyrf,gwerydd ‘virgin’, pl.gweryddon§ 110 ii (3).
(4)paretw.m. 92,parwytb.t. 27 (the latter obsolete), pl.parwydydd ‘walls’ (of a house).
(5)gwarthafl ‘stirrup’, Mn. W.gwarthol (‑afl >‑awl >‑ol), pl.gwarthafleu, Mn.gwarthaflau.
(6)dydd ‘day’,dyw indyw Sul etc., pl.dyddiau,dī́au.
ii. A noun may have a sg. form with, and one without, a sg. ending; asdeigr,deigryn ‘tear’, pl.dagrau;erfyn,arf ‘weapon’, pl.arfau§ 129 i (1);edau,edefyn ‘thread’, pl.edafedd,§ 125 iii. The diminutive form has sometimes a pl. of its own; asdafn ‘drop’, pl.dafnau§ 122 ii (2), anddefnyn ‘drop’, pl.defnynnau§ 126 iii;cainc ‘branch’, pl.cangau,ceinciau§ 129 i (3);cangen ‘branch’, pl.canghennau T.A.g. 251.
iii. Nouns ending in‑yn or‑en, Class 1§ 126 i, may have two singulars, (1) one formed with each ending; thusadar ‘birds’, sg. m.aderyn and f.adarenb.b. 107, the latter obsolete;ysgall ‘thistles’, sg.ysgellyn andysgallen, both in use;cawn, sg.conyn ‘stalk’,cawnen ‘rush’;gwḯal orgwḯail, sg.gwïalen, orgwïelync.c. 265.
(2) With different vowel changes; asdail ‘leaves’, old sg.dalen§ 126 i (2), newer sg.deilen, re-formed from the pl.§ 126 i (1).
Desynonymized Doublets.
§ 131. i. Many pl. doublets, especially those with different endings,§ 129 i (2), have been desynonymized, some early, asbronneuw.m. 94, D.G. 233 ‘breasts’,bronnyẟm.a. i 415, D.G. 70, ‘hills’, sg.bron ‘breast, hill’;personiaid§ 123 iv (1) ‘parsons’,personau ‘persons’ (personẏeuc.m. 19), sg.person in both senses. The following occur in Mn. W.:canoniaid ‘canons’ (men),canonau ‘regulations’, sg.canon;cynghorion ‘counsels’,cynghorau ‘councils’, sg.cyngor;llwythau ‘tribes’,llwythi ‘loads’ (butllwythau ‘loads’ Ex. v 5, vi 6,llwythi ‘tribes’ J.D.R. 291), sg.llwyth;prydiau ‘times’,prydau ‘meals’, sg.pryd;pwysau ‘weights’,pwysi ‘lbs.’, sg.pwys;ysbrydion ‘spirits’ (beings),ysbrydoedd ‘spirits’ in other senses (but Ml. W.ysprydoeẟ,s.g. 308–9,ysprydẏeu do. 310, both in the former sense);anrheithiau ‘spoils’,anrheithi ‘dear ones’, sg.anrhaith ‘booty; darling’,§ 156 ii (1).
ii. In some cases the desynonymization is only partial:tadau means both ‘fathers’ and ‘ancestors’, butteitỺ.A. 121, Mn. W.taid means the latter only, as
‘All thy ancestors are chieftains.’teidiau ‘ancestors’ is perhaps to be treated as the pl. oftaid ‘grandfather’, a derivative (< *tati̯os?) oftad, cf.nain ‘grandmother’ (< *nani̯ā?). The pl.ais, while continuing to mean ‘ribs’, was used for ‘breast’ D.G. 316, and became a sg. noun, fem. (likebron), as
‘For Robert is the cry in my heavy wounded broken breast.’
Butasau andasennau retained their literal meaning. In the spoken language now,ais is ‘laths’ (sg.eisen),asennau ‘ribs’ (sg.asen).
iii. Partial desynonymization extends to the sg. indeilen ‘leaf’ (of a tree only),dalen ‘leaf’ (natural or artificial),dail ‘leaves’ (of trees or books),dalennau ‘leaves’ (artificial only, but Ml. W.dalenneub.b. 101 ‘leaves’ of trees). Complete desynonymization has taken place in the sg. and pl. incors f. ‘marsh’, pl.corsydd, andcorsen f. ‘reed’, pl.cyrs (in Ml. W.cors,corsydd meant ‘reed, reeds’ also, see Silvan Evans s. v.);tant ‘harp-string’, pl.tannau, andtennyn ‘halter’, pl.tenynnod.
iv. Desynonymization occurs in the sg. only inconyn ‘stalk’,cawnen ‘reed’;gwïalen ‘twig, wand’,gwïelyn ‘osier’ (used in wicker-work—the original meaning,§ 75 vi (2)).
In the dialects alsocoeden ‘tree’ “vox nuperrimè ficta” D.D. andcoedyn ‘piece of wood’. The word for ‘tree’ in lit. W. ispren; cf.ny elwir coet o un prennr.p. 1044 ‘wood is not said of one tree.’
In some cases, of course, the diminutive was from its earliest formation distinct in meaning from its base; asyden f. ‘a grain of corn’ fromyd ‘corn’ mas. sg. (yr yd hwn ‘this corn’), pl.ydau ‘varieties of corn’.
Anomalous Plurals.
§ 132. A few anomalous plurals remain to be noticed: (1)ci ‘dog’, pl.cwn;ci < Kelt. *kū < *ku̯ū < Ar. *k̑(u)u̯ō: Skr.s̑vā́§ 89 iii;cŵn < Brit. *kunes < Ar. *k̑unes.
(2)dydd ‘day’ < *díi̯ēus: Lat.diēs, anddyw ‘day’ indyw Gwener ‘on Friday’ etc. from an oblique case (Ar. gen. *diu̯és, *diu̯ós), pl.dïeu < Brit. *di̯éues§ 100 ii (1), besidedïeuoeẟ§ 128 i, anddyẟẏeuỺ.A. 51,r.b.b. 9, re-formed from the sg., Mn. W.dyddi̯au, now the usual form, thoughtridi̯au is still in common use.
Bluitinet a hirdieu (t ≡ẟ)b.b. 56 ‘years and long days’;deugeinniheuỺ.A. 21 ‘forty days’;seithnieur.b.b. 54;deugainnïeu D.G. 198, etc.
(3)duw ‘god’, O. W.duiu-§ 78 iv (2) < *dei̯uos (: Lat.deus) is the same word as the above with different vowel grades§ 63 vii (4). The Ml. pl.dwyw̯euỺ.A. 73 is formed from the old sg.;geu-dwyeu also occurs do. 44 with loss ofw̯; the Mn. pl.duw̯i̯au is a second re-formation.
(4)di̯awl ‘devil’, pl.dïefyl§ 100 ii (1), also a late pl.di̯awl(i̯)aid (loss ofi̯ by dissim. is usual) ; the pl.dieifl used by Gr.O. is artificial, as possibly the sg.diafl. Wm.S. invented a new sg.diafol, which was adopted in the Bible, and so is considered more respectable than the genuine form.
(5)blwyddyn ‘year’, pl.blynedd,blwyẟyneẟ,blynyddoedd§ 122 iv (2),§ 125 v (1).
(6)aren pl.eirin§ 106 ii (1), new pl.arennau;eirin ‘plums’, new sg.eirinen.
(7)pared, pl.parwydydd§ 130 i (4);ffêr ‘ankle’, pl. (old dual)uffarnau,ucharnau§ 96 iv (2), late pl.fferau,fferi. Other cases of anomalous vowel changes in§ 125 v,§ 117 iii.
(8) One or two examples generally quoted of irregular plurals are due to haplology,§ 44 iv, and are irregular in the late period only. Mn. W.cydymaith ‘companion’, pl.cymdeithion; Ml. W. sg.cedymdeithw.m. 10, pl.cydymdeithon do. 1;—Mn. W.credadun ‘believer’, pl.credinwyr, a corrupt re-formation fromcredini̯ol forcreduni̯ol,§ 77 ix, forcredaduni̯ol; Ml. W.credadun, pl.credadunionm.a. i 566.
Nouns with no Plural.
§ 133. The following nouns are used in the sg. only:—
i. Many abstract nouns, simple, asgwanc ‘voracity’,llwnc ‘swallowing’,llafur ‘labour’,cred ‘belief’,tywydd ‘weather’; or derivative assyched ‘thirst’,tristwch ‘sadness’,ffyddlondeb ‘fidelity’,glendid ‘cleanliness’.
But a large number of abstract nouns have pl. forms:chwant ‘desire’, pl.chwantau;coel ‘belief’, pl.coelion, etc.; see§ 120 i (4),§ 121 ii (3),§ 122 ii (4).
ii. Nouns denoting material or substance, asmêl ‘honey’,glo ‘coal’,ymenyn ‘butter’,gwaed ‘blood’,baw ‘dirt’,llaeth ‘milk’, etc.
There are many exceptions:dyfroedd ‘waters’, sg.dwfr;cigau ‘meats’,ydau§ 131 iv, etc.
arian in the sg. means ‘silver’, thusyr arian hwn ‘this silver’,arian byw ‘quicksilver’; butarian is also pl., and as pl. means ‘money’, asyr arian hyn ‘this money’,arian gwynion orarian gleision ‘white’ or ‘grey money’, i. e. silver coins. More rarelyaur is pl. in a similar sense:aur melynion oraur rhuddion W.Ỻ. 2. Similarlyheyrn the pl. ofhaearn means ‘irons’ as fire-irons, etc.
The names of woods have the same form as the pl. of the names of trees; thusderw ‘oak’ or ‘oak-trees’, sg.derwen ‘oak-tree’. The same form is used (likearian,aur,haearn, etc.) as an adj.:cadair dderw ‘oak chair’;onn ‘ashen’, etc. (but notɥnn etc.):
‘Thou feedest the long ashen spear on the hearts of the enemies.’
iii. Diminutive nouns in‑an,‑ig,‑cyn,‑cen; asdynan ‘a little, person’,oenig ‘a little lamb’,bryncyn ‘hillock’,llecyn ‘place’,ffolcen ‘foolish girl’.
If the word does not exist without the suff., or if without the suff. it is an adj., it has a pl. in‑od, rarely‑au;mudanod ‘deaf-mutes’,llebanod, etc.§ 123 ii (2),ewigod do. (1);crymanau‘sickles’.
iv. Archaic and poetical words such asbun ‘maid’,iôr ‘lord’,cun ‘lord’,huan ‘sun’§ 113 i (5).
v. Proper names of places, months, days, feasts; asCymru,Ebrill,Calan,Nadolig. ExceptSuli̯au ‘Sundays’,Sadyrnau ‘Saturdays’. Other days thus:dyddiau Llun ‘Mondays’, etc.
Nouns with no Singular.
§ 134. A few nouns are used in the pl. only:i.bonedd ‘gentlefolk’;rhïeni ‘parents’; nouns in‑w͡ys denoting inhabitants, asMonwys ‘men of Môn’§ 38 viii.
‘I have sung the nobility of Gwynedd, flowers of the shire with no Saxon alloy.’
The sg.rhiant (pl.rhïaint) given by Pughe seems to be his own invention.
ii.aeron ‘fruits’;gwartheg ‘cattle’;creifion ‘parings’;gwreichion ‘sparks’; names of certain vegetables:bresych ‘cabbages’,chw̯yn(n) ‘weeds’,brïallub.t. 25, H.M. ii 162 ‘primroses’; in Mn. W.ymysgaroedd ‘bowels’, but Ml. sg.ymysgars.g. 214.
For pl. names of vegetables a sg. is sometimes formed by adding‑en, ashesg ‘rushes’, sg.hesgen, or‑yn asblodeu-yn,rhos-yn. The new and spurious sg.briallen is based on the assumption that‑u is a pl. ending; so also the spurious pl.brieill.
iii. Adjectives used as nouns: (1) persons:fforddolion ‘wayfarers’,tlodion ‘paupers’; (2) qualities:prydferthion ‘beauties’,§ 145 iii.
¶ For the pl. of compound nouns, see§ 157 iii.
Gender.
§ 135. The gender of a noun denoting an animate object agrees in general with the sex of the object; thus the nounsgŵr ‘man, husband’,ceffyl ‘horse’,brawd ‘brother’,gwas ‘servant, youth’ are m., andgwraig ‘woman, wife’,caseg ‘mare’,chwaer ‘sister’,morwyn ‘maid’ are f.
§ 136. i. When the same noun is used for both sexes it is generallyepicene, that is, it has its own gender whichever sex it denotes.
The following are mas. epicenes:plentyn ‘child’,baban ‘babe’,barcut ‘kite’,eryr ‘eagle’.
The following are fem. epicenes:cennad ‘messenger’,cath ‘cat’,colomen ‘dove’,brân ‘crow’,ysgyfarnog ‘hare’. Thus we sayy gennad (not *y cennad) even when we mean a man.
Kymery gennat honn,a dwc ef ẏ dy Ernalltc.m. 33 ‘Take this messenger and bring him to the house of Ernault’. See alsor.b.b. 68,Ỻ.A. 111 and 2 Sam. xi 19–25.
These nouns do not change their gender by the addition ofgwryw ‘male’ orbenyw ‘female’, as old-fashioned grammarians taught. In eryrbenyw ‘female eagle’ the non-mutation of theb- ofbenyw shows thateryr remains mas. In fact the gender of a noun must be ascertained beforegwryw orbenyw can be added to it.
ii. There are however several nouns ofcommon gender in Welsh, that is, nouns whose gender varies according to the sex of the individual meant. Such aredyn ‘man’ or ‘woman’,dynan ‘little person’,cyfyrder ‘second cousin’,wyr ‘grandchild’,tyst ‘witness’ (< Lat.testis com.),mudan ‘deaf-mute’,perthynas ‘relation’,gefell ‘twin’,cymar ‘mate’,llatai ‘love-messenger’, etc.§ 139 v,cyw ‘pullus’,llo ‘calf’. Thusymudan oryfudan;yperthynas oryberthynas;llogwryw orllofenyw.
Seecyw f. D.G. 94, usually m.;ungymar f. D.G. 274;teir wyrẏonr.m. 112,w.m. 468 ‘three granddaughters’.
‘The gentle lady yesterday greeted me: now the maid has become silent.’
‘She is the granddaughter of Cadwgon; he is the grandson of Meilir’s son.’
‘I will send, if I live, to the maiden a female messenger.’
The initial consonant ofdyn is sometimes left unmutated after the art. when f., aspwy yw’rdyn deg? D.G. 53 ‘who is the fair lady?’ But usuallyy ddyn as above, cf.§ 38 vi, ex. 3.
dynes is a N. Walian vulgarism which has found its way into recent literature; it does not occur in the Bible or any standard work. The examples quoted by Silvan Evans are evident misreadings (dynes fory ddyn anddynes sad fordyn sad); but it is found in the work of a poetaster inp 112/365 (early 17th cent.). No pl. has been invented for it. Other late formations arecymhares andwyres, the former used in the 17th cent.
iii. Some mas. nouns used as terms of endearment, etc. become fem. when applied to females; aspeth ‘thing’,byd ‘life’,cariad ‘love’,enaid ‘soul’; thusybethdlawd ‘poor thing’ f.
‘My fair life, I am thy husband and thy servant in thy leafy parlour.’
‘My beautiful soul! there comes no nightfall to the summer-house to which she comes.’
iv. Similarly a mas. abstract noun, when personified is occasionally treated as fem., asdoethineb in Diar. i 20, ix 1–4.
§ 137. i. Some mas. names of living objects are made fem. by the addition of‑es, or by changing‑yn to‑en; thusbrenin ‘king’,brenhines ‘queen’;bachgen ‘boy’,bachgennes Joel iii 3 ‘girl’;llew ‘lion’,llewes ‘lioness’;asyn ‘ass’, f.asen;coegyn ‘fop’, f.coegenb.cw. 14.
arglwyẟ ‘lord’,arglwyẟesw.m. 11 ‘lady’;marchawcw.m. 2, Mn.W.marchog ‘horseman, rider, knight’,marchoges,w.m. 13,b.cw. 58;iarll,iarllesw.m. 254 ‘earl’, ‘countess’;amhérawdɏrw.m. 178 ‘emperor’,amherodres do. 162;cares I.G. 557 ‘relative’ f.;tywysoges ib. ‘princess’;santes do. 559 ‘saint’ f.;arglwyddes a meistres môr Gr.O. 15 ‘lady and mistress of the sea’.
In old formations the‑es is seen added to the original stem, as inlleidr ‘thief’, f.lladronesb.cw. 21, see§ 121 i;Sais ‘Englishman’, f.Saesnes < Brit. *Saxō, *Saxonissā,§ 113 i (2). On the vowel change inCymro, f.Cymraes see§ 65 ii (1).
ii. In the following cases the distinction of gender is irregular:nai ‘nephew’,nith ‘niece’;cefnder(w̯) ‘cousin’, f.cyfnither(w̯);chwegrwn ‘father-in-law’, f.chwegr;hesbwrn, f.hesbin ‘ewe’;ffôl ‘fool’, f.ffolog;gŵr,gw̯raig;ci§ 132 (i),gast§ 96 ii (3).
nai < Ar. *nepōts;nith < Ar. *neptís§ 75 vii (2);cefnderw§ 76 vii (3) (O. W. pl.ceintiru) andcyfnitherw̯ are improper compounds representingceifn derw̯ andcyfnith ẟerw̯; forceifn lit. ‘co-nephew’ see§ 75 vii (1);cyfnith < *kom-neptís ‘co-niece’;derw̯ is an obsolete adj. meaning ‘true’, Ir.derb ‘sure’ < *deru̯os, Ar. base *dereu̯‑: E.true, and doubtless W. pl.derw̯yẟ-on[3] ‘soothsayers’ < *dₑru̯íi̯es (: Gaul.druides < Brit., Caesarb.g. vi 13, Ir.drui < Brit. ?): W.dir ‘true, certain’, Ir.dīr ‘due’ < LR *dēru-s.—chwegr§ 94 iv;chwegrwn < *su̯ek̑ru-no‑;—hesbin from W.hesb f. ofhysb ‘dry’§ 96 iii (5); the formation ofhesbwrn is not clear; perhaps for *hesbrwn formed on the analogy ofchwegrwn;—gŵr < Ar. *u̯iros: Lat.vir;gw̯raig < *u̯rakī prob. < *u̯(i)r-āk-ī́, a noun in‑ī (:‑ii̯ā, cf. pl.gw̯rageẟ) from a derivative in‑āk- of *u̯ir-os: cf. Lat.virāgo.
iii. (1) As in other languages, near relations and familiar animals have names of different origin for males and females:tad ‘father’,mam ‘mother’;brawd,chwaer;ewythr,modryb;ceffyl,caseg; etc.
(2) Names of birds are epicenes, mostly f. asy fwyalch ory fwyalcken ‘the blackbird’,y fronfraith ‘the thrush’,yr ŵydd ‘the goose’,y gog ‘the cuckoo’,y frân ‘the crow’, etc.; but almost an equal number are m., aseryr ‘eagle’,dryw ‘wren’,barcut ‘kite’,hedydd ‘lark’,alarch ‘swan’. The male bird is in some cases distinguished by usingceiliog followed by the specific name in the attributive genitive, asy ceiliog bronfraith ory ceiliog mwyalch; but this cannot be done generally. Noteceiliágwydd ‘gander’§ 74 i. The names of one or two male animals are formed in a similar manner; asbwch gafr ‘he-goat’;gwrcath ‘tom-cat’.
§ 138. The gender of nouns denoting inanimate objects or abstractions can only to a very limited extent be determined by the meaning.
i. The following nouns are mas.:
(1)tymor ‘season’, and the names of the seasons:gwanwyn,haf,hydref,gaeaf, seehydrefdwys a’rgwanwyn§ 38 viii; soy Garawys,y Grawys ‘Lent’ withg- as a new radical§ 101 iii (2), cf.yr holl Arawysa.l. i 338 ‘all Lent’.
(2)mis ‘month’, and the names of the months, asChwefrol sydd iddo28 o ddyddiau 1620 Bible Almanac ‘February has 28 days’.
(3)dydd ‘day’, and names of days, seeDifiaudu§ 46 ii (4); soy Pasg ‘Easter’,y Nadolig ‘Christmas’,y Sulgwyn ‘Whitsunday’,y Calan ‘New Year’s Day’; butgŵyl ‘feast’ is f., so thatGŵyl Fair ‘Lady Day’, etc., are f.
(4)gwynt ‘wind’, and the names of points of the compass:y gogledd ‘the north’,y dwyrain ‘the east’,y deheu ‘the south’,y gorllewin ‘the west’.
(5) Nouns denoting material or substance:aur,arian,haearn,pres,pren,derw,ffawydd,glo,maen,pridd,calch,clai,tail,gwair,gwellt,yd,bwyd,bara,cig,gwaed,gwin,cwrw,dwfr,gwydr,lledr,lliain,sidan,glaw,eira, etc.
(6) Verbal nouns; see§ 205.
ii. The following nouns are fem.:
(1)gwlad ‘country’,teyrnas ‘kingdom’,ynys ‘island’, and names of countries, etc.:Cymrulân ‘beautiful Wales’,PrydainFawr ‘Great Britain’,y Fônfau Gr.O. 16 ‘my Mona’. Buttir ‘land’ is m., henceTir Groeg m. ‘Greece’.
(2)tref ‘town’,llan ‘church’, and names of towns and parishes:BangorFawr yn Arfon;ỺanbadarnFawr.
(3)afon ‘river’, and names of rivers:Dyfi wendal D.Ỻ. ‘fair-browed Dovey’.
(4) Names of mountains and hills:yr Wyddfa ‘Snowdon’,Carnedd Ddafydd,Moelyci; butmynydd ‘mountain’ andbryn ‘hill’ are m., and so therefore are names formed from them, asMỿnỿ́ddmawr.
(5)iaith ‘language’, and names of languages:y Gymraeg wen E.P. 217; but when the name denotes matter written in a language it is m.:y Cymraeg hwn ‘this (piece of) Welsh’.llythyren ‘letter’ is fem., and names of letters and sounds:a fain ‘thina’ (i.e. ‘æ’).
(6) Names of trees:derwen ‘oak’,dâr ‘oak’,collen ‘hazel’, etc.
(7) Collective nouns denoting communities, etc.:y genedl ‘the nation’,y werin ‘the people, the crew (of a ship)’,y bobl ‘the people’,y bendefigaeth ‘the nobility’,y gymanfa ‘the assembly’,y gynulleidfa ‘the congregation’,y glêr ‘the bards’ (y fân glêr L.G.C. 71),y dorf,y dyrfa ‘the crowd’,y gynhadledd ‘the assembly’; with some late exceptions, asy cyngor ‘the council’,y bwrdd ‘the board’.
§ 139. The gender of a derivative noun is determined by its ending.
i. The following endings form m. nouns:‑ach dim. sg.,‑aint,‑awd,‑cyn,‑dab ‑deb,‑der,‑did,‑dod,‑dra,‑dwr,‑edd,‑hâd,‑i ‑ni ‑i̯oni,‑i̯ad ‑ad,‑i̯ant,‑inab ‑ineb,‑rwydd,‑wch (‑wg),‑yd,‑yn.
Examples:bwbach,henaint,traethawd,llecyn,un-dab,‑deb,blinder,gwendid,cryndod,ffieidd-dra,cryfdwr,amynedd,glanhâd,tlodi,noethni,drygioni,cariad,teimlad,mwyni̯ant,doethin-ab,‑eb,enbydrwydd,tywyll-wch,(‑wg),iechyd,offeryn.
Exceptions:awdurdod,trindod;buchedd,cynghanedd,trugaredd, see§ 143 iii (13);cenadwri (f. aftercennad);adeilad§ 205;caniad ‘song’ (f. aftercân) butcaniad ‘singing’ m.;galwad (f. aftergalwedigaeth);blwyddyn,elltrewyn,odyn,telyn,twymyn. In the last group‑yn is not the sg. ending‑ynn, see§ 126 iv.
ii. The following endings form f. nouns:‑ach (abstract),‑aeth ‑i̯aeth etc.,‑as,‑ed,‑ell,‑en,‑es,‑fa,‑ur.
Examples:cyfeillach,cosbedigaeth,athrawiaeth,teyrnas,colled,asgell,seren,llynges,porfa,natur,pladur.
There are many exceptions in‑aeth and‑i̯aeth; ascladdedigaeth,darfodedigaeth,gwasanaeth,hiraeth,amrywi̯aeth,gwahaniaeth,lluniaeth.—Other exceptions arelludded,caethiwed,syched,pared;castell,cawell,hiriell ‘angel’ D. 43;maharen;hanes m. in N.W.—gw̯nïadur ‘thimble’ is m. in N.W.; names of persons in‑ur are mas. (f.‑ures).
iii. The following endings form derivatives having the same gender as the noun to which they are affixed:‑aid ‘‑ful’,‑an dimin.,‑awd,‑od ‘stroke, blow’; ascrochanaid m. ‘potful’;llwyaid f. ‘spoonful’;maban m. ‘babe’,gwreigan f. ‘little woman’,dynan com. ‘little person’;cleddyfod m. ‘stroke of sword’,ffonnod f. ‘blow of a stick’,dyrnod m.,arfod f. (cleddyfawd f. D.G. 473 is exceptional).
iv.‑og (‑awc) forms m. titles and designations, astywysog ‘prince’,marchog ‘knight’,swyddog ‘officer’,cymydog ‘neighbour’,taeog ‘villain’; and f. terms of reproach, asffolog ‘fool’ f.,budrog ‘slattern’,slebog id. Names of inanimate objects in‑og are generally f., asarffedog ‘apron’,clustog ‘cushion’,mawnog ‘bog’.
‑ig forms m. titles, asgwledig ‘prince’,pendefig ‘chief’, and f. diminutives asoenig, etc.
‑in is m. inbrenin ‘king’,dewin ‘sage’,buelin ‘drinking horn’,ewin ‘(finger‑)nail’,gorllewin ‘west’; otherwise f., asbyddin,cegin,cribin,gwerin,hesbin,megin,melin.
v.‑ai, Ml. W.‑ei (for‑hei) forms nouns of com. gender, asllatai§ 136 ii; seecicai f. D.G. 166.
§ 140. i. No useful rule can be laid down for determining by the form the gender of nouns without derivative endings. It is true that nouns havingw ory in the ultima are mostly m., and those havingo ore are mostly f.; thusasgwrn,arddwrn,dwrn,dwfr,ellyll,byd,bryn are m.;colofn,tonn,ffordd,ffenestr,gwên,deddf are f. But exceptions are so numerous that the rule is of no great practical value.
The reason for the rule is that Brit.u andi, which normally give W.w andy, were affected too ande by the lost f. ending‑ā,§ 68, thus bringing about a preponderance of f. nouns witho ande. The reasons for the numerous exceptions are the following: (1)o ande may be original Brit., and not the result of affection at all, as inmôr m. ‘sea’,penn m. ‘head’; (2)y is often due to affection by the lost f. ending‑ī; as inblwyddyn f.,telyn f. etc.; (3) endings other than‑ā,‑ī caused no affection; henceffrwd f.,hwch f. etc.
u seems to some extent to have followed the analogy ofw, thus W.cur m. < Lat.cūra f.; most monosyllables withu are thus m.; butclud ‘vehicle’,tud ‘people, country’,hug ‘covering’,dun ‘thigh’,hun ‘sleep’,punt ‘£1’,ffust ‘flail’ are f.
There is no reason whya,i and the diphthongs should be distinctive of gender; and rules which make them the basis of such a distinction are arbitrary, and worse than useless. Thus Mendus Jones, Gr.² 75, states that monosyllables havinga are f.; Anwyl, Gr. 28, says they are m., and names 13 exceptions (omittinggardd,sarff,barf,nant,cad,llath,barn, etc., etc.); actually, the proportion of m. to f. (excluding Eng. words, and names of males and females, astad,mam) is about 55:45. Similarly monos. withi are said to be m.; in reality the numbers of m. and f. are practically equal:—m.,llid,gwrid,pridd,llif ‘flood’,rhif,brig,cig,cil,mil ‘animal’,ffin,llin,min,gwin,glin,tir,mis,plisg,llith ‘mash’;—f.,pi,crib,gwib,gwich,tid,ffridd,llif ‘saw’,gwig,pig,hil,mil ‘1000’,hin,tin,trin,rhin,gwisg,cist,llith ‘lesson’.
ii. A few doublets occur with m.‑w‑, f.‑o‑; ascwd m. ‘bag’,cod f. ‘purse’. The others are borrowed words containing‑or + cons.; astorf ‘crowd’ < Lat.turba:twrf ‘tumult’;—fforch ‘a fork’ < Lat.furca:ffwrch ‘the fork, haunches’;—ffordd ‘way’ < O.E.ford:i ffwrdd ‘away’;—bord ‘board, table’ < M.E.bord:bwrdd id. < O.E.bord.
Also with‑yn:‑en, asysgellyn:ysgallen§ 130 iii,coegyn:coegen etc.,§ 137 i,ffwlcyn:ffolcen, and S.W. dial.crwtyn ‘boy’:croten ‘girl’.
§ 141. i. The gender of a compound noun is generally that of its subordinating element; thuseluséndy ‘almshouse’ m. likety ‘house’, this being the subordinating, andelusen the subordinate element. Sogwínllan ‘vineyard’ f. likellan;canhẃyllbren ‘candlestick’ m. likepren.
There are a few exceptions, possibly due to a change in the gender of the simple noun:cartref m. ‘home’,pentref m. ‘village’ (thoughtref is now f.)§ 111 v (2);pendro f. ‘vertigo’ (tro m.), asMae’rbendro ar y llo lleiafr.p. 1278.
Epithetized compounds have the same gender as the sex of the person; thusall-tud ‘exile’ generally m. (tud f.).
ii. The above rule also holds for improper compounds,§ 46, in which the subordinating element comes first; thustréf-tad ‘heritage’ f.;dỿ́dd-brawd ‘day of judgement’ m.;pónt-bren ‘wooden bridge’ f.;pén-cerdd ‘chief of song’ m.
§ 142. i. There are many nouns of vacillating or uncertain gender. Some of them are old neuters, likebraich from Lat.bracchium. In other cases the uncertainty is due to the action of analogy.
ii. The gender sometimes varies according to meaning or use:—golwg ‘sight’ m., as ingolwg byr ‘short sight’ (but f. inỺ.A. 107):golwg ‘appearance’ f., as integ yr olwg ‘fair to see’;—bath ormath ‘kind’ m., asdau fath ‘two kinds’: with the art. f., asy fath ‘the kind’,y fath beth ‘the kind of thing’;—man ‘spot’ m., asẏ’r ẟeu van gochẏonw.m. 140 ‘to the two red spots’,man gwan ‘weak spot’:man ‘place’ f. generally as in Matt, xxviii 6, often m. as in Jer. vii 3; noteyn y fan ‘immediately’,yn y man ‘by and by’;—to ‘roof’ m. as inaderyn y to ‘sparrow’:to ‘generation’ sometimes f., as in L.G.C. 204;—coes ‘leg’ f.:coes ‘stalk’ or ‘handle’ of a spade, etc. (where there is only one) m., dim.coesyn m.—Unrelated pairs:gwaith ‘work’ m.,gwaith ‘fois’ f., as indwy waith ‘twice’;llif m.,llif f.;mil m.,mil f.;llith m.,llith f.;§ 140 i.
iii. Some nouns have different genders in Ml. and Mn. W. This is sometimes due to a break in the tradition owing to the word becoming obsolete in the spoken language; in other cases it is due to, or has been helped by, analogy. Early Mn. W. generally agrees with Ml. W.; the break comes in the Late Mn. period.
The following are m. in Ml. W., f. in Late W.:damweinw.m. 29,r.m. 19 ‘accident’;breintl.l. 121,r.b.b. 71 ‘privilege’;dinasc.m. 3, 8,Ỻ.A. 44, D.G. 325 ‘stronghold, city’, still m. in place-names;nefỺ.A. 4 ‘heaven’, S.Ph. (m. W.Ỻ.) late 16th cent. hasne’ gwyn, but H.S. mid. 15th already hasnef f., see§ 160 iii (2) (c);chwedɏlr.m. 192 ‘tale’,chwedldrwg Ps. cxii 7;gruẟỺ.A. 93 ‘cheek’,y grudd,deurudd in the bards, but f. in Bible;gweithreta.l. i 526,b.b. 7,Ỻ.A. 132;ergitr.b.b. 42;krevyẟỺ.A. 143.
The following are f. in Ml. W., m. in late W.:tangneveẟw.m. 43,r.m. 30, 38 (buty tangneveẟw.m. 55) ‘peace’, m. in Bible;gwirioneẟw.m. 29,r.m. 19 ‘truth’, m. in Bible and later bards,c.c. 357;cyg̃reirc.m. 18,r.m. 160 ‘truce’, m. in Bible, Deut. xxix 14;r͑yditr.b.b. 83 ‘freedom’;personc.m. 19,Ỻ.A. 3 ‘person’;llynnw.m. 51,r.m. 36 ‘lake’;llysw.m. 5,r.m. 3 ‘court’.
In some cases the gender fluctuates in Ml. W.:breich, as inc.m. 18ar ybreich ‘on the arm’, and in the next lineẏ’rvreich ‘to the arm’; it is m. in the Bible, but now f. except in place-names;—heul ‘sun’, m.Ỻ.A. 3, f. do. 161, generally f. in the bards, m. in Bible, f. in Wms. 257, now m.;heulwen is an improper compound ofhaul wenn§ 46 ii (1);—clot ‘praise’ m. asclot bychanw.m. 142,r.m. 212, generally f. in the bardsg. 184, f. in the Bible, 1 Bren. x 7, now m., orig. neut.§ 66 v.
iv. The difference is in some cases dialectal:ciniaw ‘dinner’ f. inw.m. 61,r.m. 43, now f. in S.W. but m. in N.W.;troed m. in Ml.W. e.g.deudroet always (notdwy‑), m. in N.W., f. in S.W. The following are f. in S.W., m. in N.W.:cyflog,hanes,garr,gwnïadur,llyn,pwys,munud,clorian (thoughar y funud,yn y glorian in N.W. also); in Mn. Lit. W. these are mostly m. as in N.W.;crib ‘comb' now m. in N.W., butcrib ‘ridge’ f. On the other hand in N.W.cusan (m.c.m. 58, 61) andcwpan (m. in Bible) are sometimes treated as f., doubtless a late misuse, as also the use in some parts ofcanhwyllbren as f. Butclust m.r.b.b. 54, m. in S.W., is f. in N.W. and in the Bible. N.W. is not uniform:sach m. in Gwynedd (< Lat.saccus) is f. in Powys.
Derivative Nouns.
§ 143. Derivative nouns are formed from simple nouns, from adjectives, and verb-stems by the addition of the following endings:
i. Diminutive endings, largely used to form singular nouns§ 126: m.‑yn, f.‑en. The O.W. forms are‑inn,‑enn, and then is doubled in Ml. and Mn. W. when a syllable is added, asdefnynn-au Can. v 2,canghenn-au Luc. xiii 19. They probably represent the Ar. suffixes‑ino‑,‑inā- with dimin. gemination§ 93 iii (2), giving Brit. *‑inno‑s, *‑innā.
They may also be added to adjectives and vb.-stems, ascoeg-yn ‘fop’, (coeg ‘empty, vain’),ysgogyn ‘swaggerer’ (ysgog-i ‘to shake’).
ii. Diminutive endings added to nouns:‑ach, ascorrach ‘dwarf’ < a Brit. *‑akkos, with dimin. gemination;—‑an, asdynan ‘little person’,gwreigan ‘little woman’; this appears in late Brit. as‑agn‑; in Ir. it is‑ān; see§ 104 ii (1);—‑ell, as ini̯ỿrchell ‘a roe’, < Brit. *‑ellā or *‑illā;—‑ig, as inoenig ‘lamb’, < Brit. *‑īkā;—‑cyn, f.‑cen, sometimes added to contracted personal names, asHwlcyn forHywel, appears to be comparatively late, and may be from E.‑kin.iii. Abstract and collective noun endings, etc.: (1)‑ach ascyfeillach ‘friendship’cyfrinach ‘secret’ (< *‑aksā, v.n. suffix§ 203 i (3) (4)).
(2)‑aeth ‘act’ < *‑aktā,§ 203 i (1), as ingwasanaeth ‘service’ < *u̯o-ssān-āktā < *u̯po-stā-no-aktā§ 96 ii (2); as *gwasan does not occur, the suffix is here felt to be‑ánaeth. It takes the form‑i̯aeth from stems in‑i̯, thus added to‑aid indysg-éid-i̯aeth ‘learning’; hencehynáfi̯aeth ‘antiquity’,gofáni̯aeth ‘smithing’; hence‑ániaeth ingw̯lỿbáni̯aeth ‘wet weather’. So‑ḯaeth asmarsiandḯaeth ‘commerce’;‑nḯaeth assaernḯaeth ‘workmanship’,mechnḯaeth ‘surety’. Inarglwyddḯaeth,arglẃyddi̯aeth both accentuations occur, seeArglwyddḯaeth (4 syll.) D.G. 8;Gw̯ledd Dduw a’i arglwyddḯaeth Gut.O.m 146/397r. ‘The feast of God and his Lordship’:Pe talai’r ŵydd arglẃyddi̯aeth D.G. 210 ‘If the goose paid tribute’. The form in Late W. is the last. The ending is also added to verbal adjectives in‑adwy,‑edig, asofnadwyaeth ‘terror’,poenedigaeth ‘torture’,erledigaeth forerlidedigaeth§ 44 iv. It is also seen in‑adaeth,‑dabaeth,‑debaeth,‑wri̯aeth, etc.
(3)‑aid, Ml. W.‑eit < *‑ati̯o‑s, *‑ati̯ā:llwyaid§ 139 iii.
(4)‑aint, Ml. W.‑eint:henaint ‘old age’;dioddefaint ‘suffering’§ 203 ii (3), q.v.
(5)‑an:cusan ‘kiss’,chwiban ‘whistle’, v.n. suff.§ 203 vi (1).
(6)‑as < *assā:teyrnas f. ‘kingdom’; also‑i̯as, astrigi̯as ‘residence’: Ir.‑as m. < *‑assu- (: Goth.‑assu‑): ?*‑ət‑tā, *‑ət‑tu‑.
(7)‑awd,‑od, Ml. W.‑awt < *‑āt‑:traethawd 'treatise' < Lat.tractātus;molawd ‘praise’: Ir.molad; used to denote the stroke of a weaponcleẟyfawt, etc.§ 139 iii < *‑ātiō.
(8)‑deb,‑dab,‑dábaeth,‑débaeth,‑íneb,‑ínab all contain *ap- < *əqu̯‑, √ōqu̯‑ like Lat.antīquus, Skr.prátīka‑m ‘face’ and W.wyneb§ 100 v. In‑deb *ap‑ is added to a‑ti- stem, in‑ineb to Brit.‑īni- (as inbreniniv (10));´‑i̯a‑ >i̯e >e§ 65 vi; in‑dab ‑inab to allied adj. stems in‑to‑,‑īno- (cf. Brugmann² II i 285);´‑oa‑ >´‑ā‑ >a. Silvan Evans states s.v.duwdab that‑dab etc. are “local forms”, meaning that the‑a- is Gwyn.a fore,§ 6 iii, which is absurd, for dial.a does not extend to the penult as in‑dabaeth (dial,atab,atebodd, not *atabodd). The forms witha occur before any trace of dial.a, and are used by writers of all parts:diweirdapp 14/2r. (circa 1250),dewindabaethr.b.b. 16, 38, 41, 42,c.m. 93;doethinabm 117r. (c. 1285),r.b.b. fac. opp. p. 1 (c. 1310–1330);cowreindab S.T.,Ỻ 169/39r.;hydab L.G.C. 195;geudab Ps. lxii 9.
a: Printeddro.
‘The Trinity bring about union for the sake of fair Mary’s tear for her Son.’
(9)‑der,‑ter < *‑tero- cpv. suff.:dyfn-der ‘depth’.
(10)‑did,‑tid, Ml. W.‑dit,‑tit < Ar. *‑tūt‑:gwen-did ‘weakness’;‑dod,‑tod, Ml. W.‑dawt,‑tawt < Ar. *‑tāt‑:cryn-dod ‘trembling’;—: Lat.vir-tut- (< *u̯iro-tūt‑);cīvi-tāt‑.
‑dra,‑tra, see(22) below.
(11)‑dwr < *‑turo‑, prob.‑ro- added to‑tu- stem., cf. Gk.μάρ-τυρος:cryfdwr ‘strength’.
(12)‑ed, Ml. W.‑et, partly <‑itās, as inciwed < Lat.cīvitās; partly < *‑e‑to, Ml. W.dyly‑et < *dligeto‑n: Ir.dliget.—syched ‘thirst’;nodd-ed ‘protection’,colled ‘loss’, etc.
(13)‑edd < *‑íi̯ā;trugaredd ‘mercy’ < *trougākaríi̯ā: Ir.trōcaire;—: Gk.‑ίᾱ, ἀναρχία, etc. Most nouns with this ending have become mas. in W.; but many retain the orig. gender§ 139 i.
(14)‑eg <‑ikā; asgramadeg <grammatica; sohanereg ‘half-measure’ < Brit. *san-ter-ikā. It forms the names of languages asSaesneg,Gwyddeleg,Ffrangeg,Gwyndodeg ‘the dialect of Gwynedd’,Gro-eg,Cymrá-ëg. In the last two contraction took place. Wm.S. took‑aeg for the ending inCymráeg, and so, beside the correctSaesneg, wroteSaesnaeg andSaesonaeg, see the headings in his Dic.Gwyddelaeg,Ffrancaeg etc. were also formed, either by him or by his imitators. D.D. s.v.aeg vehemently protests against these solecisms, and against the use ofaeg as a word meaning ‘language’.[4]—KanysYspaeneca ẟywedei y kawrc.m. 19 ‘For it was Spanish that the giant spoke’.Kymraëc/chwecr.p. 1189.Ffrangecẟa lóew̯dec ẟiletẏeith do. 1225 ‘Good clear pure French’.
‘I have learnt the rich French language; wise is its learning, fair good tongue.’
(15)‑es < *issā:buches ‘herd of cows, place for milking’;llynges ‘fleet’,lloches ‘hiding-place’; cf.iv (4).
(16)‑fa: 1. < *‑mag- ‘place’:por-fa ‘pasture’;cam-fa ‘stile’;trig-fa ‘dwelling place’;cyrch-fa ‘resort’.—2. Abstr. for‑fan(n) v.n. ending§ 203 ii (4), by loss of‑nn§ 110 v (2) < Ar. *‑mₑn-§ 62 i (2):llosg-fa ‘a burning’;lladd-fa ‘slaughter’;cryn-fa ‘tremor’;bodd-fa ‘deluge’. The two are confused, and the second class have plurals like the first, asllosgfeydd.
(17)‑i is the same as the v.n. ending‑i, see§ 202 ii; thustlodi ‘poverty’ (also as v.n. ‘to impoverish’),noethi ‘nakedness’ (v.n. ‘to denude’),diogi ‘idleness’ (v.n. ‘to idle’),caledi ‘hardship’,gwegi ‘vanity’,ymddifedi ‘destitution’.
(18)‑i̯ad, ‑ad added to verb-stems is properly‑ad, as shown by such forms ascarad, e.g.llu du di‑garadb.b. 86, and especially the form‑hā́d (for‑ha‑ad), which would be *‑haead if the ending were‑i̯ad; but with stems in‑i̯- we have e.g.rhodi̯-ad (: rhodi̯af); from these‑i̯ad was generalized, but too late to cause penultimate affection; hencecari̯ad ‘love’ (‑iad agent affects, seeiv (5)).‑ad, pl.‑adau is from *‑ə-tu- (Ar. *‑tu- verbal-abstr. suffix): Lat. supinegenitum < *g̑enə-tu‑m;‑ad f. < *‑ə-tā§ 203 iii (8).
(19)‑i̯ant is similarly‑ant < *‑n̥t‑, participial suffix, as in Ml. W.derewantỺ.A. 152 ‘stink’, Mn. W.drewi̯ant; it generally appears as‑i̯ant in Ml. and Mn. W.:meẟẏantw.m. 8, Mn. W.meddiant ‘possession’.
(20)‑id inaddewid f. ‘promise’, perhaps < *‑ī-tā (: Lat.fīnītus); incadernid m. ‘might’ < *‑ī-tu- (: Lat. sup.vestītum);—rhyddid is a late re-formation ofrhy(ẟ)-did.
(21)‑ni < Brit. *gnīmu‑, O.W.gnim ‘work’§ 203 vii (4):mech-ni ‘bail’ (mach ‘a surety’),noeth-ni ‘nakedness’;‑i̯oni <‑i̯ono-gnīm-§ 155 ii (1):haeli̯oni ‘liberality’; also‑oni inbarddoni (bardhonya.l. i 78) ‘bardism’. As‑ni is for *‑ᵹni, andnᵹn >n§ 110 ii (1), the ending cannot be distinguished from‑i aftern; thustrueni ‘wretchedness’,gwrthuni ‘unseemliness’ may have‑i or *‑ᵹni.
(22)‑red, lit. ‘course’, < *‑reto‑, √ret‑§ 63 ii:gweithred ‘action’, Ml. W.brithred ‘confusion’ ( = Ir.brechtrad ‘commingling’); in a more literal sense,hydred ‘length’,lledred ‘breadth’.
‑rwydd, lit. ‘course’, < *‑reido‑: Gaul.rēda ‘waggon’ < *reidā, W.rhwydd ‘easy, without let, perfunctory’, lit. ‘*running’; a fertile abstr. suff. in W.:enbyd-rwydd ‘peril’,gwallgof-rwydd ‘insanity’.
‑dra,‑tra, lit. ‘course’ < *´‑trog‑, √treɡh‑§ 65 ii (1):e‑ofn‑dra ‘fearlessness’.
(23)‑wch < *‑is-qo‑, v.n. ending; see§ 201 iii (2): ‘darkness’,heddwch ‘peace’. The‑wg in the by-formtywyllwg is prob. due to dissim. of continuants; see§ 201 iii (3).
(24)‑yd < *‑o-tūts, nom. sg. of *‑o-tūt-(10):bywyd ‘life’, Ir.bethu < Kelt. *biu̯otūts;mebyd ‘youth’; partly perhaps < *‑itī (: Lat.‑itia, and substituted for it, astristyd < *trīstitī <trīstitia).
(25)‑ynt inhelynt ‘course’;tremynt (dremynt) ‘sight’; prob. *‑en- +‑tī.
iv. Endings denoting agent or person: (1)‑adur < Lat.‑ātōrem, as inpechadur <peccātōrem, extended to new formations:henadur ‘elder’,penadur ‘chieftain’; increadur ‘creature’ it comes of course from‑ātūra.
(2)‑ai, Ml. W.‑ei, properly‑hei for it hardens the preceding consonant, < *‑sagi̯ō ‘seeker’§ 104 ii (2), asblotai ‘beggar of meal’ (blawd ‘meal’),cynutai ‘gatherer of firewood’ (cynnud ‘firewood’) etc. The late artificial formationmynegai ‘index’ is wrong in form (it should be *mynacai) and in meaning (it should denote a ‘seeker’).
(3)‑awdr < Lat.‑ātor, as inymhérawdr <imperātor,créawdr <creātor, extended in W., as indysgawdr ‘teacher’,llywi̯awdr ‘ruler’.
For W.awdr ‘author’ < Lat.au(c)tor (besideawdur < acc.au(c)tōrem) the dial, formawdwr (with parasiticw§ 16 v (3)) came to be used in Late W. The above words were then mistaken for compounds of this, and wrongly spelt and accentedymheráwdwr,creáwdwr. Lastly the‑wr was mistaken for‑wr ‘man’,(8) below, and a new pl.ymherawdwyr formed instead of the true pl.ym(h)erodron; butym(h)erodraeth remains.
(4)‑es < Brit. *‑issā: Lat.‑issa:brenhines etc.§ 137 i.
(5)‑i̯ad:hebryngẏatw.m. 4 ‘guide’; it affectsa toei:lleiddi̯ad ‘killer’ (lladd ‘kill’),datgeini̯ad ‘singer’; afterw̯ thei̯ is lost§ 36 v, asgeilwad ‘caller’ (galw ‘call’),ceidwad ‘keeper, saviour’ (cadw ‘keep’). It implies Brit.‑i̯atis (ori̯atā): Gaul.Ναμαυσατις, Γαλάται: Ir.‑ith,i-stem; the suffix is‑ti- (or‑tā): Gk.μάντις, κρι-τή‑ς;‑i̯a- or‑a- <‑i̯ə- or‑ə‑; the affection of the vowel shows that the‑i̯a- form was already generalized in Brit.
(6)‑og, Ml. W.‑awc < Brit.‑ākos adj. suffix§ 153 (5) forms m. nouns astywysog ‘prince’,marchog ‘knight’,swyddog ‘officer’, and f. nouns asffolog, see§ 139 iv; the former have feminines in‑oges:tywysoges ‘princess’,cymydoges ‘neighbour’.
(7)‑or, Ml. W.‑awr < Lat.‑ārius askag̃hellaura.l. i 62, Mn. W.canghellor <cancellārius, extended in W.:telynor ‘harpist’,cantor ‘singer’; f.‑ores:cantores.
(8)‑wr ‘man’:pregethwr ‘preacher’,gweithi̯wr ‘worker’ etc.;‑w̯raig ‘woman’:gólchw̯raig ‘washerwoman’.
(9)‑ydd < Brit.‑íi̯ō:crydd ‘shoemaker’§ 86 i (5),melinydd ‘miller’,prydydd ‘poet’;‑edydd <‑atíi̯o:dringhedydd ‘climber’,nofiedydd D.G. 502 ‘swimmer’;‑idyẟ:llemiditw.m. 466llemhidyẟr.m. 110 ‘leaper’; f.‑yddes:prydyddes ‘poetess’,‑adyddes:gwnïadyddes ‘sempstress’.
(10) Endings of more restricted use:‑ig inpendefig ‘chieftain’,gwledig ‘prince’, < *‑ī-ko‑,§ 153 (9).
‑in inbrenin < *‑īni‑; cf. pl.brenhinoedd;‑in from Lat.‑īno- indewin for *diwin <dīvīnus,per(i̯)erin ‘pilgrim’ < *pergerīnos <peregrīnus.
v. Endings denoting instrument or thing: (1)‑adur,iv (1): Ml. W.paladur, Mn. W.pladur ‘scythe’,gwnïadur ‘thimble’ etc.
(2)‑in <‑īna:melin ‘mill’ < Lat.molīna;cegin§ 89 iii; socribin,megin, etc.§ 139 iv. The m.buelin may have‑in < *‑ikno‑, cf. Gaul.celicnon ‘tower’, √qel- ‘high’: Lat.celsus,columen.
(3)‑ell <‑ella or‑illa:padell ‘pan’ < Lat.patella;pibell ‘pipe’,ffynhonnell ‘fountain, source’.
(4)‑ogiv (6), besides names of persons, forms f. names of things, asarffedog ‘apron’,clustog ‘cushion’, of plants, astewbanog ‘mullein’, of places, asmawnog ‘peat-bog’,brwynog ‘marsh’, etc., and m. names of birds ascyffylog ‘woodcock’, and animals, asdraenog ‘hedgehog’,llwynog ‘fox’.
(5)‑wriv (8):crafwr ‘scraper’.
Adjectives
Number.
§ 144. The pl. of adjectives is formed from tbe sg. as follows:
i. By change of vowel. The change is the ultimatei-affection§ 83 ii; cf.§ 117 i. Examples:bychan ‘little’, pl.bycheinỺ.A. 2, Mn. W.bychain, sollydan ‘broad’,truan ‘wretched’,buan ‘quick’;cadarn ‘strong’, pl.kedeirnw.m. 40,kedyrn do. 51, Mn. W.cedyrn;ieuanc ‘young’, pl.ieueincw.m. 181, Mn. W.ieuainc;harẟ ‘handsome’, pl.heirẟ;byẟar ‘deaf’ pl.byẟeirr.p. 1196, Mn. W.byddair.
ii. By adding the ending‑i̯on. Examples:mud ‘mute’, pl.mudẏonr.p. 1196, Mn. W.mudi̯on;coch ‘red’, pl.cochẏonr.p. 1236, Mn. W.cochi̯on;glew ‘bold’, pl.glewi̯on;cul ‘narrow’, pl.culi̯on.
iii. The addition of‑i̯on causes the following vowel changes:
(1)Mutation§ 81:tlawd ‘poor’, pl.tlodyonr.p. 1196, Mn. W.tlodi̯on;trwm ‘heavy’, pl.trymẏonr.m. 14, Mn. W.trỿmi̯on;llwm ‘bare’, pl.llỿmi̯on;llɥm ‘keen’, pl.llỿmi̯on;melɥn ‘yellow’, pl.melỿni̯on; Mn. W.main ‘slender’, pl.meinion,etc.
The comparatively late pl.mawrion is an exception; an older form is perhapsmorẏonb.t. 45; but the original formmawr < *mārī (like the sg.mawr < *māros) generally remained:lloppaneu mawrw.m. 23,r.m. 14 ‘big boots’. A similar exception istrawsionm.a. i 544.
(2)Penultimate affection§ 83 iii:glas ‘blue’, pl.gleissẏonr.p. 1196, now writtengleision;dall ‘blind’, pl.deillẏon ib., Mn. W.deilli̯on;claf ‘sick’, pl.cleivẏon ib., Mn. W.cleifi̯on;gwag, pl.gweigion;cadr, pl.ceidrẏonr.p. 1169 (ceidroniv).
e is not affected:uchel ‘high’ pl.uchelionm.a. i 565a; see gwelwon etc.iv.a is unaffected in the late pl.meddalion; the old pl. ismeddal like the sg.:petheu clayr meẟalỺ.A. 70 “blanda et mollia”.ae remains unaffected, and the ending in some old forms is written‑on, ashaelonb.b. 3,r.p. 1169,m.a. i 283a, laterhaelion.
iv. After the groups mentioned in§ 36 v–vii, thei̯ drops, so that the ending appears as‑on:gwelw̯ ‘pale’, pl.gwelw̯onr.p. 1196,gweddw̯ ‘widowed’, pl.gweẟw̯on do. 1236;chw̯erw̯ ‘bitter’, pl.chw̯erw̯on;hoyw̯ ‘sprightly’, pl.hoyw̯on;du ‘black’, pl.duon;teneu ‘thin’, pl.teneuon;budr ‘dirty’, pl.budron;garw̯ ‘rough’, pl.geirw̯on;marw̯ ‘dead’, pl.meirw̯on;llathr ‘bright’, pl.lleithron (lleithɏrẏon inw. 7bi). The affection of the vowel ingeirw̯on etc. bears witness to the losti̯.
In most Ml. W.mss. thei̯, followingei, is lost after all consonants, as in S.W. dialects,§ 35 ii, asdeillonr.p. 1236 (besidedeillẏon 1196).
v. Some adjectives have two plurals, one formed by affection, and one by adding‑i̯on:hardd ‘handsome’, pl.heirdd,heirddion;garw̯ ‘rough’, pl.geirw̯,geirw̯on;marw ‘dead’, pl.meirw̯,meirw̯on.
caled usually remains unchanged:rhai caled T.A.c. ii 79,pethau caled Ex. xviii 26, cf. 1 Bren. x 1, xiv 6; butcaledion Judas 15 (thoughcalet here also in Wm.S.),cledionc.c. 334. The spoken forms arecaled andcledion. The formcelyd R.G.D. 96 seems to be a recent invention; Wms. 372 hasYr hoelion geirwoncaled, changed in recent hymnbooks tocelyd. SimilarlyCymraeg is sg. and pl.:henweu Kymraecs.g. 172 ‘Welsh names’.
§ 145. i. The only pl. forms which are originally adjectival are those produced by vowel affection; where these exist they generally accompany pl. nouns, thusgwŷr cedyrn, notgwŷr cadarn. But we have seen that from the Ar. period *‑i̯ō, pl. *‑i̯ones formed nouns corresponding to adjectives in *‑i̯os§ 121 i; and there can be no doubt that W. forms in‑i̯on (from *‑i̯ones) were originally nouns, as they may still be, e.g.y tlodion ‘the poor’. The distinction between these nouns and adjectives proper was obscured by the fact that adjectives might be used as nouns, e.g.y kedyrnw.m. 51 ‘the mighty’; then, in imitation ofgwŷr cedyrn ‘mighty men’, expressions likeplant tlodion ‘poor children’ were formed for the sake of formal agreement, as the agreement was not apparent in an adj. liketlawd which had the same form for sg. and pl. But the old tradition persisted, and the use of forms in‑i̯on was, and is, optional:eriron du, …coch, eririon gwinn, …glas, …lluidb.b. 72–3 ‘black…, red…, white…, blue…, grey eagles’;dynyon mwynr.m. 21 ‘gentle folk’,meirch dof do. 31 ‘tame horses’; and is more frequent in later than in earlier periods, thusbratteu trwm ofw.m. 23 appears asbratteu trymẏon in the laterr.m. 14. Hence we find (1) as forms in‑i̯on were not really needed, many adjectives remained without them, and have no distinctive pl. forms; (2) in many cases plurals in‑i̯on remain substantival.
ii. The following adjectives have no distinctive plural forms in use:
(1) The simple adjectives (or old derivatives no longer recognized as such):bach,ban,call,cas,certh,craff,cu,cun,chweg,da,dig,drwg,fflwch,gau,gwâr,gwir,gwymp,hafal,hagr,hawdd,hên,hoff,llawen,llesg,lion,llwyr,mad,mân,pur,rhad,serfyll,serth,sobr,swrth,teg.
bychain is pl. ofbychan, not ofbach, which is sg. and pl. like the others in the above list; thusplentyn bach ‘little child’, pl.plant bach.
‘Thou wouldst snare the little birds with thy deceiving words and thy wile.’
drwg is also an abstract noun, pl.drygau ‘evils’,hagr is included in D.’s list; Rowland’shagron is obviously spurious—it would be *heigron if genuine.hên is included becausehenẏonỺ.A. 95 is only known to occur once, and that in verse. D. y C. hashyff as pl. ofhoff, as well asag̃hlyff,pryff andcryff as pl. ofanghloff,praff,craff apparently extemporizedr.p. 1361 (praff has pl.preiffion).mân is usually pl. as incerrig mân ‘small stones’, often sg. as ingro mân ‘fine gravel’.
glân ‘clean’ has pl.gleinẏonỺ.A. 102,r.p. 1236, which is comparatively rare, and became extinct. D. 56 includestywyll, but quotes an example oftywyllion; this and one or two others likemelysion (formelys pl., Diar. xxiii 8) are not uncommon in Late Mn. W.
(2) Adjectives of the equative or comparative degree. But superlative adjectives have substantival plurals.
(3) Derivative adjectives in‑adwy,‑aid,‑aidd,‑ar,‑gar,‑in,‑lyd, 153. But adjectives in‑ig,‑og,‑ol,‑us have plurals in‑i̯on, which commonly precede their nouns, but may follow them, asgwyr bonheẟigẏons.g. 62 ‘gentlemen’.
nefolẏonwybodeu acysprydolẏongelvydodeuỺ.A. 103 ‘heavenly sciences and spiritual arts’, cf. 102.Deddfolionddynion a ddyfalantm.a. i 26 ‘law-abiding men they deride’.o’rnefoliona’rdaearolionathanddaearolionbethau Phil. ii 10.—Nerthoeẟnefolẏon…neu wrthẏeur͑yveẟolẏonỺ.A. 102 ‘heavenly powers or wonderful miracles’.
‘The county, after the death of Siôn, is void of famous men.’
‘In one grave has been laid the greatness of Môn, their two noble bodies.’
(4) Most compound adjectives, ashy-glyw,hy-glod,e-ang,ffrwyth-lon,melỿs-lais, etc. But when the second element is an adj. which may take‑i̯on, the ending is sometimes affixed to the compound; thusclaer-wynnẏonỺ.A. 92 ‘bright’,gloyw-ẟuon do. 93 ‘glossy-back’;glas-feinion D.G. 87 ‘green and slender’,tal- gryfi̯on Ezek. iii 7 “of an hard forehead”.
D. 56 quotescyn-dynion,erchyllion (erch-hyllion) as exceptional forms in
‘Stubborn (but) weak men, ugly, hideous and strange.’
iii. Many adjectives have substantival plurals used partly as abstract nouns asuchelion Gr.O. 120 ‘heights’, but chiefly to denote classes of persons; the sg. is also in some cases substantival. The pl. is formed either by affection or by adding‑i̯on or‑i̯aid, Ml. W.‑ẏon,‑ẏeit; the latter is used for persons only, and causes the same penult, affection as‑i̯on, except in late formations. Thuscaeth ‘slave’ pl. keith, Mn. W.caith L.G.C. 63, or Ml. W.keithẏeit or Mn. W.caethion;byddar ‘deaf’ pl.byddair, later formationbyddariaid;balch ‘proud’ pl.beilchr.p. 1334 l. 46,beilchion,beilchiaid;truan ‘wretch’ pl.truain,trueinion,trueiniaid;gwan ‘weak’, pl.gweinẏonm.a. i 220b,gweinẏeitr.p. 1196, Mn. W.gweiniaid;dall ‘blind’ pl.deillion,deilliaid.
‘The deaf hear [the lamentations] for the maid on Lady Day at the closing of the grave.’
‘Since his manly form lies [in it], he makes the proud fear the grave.’
‘If every alien pedigree were examined I know gaps in the pedigree of proud ones.’
‘And there will be a company of the proud.’
Note.gweini̯aid is often used adjectivally in Mn. W., asrhai gweiniaid 1 Cor. ix 22; on the other handgweinion is often a noun even as late asc.c. 338 (dated 1588).blwyddiaid is the only form of the pl. of the adj.blwydd ‘year old’, and is used adjectivally, assaith oen blwyddiaid Lev. xxiii 18; see§ 122 iv (2), p. 206.
iv. Many superlatives have pl. forms which are substantival only; one,hynaif ‘elders’, is formed by affection; the others take‑i̯on or‑i̯aid, asgoreuon,hynafi̯aid (thea of‑af is not affected);eithafoeẟr.m. 186, L.G.C. 140, 152 (besideeithafion) andpellafoedd are peculiar in having‑oedd.
‘Hopkin on a green hill with his sword, he was as the men of old.’
‘Llan Nefydd, the place of his ancestors.’
‘For eight islands hast thou been born, the uttermost parts of Christendom tremble for fear of thee.’
v. Derivatives in‑ig,‑og,‑ol,‑us have substantival plurals in‑i̯on only; asy dysgedigion ‘the learned’,y cyfoethogion ‘the wealthy’,meidrolion ‘finite beings’,rheidusionm.a. i 315a ‘needy ones’.
Ac yr wyf inneu yn mynet yn erbynbonheẟigẏony wlat hons.g. 293 ‘and I am going against the gentlemen of this country’.Efe a dywallt ddirmyg arfoneddigion Ps. cvii 40.
vi. Many compounds have plurals used as nouns only:kyvoedẏon C.m.a. i 233b ‘contemporaries’,anwariaid ‘savages’,y ffyddloniaid ‘the faithful’;pengryniaid andpengrynion ‘round-heads’';prydferthion ‘beauties’, abstract.
Gender.
146. i. Many adjectives containingw orɥ have f. forms in which these vowels are affected too ore respectively,§§ 68,83. The change takes place chiefly in monosyllables.
ii. Monosyllables containingw ory may be classified thus:—
(1) In the following the affection takes place in the f., in the literary language:—w:blwng I.G. 198 ‘angry’, f.blong see ex.;brwnt ‘dirty’;bwlch (kic bwlcha.l. i 524 ‘meat in cut’), f.bolch r.p. 1327;crwm ‘bent’;crwn ‘round’;dwfn ‘deep’;llwfr ‘cowardly’;llwm ‘bare’;mwll ‘sultry’;mwsr.p. 1348 ‘stale’, f.mos I.G. 406;pŵl ‘blunt’, f.pôl Ỻ.Ỻ 133/211a;tlws ‘beautiful’;trwch I.G. 491 ‘maimed’, f.troch do. 285;trwm ‘heavy’;trwsgl ‘clumsy’;twllw.m. 133, G.Gr.d.g. 247 ‘perforated’, f.tollr.p. 1045;twnn I.G. 497 ‘battered’, f.tonn, see ex.—y:brych ‘spotted’;byrr ‘short’;cryf ‘strong’;cryg ‘hoarse’ f.grecr.p. 1274, I.G. 628, D.G. 223;ffyrf ‘thick’;gwlyb ‘wet’;gwyn(n) ‘white’;gwyrdd ‘green’ (but see§ 68);hysb ‘dry’;llyfn ‘smooth’;llym ‘keen’;sych ‘dry’;syth ‘upright’;tyn(n) ‘tight’. All the f. forms of they-group are in colloquial use, exceptcreg.
‘[The billow] gave my ship a push, and gave an angry shout.’
‘Cold is the frost on the ridge of the roadway; colder is my stricken breast after thee.’
(2) In the following both the unaffected and the affected form are used for the f.; in some cases perhaps the affected is a conscious formation, more or less artificial:—w:fflwch, f. in D.G. 80, but‑ffloch in comp. I.G. 226 ‘flush’;pwdr ‘rotten’, f. Num. v 21, butpodr I.G. 399;rhwth ‘distended’,geg-rwth f. D.G. 344, butroth I.G. 406;swrth, f.sorth ‘prostrate’ Gr.O. 59.—y:clyd ‘sheltered’,clid f.b.b. 62, butcled D.G. 221 and later poetry, see ex., nowclyd f.;crych ‘curly’, f. D.G. 75,‑grech in comp. seeiv (1);chwyrn ‘whirling’, f. D.G. 418, latechwernd.p.o. 344;gwydn ‘tough’,gwedn D.G. 50;gwymp ‘fine’, I.R. hasgwemp says D. 54;hyll, f. D.G. 71,nos hyll ‘horrid night’ do. 500, later f.hell, but generallyhyll, and so in spoken W. (the compounddiell is not necessarily f. as D. assumed, but is fordi-hyll by dissim.§ 16 iv (2), and may be mas. asdïell dëyrnm.a. i 493b).
‘If Rhys has gone [to the grave] from his warm bright home, I too am about to go.’
(3) In the following the vowel is never affected, but the unaffected form is m. and f.:—w:brwd ‘warm’,drwg ‘bad’,glwth ‘gluttonous’,gwrdd ‘strong’,gwrm ‘brown’,llwgr ‘corrupt’.—y:dygn ‘grievous’;grym ‘strong’;gwych, f. D.G. 89, 143, 156, 315, 359 ‘fine’ (gwech is a late fabrication);gwychr ‘victorious’;gwyllt see ex.;hy ‘bold’;hydr ‘valiant’;myg ‘admirable’;rhydd ‘free’;rhyn(n) f. D.G. 267 ‘shivering, cold’;syn(n) ‘astonishing’.
a: Misprintedi.
‘Fly for my sake as far as the land of Essyllt from the heart of the wild region of Gwynedd.’
iii. The change takes place rarely in uncompounded polysyllables:
(1)Melyn ‘yellow’ has f.melen always.
(2) D.D. gives “manwl etmanol” s.v. but cites (from L.G.C. 318)manwl f.; the formmanol seems a variant (? late) ofmanwl rather than a f. For the f. oftywyll L.G.C. and D.E. wrotetywell, which is quite certainly a spurious form, fortywyll originally had in its ult. noty butw͡y§ 38 x,§ 111 i (2), and could no more take a f. form thanllŵyd ‘grey’. The true f. istywyll:Stavell Gynẟylan ystywyllr.p. 1045 ‘The hall of C. is dark’;Tywyllyw’r nos,…tywyllyw’r fro D.G. 267 ‘dark is the night, dark is the land’;rhandywyll Luc xi 36. D. 54 states correctly thattywyll is com., quoting as violating usage (“sed dixit poeta”) the well-known couplet—
‘Good night to the dark island; I know not if a better island be.’ The name, which denotes Anglesey, is properlyyr Ynys Dywyll (Ynis Dowyll Camden⁴ 681,Ynys Dowyll Mona Ant.¹ 24). Rowland 41 givestywell as regular, and cites the couplet as an example, borrowing it from D. or his translator, but lacking D.’s scholarship. Some recent writers have used the form, having learnt it from these sources; and naturally Wms’stywll nos is everywhere “corrected” totywell nos in the new C.-M. hymnbook. The spoken language of course preserves the traditional formnos dywyll.
In Ml. and Early Mn. W. derivatives in‑lyd had f. forms in‑led:croc creuledb.b. 41 ‘bloody cross’;y ẟreic danllets.g. 294, 329 ‘the fiery dragon’;arf wyarlled G.G1.d. 59 ‘gory weapon’;
b: Printeddremled.
‘And a gloomy chilly sky, and its drift hiding the moon.’
(3) But the bulk of polysyllabic adjectives withw orɥ in the ult., which are not conscious compounds, have no distinctive f. form:w: agwrdd ‘strong’amlwg ‘evident’,chwimwth ‘quick’,teilwng ‘worthy’, etc.;—y:melys ‘sweet’,dyrys ‘intricate’,hysbys ‘known’,echrys ‘terrible’,newydd ‘new’,celfydd ‘skilful’,pybyr f. I.G. 111 ‘keen’,ufyll ‘humble’,serfyll ‘prostrate’, etc. etc.
iv. The affection often takes place in compounds:
(1) In the second element when it is an adj. aspen-grychr.m. 163 ‘curly-haired’, f.benn-grech do. 232 (butben-grych in the earlier w.m. 165);claerwynm.a. i 92 ‘bright’, f.claerwen D.G. 48;mynýgl-wen do. 137 ‘white-throated’,drwyn-llem do. 395 ‘sharp- nosed’;gwallt-felyng. 157 ‘yellow-haired’, f.gwallt-felen D.G. 107;dí-syml ‘artless’, f.dí-seml D.G. 53.
‘Tell me, finely-curved blue hoarse wave, good news of the fair sweet-faced maiden.’
Sometimes the first element is affected in co-ordinate compounds, astlos-deg D.G. 518 ‘beautiful and fair’,sech-goeg I.G. 406 ‘dry and void’; and in rare cases both elements, ascron-fferf D.G. 38 ‘round and firm’.
(2) But old compounds, consisting of prefix + adj. and others which are not consciously felt to be compounds, retain their vowel unaffected:hy-dyn ‘tractable’,an-hydyn ‘intractable’,cyn-dyn ‘stubborn’,ed-lym ‘keen’,cymysg ‘mixed’,hy-fryd ‘pleasant’,dy-bryd ‘ugly’,cyffelyb ‘like’,amlwg,agwrdd, etc.iii (3),
v. The following are irregular:
(1)brith ‘speckled’ has f.braith, Ml. W.breith, a special case ofa-affection, not originally irregular, see§ 68.
(2) The change takes place in the penult inbychan ‘little’, f. bechan, see§ 101 ii (2), andcwta ‘short’, f. sometimescota; and sometimes in comparatives and superlatives; see§ 147 iii.
vi. There is no distinctive form for the f. pl.
Comparison.
§ 147. i. The adjective in W. has four degrees of comparison, the positive, the equative, the comparative, and the superlative.
As the cpv. is followed byno, laterna ‘than’, the equative is preceded bycyn and followed byâ (unacc.,a):cyn wynned â’r eira ‘as white as snow’; ‘of’ after the spv. is expressed byo:y byrraf o’r ddau lit. ‘the shortest of the two’.
ii. (1) The derived degrees are formed from the positive by the addition of ‑(h)ed,‑ach, ‑(h)af respectively. The‑h- of the equative and spv. disappeared after the accent§ 48 ii, but hardened final‑b,‑d, or‑g to tenues, even when these were followed by a sonant; in Late Mn. W. the hardening is extended to the cpv. Of course all mutable vowels are mutated,§ 81. Thus the present-day comparison is as follows:—
| Positive | Eqtv. | Cpv. | Spv. |
| glân ‘clean’ | glaned | glanach | glanaf |
| teg ‘fair’ | teced | tecach | tecaf |
| gw̯lyb ‘wet’ | gw̯lỿped | gw̯lỿpach | gw̯lỿpaf |
| tlawd ‘poor’ | tloted | tlotach | tlotaf |
| budr ‘dirty’ | butred | butrach | butraf |
| gw̯ɥdn ‘tough’ | gw̯ỿtned | gw̯ỿtnach | gw̯ỿtnaf |
(2) But in Ml. W. the final consonant of the positive was not hardened in the comparative; thus we havetebygachw.m. 44,r.m. 30 ‘more likely’,tegach ‘fairer’ besideteckaf ‘fairest’w.m. 226,r.m. 164,hyfrydachr.b.b. 50 ‘more pleasant’,r͑eidẏachr.p. 1249 ‘more necessary’. The tenuis is rare:kaletachb.t. 64, 69 ‘harder’. The media remained in Early Mn. W., e.g.rywiogach L.G.C. see§ 115 ii;caledach G.G1. c. i 195;tegach T.A.a 14967/89;tlodach see ex.
‘Poetry became poorer [by his loss]; may he go safe to heaven.’
The equative and superlative, however, always have the tenuis:kyn-debycketw.m. 34,r.m. 22,teccetw.m. 181,r.m. 84,teccaf a gwastatafw.m. 179,r.m. 83, etc. The‑h- which caused this hardening is sometimes preserved in Ml. W.:dahetr.m. 50 ‘as good’;mwyhafw.m. 179,r.m. 83;ky vawhet,gurhaw§ 149 i (2);pennhaw (‑w ≡‑f)b.b. 102; see§ 48 iv.
¶ Oni̯ before the ending, see§ 35 ii (2).
iii. In Ml. W. f. forms of the derived degrees arose, the endings being added to the f. positive; these are new formations, and are less frequent in earlier than in later texts; thusdissymlaf ofw.m. 6 becomesdisemɏlaf inr.m. 4. Other examples aretromhafw.m. 82,r.m. 60;gwen(n)achr.b.b. 60;gwennetr.p. 1239;dofnet do. 1276. A few survive in the Mn. period,eos dlosaf D.G. 402 ‘most beautiful nightingale’;berraff. 17;Wennaf Wen.
iv. (1) The comparison of adjectives in the Ar. languages is largely formed by means of the Ar. suffix *‑i̯es‑. The L°-grade *‑i̯ōs gives Lat.‑ior nom. sg. m. f. of the cpv.; the F°-grade‑i̯os gives Lat.‑ius the corresponding neuter; the R-grade‑is is seen in the Lat. cpv. adverbmag-is. The R-grade‑is- with other suffixes gave many forms of the cpv. and spv.
(2) The W. spv.‑haf (= Ir.‑em,‑am) is from Kelt. *‑isamos, *‑isamā < Italo-Kelt. *‑isₑm-os, ‑ā, cf. Lat.plūrimus < *plōisₑmos. This is formed by adding the ordinal ending *‑ₑmos (: Lat.sept-imus) to the suffix of comparison‑is‑, just as the other ordinal ending‑tos (: Lat.sex-tus) added to‑is- forms the other spv. ending‑istos familiar in Gk. and Germanic. [The‑ss- of Lat.‑issimus is due to some re-formation, probably‑is- +‑simus newly compounded, the latter element containing ‑(i)s- already.]
(3) The W. cpv.‑ach (Bret.‑oc’h) seems to come from Brit. *‑aks- for unaccented *‑āks-§ 74; probably in full *‑āk’son < *‑āk-isōn (final *‑on for *‑ōn§ 59 v) the cpv. in *‑is-ōn (: Gk.‑ιων, Goth,‑iza) of a derivative in *‑āk-os of the adj.§ 153 (5). The general substitution of the cpv. of a derivative for the ordinary cpv. in *‑i̯ōs is doubtless due to the fact that, after the loss of endings, the cpv. in‑i̯ōs did not differ from the pos. pl. (*katarn-i̯ōs would give *cedeirn),[5] or in some cases from the pos. sg. (*meliss-i̯ōs would give *melys). The suffix‑āk- itself prob. had a heightening force, as it has in Lith. when added to an adj.; in Lettish‑āks is the ordinary cpv. ending. The suffix *‑isōn is formed by adding *‑ōn to the suffix of comparison *‑is‑. It occurs with loss of‑i- in W.nes,haws, etc.§ 148 i, q.v.; the final *‑ōn is the L°-grade of a suffix‑en‑, which is perhaps to be seen inamgen§ 148 ii andhaeacheng. 234, apparently an obl. case ofhaeach§ 220 iii (6). The final‑n of the nom. sg.‑son is prob. the initial ofno ‘than’§ 113 i (1).
(4) The W. eqtv.‑het (= Bret. exclamative‑het) seems to be from Brit. *‑is-eto‑s, formed by adding the Kelt. ordinal suffix *‑eto‑s§ 154 ii (2) to the suffix of comparison *‑is‑. It contains the same elements as the spv. suffix *‑istos, but is a new and independent formation, in which each element preserves some measure of its significance:‑is- ‘superior’,‑eto- ‘in order’. It is equative in meaning only whencyn is prefixed; thuscyn deced â ‘as beautiful as’, lit. ‘equally excelling-in-beauty with’. Withoutcyn it is an exclamative, asuchet y kwynafr.p. 1417 ‘how loudly I lament!’; so Ml. Bret.kazret den ‘what a fine man!’ (in the dial. of Leon the spv. is substituted for it, asbrasa den ‘what a big man!’). In W. it is largely used substantially as the obj. of a vb. or prep., meaning not the quality denoted by the adj. but the degree of it:er i theced ‘in spite of her superior beauty’.
Zimmer, KZ. xxxiv 161–223, held that the eqtv. was a noun likecolled, etc., which became an adj. by being compounded withcyn, which he regarded as *kom‑; cf.lliw ‘colour’,cyfliw ‘of a like colour’. His explanation did not account for the‑h- in the suffix; hence Stern, ZfCP. iii 164, suggests that the eqtv. is a compound, the second element being allied to Ir.sāith, Lat.satis, but this the vowel does not admit of.—The fact thatteced is a noun iner i theced no more proves it to be a noun originally than the use ofgwaethaf as a noun iner dy waethaf ‘in spite of thy worst’ proves the spv. to be a primitive noun; the ordinal itself is so used, asar vyn deuẟecvetw.m. 83 ‘on my twelfth’, meaning ‘[I] with eleven others’. Zimmer ignores the difference of meaning between the eqtv. and an abstract noun;er fy nhlodi is ‘in spite of my poverty’, buter fy nhloted is ‘in spite of the degree of my poverty’; the former means ‘though I am poor’, the latter ‘however poor I may be’; the idea of ‘degree’ is common to the W. eqtv. and Bret. exclamative, and it is absurd to assert, as Zimmer does, that it is a meaning read into the form by us moderns.
Some of the irregular equatives given in the next section begin withcỿm‑,cỿn‑,cỿf‑,cỿ‑, which are the regular forms of Kelt. *kom- in composition. These do not requirecɥn before them; hence Zimmer believed thatcɥn before an equative in ‑(h)ed was identical with the above prefixes, and came from *kom‑. Butcɥn is followed by a soft initial, and its‑n (Ml.‑nn) is never assimilated to the following consonant; Strachan, who accepts Zimmer’s view, explains this briefly as follows: “the formcyn- with analogical lenation became the general form before all sounds,” Intr. 29. Analogy usually causes the one to conform to the many; but the above explanation involves the assumption of the many conforming to the one in the generalization of the pre-dental formcyn- (which did not take place in any other compounds of *kom‑); it involves the same assumption in the generalization of the apparent lenition incỿ‑w- (as incỿ-wir); as the two things (‑n and lenition) could not co-exist in any formation from *kom‑, the two generalizations would have to be independent, so that the improbability is raised to the second degree. Further, the‑n- ofcɥn is not only old enough to provectl- andr- (§ 111 i), as incɥn llonned,cɥn rhated (as opposed tocỿf-lawn,cỿf-ran from *kom‑), but is actually older than the separation of W. and Bret., for in Ml. Bret, it isquen. Some other explanation ofcɥn must therefore be sought.
cɥn (≡cɥ̆n, in the dialects mostlyk̑ĭn) is now a proclitic, though it may be accented for emphasis; it was also a proclitic in Ml. W. for it was generally joined to the eqtv. in writing, though often separated, see below. But its‑ɥ- shows that originally it was a separate word separately accented, and distinguishes it from all the forms of *kom‑, which haveỿ. Incỿ́n-ddrwg,cɥn forms an improper compound with the adj., and itsɥ becomesỿ§ 46 i; this is the only case ofỿ incỿn with lenition.—Whilecỿf- < *kom- can be prefixed to a noun or adj. ascỿf-liw,cỿf-uwch, the formcɥn cannot be put before a noun; we cannot say *cɥn harddwch, *cɥn dlodi, *cɥn rhaid, *cɥn gymdeithas, but must saycɥn hardded,cɥn dloted,cyn rheitied,cynn gytymdeithaseth.m. ii 419. Zimmer notes this, loc. cit. 197, but does not draw the obvious conclusion. The only word in W. not ending in ‑(h)ed used aftercyn with lenition isdrwg, and that is an adj. In Bret.quen,ken (ker,kel) comes before positive adjectives:quen drouc,quen bras. The inference is that forms in ‑(h)ed are adjectives. Bret. preserves traces of a wider use ofken which shows that it is an adverb or conjunction:ken ar re binvidik, ken ar re baour ‘les riches aussi bien que les pauvres’ Troude, Die. Fr.-Bret. s.v.aussi 3. The W. lenition is probably more original than the Bret. non-mutation, as‑n tends to cause provection. The base ofcynn is very probably *kom- as has been supposed, but it contains an additional element, doubtless an adverbial suffix, probably the loc. suffix *‑dhi or *‑dhe§ 162 vi (2), thuscynn < *kon-dhi; cf. Umbr.ponne ‘cum’ < *qu̯om-de, O.Lat.quamde ‘quam’.
In Ml. W. besidekyn- askyndebycketw.m. 34, andkynn written separately askynn decketỺ.A. 19, 67,kynn gadarnnet do. 67, etc. we sometimes findky- askygyfyg̃hetr.m. 150,ky ẟruttet ib. This is due to the loss of final unaccented‑nn, see§ 110 v (2).
The misspellingcan forcɥn arose in the 18th cent., and was adopted by Pughe ; but there is absolutely no justification for it either in the earlier written language or in the spoken dialects.
The Ir. eqtv. in‑ithir,‑idir is not phonetically related to the W. eqtv.
§ 148. i. The following adjectives are compared irregularly:—
(1)agos ‘near’§ 222 i (3); eqtv.mor agoss.g. 34, Job xli 16,kynnessetc.m. 58; cpv.nes; spv. Ml.nessaf, now speltnesaf.
W.nessaf, Ir.nessam < *ned-’sₑmo‑s: Osc.nessimas ‘proximae’, Umb.nesimei ‘proxime’: Skr.náhyati ‘binds’ (h < *dh), √nedh- ‘bind’. The cpv.nes (≡nēs) < *ned-’son < *ned-sōn; as final‑ōn became‑on§ 59 v, it would not affect the vowel; see§ 147 iv (3).
In the dialectsagos is often compared regularly (a)gosach, (a)gosa’, thusffor’ gosa’ ‘nearest way’ for lit.fort (≡fforẟ)nessafm.a. i 367b. These forms sometimes crept into the written language in the late period; see Silvan Evans s.v.agos.
(2)bỿchan ‘small, little’; eqtv.bỿchaned,lleied; cpv. Ml.llei, Mn.llai; spv.lleiaf.
bychan§ 101 ii (2);vychanet,yr bychanetw.m. 44;am beth kynvychanet a hynnys.g. 107 ‘for so small a thing as that’. Forllai see§ 104 ii (2). Rhys Brydydd used a spv.bychanaf, see Pughe s.v.mymryn.
(3)cỿnnar ‘early’,buan ‘quick’; eqtv.cỿnted; cpv.cɥnt; spv.cỿntaf.—buan is also compared regularly:buaned D.G. 132,buanach do. 225, Galarnad iv 19; socynnar, spv.cynharaf ‘earliest’ etc.
Ni wyẟwn i varchgynt…no hwnnr.m. 9 ‘I knew of no fleeter steed than this’.
buan§ 63 vii (3);—cynt (: Ir.cēt, Gaul.Cintu‑) is perhaps cpv. in meaning only; it is believed to be cognate with Goth.hindumists; Eng.hind-er,be-hind, perhaps from √k̑ent- ‘point’; cf.blaenaf ‘foremost, first’:blaen ‘point’;—cyntaf§ 106 iii (3);cynnar§ 153 (4);cynffon ‘tail’ < *cynh-ffonn showscynt meaning ‘hind’.
(4)da ‘good’; eqtv. Ml.kynnab.t. 10,r.p. 1403; Ml.kystadɏlm.a. i 290,kystalb.t. 10,w.m. 4, 7, etc., Mn.cystadl, usuallycystal; as a noun Ml.dahetw.m. 70,daetr.m. 207, Mn.daëd,daed; cpv.gwell, spv. Ml.goreuhafb.t. 65, B.B. 42,goreuafỺ.A. 49, but usuallygoreu, Mn. W.goreu,gorau.
da§ 65 ii (1);kynna < *kom-dag‑;daëd anddae̯d, disyll. and monosyll., see exx.;—cystadl§ 96 ii (3), cf.distadl ibid.; the frequent use of the word caused the reduction‑adl >‑al; J.D.R.’scystadled, and latercystled seem to be wrongly standardized forms of Gwyn. dial.cystlad, which may well be forcystadl by metathesis;—gwell orig. ‘choice’§ 100 iii (2), prob. not cpv. in form;—goreu appears to be formed fromgor- ‘super’§ 156 i (17) and some form of the base *eu̯eseu̯- ‘good’§ 75 vii (3); it is not likely thatgoreu is shortened fromgoreuhaf, for the dropping of the ending would be against all analogy; rathergoreuhaf is a rhetorical form made fromgoreu, and apparently not largely used at any time; the Mn. form isgoreu,gorau,§ 81 iii (1); in the Early Mn. bards it rhymes with‑au, see ex.—Pughe’sgoraf is a fiction.
‘However good a word without a bribe may be, it will not be [accepted as] true without the promise of a bribe.’
‘Woe to us that thou wert so good since thou art taken away.’ Cf. L.G.C. 190.
‘If a man sees that he has the best [of it], it is time for that man to relent.’ Soiau/orau H.C.Ỻ.,Ỻ 133/212b; H.D.p 99/498.
(5)drwg ‘bad’; eqtv.kynẟrwcr.p. 1357,s.g. 11, 34, 37, etc.,cỿnddrwg Gen. xli 19; as a noundrycketw.m. 227, Mn.drỿced D.G. 40; cpv.gwaeth; spv.gwaethaf.
drwg, Bret.drouk,droug, Ir.droch‑,drog- < Kelt. *druko- √dhreuɡh/q‑: Skr.drúh‑,dhruk ‘injuring, betraying’,drúhyati ‘hurts’, Germ.Trug: Lat.fraus;—cỿnddrwg§ 147iii (4);—gwaeth,gwaethaf, Bret.gwaz,gwasa, Vann.gwac’h, Corn.gwêth,gwetha; the Bret. forms show that W.wae is forwoe, so that Stokes’s *u̯akto‑s Fick⁴ ii 260 is inadmissible; hence probablygw̯aethaf < *gw̯oeẟ-haf < *upo-ped-isₑmos§ 75 ii (1): Lat.pessimus < *ped-sₑmos; in that casegwaeth is formed from the superlative; seellydan(11) below. These are, then, the compared forms ofgwael ‘base, vile’, the positive often having a suffix lost in comparison, cf.mawr,hir,uchel; andgwael represents *upo-ped-lo-s; its derivativegwaelawt ‘bottom’, O. W.guoilaut, preserves the literal meaning (‘under foot’). Of course in Ml. and Mn. W.gwael is compared regularly, its relation togwaethaf having been forgotten.
(6)hawdd 'easy'; eqtv.hawssetỺ.A. 81, Mn.hawsed; cpv.haws; spv.hawssafỺ.A. 81,s.g. 13, Mn.hawsaf.
hawdd, originally ‘pleasant’, as inhawddfyd ‘pleasure’,hawdit (≡hawẟ-ẟyẟ)b.b. 90 ‘fine day’,hawdd-gar ‘handsome’§ 153 (8) for *hw̯awdd§ 94 iv < Ar. *su̯ādu-s: Gk.ἡδύς, Skr.svādú-ḥ, O. E.swēte, Lat.suāvis (< *su̯ādu̯i‑s), etc.;—cpv.haws < *su̯ād’son < *su̯ādisōn = Gk.ἡδῐ́ων < *su̯ādisōn;—spv.hawsaf < *su̯ād’sₑmos; the‑aw- instead of‑o- in the penult is due to the lostw̯ before it; cf.gw̯awd ‘song’ < *u̯āt‑, Ml. pl.gwawdeur.p. 1216. In Gaul. we findSuadu-rix,‑genus (prob.‑ā‑). For the development of the meaning cf. E.ease ‘comfort; facility’.
In Recent W. we sometimes seehawddach andhawddaf which come from the most debased dialect; good speakers still use the standard formshaws,hawsaf.
Similarlyan-háwdd, ánawẟr.p. 1227, etc.§ 48 iv, Mn.ánodd ‘difficult', O.W.hanaudcp.; eqtv.anháwsed; cpv.ánaws,ános; spv.anháwsaf.
Owing to its obvious formation the word is generally writtenanhawdd in the late period; but the regular Mn. form isánodd, becauseh is lost after the accent§ 48 iv, and unaccentedaw >o§ 71 ii (1). The spoken form isánoẟ, in some partshánoẟ by early metathesis ofh, as perhaps in the O.W. form above.
‘It was difficult for me to part with one whose like did not live.’
‘But it is more difficult to confront thee.’
But the prefix may be separately accented§ 45 iv (2), in which case the word is necessarilyán-háwdd; this form is attested in—
‘If I come on a holiday to his houses, it will be difficult to comfort me.’
(7)hên ‘old’; eqtv.hỿned; cpv.hɥnb.t. 26 ≡ Mn.hɥ̂n;hỿnachc.c. 342; spv.hỿnaf, O.W.hinham.
hên, Ir.sen < Ar. *seno‑s = Gk.ἕνος, Skr.sánaḥ, Lith.sė́nas ‘old’, Lat.sen‑;—cpv.hŷn, Ir.siniu < *seni̯ōs = Lat.senior; spv.hyn(h)af < *sen-isₑmos, seellydan below.—The cpv.hɥ̂n is still in colloquial use, though the later and weakerhynach is more common; in S.W. also a still laterhenach,henaf, re-formed from the pos.
(8)hir ‘long’; eqtv.kyhytw.m. 43,cyhyd§ 41 v, contr. tocɥ̂d; as a nounhɥ̂d, e.g. iner hyd ‘however long’; cpv.hwy; spv.hwyaf.
hir§ 72; the root is *sēi̯‑;cyhyd ‘as long’ < *ko-sit‑;hyd ‘length’, Ir.sith < *si‑t‑, R₂ *sĭ-§ 63 vii (5);—cpv.hwy, Ir.sīa < *seison for *sei-isōn ib.;—so spv.hwyaf, Ir.sīam < *seisₑmos.
The contracted formcɥ̂d is common in Mn.W.:cɥd a rhaff D.G. 48 ‘as long as a rope’,cɥd a gw̯ɥdd D.E.g. 124 ‘as long as trees’,cɥd E.P.ps. xliv 23 ‘so long’;cɥd a phregeth ‘as long as a sermon’.—cŷd <cɥ́hɥd (which gives Card. dial.cíchɥd).
(9)i̯euanc, i̯efanc, ifanc§ 76 iii (3) ‘young’; eqtv.ieuanghetr.m. 160,ivanghetc.m. 84; cpv. Ml.ieub.t. 26, 28, Mn.i̯au; alsoieuanghachs.g. 66;ieuangach Job xxx 1; spv.ieuhafa.l. i 542,ieuaf,ifaf,ieuangaf.
ieuanc, Bret.iaouank, Ir.ōac, contr.ōc (whence W.hog-lanc ‘lad’);—cpv.ieu < *i̯uu̯i̯ōs (Ir.ōa with‑a from the spv., see 11 below): Skr.yávīyas‑;—spv.i̯euaf, Ir.ōam < *i̯uu̯isₑmos.
(10)issel, now writtenisel ‘low’; eqtv.issetr.m. 94, Mn.ised; cpv.is (≡īs); spv.issaf,isaf.
W.issel = Ir.is(s)el. The origin of the word is not certain, but it is most probably cognate with Lat.īmus. Brugmann IF. xxix 210 ff. derivesīmus, Osc.imad‑en ‘ab imo’ from *ī or *īd an adv. from the pron. stem *i‑, as Lat.dēmus,dēmum is formed fromdē; and quotes other examples of ‘here’ becoming ‘here below’. The Kelt. adj. is obviously formed after *upselo‑s (> W.uchel ‘high’§ 86 iv); if the orig. adv. was *īd, the adj. would be *īd-selo‑s > *īsselo‑s, which gives W.issel, Ir.issel regularly. Pedersen suggests *pēd-selo‑, √ped- ‘foot’; but the connexion with Ital. spv.īmo- is more probable.
(11)llydan ‘wide’; eqtv.cyfled, as a nounlled; cpv.lled, latelletach; spv.lletaf.
W.llydan, Ir.lethan§ 63 viii (1); W.lled noun, see ibid.; spv.lletaf < *plet-isₑmo‑s. The cpv.lled, Ir.letha (‑a added in Ir.) is irregular; Osthoff derived W.lled from *plet-is (Thurneysen Gr. 227), but it is not clear why the adverbial form‑is should be generalized (the regular *pleti̯ōs would give W. *llyd, Ir. *lithiu). As many comparatives were the same as the superlative without its ending, e.g.hwy,hwyaf, Ir.sīa,sīam, the probability is that some, which differed, were assimilated, so thatlled is a re-formation of *llyd on the analogy oflletaf. This seems also the simplest explanation of Ir.letha and similar forms. In the same way W.hynaf seems to owe itsy to the comparativehŷn,§ 65 iv (1).
The cpv.lled in Job xi 9 is changed in late editions tollettach; the literary form islled: thusEidionlledno’r dunnell win Ỻ.a 14967/20 ‘an ox broader than a tun of wine’; cf. L.G.C. 429.
(12)mawr ‘large, great’; eqtv. Ml.kymeint, Mn.cỿmaint, and Ml.kymein, Mn.cỿmain§ 106 iii (2); as a nounmeint, Mn.maint; cpv. Ml.moe§ 75 i (3), Ml. and Mn.mwy, as an adv.mwyach also; spv.mwyhaf§ 147 ii (2),mwyaf.
W.mawr, Ir.mār,mōr, Gaul.Σεγο-μαρος < Kelt. *mā-ro‑s; cpv.mwy, Ir.māa,mōo,mōu < *mā-i̯ōs§ 75 i (3); spv.mwyhaf < *māisₑmos < *mā-is ₑmos;—the eqtv. nounmaint < *ma‑ntí‑s < *mā‑ntí‑s§ 74 iv, with the suffix of numeral substantives such as *dekantí‑s < *dek̑m̥-tí‑s: Skr.das̑atíḥ ‘a decade’; cf. the formation of eqtv. adjectives with ordinal suffixes; cf. alsopa veintc.m. 78 ‘how many’,y meint gwyr a oeẟ iẟawr.b.b. 46 ‘the number of men that he had’ = ‘as many as he had’, etc.—The dialectal formcymin(t) of the eqtv. is met with, though rarely, in the bards:
‘Not so much on my mouth is the desire of wine as of the taste of her lips.’
(13)tren(n) ‘strong’; cpv.trech (≡trēch); spv.trechaf.
Trechaftreisied,gwannaf gwaedded prov. ‘let the strongest oppress, the weakest cry’. S.T. has a new cpv.trechachf. 6.
W.trenn, Ir.trēn < *trek-sno‑s, √stereɡ‑: Germ,stark,streng, Eng.strong;—cpv.trech, Ir.tressa (with added‑a) < *trek-’son < *treg-isōn;—spv.trechaf, Ir.tressam < *trek-’sₑmo‑s.
chweg ‘sweet’ has Ml. cpv.chwechachw.m. 481,r.m. 121, formed liketrechach from an old cpv. *chwech < *su̯ek-’son.
(14)uchel ‘high’; eqtv. Ml.kyvuch, Mn.cyfuwch, contr.cuwch; exclam.uchetr.p. 1417; as a nounuchetw.m. 189; cpv. Ml.uch, Mn.uwch; spv.uchaf.
uchel§ 86 iv,§ 96 iv (3);uch,uwch < *up-’son;uchaf < *up- ’sₑmos: Lat.s‑ummus < *s‑up-mo‑s, Gr.ὕπατος < *up-m̥-to‑s. On the mutationuch‑:uwch see§ 77 x. The formuwchaf sometimes met with in Late W. ignores the mutation; it is a re-formation fromuwch, as children saybuwchod forbuchod ‘cows’, sg.buwch.
ii. The following have defective comparison:
(1) Spv.eithaf ‘uttermost’ < *ektₑmos: Lat.extimus,§ 109 iv (1) (to cpv.eithr ‘except, but’, Ir.echtar < *ektro‑s: Lat.extrā§ 99 v (4); to positiveeh- ech- < *eks‑: Lat.ex).
(2) Cpv.amgen ‘other; better’; also a lateramgenachs.g. 200, D.N.f.n. 91.
Acamgenledɏr no hwnnw ny phrynei efw.m. 67 ‘And other leather than that he did not buy’.
amgen is a cpv. of similar form tohagen§ 222 iii (4), and may be neg. ina(n)- of the cpv. corresponding to the spv.megys§ 215 iv (3) ‘like’; thus *n̥‑sm‑āk-is-en- > *amgi̯en >amgen§ 100 vi. (As the 2nd syll. drops‑is- remained and gavei̯ noth.)
(3)prif ‘chief’ < Lat.prīmus is not felt as a spv. in W.; it always forms the first element of a compound:§ 155 iii (1).
iii. Equatives with the prefixcỿ- may have before this the prefixgo‑, asgogymaint,gogyfuwch etc. Thus—
A’r llall a oeẟ yn kynẟuet ac ynogymeinta brans.g. 99 ‘and the other was as black and as large as a crow’.ynogyfuwchâ Duw, Phil. ii 6. This form is sometimes predicated of both the things compared:Nidgogyhydesgeiriau y cloff Diar. xxvi 7.
§ 149. i. Many nouns take the endings of comparison, and thereby become adjectives of the respective degrees.
(1) The following are in common use in Mn. W.:
rhaid ‘need’; eqtv.cɥn rheitied D.G. 299 ‘as necessary, as fitting’; cpv. Ml.r͑eidẏachr.p. 1249, Mn.rheitiach ‘more necessary, more fitting’; spv. Ml.r͑eittafr.p. 1148, Mn.rheitiaf.
rhaid < Kelt. *(p)rat-i̯o- ‘due, due share’ < *prət‑, √perō- ‘dispose’: W.rhad see below,rhann ‘share’, Lat.part-§ 63 vii (2), W.barn§ 101 iii (2).
elw ‘profit’; cpv.elwach ‘profiting more, better off’, as (pa)faint elwach fyddi di? ‘how much better off wilt thou be?’
elw is properlyhelw, still so pronounced in Gwynedd in phrases likear dy helw ‘in thy possession’;helw = Ir.selb ‘possession’ both < *sel-u̯o‑, √sel- ‘take’: Ir.selaim ‘I take’, Gk.ἑλεῖν, Goth.saljan, O.E.sellan, E.sell.
blaen ‘point, front’; also adj. astroed blaen ‘fore-foot’; spv.blaenaf, ‘foremost, first’;§ 215 iii (10).
ôl ‘rear, track’, asyn ôl ‘after, according to’§ 215 iii (6),ôl troed ‘foot-print’; also adj. astroed ôl ‘hind foot’; spv.olaf ‘last’ < *ol‑isₑmos: Lat.ultimus < *ol-tₑmos.
pen(n) ‘head’; spv.pennaf ‘chief’; also in Ml. and Early Mn. W. cpv.pennachỺ.A. 89, G.Gl.p 83/58 ‘higher, superior’;§ 89 iii.
rhad ‘gift, grace’, having become an adj. ‘cheap’ from the phraseyn rhad ‘gratis’, is compared regularly.
rhad < *prət‑:rhann, Skr.pūrtám ‘reward’; seerhaid above.
diwedd ‘end’; spv.diwaethaf ‘last’Ỻ.A. 7,r.p. 1195, 1249, 1298,p 16/19r., 1 Petr i 5 by R.D. (in Wm.S.);diwethafỺ.A. 43, 59,p 14/11r.,a.l. i 4, 48, 50, Matt. xx 8 Wm.S.; so in Es. ii 2, xlviii 12, Jer. xxiii 20 in 1620; but generally in 1620, and everywhere in late bibles,diweddaf.
a.l. i 48dẏuedaf does not implyẟ, as we havepemdec forpymtheg on the same page. The formdiweddaf seems to come from Wm.S.’sdyweddaf Matt. xxvii 64; and as it seemed to be “regular” it ousted the traditional forms in the written lang. of the 19th cent.; but the spoken forms aredw̯aetha’ (Powys),dw͡ytha’ (Gwyn.), anddw̯etha’ (S.W.).
‘Let thy bards sing—I was the first [of them], and I have come last’.
The O.W.diuedb.s.ch. 2 and Bret.divez, Corn.dewedh, Ir.diad,dead show that the noundiwedd cannot be for *diwaedd; on the other handdiwaethaf cannot well be fordiwethaf. The explanation of the former seems to be that it comes from an intensified form with *‑u̯o‑, which survived only in the spv.; thusdiwaethaf < *diw̯oeẟ-haf < *dī-u̯o-(u̯)ed-isamo‑s, cf.gwaethaf(5) above.
diwedd is ‘end’ in the sense of ‘close, conclusion’, not a geometrical term; hence from *dī- ‘out’ +u̯ed‑, √u̯edh- ‘conduct, lead’: Lith.vedù ‘I conduct, lead’, E.wed, etc., cf. W.gor-ẟiw̯eẟaf ‘I overtake’.
(2) Many other cases occur in Ml. W.:gurhaw (≡gwrhaf)b.b. 41 ‘most manly’;amserachw.m. 9,r.m. 6 ‘more timely’;llessachw.m. 17,r.m. 11 ‘more beneficial’ (lles ‘benefit’);dewissachc.m. 11 ‘preferable’ (dewis ‘choice’ noun);pennadurẏaf do. 8 ‘most princely’;ky vawhet R.M. 149 ‘as cowardly’,bawafr.p. 1278 ‘most vile’ (baw ‘dirt’).
ii (1) Equative adjectives are formed from many nouns by prefixingcỿf‑,cỿm‑, (ascyfled,cymaint); thuskyfliwr.b.b. 179 ‘of the same colour’;kyvurẟw.m. 75 ‘of the same rank’; kymoneẟ ib. ‘as noble’ (boneẟ ‘nobility’);kyvoet do. 27 ‘of the same age’;cyfryw ‘of the same kind, such’.
(2) In one or two cases the second element no longer exists in its simple form either as a noun or adj.:cyfred ‘as swift’ (rhedeg to run’);cyfref ‘as thick’ (rhefedd ‘thickness’).
(3) Compounds ofun- ‘one’ also form the equivalents of equative adjectives:unlliw a D.G. 17 ‘of the same colour as’;nebun fodd§ 148 i (6), ‘any one like’ (modd ‘manner’),unwedd a ‘like’, etc.
§ 150. Most adjectives may be compared regularly, including—
i. Many derivatives in‑aidd,‑ig,‑in (not denoting substance),‑og,‑us; asperaidd ‘sweet’, eqtv.cyn bereiddied, cpv.pereiddiach, spv.pereiddiaf; sopwysicaf ‘most important’,gerwinaf ‘roughest’,cyfoethocaf ‘richest’,grymusaf ‘mightiest’. But those containing more than two syllables are mostly compared periphrastically.
Verbal adjectives in‑adwy,‑edig are not compared (except periphrastically), thoughcaredig ‘kind’, no longer felt as a verbal adj., is, e.g.caredicaf ‘kindest’. Adjectives in‑ol are rarely compared; those in‑aid,‑in denoting material, and in‑lyd are not compared.
ii. Compounds in which the second element is an adjective; asgloyw-ẟúafỺ.A. 93 ‘of a most glossy black’,llathɏr-wýnnaf ib. ‘most lustrously white’,klaer-wýnnaf ib. ‘most brilliantly white’,cyn vlaen-llýmet…blaen-llýmafw.m. 176 ‘as sharply pointed…most sharply pointed’.
‘Two breasts as white as snow, more luminously white than sea-gulls.’
But when the second element is an adj. compared irregularly, the compound cannot be compared, asmaléis-ddrwg,troed-lýdan,pen-úchel, etc. A few of these may, however, be compared by adding the endings to derived forms, asgwerth-fawr ‘valuable’, spv.gwerthvawrussafỺ.A. 80, orgwerthfawrocaf;clód-fawr ‘celebrated’, spv.clodforusaf. (G.M.D. hasgwerthvorafr.p. 1195, an unusual form.)
Adj. compounds with noun final asysgafn-droed ‘light-footed’ can only be compared periphrastically.
§ 151. i. Adjectives which cannot take the endings of comparison as above may be compared periphrastically, by placing before the positivemor,mwy,mwyaf, to form the eqtv., cpv., spv. respectively.mor softens the initial of the adj. except when it isll orrh; butmwy andmwyaf take the radical; thusmwy dymunol Ps. xix 10, Diar. xvi 16 ‘more desirable’.
mwy andmwyaf are of course the cpv. and spv. ofmawr. As they do not cause lenition, they represent Brit. forms ending in consonants.mwy may come directly from the neut. nom-acc. form *māis < *mā- +‑is as in Lat.mag-is; the corresponding form of the spv. would be *māisamon (cf. Lat.plūrimum, Gk.πλεῖστον), which would givemwyaf ‘with the rad., since the nasal mutation of mediae survived only afterfy,yn and numerals§ 107 i.
mor is probably the pos.mawr unaccented, forming a loose compound with the adj., thus representing Brit. *māro‑; and so causing lenition. Foro instead ofaw see§ 71 i (2). It is now generally accented, and pronouncedmŏ́r; D.D. gives it asmòr (≡mŏ́r), butmṓr (cf.pōb§ 168 i (3)) may sometimes be heard, when it is emphatic. It was first used as an exclamative, thus OW.mortruox. gl. eheu,morliaus do. gl. quam multos. The transition from the literal meaning ‘*greatly sad’ of the compoundmor-dru, through ‘*very sad!’ to ‘how sad!’ is easy; and as the last meaning is equivalent to that of the exclamative eqtv., the formmor dru naturally came to be regarded as a periphrastic eqtv., and was used later witha ‘as’ and the compared noun. See examples below.
ii. (1)mwy andmwyaf are only used to compare compounds and derivatives where inflexional comparison is not feasible.
mwy da,mwy drwg, etc., are not used by adult speakers; Wms.’senw mwyaf mawr 750 is a childish expression called forth by the exigencies of rhyme.
(2) On the other hand forms withmor are, as shown above, different in origin from the equative, and have had a separate existence from the outset. Hencemor is used freely before all adjectives at all periods. Thus:
Exclamative:mortru gl. eheu!—Mor truangenhyfmor truana ẟeryvb.b. 1 ‘How sad to me, how sad [is] what has happened.’—Poet emendigeit y gof ay digones…mor dostyww.m. 477 ‘Accursed be the smith that made it, so painful is it.’—mor ẟyrysywr.m. 120 ‘so tangled is it.’—mor hagɏry gwelei y ẟelw ry oed arnaww.m. 251 ‘so ugly did he perceive the appearance that he bore.’—mor ẟirẏeit…mor decr.p. 1385 ‘how bad…how fair.’
‘I weep many a river for her, so sad is she.’
‘Alas, how weak is life, how sad is the breaking of life’s promise.’
Equative:am gyflavanmor anweẟus aca rywnaethoeẟw.m. 30 ‘for so horrible a murder as [that] which she had committed.’—pryfmor ẟielw ahwnnw do. 78 ‘so vile a reptile as that.’—pethmor ag̃hywir ahynnyr.m. 177 ‘so wrong a thing as that’.
‘There has not been to any man of Môn so cold a world as it is now.’
(3)mor with a noun forms the equivalent of an eqtv. adj., as O. W.morliaus gl. quam multos; Ml. W.mor eisseur.p. 1428 ‘how necessary’. The construction is not common, and is now obsolete, but several examples occur in the Early Mn. bards.
The construction arises naturally from the original meaning ofmor as explained above, formor-liaws ‘*great host’ could as easily asmor-luosog ‘*greatly numerous’ come to mean as an exclamative ‘how numerous!’
‘No one is so proverbial in our land as she herself.’
‘His father, how noble he was!’
‘He is not dead, it is not so sad [as that].’
‘I suffered [in] my heart so sorely.’
(4)mor with the cpv. occurs inO mor well Diar. xvi 16 ‘Oh how much better!’ The usual construction iscymaint gwell! but the above may be a stray example of an idiom once in use. It is quite consistent with the explanation ofmor adopted above.
(5) In S.W. dialectsmor is sometimes used instead ofcyn before the eqtv., asmor laned forcyn laned ormor lân.
(6) Them- ofmor is never mutated, but remains in all positions: thus after f. sg. nouns:gyflavan mor anweẟus (2) above;arch mor drahausr.m. 227 ‘so insolent a request’. This may be due to its exclamative origin.
§ 152. i. A positive adjective is sometimes repeated to enhance its meaning. As a rule the iteration forms a loose compound, the second element having its initial softened, asAda ddahyd i ddiwedd W.Ỻ. 62 ‘and very good till his death’. Very rarely it forms a strict compound, as
‘Very far, across every horrid bush [I have driven my flock]; the further, the less is their worth.’
In some cases the initial of the second adj. is not softened, so that the two do not constitute a formal compound; asDa dafu o grud hyd fedd W.Ỻ. 40 ‘very good was she from the cradle to the grave’;Drwg drwg Diar xx 14. Where the adj. begins with a vowel or an immutable consonant, there is, of course, no indication of the construction; e.g.isel isel Deut. xxviii 43.
ii. A cpv. is compounded with itself to express progressive increase in the quality denoted by the adj. When the cpv. is a monosyllable the compound is generally strict, asgwáeth-waeth ‘worse and worse’,lléi-lai ‘less and less’,lléd-led ‘wider and wider’,nés-nes ‘nearer and nearer’,mwy-fwy Phil. i 9 ‘more and more’. In present-day speech the compound is oftener loose, asllái lái. When the cpv. is a polysyllable, the compound is necessarily loose; see the ex. below.
‘A river goes increasing to the sea, and goes no more.’
‘A master who betters the men more and more, and men who make the master better.’
A Dafydd oedd yn mynedgryfach gryfach, ond tŷ Saul oedd yn myned wannach wannach. 2 Sam. iii 1.
The combination always forms a compound, for the second cpv. has always its soft initial.
mwy na mwy ‘excessive’, understood as ‘more than more’, is doubtless originally ‘more and more’, then- ofna being the final‑n of the cpv.§ 147 iv (3).
Derivative Adjectives.
§ 153. Derivative adjectives are formed from the stems of nouns, adjectives and verbs by the addition of the following suffixes:
(1)‑adwy, ‑ediw, ‑edig, ‑awd verbal adjective suffixes, see§ 206.
Ml.W.‑awdɏr seems to be‑awd with excrescent‑r§ 113 i (1): annẏoẟeivẏawdɏrỺ.A. 53 ‘intolerable’,teimlẏawdɏr do. 42 ‘sensitive’,r͑eolawdyrc.m. 14 ‘regular.’
(2)‑aid, Ml.W.‑eit: Ir.‑the participial; as incannaid D.G. 64, Marc ix 3 ‘bright’;llathraid D.G. 386 ‘shining’;euraid do. 13, 64, 88, 220, 372–3, Ml.W.eureitw.m. 180 ‘golden’;ariannaid, Ml.W.arẏanneitr.m. 83 ‘silvern’; it may represent Brit. *‑at-io‑s, a‑i̯o- derivative of the participial‑ət‑. It is distinct from‑aidd;euraidd is a late bungle (not in D.D.).
(3)‑aidd, Ml.W.‑eiẟ: Ir.‑de; added to nouns, asteyrneiẟw.m. 20 ‘kingly’, Mn.W.gwladaidd ‘rustic’,gwasaidd ‘servile’; to the v.n.caru inkarueiẟw.m. 145, Mn.W.carúaidd ‘lovable, loving’; to adjectives asperaidd ‘sweet’,puraidd ‘pure’, often modifying the sense,oeraidd ‘coldish’,tlodaidd ‘poorish’; it represents Kelt. *‑adi̯os, a‑i̯o- derivative of the adj. suffix *‑ado‑s: cf. Lat.‑idius in proper names beside adj.‑idus which may be from *‑ado‑s, and cf. Gk.‑αδ- inμιγάς ‘mixed’, etc.
Also‑ḯaidd inarglwyddḯaidd D.G. 450 ‘lordly’,‑onḯaidd inbarddonḯaidd do. 449 ‘poetic’.
(4)‑ar < Kelt. *‑aro- < *‑ₑro- inbyddar ‘deaf’, Ir.bodar: Skr.badhirá‑ḥ;cynnar ‘early’,diweddar ‘late’; cf.‑ro- inmawr < *mā-ro‑s, etc.
(5) Ml.W.‑awc, Mn.W.‑awg, ‑og: Ir.‑ach < Kelt. *‑āko‑s; Lat.‑ācus, Gk.‑ηκος, ‑ᾱκος, Skr.‑āka‑ḥ, Lith.‑ókas; added to nouns, asarvawcr.m. 270, Mn.W.arfog ‘armed’,llidẏawcw.m. 51, Mn.W.llidiog ‘angry’,gw̯lanog ‘woolly’,gw̯resog ‘hot’,pwyllog ‘deliberate’, etc.; many of these adjectives have become nouns:marchog,swyddog, etc.§ 143 iv (6),v (4).
The suffix is sometimes added to adjectives, astrugarog:trugar ‘merciful’;duog, Ml.W.duawcr.m. 172:du ‘black’;geuawc:gau ‘false’. The cpv. of the derivatives ended in *‑āk’son >‑ach, which was taken for the cpv. of the simple adj., and spread to all adjs.,§ 147 iv (3); hence added to‑og itself, Mn.W.gwerthfawrocach.
(6) Ml.W.‑awl, Mn.W.‑awl, ‑ol < Kelt. *‑ālos: Lat.‑ālis inlīberālis, etc.; an exceedingly common suffix; added to nouns, asnefol ‘heavenly’; to adjectives, asestronol ‘foreign’; and to verb stems, assymudol ‘movable, moving’,dymunol ‘desirable’.
(7)‑ẟe; occurring in Ml.W. verse:tanẟe,eurẟe P.M.m.a. i 292b ‘fiery’, ‘golden’. It seems to be the Ir.‑de (≡‑ẟe: W.‑aiẟ, see(3) above) borrowed daring the 12th cent. bardic revival which drew its inspiration from Ireland. It does not seem to occur in prose.
(8)‑gar < *‑āk-aro‑s < *‑āq-ₑro‑s; thushawẟ-gar ‘comely’ < Brit. *su̯ā́dakaros < Kelt. *su̯ā́d(u̯)‑āk-aro‑s§ 148 i (6); a combination of(5) and(4) above: added to nouns, asepilgar ‘prolific’ (epil ‘offspring’),dialgar ‘revengeful’,enillgar ‘gainful, lucrative’ (ennill ‘gain’); added to adjectives, asmeistrolgar ‘masterful’,trugar ‘merciful’ (tru ‘miserable’, for meaning cf. Lat.misericordia); added to verb stems, asden-gar ‘alluring’ (denu ‘to allure’),beiddgar ‘daring’.
The idea that‑gar means ‘loving’ (caru ‘to love’), which clearly cannot be the case inepilgar,enillgar,dengar, etc., has resulted in the formation in the late period of new adjectives in which it bears that meaning; asgwladgar ‘patriotic’,ariangar ‘money-loving’. But many new formations in the dialects preserve the original force of the suffix, assgilgar ‘skilful’ from E.skill. It need hardly be added that Stokes’s implied explanation oftrugar as ‘loving the wretched’ Fick⁴ ii 138 is fanciful, as also the popular explanation ofhawddgar as ‘easy to love’.
(9)‑ig, Ml.W.‑ic < Kelt. *‑īkos: Skr.‑īka‑ḥ, Lat.‑īc‑, Gk.‑ῑκ‑; asunig ‘only, lonely’,deheuig ‘dexterous’,lloerig ‘lunatic’,bonheddig ‘gentle‑’, etc.; O.W.cisemicjuv. gl. primus.
(10)‑in < Kelt. *‑īnos: Skr.‑īna‑ḥ, Gk.‑ῑνος, Lat.‑īnus, Lith.‑ynas (y ≡ī); it is added to names of materials, as inderwinm.a. i 191 ‘oaken’,lletrinb.t. 9 ‘leathern’,meinin E.P.ps. xviii 29 ‘of stone’,daeerin,heyernin§ 75 vi (3); and to adjectives asgerwin ‘rough’ (garw ‘rough’),gwerthefin ‘highest’,cysefin ‘primitive’§ 95 iii (3), cf. O.W.cisemic above.
(11)‑lawn, Mn.W.‑lawn,‑lon ‘‑ful’ =llawn ‘full’,§ 63 vii (2); asffrwythlon ‘fruitful’,prydlon ‘punctual’,heddychlon ‘peaceful’,bodlon§ 111 vii (1), etc.
(12)‑lyd, aftern orr‑llyd, Ml.W.‑lyt,‑llyt ‘covered with’ < *(p)l̥t‑, √plethē-§ 63 viii (1); asllychlytr.m. 145 ‘dusty’,dysdlyt chweinllyt do. 146 ‘dusty flea-infested’,seimlyd ‘greasy’,rhydlyd ‘rusty’,creulyd,gwaedlyd ‘bloody’,tomlyd ‘dungy’,tanllyd ‘fiery’. When added to adjectives it is the equivalent oflled‑ ‘rather’: Ir.leth ‘half’, which is ultimately from the same root (‘*stretch out > *surface > *side > half’); asgwanllyd ‘rather weak’,oerllyd ‘coldish’.
(13)‑us < Lat.‑ōsus; originally in Lat. derivatives asdolurus ‘sore’ < Lat.dolōrōsus,llafurus, Ml.W.llafurẏus < Lat.labōriōsus; as the nounsdolur,llafur had also been borrowed the adjectives seemed to be formed from these by the addition of an adj. suff.‑us, which was subsequently added to W. forms,gweddus ‘seemly’ (gwedd§ 63 iv),clodus,clodforus ‘renowned’,grymus ‘strong’, etc.
Note.—melus is a late misspelling;melys ‘sweet’ hasy, asmelis (i ≡y§ 16 ii (2))b.b. 83, 101,melysb.a. 3,Ỻ.A. 42, 70,r.b.b. 208,melysterỺ.A. 129, 149,r.b.b. 44. The error is due to the late levelling ofu andɥ,§ 15 i, and the false notion that the word is formed frommêl ‘honey’ by the addition of‑us. In derived forms the sound isỿ asmelỿsach, as opposed togrymusach, and the v.n. ismelỿsu D.W. 112, as opposed togrymuso, see§ 202 iii,iv (Pughe’smeluso is a fiction).melys is cognate with Ir.milis, and is clearly a direct derivative of Ar. base *meleit-§ 87 ii, and so is many centuries older than any form in‑us, a suffix borrowed from Lat.
Numerals
§ 154. i. (1) The cardinal numbers are as follows : 1,un.—2, m.dau, Ml.deu, O.dou; f.dwy.—3, m.tri; f.tair, Ml.teir.—4, m.pedwar; f.pedair, Ml.pedeir.—5,pump,pum, Ml.pump,pymp, O.pimp.—6,chwech,chwe.—7,saith, Ml.seith.—8,wyth.—9,naw.—10,deg,dêng, Ml.dec,deng.—11.un ar ddeg.—12,deuddeg,deuddeng, Ml.deuẟec, O.doudec.—13,tri (f.tair)ar ddeg.—14,pedwar (f.pedair)ar ddeg.—15,pymtheg, Ml.pymthec.—16,un ar bymtheg.—17,dau (f.dwy)ar bymtheg.—18,deunaw ortri (f.tair)ar bymtheg.—19,pedwar (f.pedair)ar bymtheg.—20,ugain, Ml.ugeyn,ugeint.—21,un ar hugain.—30,deg ar hugain.—31,un ar ddeg ar hugain.—40,deugain.—41,un a deugain ordeugain ac un.—50,deg a deugain, Early Ml. W.pym(h)wnt.—60,trigain, Ml.trugein(t).—80,pedwar ugain.—100,cant,cann.—101,cant ac un.—120,chwech ugain,chweugain.—140,saith ugain, etc.—200,deucant ordau cant.—300,trỿchant, Late W.trichant.—1000,mil.—2000,dwyfil.—3000,teirmil ortair mil.—10,000,dêng mil,myrdd.—1,000,000,myrddiwn,miliwn.
tri (ortair)ar bymtheg is used in counting (i.e. repeating the numerals in order); otherwise rarely,r.b.b. 404. The usual form isdeunawc.m. 59,m.a. iii 45, Gen. xiv 14, 2 Cron. xi 21, Ezra viii 9, etc. So in all combinations:deunaw ar hugain ‘38’.—pymwntb.a. 2, 9 from something like *pempontes for Kelt. *qu̯eŋqu̯-onta (: Ir.cōica) for Ar. *penqu̯ē̆k̑omtə: Gk.πεντήκοντα. For the history of the other forms consult the Index.
Forms likedeuddeg,pymtheg,deunaw,deugain may be called “compound numbers”, forms likeun ar ddeg,un ar hugain, “composite numbers”.
(2) Some of the cardinal numbers have pl. forms:deuoedd,deuwedd,dwyoedd ‘twos’,trioedd ‘threes’,chwechau ‘sixes’,degau ‘tens’,ugeiniau ‘scores’,cannoedd ‘hundreds’,miloedd ‘thousands’,mỿrddi̯ỿnau ‘myriads’.
In the spoken lang.un-ar-ddegau,un-ar-bymthegau, etc., are in use for ‘£11 each’, ‘£16 each’, etc.
ii. (1) The ordinal numbers are as follows: 1,cyntaf.—2,ail, Ml.eil.—3,trydydd, f.trydedd.—4,pedwerydd, Ml.pedweryẟ,—pedwyryẟ; f.pedwaredd, Ml.pedwareẟ,pedwyreẟ, O.petguared.—5,pumed, Ml.pymhet, O.pimphet.—6,chweched, Ml.chwechet, huechet.—7,seithfed, Ml.seithvet.—8,wythfed.—9,nawfed.—10,degfed, Ml.decvet.—11,unfed ar ddeg, Ml.unvet arẟec.—12,deuddegfed, Ml.deuẟecvet.—13,trydydd (f.trydedd)ar ddeg.—15,pymthegfed.—16,unfed ar bymtheg.—17,ail (oreilfed)ar bymtheg.—18,deunawfed.—20,ugeinfed.—30,degfed ar hugain.—40,deugeinfed.—41,unfed a deugain.—100,canfed.—1000,milfed.
(2) cyntaf§ 148 i (3);—ail§ 100 iii (3);—trydydd,trydedd§ 75 iv (1);pedweryẟ < *qu̯etuₑríi̯os;pedwyryẟ (laterpedwryddh.g. 54,§ 66 ii (2)) has‑w̯ỿ- < *‑u̯u- re-formed foru <u̯ₑ§ 63 viii (1).
W.pymhet, Ir.cōiced come from a Kelt. *qu̯eŋqu̯etos, which, like Skr.pan̑catha‑ḥ, implies the addition of the ordinal suffix‑t(h)o‑s to the full form *penqu̯e, thus *penqu̯e-to‑s, as opposed to Lat.quīntus, Gk.πέμπτος, O.H.G.finfto, which imply Ar. *penqu̯-to‑s. In Pr. Kelt. by the side of *qu̯eŋqu̯eto‑s there arose *su̯eksetos which gave Ir.sessed, W.chweched; and thus‑eto‑s came to be regarded as the ordinal suffix. Added to *sektam ( < *septm̥) it gave *sektam-eto‑s, which gave Ir.sechtmad, W.seithfed; added to *dekam it gave *dekameto‑s, which is seen in Gaul.-Lat.petru-decameto (ablative) ‘fourteenth’, and gave Ir.dechmad, W.degfed; similarly *kn̥tom-eto‑s > Ir.cētmad, W.canfed. Then‑ameto‑s or‑meto‑s was used to form ordinals for 8, 9, and 20, though the cardinals did not end in‑m; thus W.nawfed, Ir.nōmad, may come directly from *nou̯ameto‑s; but *oktameto‑s would give W. *oeth-fed, so thatwyth-fed was again re-formed fromwyth; sougein-fed.
iii. (1) Multiplicatives are formed by means ofgwaith, Ml.gweith f. ‘fois’, preceded by cardinal numbers, the two generally compounded, but sometimes accented separately ; asunwaith orun waith ‘once’, Ir.ōenḟecht;dwywaith ‘twice’,teirgwaith ‘thrice’,pedair gwaith ‘four times’,pum waiih ‘five times’,chwe gwaith,seithwaith Lev. iv 6, 17,saith waith do. viii 11,wythwaith,nawwaithc.c. 227,dengwaith,ugeinwaith,canwaith,milwaith.
(2) But before a comparative the m. cardinal only is generally used, the two sometimes compounded;pum mwy D.W. 146 ‘five [times] more’ i.e. five times as many,saith mwy Lev. xxvi 18, 21 ‘seven times more’;déuwellr.p. 1271, D.G. 157 ‘twice as good’,dau lanachc.c. 60 ‘twice as fair’;yn gant eglurachs.g. 10 ‘a hundred times as bright’.
‘Give me twenty thousand [kisses], give a hundred times as many, and give, Oh give me one more.’
‘Sadder now is every cantred; henceforth nine times happier is heaven.’
(3) A m. cardinal is also used before another cardinal, astri t(h)rychantb.b. 18 ‘3 × 300’,tri phumcantgre. 166 ‘3 × 500’,dau wythgant ib. ‘2 × 800’,naw deg a saith ib. ‘9 × 10 + 7’.
This method is now commonly used to read out numbers in the arabic notation; thus 376,tri chant, saith deg a chwech.
iv. Distributives are formed by puttingbob before a cardinal, the initial of which is softened; thusbob un,bob ẟeur.m. 132 ‘one by one, two by two’, Ir.cach ōin,cach dā;bob ddau I.G. 180, L.G.C. 381, 436;bob dri L.G.C. 148 ‘three by three’; alsobop un ac unc.m. 49 ‘one by one’,bob un a dauf. 26; andbob gannwr L.G.C. 383 ‘in hundreds’, lit. ‘every hundred-man’, cf. Ir.cach cōic-er ‘every five-man’. Similarlybob ail ‘every other’,pob eilwersw.m. 181 ‘alternately’.
In Late Mn. W.yn is inserted afterbob; asbob yn ddau…bob yn dri 1 Cor. xiv 27;bob yn un ac un Es. xxvii 12, Marc xiv 19;bob yn ddau a dau Marc vi 7;bob yn ail ‘every other’. Aspob in other constructions is followed by the radical, theyn may have been introduced because it was felt that something was required to explain the lenition. But the reason for the lenition is that the original form ofbob here was an oblique case ending in a vowel.
v. Fractions:1/2,hanner;1/3,traean;1/4,pedwaran,chwarter;1/8,wythfed;1/100,canfed;2/3deuparth;3/4, Mn.tri chwarter;3/8,tri wythfed.
R͑ann truan:traeanr.b. 973 ‘the share of the weakling: one-third’.deuparth…trayanw.m. 130.
Compound nouns and adjectives
§ 155. i. Either of the elements of a compound may be a noun (n) or an adjective (a); thus we have four possible types: 1. n-n; 2. a-n; 3. a-a; 4. n-a. The formation of compounds of these types is an ordinary grammatical construction, and any elements may be combined if they make sense, whether the combination is in general use or not. The relation to one another of the elements and the meaning of the resulting compound must be left to be dealt with in the Syntax; here, only the forms of compounds can be considered.
ii. (1) The second element of a compound has its initial softened; thus: n‑nháf-ddydd ‘summer’s day’; a‑nháwdd-fyd ‘pleasure’; a‑agw̯ýrdd-las ‘greenish blue’; n‑apén-gam ‘wry-headed’.
The reason is that the first element in Brit, ended in a vowel, as in Brit.Maglo-cunos > W.Mael-gwn; so *samo-díi̯ē(u)s > W.haf-ddydd; *katu-markos > W.cad-farch, etc. In these, as generally in the Ar. languages, the first element is the stem. In Kelt. when the stem ended in a consonant an‑o- was added to it; thus the stem *kun- ‘dog’ is in compounds *kuno‑, as Brit.Cuno-belinos > W.Cyn-felyn; W.cyn-ddaredd ‘rabies’ < *kuno-daŋgu̯ríi̯ā < *‑dhn̥ɡu̯hri-: Lat.febris < *dheɡu̯hri‑s, √dheɡu̯h-§ 92 iii, cf.aren§ 106 ii (1). This explains the suffix‑ioni§ 143 iii (21); it is a compound of a derivative in‑i̯on- with *gnīmu‑; now *druki̯on-gnīmu- should give *drygni by the usual loss of stem endings; but *druki̯ono-gnīmu- > *drygion-ᵹnif >drygioni (sincenᵹn >n§ 110 ii (1)). When the second element began with a vowel, contraction took place; thus *altro +au̯ō > *altrāuō§ 76 v (5), cf. Gk. Dor.στρατᾱγός ‘leader of an army’ < *str̥to +ag̑‑, Brugmann² II i 79.
(2) When the first element ends in n or r, and the second begins radically withll orrh, the latter is not softened:gwin-llan,per-llan,pen-rhyn see§ 111 i (1); sogwen-llys L.G.C. 8,eurllin D.G. 13, etc.; similarly, though less regularly, in loose compounds:hên llew,hên llys,pur llawn§ 111 i (1).
When a compound is consciously formed bothll andl are found thusysgafn-llef D.G. 37 ‘light-voiced’, buteur-len D.G. 109 ‘cloth of gold’,geir-lon do. 110 ‘of merry word’;ir-lwyn do. 504,per-lwyn do. 518.
iii. The following adjectives generally precede their nouns, and so form compounds, mostly loose, with them:
(1)prif ‘chief’, asprif lysw.m. 1,prif-lysr.m. 1 ‘chief court’,prif ẟinasw.m. 179 ‘chief city’,prif gaer ib. ‘chief castle’;y prif ddyn ‘the chief man’. It cannot be used as an ordinary adj.; such a phrase as *dyn prif does not exist.
(2)hên, ashên ŵr orhén-wr ‘old man’;hên ddyn id., alsohén-ddyn whence E.quoth Hending;Hén-llanỺ.A. 105,Hén-llys etc.,hên ŷd Jos. v 11,yr hên ffordd Job xxii 15,yr hên derfyn Diar. xxii 28,yr hên bobl Es. xliv 7, etc. In the comparatively rare cases where hen follows its noun, some antithetic emphasis is generally implied, asIeuan Tew Hên ‘Ieuan Tew the Elder’.
‘However good [they may be] yonder, genial [young] people, the lament of some is for the old master.’
(3)gwir ‘true, genuine’, asgwir grefydd ‘true religion’. As an ordinary adjective it means ‘true to fact’, ashanes gwir ‘a true story’; so as the second element of a compound:géir-wir ‘truthful’.gwir is also a noun ‘truth’; compounded,cás-wir ‘unpalatable truth’.
(4)gau ‘false’, the antithesis ofgwir, asgeu ẟwyeuỺ.A. 43 ‘false gods’,gau broffioyd ‘false prophet’. As an ordinary adjective ‘lying’; as a noun ‘falsehood’ W.M. 29.
(5)cam ‘wrong, unjust’; ascam farn ‘false judgement’,cam ran ‘wrongful portion’, i.e. injustice. As an adj. ‘crooked’, asffon gam ‘a crooked stick’; as a noun ‘injustice’.
‘The prince of this world has inflicted wrong on Wales awhile.’
(6)unig ‘only’;yr unig beth ‘the only thing’. As an ordinary adj. it means ‘lonely’, asdyn unig ‘a lonely man’. Cf. Fr.seul.
(7)y naill,rhyw,y rhyw,amryw,cyfryw,unrhyw,holl,cwbl,y sawl,ychydig,ambell,aml,lliaws, etc.,§§ 165,168,169.
iv. The following words precede adjectives, and are compounded with them:
(1)lled ‘half’§ 153 (12), aslléd-wacb.b. 49 ‘half-empty’,lled-fferm.a. ii 586 ‘half-wild’,lléd-ffol ‘half-silly’,lled-ffrom ‘half-frowning’.
‘It is not much better that his men are not dead, [they were] half- dead when my eagle was lost; they were not alive for [want of him who was] the soul of the world, [but] half-alive in the dregs of adversity.’
In the examplellḗd féirw is a loose,llĕ́d-fyw a strict, compound. In Late Mn. W.,lled usually forms loose compounds and means ‘rather’.
lled is also compounded with nouns, aslléd-ran ‘half-share’,lléd-wyl ‘half-holiday’,lléd-fryd ‘listlessness’,lléd-i̯aith ‘brogue, foreign accent’,lled ymyl ‘border near edge’.
(2)pur ‘very’, aspur-ẟu,pur-wynnr.m. 151,pur-goch 154;pur-iawn ‘very well’, nowpúri̯on. It now forms loose compounds mostly, aspur dda ‘very good’. Used after its noun as an ordinary adj. it means ‘pure’.
156. i. The first element of a compound may be a prefix, which was originally an adverb or preposition. Some other vocables of adj. or noun origin have become mere prefixes; for convenience of reference these are included in the following list. Where the mutation of the initial after the prefix is fairly regular, it is noted in square brackets. Most of the prefixes form verb-compounds also, and some are oftener so used; hence it is convenient to include verbal nouns and verbs in the examples.
(1)ad- [soft] < Brit.ate‑: Gaul.ate- < Kelt. *ati‑: Skr.ati ‘over, beyond’;ati- ‘very’;§ 222 i (3). Three distinct meanings occur in W.: (a) ‘very’,át-gas§ 111 v (1) ‘hateful’; (b) ‘second’,át-gno ‘chewing the cud’,ád-ladd ‘aftermath’, hence ‘bad’ asád-flas ‘after-taste, ill taste’; (c) ‘over again, re‑’,ád-lam ‘a leap back’,áteb (< *ad-heb) ‘reply’,ád-lais ‘echo’.
(2)aẟ- before a vowel orf (fromm) < Brit. *ad‑: Lat.ad; intensive;ádd-oer ‘very cold’,ádd-fwyn,ádd-fain§ 93 ii (3). Before a tenuis it isa- followed by the spirant mutation, asáchas§ 93 ii (2),áthrist ‘very sad’:trist ‘sad’. Before a media it isa- followed by the radical,ágarw ‘very rough’:garw§ 93 ii (3); but befored- it isa- followed byẟ, asa-ẟef§ 93 iii (1),a-ẟail, etc. With initials- it givesas‑, as inas-gloff ‘lame’ < *ad-skloppos < vulg. Lat.cloppus *sclopus: W.cloff ‘lame’. Beforel- orr- followed byī̆ it givesei- as ineirif§ 104 iv (3);eiẟil ‘feeble’, met. for *eiliẟ§ 102 iv (2) < *ed-līd- < *ad-lēd‑, √lēd-: Lat.lassus, Gk.ληδεῖν ‘to be fatigued’ Hes.,§ 204 i. Inaberth,aber§ 93 ii (3) it means ‘to’ (or isaber < *n̥-bher‑?; cf. Gael.Inver‑).
(3)all- < Brit. *allo‑: Gaul.allo- ‘other’§ 100 iii (2);áll-fro ‘foreigner’;áll-tud ‘exile’.
(4)am‑,ỿm- [soft] < Brit.ámbe‑,ambí‑: Gaul.Ἀμβί-: Gk.ἀμφί, Lat.amb‑,ambi-§ 63 v (2);—(a) ‘around’:ám-gorn ‘ferrule’,ám-gylch ‘circuit’,ám-do ‘shroud’,am-ddiffyn ‘defence’; hence (b) ‘on each side, mutual’,ým-ladd ‘battle’,ým-drech ‘struggle’,ym-gýnnull ‘a gathering together’; hence (c) reflexive, asym-olchi ‘to wash oneself’; (d) ‘round’ > ‘different, changeable’ asám-ryw ‘of various kinds’,ám-yd ‘corn of different kinds mixed’,am-liwiog ‘parti-coloured’,amheuw.m. 186 ‘to doubt’, Mn.ámeu, vb.am-héu-af < *m̥bi-sāg‑, √sāg‑: Gk.ἡγέομαι, Dor.ᾱ̔γ- ‘I think, believe’, Lat.sagax.—am‑c- < *am‑χ- by dissim. of continuants, asám-can ‘design, purpose, guess’ < *am-χan < *ambi-sk̑ə‑n‑, √sk̑hē(i̯)‑: Lat.scio, Skr.chyáti ‘cuts off’; andamkawẟw.m. 453 ‘replied, said’ < *am-χ‑awẟ§ 96 iii (4).
(5)an‑, en‑, etc., neg. prefix < Ar. *n̥- (R-grade of neg. *ne);àmhárod ‘unprepared’:parod ‘ready’;ámraint ‘breach of privilege’:braint;athrúgar,ànhrugárog§ 99 vi (1);àn-nédwyẟ ‘unhappy’:dedwyẟ ‘happy’;àngharédig ‘unkind’:caredig ‘kind’;én-wir ‘untrue, evil’ < *an-u̯īro‑s, re-formedán-wir in Mn. W.;án-fwyn ‘unkind’:mwyn;án-fad:mad§ 99 iv (1);óf-les§ 86 i (4):lles ‘benefit’;áf-raid ‘needless’ < *am-(p)rat-i̯o- < *n̥-prati̯o‑:rhaid ‘need’§ 149 ii; soáfrad,áfryw;—before orig.l‑,àn-llygrédig;—an +glân should give *alan§ 106 ii (1); this is re- formed in two ways,án-lan,áf-lan ‘unclean’;—b often follows the analogy ofm, asàn-fonhéddig:bonhéddig ‘gentlemanly’. The prefix when not bearing the principal accent has often a strong secondary accent; this might become a separate accent, as inan allu (≡án állu)Ỻ.A. 33 ‘want of power’; henceán háwdd§ 148 i (6),án áml§ 164 i (2).
(6)ar‑, er- [soft] ‘fore‑’ < Brit. *are- (< *ari‑): Gaul.are- (inἈρη- theη marks the quality rather than the quantity of thee) < *pₑri‑: Lat.prae, Gk.περί;ar-for (inarfór-dir ‘maritime land’) < *are-mor‑: Gaul.Are-morica;ár-gae ‘dam’:cae (: E.hedge);ár-dreth ‘chief rent’, etc.—Exceptional mutation:ér-myg ‘admired’ < *are-smi-ko‑, likeéd-myg ‘admired’ < *ate-smi-ko‑, √smei- ‘smile’: Lat.admīro,mī-ru‑s (‑ro- suffix), Skr.smáyati ‘smiles’, Gk.μειδάω, E.smile, O. Bulg.směchŭ ‘smile’; cf.dirmyg§ (12) below;ar-merth, seedar-merth§ (13) below.—Possibly Brit. *ar‑: Lat.per, inártaith ‘pang’, by dissim. for *ar-thaith < *ar-stik-tā, √steiɡ-: Lat.instīgo, Gk.στίγμα, Skr.tiktá‑ḥ ‘sharp, bitter’; andár-choll ‘wound’ < *ar-qol’d‑, √qolād- ‘strike’: Lat.clādēs, W.cleddyf ‘sword’,coll ‘destruction, loss’.
(7)can(nh)- [soft] ‘with, after’ < Brit. *kanta- < *kn̥ta: Gk.κατά;cán-lyn v.n. ‘following’;canh-órthwy§ 103 ii (1) now speltcỿnhorthwy;can-hébrwng ‘funeral’;hebrwng§ 99 vi (1);cán-llaw ‘balustrade; assistant in law-court’.
(8)cyd- [soft] ‘together, common’, is not, as is often assumed, identical withcỿf‑, but is the nouncɥd as ini gɥd ‘to-gether’, also used as an adj. intir cɥd ‘common land’. A few of the compounds which it forms are strict, ascỿtûn < *cỿd-ẟúun ‘united’,cỿ́d-fod ‘concord’,cỿd-ẃybod ‘conscience’; but the bulk of those in use are loose compounds in which the form of the prefix iscŷd§ 45 ii (2); in this form it is still fertile;cɥd ddinesydd ‘fellow-citizen’,cɥd genedl ‘kindred’, etc. The word seems to be a verbal noun *ki-tu- from √k̑ei̯- ‘lie’, cf. Ml. W.kyt gwrỺ.A. 136,c.m. 21 ‘cohabitation with a man’: Gk.κεῖται ‘lies’, O. E.hǣman ‘lie with, espouse’, O.H.G.hīwo ‘husband’, E.home, W.cu, Lat.cīvis§ 110 iii (1).
(9)cỿf- before vowels andi̯,l,r,n;cỿ- beforew̯‑,chw̯‑,h‑; with followings‑,cỿs‑; elsewherecỿ(m)‑, cỿn‑, cy(ng)- [nasal]; < Kelt. *kom‑: Lat.com‑; (a) ‘com‑’, often followed byâ ‘with’,cỿ́f-ar ‘co-tillage’;cỿ́f-liw,cỿ́f-urẟ, etc.§ 149 ii;cỿ́f-ran ‘share’:rhan ‘part’;cỿ́mod ‘concord’:bod ‘be’;cỿ́n-n(h)wrf ‘commotion’:twrf;cỿngháneẟ ‘harmony’:cân ‘song’;cystal§ 148 i (4).—(b) Intensive (‘together’ > ‘fully’);cỿflawn ‘complete’:llawn ‘full’;cyf-lym ‘fleet’:llym ‘keen’. A few irregular forms are found, which are due to false analogy, ascỿ́f-ẟyẟ ‘dawn’, formed aftercýf-nos ‘evening’.
The form *ko- (beside *kom‑) goes back to Italo-Kelt. It occurs beforeu̯- as W.cýwir, Ir.coïr < *ko-u̯īros; beforem‑, as W.cof ‘memory’, Ir.cuman < *ko-men‑, √men- ‘mind’ (but later *kom- as in W.cymysg (m ≡mm)); sometimes beforesq‑,squ̯‑,s‑, as W.cy-húddo ‘to accuse’: Icel.skúta,skúti ‘a taunt’, O.Bulg.kuditi ‘to revile’, Gk.κυδάζειν 'to reproach', √(s)qeud‑; see§ 96 iii;cy-háfal ‘co-equal’:hafal§ 94 i.
cỿfr- [soft] < *kom-(p)ro-§ 113 i (2); intensive, ascỿ́fr-goll ‘utter loss, perdition’;cỿ́fr-w̯ɥs (generally mis-pronouncedcỿ́fr-w͡ys) ‘trained, cunning’:gwɥ̂s ‘known’;cỿ́fr-gain (kywrgeinb.b. 10) ‘very fine’.—cỿfr‑r- >cỿfrh- >cyffr as incyffrédin ‘common’ < *cỿfr-red-in;amgýffred ‘comprehend’ < *am-gyfr-red:rhedeg ‘run’; the O.W.amcibret may represent the stageamgyfr͑ed.
(10)cyn(nh)- [soft] ‘former, preceding’ < Brit. *kintu-§ 148 i (3);cỿnh-áeaf ‘autumn’:gaeaf ‘winter’;cỿ́n-ddail ‘first leaves’,cỿ́n-ddelw̯ ‘prototype’; thet is kept beforeh§ 106 iii (3), ascỿ́ntaid for *cynt-haid ‘first swarm’ (of bees); in the formcɥ̆n it is used to construct new loose compounds ascɥ́n fáer ‘ex-mayor’, etc.
(11)di- [soft] < Kelt. *dī- < *dē‑: Lat.dē. Two meanings: (a) ‘outer, extreme, off’, asdí-ben ‘end, aim’:pen ‘head, end’;dí-dol, Ml.dí-dawl ‘cut off, separated’, see below;di-nóethi v.n. ‘de-nude’; (b) ‘without’, asdí-boen ordí bóen ‘painless’,dí-dduw ordí ddúw ‘godless’, etc. In this sense it is freely used to form new compounds, mostly loose, by being put before any noun or v.n., or even a v.n. phrase, asdi alw am dano ‘un-called-for’; but, though loose, the expression is still a compound, thusdi gefn wyfc.c. 184 ‘helpless am I’, exactly likegwan wyf ‘weak am I’, as opposed toheb gefn, yr wyf ‘without help am I’, the un-compounded phraseheb gefn, requiringyr after it. The compound is an adj. made from a phrase in which the prep.dī governs the noun; the formation is old, and gave rise at an early period to the idea thatdī was a negative prefix, which therefore might be compounded with adjectives; thusdí-og ‘lazy’, O.W.di-auc: *auc ‘quick, active’: Gk.ὠκύς, Lat.ōcior; sodí-brin ‘not scarce’,dí-drist ‘not sad’,dí-wael ‘not mean’, etc.—Lat.dē- seems to have been identified in Brit. with the native prefix, and gives W.di‑, asdíffyg ‘defect’ <dē-fic‑.—Exceptional mutation:dí-chell ‘wile’ < *dē-sqel(p)tā, √sqelep‑: W.celfyddyd ‘craft’ etc.§ 99 ii (2);dí-chlyn ‘exact, cautious, circumspect’, as v.n. ‘to choose, discriminate’ < *dē-sql̥‑n‑, √sqel- ‘split, separate’;dí-chlais ‘break (of day)’ < *dē-s-qləd-ti- or *dē-kkl- for *dē-kl-§ 99 v (4), √qolād- ‘strike, break’: W.clais ‘bruise’,archoll(6) above;díchon,dígon§ 196 ii (2); W.dídawl,dídol for *dí-ẟawl (ẟ…l >d…l§ 102 iii (2)):gwá-ẟawl ‘endowment’, Ir.fo-dāli ‘deals out' < *dōl‑: W.ethol < *dol‑, see§ 97 ii.
dis- beforet- <dē‑s‑, wheres is the initial of the second element, often lost in the simple form:dí-stadl§ 96 ii (3);distrych ‘foam’ < *dē-str̯k‑, √stereq‑: W.trwyth ‘wash, lye’§ 99 v (3);dí-staw ‘silent’:taw ‘be silent’ < *stuu̯- < *stup‑, √steup/bh‑: Ger.stumm ‘dumb’, Lat.stupeo: E.dumb, √dheubh- (dh/st- alternation). Before other consonants < *dē-eks‑, as indísglair§ 201 iii (6). Also from Lat.dē‑s- as indisgyn(n) <dē-scend‑.
(12)dir- [soft] ‘vehemently’ Richards, ‘truly’ < *dēru-:dīr ‘true’, Ar. base *dereu̯- ‘hard’§ 137 ii;dír-boen ordī́r bóen ‘great pain’,dír-fawr ‘very great’,dír-gel ‘secret’.—Exceptional mutation:dír-myg ‘contempt’ < *dēru-smi‑k‑, √smei- ‘smile’; heredir- is not necessarily neg. for beside ‘admiration’ as inermyg,edmyg§ (6) above, we have ‘mockery’ from the same root, as in W.tre-myg ‘insult’, O.H.G.bi-smer ‘mockery’; nor indir-west ‘abstinence’, which is literally ‘hard diet’, cf. E.fast.
(13)dỿ- [soft] ‘to, together’, often merely intensive < Brit. *do‑;dỿ́-fɥn ‘summons’:mỿnnu ‘to will’;dỿ-gỿ́nnull v.n. ‘gather together’,dỿ-gỿforw.m. 1 ‘muster’;dỿ-wéddi ‘fiancée’. In a few cases it interchanges with ty-, as Ml. W.dy-wallaw v.n. ‘to pour (into)’: Mn. W.týwallt ‘pour’;dỿ́-ret ‘come!’:tỿ́-red ‘come!’; very rarelytỿ- alone is found, astỿ-wỿsog ‘prince’. Except. mut.:dỿ‑ch- < *do-sk- or *do-kk- beforer,l; asdỿ́-chryn ‘fright’:crynu ‘tremble’,yscridb.b. 31 ‘trembles’, Bret.skrija ‘to tremble from fear’;dỿ́-chlud:cludo ‘to carry’. Hencedỿch- indỿch-lámu ‘to leap up’.—In old compounds theo ofdo- was retained when the vowel of the root was lost§ 65 iv (2), and might in that case be affected toe, asdé-dw̯‑ɥẟ§ 100 ii (1).
dad- [soft] < *d(o)-áte- see(1) above: (a) intensive;dát-gan v.n. ‘proclaim’:canu ‘sing’; (b) ‘un‑’ (as in ‘un-do’);dàd-lẃytho v.n. ‘to unload’, etc. The unacc.o of *do- was elided before a vowel.
dam- [soft] < *d(o)-ambe‑, see§ (4);dám-sang ‘to trample’:sengi ‘to tread’;dám-wain ‘accident’:ar-wain ‘to lead’: √u̯eg̑h‑. Alsodỿm‑; Ml.damunet, Mn.dymúniad ‘desire’ for *dym-fun‑:ar-o-fun ‘intend’§ 100 v. Them usually remains unchanged, but seems to have becomen by dissimil. indan-waret§ 63 vii (5), unless the prefix here isdan- below.
dan- [soft] < *d(o)-ando‑;dán-fon, see§ ii (1) below.
dar- [soft] < *d(o)-are- < *do-pₑri‑;dár-fod ‘to have happened’§ 190 i;dar-óstwng ‘to subdue’:go-stwng ‘to suppress’ < *u̯o(s)- ‘under’ + *stong-: Goth.stiŋqan ‘to thrust’. The irregular mutation indármerth ‘provision’ (of food, etc.) is due to-sm- >-mm‑; *do-are-smer‑t‑, √smer‑: Lat.mereo, Gk.μέρος, μερίς. Indárbod,dárpar, the prefix had the form *d(o)-aros‑, see§ 196 i (3). This form may also account for the preservation of-st- indár-stain ‘to resound’, thus *d(o)-aros-stani̯‑: W.sain ‘sound’, √sten‑.
dos- < *d(o)-u̯o(s)- + initials‑;dósbarth ‘division, arrangement, system’:gosparthb.b. 11 ‘rule, government’, √sper-§ 101 iv (2).
dỿr- (also writtendry‑) indyrcháfel ‘to raise’ < *do-(p)ro‑, see§ 188 iv; cf.cyfr-(9).
It is now generally held that the original form of the prep. is *to, and that *do- is a pretonic or proclitic form, like W.ti ‘thou’, procliticdy ‘thy’. But pretonic softening, though it occurs in W. and Ir. cannot be proved to be primitive, and is obviously in most cases comparatively late. The facts in this case are as follows:(α) In Ir. the prep. isdo,du, always withd‑ (as opposed totar, mostly witht‑); the pref. isto‑,tu‑, at first both accented and pretonic, later pretonicdo‑,du‑.(β) In W. pretonicd- fort- as indy ‘thy’ is not mutated further (i.e. does not become *ẟ‑); but the prep. was *ẟỿ (writtendi in O.W.) giving Ml. W.ẏ, Mn. W.i; it starts therefore from Brit. *do, and agrees in form with the Ir.; the pref. isdy‑, rarelyty‑.—There is no trace oft- in the prep, proper in W. or Ir.; and the supposed original *to equates with no prep. in the Ar. languages. But in Pr. Kelt. the possibility oft- ford- is proved by W.tafod, Ir.tenge, so that *to‑, which occurs only in composition, may be for *do‑. Pr. Kelt. *do: E.to, Ger.zu, Lat.en-do‑,in-du‑, O. Bulg.do, Av.‑da ‘to’. Cf. W.ann-ii (1) from *n̥-do‑, which places *do beyond doubt.
(14)dỿ- ‘bad’ < *dus‑: Gk.δυσ‑;dỿ́chan ‘lampoon’ < *dus-kan-:cân ‘song’; reduced to *du- on the analogy of *su‑, (19) below, indỿ́-bryd ‘shapeless, ugly’, Ir.do-chruth < *du-qu̯r̥-tu: W.pryd, Ir.cruth ‘form’.
(15)eb- < *ek-u̯o‑; inépil for *eb-hil§ 89 iii,ébrwydd ‘quick’:rhwydd ‘easy’§ 143 iii (22).
e‑,eh‑,ech- < *eks-§ 96 iii (6);é-ofn, Ml. W.eh-ofɏn ‘fearless’: Ir.esomun, Gaul.Exobnus;é-ang ‘wide, extensive’: *ang ‘narrow’.ech- developed before vowels, but spread by analogy:éch-nos ‘night before last’,éch-doe ‘day before yesterday’. But the regular form before an explosive ises- (ỿs‑) as inés-tron ‘stranger’ < Lat.extrāneus;éstyn ‘extend’ <ex-tend‑, etc.;és-gor ‘to be delivered’ (of young), √(s)qer- ‘separate, cut’.
(16)go‑,gw̯o‑,gw̯a- [soft] ‘sub-’ < Kelt. *u̯o- < *upo‑: Skr.úpa, Gk.ὑπό, Lat.s‑ub,§ 65 v (1);gwo‑br ‘prize’ < *u̯o‑pr‑:prynu ‘to buy’§ 201 i (4);gwá-stad ‘level’§ 63 vi (1);go-fúned, ‘desire’,ar-ó-fun(13) above. In Mn. W.go- freely forms loose compounds with adjectives§ 220 viii (1).
gos- < *u̯o‑s- + initials‑;gósgorẟ ‘retinue’, Ml. W.gwoscorẟb.b. 10 < *u̯o-skor‑d‑, √sqer‑:dósbarth(13) above.
(17)gor‑, gw̯or‑, gw̯ar- ‘super-’ < *u̯or- for *u̯er < *uper: Skr. upári, Gk.ὑπέρ, Lat.s‑uper§ 65 v (3);gór-ffen(n) ‘finish’:penn ‘end’;gór-fod ‘conquer’:bod ‘be’;gwár-chadw̯ ‘guard’:cadw ‘keep’, etc. etc.
(18)gwrth- [soft] ‘contra-’§ 66 iii (1);gẃrthun, Ml. W.gwrthvun ‘hateful’:dymuniad (13) above;gẃrth-glawẟ 'rampart':clawẟ ‘dyke’, etc.
(19)hỿ- [soft] ‘well, ‑able’ < *su‑: Gaul.su‑, Ir.su‑, so‑: Gk.ὑ- (inὑ-γιής), Skr.su- (? from the base *eu̯eseu̯- ‘good’ with V-grade of the first two syllables);hỿ́-gar ‘well-beloved, lovable’:caraf ‘I love’;hỿ́-dyn ‘tractable’:tynnaf ‘I draw’;Hý-wel ‘*conspicuous’:gwelaf ‘I see’;hỿ́-fryd ‘pleasant’:bryd ‘mind’, etc.
(20)rhag- [soft] ‘fore-’ < *prako‑, by§ 65 ii (1) < *pro-qo- (i.e. *pro- with suffix‑qo‑): Lat.reci-procu‑s < *reco-proco‑s;rhág-farn ‘prejudice’:barn ‘judgement’;rhág-fur ‘contramure’:mur ‘wall’;rhág-ddor ‘outer door’;rhag-lúniaeth ‘providence’, etc.
(21)rhỿ- [soft] ‘very, too’: Ir.ro‑: Lat.pro‑, Gk.πρό, Skr.prá, Goth,fra‑;rhỿ́-wyr ‘very late’:hŵyr ‘late’, cf. Gk.πρό-κακος ‘very bad’;rhỿ́-gyng, Ml. W.r͑ygig̃ ‘ambling pace’ < *(p)ro-k̑enɡh-§ 101 iii (2). In Mn. W. it forms loose compounds with adjectives§ 65 iv (2),§ 220 viii (1).
(22)tra- [spirant] ‘over, very, excessive’ < *tar- < *tₑrós‑,§ 214 iii: Ir.tar‑, Skr.tirás‑;trá-chwant ‘lust’;trá-chas ‘very hateful’;trá-serch ‘great love, adoration’;trá-chul ‘very lean’;trắmor ‘oversea’ i.e.trammor for *tarmmor < *tₑrós mari.;trachw̯resb.t. 30:gw̯res§ 92 iii. It forms loose compounds by being placed before any adj.,§ 220 viii (1). The metathesis could have taken place when the accent was on the ult.; cf.§ 214 iii.
traf‑, as intraf-lýncu ‘to gulp’ (:llyncu ‘to swallow) < *tram‑: Ir.trem‑,tairm‑, anm-formation from the same base: cf. Lat.tarmes,trāmes; see§ 220 ii (10). There seems to have been some confusion of the two prefixes:tramor above andtrắmwy ‘to wander’ < ‑*mou̯i̯- (: Lat.moveo) may have either. This would help to spreadtra- for *tar‑.tránnoeth ‘over night’ cannot be from *tram- which would becometraf- beforen;trénnyẟ ‘over the day’ i.e. ‘next day but one’ is probably re-formed aftertrannoeth.
traws‑, tros-§ 210 x (6); Ml. W.traws-cwyẟw.m. 83, 85, ‘transaction’; in Mn. W. leniting,traws-feddiant ‘usurpation’, prob. owing tosc >sg etc.§ 111 vi (2), as intraws-gwyẟr.m. 60, 61.
(23)trỿ- [soft] ‘through, thorough’;trỿ́-dwll ‘perforated’;trỿ́-loyw ‘pellucid’;trỿ́-fer ‘javelin’:bêr ‘spear’. It seems to imply Brit. *tri‑, weak form of *trei >trwy ‘through’§ 210 x (5).
ii. Some prefixes occur only in rare or isolated forms, and are not recognized as such in the historical periods. The following may be mentioned:
(1) 'a(n)- < *n̥- ‘in’;áchles§ 99 vi (1),anmyneẟ§ 95 ii (3);ánglaẟ ‘funeral’ < *n̥-qlad- (claddu ‘to bury’) √qolād-§ 101 ii (3).
ann- [soft] < *ando- < *n̥‑do‑: Lat.en-do‑,in-du‑, E.in-to;ánnedd§ 63 ii;ánnerch ‘greeting’ < *n̥d(o)‑erk‑, √ereq- ‘speak’§ 63 iii;én-byd ‘dangerous’ (enbyd! ‘beware!’ in Festiniog quarries) < *n̥do-pit‑:pyd ‘danger’ < *qu̯i‑t‑, √qou̯ēi̯- ‘be ware’: Lat.caveo, Grk.κοέω: W.rhý-buẟ ‘warning’ < *pro-qu̯ei‑d‑;án-rheg ‘gift’:rheg ‘gift’ < *prek‑,án-rhaith ‘prize, booty; *bride, dear one’ < *n̥do-prek‑t‑, √pereq- ‘acquire, buy’: Lith.perkù, ‘I buy’, Gk.πιπράσκω (*‑pr̥q-sqō), extension of √per- in Gk.πέρνημι;án-fon < *n̥do-mon-§ 100 iv;ani̯an ‘nature’ < *n̥do-g̑ₑn‑: Lat.in-genium.
dann- [soft] < *d(o)-ando‑;dánfon:anfon above;dán-gos ‘to show’ (S. W.dáŋ-gos; in N. W. with late assim. of‑g‑,dáŋŋos) < *d(o)-ando-kons‑, √k̑ens‑: Lat.censeo, Skr.s̑ąsati ‘recites, praises, reports, shows’.
y‑, e- [nasal] < *en- ‘in’;emhennyẟm.m. 23 (fromr.b.) ‘brain’, cf.m.a. ii 107, 337,emennyẟr.b.b. 54,s.g. 270 < *en-qu̯enníi̯o‑: Bret.em-penn, Corn.empinion,ympynnyon; mh- persisted in Mn. W., seem.m. 140,o ’mhoen (reado’m hun)/ymhennydd D.G. 501; the usual formyménnydd with abnormal loss of‑h- before the accent may be due to early contamination with a form containing *eni‑; the form in Ir. isin-chinn < *eni-qu̯enn‑.
(2)he- < *sem‑;hebrwng§ 99 vi.
(3)han- < *sani‑: Ir.sain ‘separate’, W.gwa-han-u, Lat.sine, E.sun-der, Skr.sanitúr ‘besides, without’; inhán-fod ‘being from, coming from, origin, essence’.
§ 157. i. No compound has more thantwo elements; but any element may itself be a compound. Thusanhyfryd ‘unpleasant’ is compounded not ofan +hy +bryd but ofan +hyfryd, thoughhyfryd itself is a compound ofhy +bryd; similarlyhardd-deg ymdrech 1 Tim. vi 12 is a loose compound, each of whose elementshardd-deg andym-drech is itself a compound. All compounds must be so analysed by successive bisections.
‘Most exquisite bright-cheeked month, bring the sun of summer ray.'Deurúẟloyw fis is a loose compound; its first element is a compound ofdeuruẟ andgloyw,deuruẟ itself being compounded ofdau ‘two’ andgruẟ ‘cheek’.
ii. (1) In compounds of three syllables in which the first element is a compound, aspengrỿ́ch-lon D.G. 74 ‘curly-headed [and] merry’, a strong secondary accent on the first syllable often becomes a separate accent, and the syllable breaks loose, resulting in an illogical division; thushī́r féin-wyn D.G. 16, forhirféin-wyn, a compound ofhír-fain ‘long slender’ andgwyn ‘white’;téw góed-allt do. 328 fortewgóed-allt <téw-goed (do. 157) ‘thick trees’ and (g)allt ‘copse’;gárw̯ flóeddi̯ast do. 82 <gárw̯-floeẟ ‘rough-voiced’ +gast ‘bitch’§ 103 ii (1);mýdr ddóeth-lef do. 293 <mýdr-ẟoeth +llef ‘of rhythmical voice’;mā́n sérliwg. 129 <mán-ser +lliw ‘of the colour of small stars’;pén sáer-wawd do. 297 <pén-saer ‘architect’ +gwawd ‘song’ meaning ‘of masterly song’.
‘Dawn-bright maid, too beautifully slender, of the dark brow, that wearest gold and [precious] stones’;gwawr dlosferch <gwáwr-dlos ‘dawn-beautiful’ +merch ‘maid’;—rɥ dlỿsfain is a loose compound ofrhy andtlýs-fain, so that its accentuation is normal;—gẃrm áel is a loose bahuvrīhi (or possessive) compound ‘possessing a dark brow’.
(2) The same accentuation occurs when a compound number is compounded with a noun, asdáu cánn-oen G.G1.m 146/313 ‘200 lambs’;sáith ugéin-waith L.G.C. 421 ‘seven score times’. The separated syllable has the un-mutated (un-combined) form of its diphthongdau,saith (notdeu,seith)§ 45 ii (2).
iii. Strict compounds are inflected by inflecting the second element, asgwindy pl.gwindei§ 117 iii,hwyl-brenni,canhwyll-brenni§ 122 ii (2),claer-wỿnnẏon etc.§ 145 ii (4),an-wariaid etc.§ 145 vi,an-hawsaf§ 148 i (6),gloyw-ẟuaf etc.§ 150 ii.
But in loose a-n compounds the adj. is often made pl., asnefolẏon wybodeu etc.§ 145 ii (3). Indeed these formations are so loose that the second element may be suspended, as innefolion- a’r daearolion- a thanddaearolion- bethau ibid.
An eqtv. or cpv. adj. before a noun is not compounded with it, but the noun has always its rad. initial. A spv. adj. may or may not be compounded; see Syntax.
Pronouns
Personal Pronouns.
§ 158. The Welsh personal pronouns are eitherindependent ordependent.
Of these main classes there are several sub-divisions, containing a form for each person sg. and pl., including two, m. and f., for the 3rd sg.
The use of the 2nd pl. for the 2nd sg., so common in modern European languages, appears in W. in the 15th cent. There are numerous examples in T.A. (e.g.§ 38 vi), who mixes up sg. and pl. in addressing the same individual:
‘So slender is thy waist in the girdle, you would turn round in my two spans.’
§ 159. The independent personal pronouns are the forms used when the pronoun is not immediately dependent on a noun, a verb or an inflected preposition. They occur (a) at the beginning of a sentence, see§ 162 vii (2);—(b) after a conjunction or uninflected preposition, includingfel,megis;—(c) afterys ‘it is’,mae (mai) ‘that it is’,panyw id.,pei ‘if it were’, etc., and after the uninflectedheb y ‘said’ (heb y mi§ 198 i). Independent personal pronouns are eithersimple, reduplicated orconjunctive; thus:
i. Simple: sg. 1.mi, 2.ti, 3. m.ef, f.hi; pl. 1.ni, 2.chw̯i, 3. Ml.wy,wynt, Mn.hŵy,hŵynt (also occasionally in Late Ml. W.).
Theh- of the Mn. 3rd pl. forms comes from the affixed forms; thusgwelant wy ≡gwelant‑h wy mutated togwelann‑h wy, see§ 106 iv; the‑h was transferred to the pronoun, cf.§ 106 iii (2); and the independent forms borrowed theh- from the affixed.
ii. Reduplicated: (1) Ml. W., sg. 1.mivi,myvi,myvy, 2.tidi,tydi, 3. [m.efo], f.hihi; pl. 1.nini, 2.chw̯ichw̯i,chwchw̯i, 3.wyntwy,hwyntwy.—Mn. W. sg. 1mỿfi, 2.tỿdi, 3. [m.efo,fo (laterfe,efe see below)], f.hỿhi; pl. 1.nỿni, 2.chw̯ỿchw̯i (often pronounced but rarely writtenchwchw̯i), 3.hwynt-hwy.
mivi,tidiw.m. 4,myfi (seevyvi§ 160 iii (1)),chwichwir.b.b. 67,chwchwis.g. 164,hwyntwyr.m. 132,wyntwys.g. 165.
(2) These pronouns are usually accented on the ultima:mỿfī́,tỿdī́,hwynt-hw̄́y, etc.; but they were formerly accented on the penult also, and this accentuation survives in certain phrases used in Powys. Examples of penultimate accentuation:
‘Of a lovely black is thy coat in the glen, and it is I who call thee.’—To the blackbird.’
‘There is none faultless but thee; God forbid [that we should] be without thee.’
Thus accented they also appear asmýfɥ,týdɥ, etc.:
‘Greatly didst thou boast thy intention yonder; more and more noisy [art thou] than I.’
(3) The formsmỿfī́,tydī́ sometimes lose their unaccentedỿ aftera,na orno, givinga m’fī́,a th’dī́, etc.; asmegys yẟ ymydawssamath tiỺ.A. 148 ‘as we forsook thee’, cf. 121, l. 6.
‘God gave thee, wise hero; and thee did God make a man.’
(4) In the spoken languageefṓ,hỿhī́ becameỿfṓ,ỿhī́; and the others followed, thusỿfī́,ỿthdī́ (in Gwyneddỿchdī́ by dissim.)ỿnī́,ỿchī́,ỿnhw̄́(y). These may sometimes be seen writteny fo etc. in the late period, e.g.c.c. 273, 340.
(5) Besideefṓ the reduced formfō appears in the 14th cent. The inconvenience of having different vowels info andef was overcome in two ways: in N.W.fō replacedēf (except in a few stereotyped phrases, asyntḗ? foronid hēf? ‘is it not so?’,ai ḗ? ‘is it so?’); in S. W.ē(f) remained, andfō was changed tofē. From the S.W.fe Wm.S. made his newefe 2 Thess. ii 16, which, however, he uses very rarely. Dr. M. adopted this form, and used it throughout his Bible for the nom. case, independent and affixed—a remarkable observance of a self-imposed rule; that the rule was arbitrary is shown by the fact thatefe is used where W. idiom expresses ‘he’ by an oblique case, asam fod yn hoff ganddoefey hi Gen. xxix 20,o herwydd ei farwefe 2 Sam. xiii 39. In Ml. W. the only form isefo, seeiv (2), which is rare compared with the simpleef. The bards also useefo, accentedéfo andefṓ, see examples; but where it does not rhyme, late copyists often change it toefe; thus inA fo doethefea daug. 144, thems. actually used by the editor ofg. hasefotr. 87.—efes.g. 53 isef in thems., p 11/35b; andeuec.m. 87 iseuo (i.e.evo) in thems., r.b. 474. The forméfo survives in dial.efo ‘with’ foréfo a§ 216 ii (3).
‘There is no sacrifice—sad is the case—except Him, the obedient Lamb of God.’
‘The Earl of Pembroke, he will give a horse.’
iii. Conjunctive: (1) Ml. W., sg. 1.mynheu,minheu,minneu, 2.titheu, 3. m.ynteu, f.hitheu; pl. 1.nynheu,ninheu,ninneu, 2.chwitheu, 3.wynteu.—Mn. W. sg. 1.minnau, 2.tithau, 3. m.yntau, f.hithau; pl. 1.ninnau, 2.chwithau, 3.hwyntau,hwythau.
(2) A pronoun of this series is always set against a noun or pronoun that goes before (or is implied):Dioer, heb ef.… A unben, hebynteuw.m. 2 ‘By heaven, said he.... Ah! prince, said the other.’ The series is in common use in Mn. W.; sometimes the added meaning is so subtle as to be untranslatable:chwi aminnau ‘you and I’, but as a ruleminnau signifies ‘I too’, ‘even I’, ‘I for my part’, ‘but I’, ‘while I’, etc. The first term of the antithesis may be implied:Wel, dymafinnau’n marw Ceiriogo.b. 110 ‘Well, now even I am dying’ [not somebody else this time; this is not said, butfinnau implies it]. A conj. pron. often stands in apposition to a noun:YnteuPwyllwm. 11, cf. 12, 14 ‘he also, [namely] Pwyll’ i.e. Pwyll also;a gwyr Troeawynteur.b.b. 20 ‘and the men of Troy on their part '. The 3rd sg.ynteu answersnaill in the expressionnaill ai…ai ynteu ‘on the one hand either……or on the other hand’. From its unaccented use as ‘on the other hand’ it became a conjunction ‘then’:Paham,ynteuỺ.A. 13 ‘why, then?’Pwy,ynteu do. 27 ‘who, then?’Nyt oes un wreic,ynteua.l. i 176 ‘there is no woman, then’. In Ml. W. pronouns of other persons are used instead ofynteu afterae, askymer vedyẟ…aetitheuymlaẟc.m. 13 ‘receive baptism…or else fight’; as the subject of an impv. cannot come before it,titheu here replacesynteu inae ynteu ymlaẟ ‘or else fight’ under the influence ofymlaẟ ditheu ‘fight then!’
iv. Origin of the independent pronouns: (1)mi, Ir.mē < acc. *mē̆: Skr.mā, Gk.με (the Ir.mē seems to be *me lengthened, as originalē > Kelt.ī);—ti, Ir.tū < *tū: Lat.tū, Av.tū, Gk.τῡ́-νη, O.H.G.dū;ti partly also from Ar. acc. *t(u̯)e;—ef, O.W.em, Corn.ef, nom.‑e, Ml. Bret,eff, Ir.ē,hē; f.hi, Corn.hy, Bret.hi, Ir.sī. The 3rd sg. pron. in Kelt. as in Germ. seems to have been *es or *is, f. *sī; thus O.H.G.er < *es: Ir.ē orhē < *es (: Umbr.es-to- ‘iste’); the Corn. nom. postfixed e may represent this; but in "W". it has been replaced byef; W.ef < *emen < *em-em = O.Lat.em-em, redupl. acc. of *es, cf. Skr.im-ám < *im-em. Ashi kept itsh‑, it is unlikely thatef is for *hef, since the parallel could hardly fail to have been preserved; but in phrases whereef means ‘so’ there are traces ofh‑, as in N.W.yntḗ, S.W.ontḗf e ‘is it not so?’ foronid hḗf (ef); hereef may be from *semo‑s ‘same’ = Skr.samáḥ ‘like, same’. W.hi < Ar. *sī: Goth.si, O.H.G.sī,si, Gk.ῑ̔́ (Sophocles); *sī is an ablaut variant of *s(i)i̯ā§ 122 iv (1), f. of the pron. *s(i)i̯os, *s(i)i̯ā, *t(i)i̯od (Skr.syáḥ,syā́,tyád) a derivative of *so, *sā, *tod (Skr.sá,sā́,tát, Gk.ὁ, ἡ, τό).—Pl.nī,chwī, Ir.snī,sī < *s‑nēs, *s‑u̯ēs: Lat.nōs,vōs, Skr.naḥ,vaḥ (or, as theē-grade is not certain elsewhere, < *snī, *su̯ī with nom. pl.‑ī aftero-stems);—w͡y, Ir.ē < *ei nom. pl. of *es;w͡ynt with‑nt from the 3rd pl. of verbs (so Ml. Ir.īat).
(2) The redupl. forms are the simple forms repeated, originally as separate words:mi-vi < Brit. *mī́ mī́, etc. Asef seems itself to be a redupl. form it is natural that it is not found reduplicated (efe being a figmentii (5)); the emphatic form isefo. In Ml. W. this is chiefly an affixed accusative§ 160 iii (1):llymaefow.m. 160 ‘see him here’; mostly following other pronouns:gwassanaetha dievor.m. 185 ‘serve thou him’, cf. 164, 168, 170, 198, 280; the transition to the indep. use is seen ina thra guẟẏych tievo, evoa’th guẟ ditheur.m. 173 ‘and while thou hidest it, it will hide thee’. The formefo is prob. for *efoeẟ§ 78 i (1); this implies *émii̯o‑, and may be acc. *em-ei̯om: cf. Lat. glossim-eum “τὸν αὐτόν” < *im-ei̯om.
(3) The conj. pronouns are re-formations based uponyntau which is for *hynn-teu (loss ofh- on the anal. ofef) < Brit. *séndos tou̯os ‘this other, the other’; *tou̯os < *tuu̯os: Skr.tvaḥ, tuaḥ ‘other’, mostly repeatedtvaḥ…tvaḥ ‘the one…the other’; the word is always unaccented in Skr.; this is also the condition to give eu in W.§ 76 iii (2). The origin is seen clearly innaill…yntau from *sendod álli̯od…séndod tou̯od; cf. Skr.tvad…tvad ‘at one time…at another’ or withtvad after the second member only. When *hynn teu came to mean ‘he too’ a fem. *hih teu was formed givinghitheu; then followed *mim teu >mynheu, minneu; *tīt teu >titheu; and on these are modelled the pl. forms.
§ 160. Dependent personal pronouns are eitherprefixed, infixed oraffixed.
i. Prefixed pronouns, (1) The following stand in the genitive case immediately before a noun or verbal noun; the mutation following each is given after it in square brackets. For the aspiration of initial vowels see§ ii (5).
Sg. 1.fỿ, f’, ’ỿ, ’, [nasal], 2.dỿ’, d’ [soft], 3. Ml.y, Mn.i, late misspellingei [m. soft, f. spirant]; pl. 1. Ml.an,ỿn, Mn.ỿn, late misspellingein [rad.], 2. Ml.awch,ỿch, late misspellingeich [rad.], 3.eu (sometimes Ml.y, Mn.i) [rad.].
These pronouns are always proclitics, and are never accented; when emphasis is required an affixed auxiliary pronoun is added to receive it; thusdy bendī́ ‘thý head’.
Before a vowelfỿ ‘my’,dy ‘thy’ tend to lose theirỿ, andf’,d’ occur frequently in poetry:f’annwyl§ 38 vi,f’erchwyn§ 38 ix,f’annerch§ 136 ii,f’w͡yneb§ 38 iv;d’eos§ 110 iii (2),d’adwyth D.G. 35,d’adnabod do. 147.
fỿ often becomes’ỿ, see§ 110 iii (2). This occurs only when the initial of the noun is nasalized, i.e. when its radical is an explosive (orm- in f. nouns:’ỿ mam§ 110 iii (2),’ỿ modrybb.cw. 13 ‘my aunt’), for otherwise’ỿ could not be distinguished from the articley; as it is, it cannot be distinguished from unaccentedyn ‘in’ (’ỿ mhénn ‘my head’,ỿmhenn ‘at the end [of]’), except by the context.—When thef- vanishes as above, theỿ is liable to be lost after a vowel, leaving only the following nasal initial to represent the pronoun:
‘Mighty youth is spent; if brave was my day, it is spent now.’
‘At once I am a sailor; my foot is on the top of the mast.’ See alsoyw ’myd§ 38 vi, yw 'mron§ 146 ii (1).
Ml.y ‘his, her’ > Mn.i§ 16 ii (3). Occasionallyi is already found in Ml. W., aso achaws i drigiant efw.m. 12 ‘on account of his residing’. The spellingei is due to Wm.S.,§ 5 (4), who also changedynb.b. 108,ych do. 79 toein,eich; there is no evidence of the earlier use of these forms; and in the spoken language the words arei,ỿn,ỿch, as in Early Mn. W. It is doubtful whether the correct spelling can now be restored, as the misspelling is distinctive, enablingei ‘his’ to be distinguished fromi ‘to’, andi ‘I’, as ingwelais i dŷ; andein ‘our’ fromyn ‘in’; but thewrittenei,ein,eich should bereadi,ỿn,ỿch.
eu ‘their’ is a Ml. form preserved artificially in lit. W. Already in the 14th cent.y appears for it asytatỺ.A. 117, l. 13 ‘their father’,ypenneu,ytavodeu do. 152 ‘their heads, their tongues’. In Early Mn. MSS. it is generallyi, distinguished from the sg. only by the rad. initial which follows it.
(2) Beforehun,hunan ‘self’,§ 167 i (3), the following forms occur in Ml. W.: sg. 1.vy,vu,my,mu, 2.dy,du, 3.e; pl. 1.ny, 2. ?, 3.e.
a minneuvyhunw.m. 88 ‘and I myself’;am laẟ o honafvuhun vy mab do. 35 ‘because I myself slew my son’;namynmyhun do. 88 ‘except myself’;buwmuhunanr.p. 1045 ‘I myself [am] alive’;dy anwybotdyhunw.m. 2 ‘thine own ignorance’;duhun do. 29 ‘thyself’;ae ẟwylawehunỺ.A. 10 ‘with His own hands’;ehunỺ.A. 77 ‘herself’;arnamnyhuneinw.m. 29 ‘on ourselves’;ar yn llunnyhunr.p. 1368 ‘on Our own image’;a gewssyntehunw.m. 59 ‘what they had had themselves’;yryg̃thuntehunw.m. 421,y ryngtuntehuneinr.m. 272 ‘between themselves’.
In Mn. W. the forms do not differ from those of the gen. given in§ (1); butny persisted in the sixteenth cent.;i’n pechodnyhuna.g. 17 ‘to our own sin’;i ninyhun do. 35 ‘for ourselves’.
Before numerals the forms are Ml.W. pl. 1.an,yn, 2. (awch,ych), 3.yll,ell, Mn. W. 1.ỿn (misspeltein),’n, 2.ỿch (misspelteich),’ch, 3.ill.
nianchwechw.m. 29 ‘us six’,yndwyỺ.A. 109 ‘we two’ f.,yllpedwarw.m. 65 ‘they four’;arnaẟunt wyyllseiths.g. 33 ‘on the seven of them’;ae ẟwylawylldwyoeẟ do. 39 ‘with both his hands’;uẟuntelldeuw.m. 182 ‘to them both’. In Mn. W.ni’ndau ‘we two’,chwi’chtri ‘you three’,hwyilltri ‘they three’, etc.
ii. Infixed pronouns, (1) The following stand in the genitive case before a noun or verbal noun; mutation is noted as before:
Sg. 1.‑m, now written’m [rad.]; 2.‑th,’th [soft]; 3. Ml. W.‑e,‑y, Mn. W.‑i, now written’i [m. soft; f. spir.]; pl. 1.‑n,’n [rad.]; 2.‑ch,’ch [rad.]; 3. Ml.‑e,‑y, Mn.‑i,’i, late misspelling’u [rad.]. Also 3rd sg. and pl.‑w,’w after Ml.y, Mn.i ‘to’; see below.
The Ml. 3rd sg. and pl.‑e or‑y represents the second element of a diphthong; thusoe oroy ‘from his’ is simplyo y contracted. The Mn. sound isṓi (unacc.oi), and the late spellingo’i rests on the false assumption that the full form of the pronoun isei. This contraction may take place after any word ending in a vowel, see§ 33 v, and often occurs after final‑ai and even‑au. Similarly’n,’ch may occur after any final vowel or diphthong, asDuw’nTad, Duw’nCeidwad D.G. 486 ‘God our Father, God our Saviour’, since this is only the ordinary loss of unaccentedỿ, see§ 44 vii.
But’m,’th stand on a totally different basis; these are not for *ym, *yth, which do not exist in the genitive.[6] Buta’m,a’th are properlya m’,a th’ for *a my, *a thy with the old spirant mutation aftera as ina mam,a thad; hence we find that in Ml. W. they occur only aftera ‘and’,a ‘with’ (includinggyt a,tu a, etc),na ‘nor’,no ‘than’, all of which cause the spirant mutation, and afterẏ ‘to’,o ‘from’, which caused gemination of the initial of a following unacc. word in Kelt., thus W.i’m,ym ‘to my’ = Ir.domm ‘to my’; seeiv (2). In biblical Welsh this tradition is strictly followed. But in D.G. we already findyw ‘is’ added to the above monosyllables (if the readings are to be trusted), asyw’m serch 498,yw’m Selyf 522,yw’th gân 137,yw’th wên 497. After other words’m and’th are rare in D.G., and are possibly misreadings, asiddi’m traserch 498,yno’th ddwyn 478. Afterneu ‘or’ andtrwy ‘through’,fy anddy are always used: neu dy ladd 264, trwy dy hoywliw 180, Dyro dy ben drwy dy bats 107. So after all ordinary words ending in vowels; the only non-syllabic forms of the pronouns beingf’,d’ or the nasal mutation, see§ i (1) above; ashwde f’anfodd 114 (nothwde’m anfodd),mae d’ eisiau 19 (notmae’th eisiau),mae d’ wyneb 107 (notmae’th wyneb),colli ’na 303 (notcolli ’m da),gwanu ’mron 502 (notgwanu ’m bron). The insertion of’m,’th after all vocalic endings is a late misuse of these forms. The converse practice of usingfy anddy aftera,o,i,na (aso fy foro’m,i dy fori’th etc.) appears first in hymns to fill up the line, and is usual in the dialects; but it is a violation of the literary tradition.
After the prep.i ‘to, for’ the formw is used for the 3rd sg. and pl. with the mutations proper to the usual forms, asi’w dŷ ‘to his house’,i’w thŷ ‘to her house’,i’w tŷ ‘to their house’. The combination appears inb.ch. asyu, aspan el e brenẏnyuestavella.l. i 48 ‘when the king goes to his chamber’; laterywvolic.m. 49 lit. ‘for his praising’,ywswper do. 43 ‘for their supper’; it is prob. a metathesis of *w͡y[W 2]§ 78 iv (1) from *(d)oi, an early contraction of *do ĭ ‘to his’, *do being the orig. form of the prep.§ 65 iv (2). A later but still old contraction givesoe, asA ẟoei hi ẏ gyt ac efoewlat?Ỻ.A. 125 ‘would she come with him to his country?’ In the 16th cent.oi ‘to his’ was still used in Carnarvonshire, G.R. [129], Butoe, Mn.o’i also means ‘from his’; as this is an obvious meaning (o being ‘from’),oe ‘to his’ became obsolete. A third form of the combination isẏ, a contraction ofẏ ẏ ‘to his’; this is a re-formation, with the prep. taken from other connexions after it had becomeẏ; it is the usual form in Ml.mss., asy brenhin a aethẏystavellc.m. 43 ‘the king went to his chamber’,Ynteu Pwyll…a ẟoethẏgyvoeth acẏwlatw.m. 11 ‘Pwyll too came to his dominions and to his country’. Inb.b. we findẏ eu 66 l. 5 ‘to their’, a rare form. The formī ‘to his, to her, to their’ survives in Gwyn. dial.; but the usual Mn. form isi’w, which is the least ambiguous, and represents the oldest contraction.
’u is quite a late spelling; it is soundedi̯ in natural speech, and thus has the same form as the 3rd sg., but takes the same mutation aseu. In Ml. W. there is no trace of *au, *ou; rarely we haveo eu as inp 6/iir., and oftenac eu,oc eu, e.g.w.m. 89; where these are not employed, the forms met with areae,oe oray,oy like the sg.; in Early Mn. W.ai,oi. “Pro’u pl. post istas particulas [a,na,o], & scribitur & pronunciatur’i, vt,a’i carodd, proa’u carodd, &c.” D. 177. The 1620 Bible always has’i both gen. and acc.:iachâodd hwynt, ac a’igwaredodd o’idinistr Ps. cvii 20.
The formsm andi̯ occur afterer in Ml. W.eirmoet ‘during my time’,eirẏoet ‘in his time’, Mn. W.er-m-ṓed,er-i̯-ṓed; the latter became the stereotyped form for all persons, and is the usual expression for ‘ever’. Butermoed survived in Early Mn. W., see L.G.C. 194.
(2) The following stand in the accusative case before verbs; all take the radical initial of the verb except’th, which takes the soft.
Sg. 1.‑m, now written’m; 2.‑th,’th; 3. Ml. W.‑e ‑y,‑s,‑w, Mn. W.‑i,’i,‑s; pl. 1.‑n,’n; 2.‑ch,’ch; 3. Ml. W.‑e ‑y,‑s,‑w, Mn. W.‑i,’i (recent’u),‑s.
’m,’th,’n,’ch are used after the relativesa andy, and wherey is lost after a vowel, aslle forlle y ‘where’,yno foryno y ‘it is there that’, etc.; after the affirmative particlesneu,a,ef a,e,fo,fe; the negative particlesni,na; the conjunctionso ‘if’,oni ‘unless’,y ‘that’, andpe ‘if’, Ml.pei, which is forpei y ‘were it that’; and in Ml. W. the tense particlery. Thus:
‘No eye sees thee in thy vast lair; a thousand hear thee, [in] the nest of the great rain.’—To the Wind.
a’theura di§ 7 ii;lle’thfagwyd D.G. 323 ‘where thou wast reared’;amssuinassei-e douitb.b. 24 ‘the Lord created me’;ef a’mllas G.Gl.§ 175 iv (6) ‘I was killed’;o’mlleddi D.G. 59 ‘if thou killest me’;o’thgaf do. 524 ‘if I may have thee’;oni’thgaf do. 29 ‘if I have thee not’;beithleẟitr.p. 1255 ‘if thou wert killed’;rymgelwirb.t. 36 ‘I am called’; see§ 171 iii (2).
The 3rd sg. and pl.‑e or‑y, Mn.‑i,’i (’u) is used after the relativea and the affirmative particlesa,ef a,e,fo,fe; aspawb aydylyw.m. 8 ‘everybody owes it’;e’igwelir D.G. 524 ‘it will be seen’. It also follows the relativey, and is contracted with it toy (=y y ‘that…it’); asllyma yr weẟykeffyr.m. 2 ‘this is the way that (= in which) thou shalt have it’;sef valygwnafw.m. 3 ‘this is how I will do it’;valyherchisc.m. 89 ‘as he commanded them’ (val is followed byy ‘that’). In Early Mn. W. this is writteni, laterei oreu; recently it has been writteny’i andy’u in order to show the construction; but there is no authority for this, and the traditional sound appears to bei (notỿi̯).
The 3rd sg. and pl.‑s is used afterni,na,oni ‘unless’ ando ‘if’; asAe eiẟaw nysarvollassantỺ.A. 161 ‘and his own received him not’;oniscwplaa oe weithretoeẟc.m. 15 ‘unless he fulfils it in his works’;osmyn L.G.C. 187 ‘if he desires it’. It often serves to save the repetition of the object in the second of two negative sentences:ny mynneis inheu un gwr…ac nysmynnafr.m. 11 ‘I did not want a husband, and do not want one’;nyd enwaf neb ac ny’sgwradwyddaf J.D.R. [xvii] ‘I name no one, and disgrace him not’; and often refers to a noun or pronoun placed absolutely at the head of a sentence, asond ef nisgwelsant Luc xxiv 24 ‘but [as for] him, they saw him not’;Safnau’r môr nisofnir mwy D.W. 271 ‘the mouths of the sea—one no longer fears them’. The form‑s is also used afterpe, thus Mn. W.pes forpei y‑s ‘were it that…it’, aspei ysgwypwnw.m. 42; in Ml. W. generally writtenpei as, aspei asmynhutw.m. 142 ‘if thou wishedst it’. Similarlygwedy asgwelychc.m. 83 ‘after thou hast seen it’. After affirmativeneu, asneusr͑oẟesw.m. 20 ‘he has given it’; rarely after affirmativea, asAsattebwys dofyẟb.t. 24 ‘the Lord answered him’.—In Late Mn. W.nis is sometimes treated as if thes meant nothing; such a misuse is rare in Ml. W. and, where it occurs, is probably a scribal error, asNys gwelas llygat eiroet y sawl ẟynẏonỺ.A. 117 withnys repeated from the previous line. Onos foro ‘if’ see§ 222 v (1).
In Early Ml. verse we sometimes findnuy (≡nw͡y) in relative sentences corresponding tonis in direct statements (nwy from an old contraction of *no i̯, cf. *wy(1) above, *no being the orig. form of the neg. rel., see§ 162 vi (3)); asnis guibit arnuyg(u)elhob.b. 7 ‘he will not know it who has not seen it’; cf. do. 8 ll. 1, 13. Later by metathesis this appears asnyw, asnyt kerẟawrnywmolwyr.p. 1400 ‘there is no minstrel who does not praise him’;nywdeiryt do. 1273 ‘which do not belong to him’. Laternyw is used in direct statements, asacnywkelafr.p. 1244 ‘and I will not conceal it’. Inb.ch. occursenyu (≡ỿnɥw)teno tranoeth 14 (misprintedeny ina.l. i 32) ‘until he removes it the following day’, formed analogically. We also findrwy rel., asrwydigonseib.t. 24 ‘who had made him’.
(3) Afterpan ‘when’ and Ml.kyt ‘since’ syllabic accus. forms are used:ym,yth,y,yn,ych,y. In Late Mn. W. these are writteny’m,y’th,ei,y’n,y’ch,eu; the apostrophe is incorrect, seeiv (2). But even in Ml. W. afterpan and other conjunctions ending in consonants, an affixed ace. pron. after the verb is preferred to the infixed; seeiii (1).
yr panythweleis gyntafw.m. 156–7 ‘since I saw thee first’;pani’mclywai clust Job xxix 11;kidimguneitb.b. 23 (≡cɥd ym gw̯nëɥẟ) ‘since thou makest me’. In the early period also afternid ‘there…not’, asnidann-vyẟb.b. 90 ‘there will not be to us’ (ann dat. see below).
(4) In Ml. and Early Mn. verse the forms in (2) and (3) are also used in the dative.
Dolur gormo8 amdoẟywr.g. 1127 ‘too much grief has come to me’;car a’moedd,ny’moes G.m.a. i 201 ‘a friend there was to me, there is not to me’ (i.e. I had but have not);Ambo forthb.b. 34 ‘may there be a way for me’;panimroted par do. 23 (t ≡ẟ) ‘when existence was given to me’;E’mrhoddes liw tes lw teg D.G. 136 ‘[she of] the hue of summer gave me a fair pledge’;Cerdd eos a’mdangosai ’Y mun bert do. 499 ‘the nightingale’s song would show me my comely maid’.
(5) Initial vowels are aspirated after the following prefixed and infixed pronouns: all the forms of the gen. 3rd sg. fem., and gen. 3rd pl.; all the infixed forms of the acc. 3rd sg. m. and f. and 3rd pl., except s.
oeẟ liw ẏhwynnebỺ.A. 81 ‘was the colour of her face’;oc euhamsser do. 119 ‘of their time’;mi a’ihadwaen ef Gen. xviii 19.
After’m,’n andyn gen. and ace. both aspirated and unaspirated initials are found.
omhanvoẟr.m. 11,w.m. 18,omanvoẟr.m. 30,w.m. 43 ‘against my will’;ynharglwyẟ niỺ.A. 165,ynarẟerchogrwyẟ ni do. 168 ‘our majesty’. So in Early Mn. W.:A’mannwyl D.G. 219,a’medwyn ibid. ‘knows me’,o’mhanfodd D.E.g. 113,i’moes S.T.f. 29, i’mhoed D.G. 498. In Late Mn. W. theh- is always used, and often written superfluously aftereich,’ch.
iii. Affixed pronouns aresubstantive andauxiliary.
(1) Substantive affixed pronouns are used in the accusative after verbs as sole objects; they are identical with the independent pronouns simple, reduplicated and conjunctive, with the initials of the 1st and 2nd sg. softened.
They occur where there is no preverb to support an infixed pronoun, as when the vb. is impv.; where the preverb ends in a consonant, aspan, etc.; and in some other cases where there is no infixed pronoun; for the details see Syntax.
dygwchvioẟymaw.m. 8 ‘bear me hence’;hualwydfi D.G. 47 ‘I have been shackled’;clywfyfy do. 100 ‘hear me’;pann welsantefỺ.A. 114 ‘when they saw him’;ny roẟassithi do. 122 ‘she had not been given’. They often follow auxiliary affixed pronouns, asPan geissych divyvir.m. 224 ‘when thou seekest me’.
They are also used in the dative after interjections, asgwaefi! ‘vae mihi!’
(2) Auxiliary affixed pronouns serve as extensions of other pronominal elements; they are appended to words which already have either personal endings, or prefixed or infixed pronouns. The form of the 1st sg. isi, in Early Ml. W.‑e (≡ɥ); in Late Mn. W. it is writtenfi after‑f, but this is an error, though sometimes found in Ml. W.; the 2nd sg. isdi, after‑t ti, Early Ml.‑de; 3rd sg. m.ef,efo, f.hi; pl. 1.ni, Early Ml.‑ne, 2.chwi, 3.wy,wynt, laterhwy,hwynt. There are also conjunctive forms,innau,dithau, etc.
Supplementing (a) the personal form of a verb:gueleis-eb.b. 71 ‘I saw’,arẟuireav-e do. 36 ‘I extol’;pan roddaisiserch D.G. 134 ‘when I set [my] affection’,andau-deb.b. 61 ‘listen thou’,Beth a glywaistti? D.G. 335 ‘what didst thou hear?’y dêlhi§ 136 iii, etc.
(b) the personal ending of a preposition:irof-eb.b. 23 ‘for me’,arnatti D.G. 136 ‘on thee’,iẟawefw.m. 5 ‘to him’, etc.
(c) a prefixed or infixed pronoun, gen., acc. or dat.:wi-llav-eb.b. 50 (≡vỿ-llaw-ɥ) ‘my hand’,f’enaidi D.G. 148 ‘my soul’;amcreuys-eb.b. 82 ‘who created me’;nymdaw-e do. 62 ‘there comes not to me’;dyn ni’mcredi D.G. 173 ‘a woman who does not believe me’.
‘I would not seek heaven and its abodes if I knew that he would not attain it.’
iv. Origin of dependent pronouns: (1) Prefixed.—fy < Ar. *mene§ 113 ii;dỿ ‘thy’ < Brit. *to(u) proclitic form of *tou̯e < Ar. *teu̯e;—ỿ ‘his’ < Ar. *esi̯ó: Skr.asyá;y ‘her’ < Ar. *esi̯ās: Skr.asyā́ḥ,§ 75 vii (2);—an ‘our’, Bret.hon,hor, all for *anr, which (like Ir.ar n- for *anr n‑) represents regularly (§ 95 ii (3)) Kelt. *n̥sron < *n̥s-rōm: Goth.unsara, with suff. ‑(e)ro‑: cf. Lat.nostrum with suff.‑t(e)ro‑;—ny beforehun < *nes or *nos: Skr.naḥ acc., gen., dat.;—awch ‘your’, formed fromchwi on the analogy ofan:ni;—eu ‘their’, O.W.ou, Bret.ho, is probably for *w͡y unaccented, and so from *eison < Ar. *eisṓm: Skr.eṣā́m ‘their’ < *eisṓm, Osc.eisun‑k; for the weakening of unaccentedw͡y toeu see§ 78 iii;—yn,ych before numerals < *esnes, *esu̯es: Goth.izwis ‘you’ acc. < *esues;—yll is a form of anl-demonstrative§ 165 vi, perhaps < acc. pl. *ollōs < *óli̯o- or *olno‑: Lat.ollus.
(2) Infixed.—Gen.— ‑m,‑th see§ ii (1); Brit. *men caused the rad. of tenues, the nas. of mediae§ 107 iv, and as the latter was generalized forfy, the former was for’m;— ‑e or‑y is merely the prefixedy contracted with the preceding vowel;— ‑n,‑ch are the prefixed forms with the vowel elided;— ‑e or‑y ‘their’, originally only aftero ‘from’ and *do ‘to’; thusoe oroy ‘from their’ <o *w͡y contracted; similarly the rareroe ‘to their’;ay ‘and their, with their’ is formed on the analogy ofoy, instead of the orig.ac eu which also survived, asoc eu ‘from their’ was formed on the analogy of the latter, instead of orig.oy (o ‘from’ had no‑c);—i’w ‘to his’, etc., Ml. W.yw met. for *w͡y < *do ĭ ‘to his’ contracted after *esi̥ó ‘his’ had become *i̯, but early enough for *oi to become *w͡y, see§ ii (1); the metathesis is actually attested innuy (≡nw͡y) >nyw, see below.
Acc. (dat.).— ‑m,‑th < *mm‑, *tt‑ from acc. *me, *te, dat. *moi, *toi, originally used after the neg.ny, the tense part.ry, etc., which caused gemination of the initial; in Ir. also the forms afternī,ro,no,do, etc., are‑mm‑,‑t- (≡tt); see§ 217 iv (1); after the rel.a which causes lenition,‑m,‑th must be analogical; the rad. initial after‑m is due to the analogy of‑m gen.;— ‑n (Ir.‑nn‑) < *nes, see§ (1);‑ch by analogy; the syllabic forms prob. developed thus: *pann m cl- > *pann m̥ cl- >pan ym clywai; son >n̥ >ỿn;ỿth,ỿch by anal.; cf.heb ỿr§ 198 iii; on the whole this is more probable than thatỿ- represents the vocalic ending ofpann lost elsewhere, which is the explanation of the corresponding Ir. forms generally assumed (Thurneysen Gr. 246, Pedersen Gr. ii 145); in any case they- is not the rel.y, which is not used afterpan§ 222 xi (2), so that the formpan y’m is misleading and wrong;— ‑e,‑y, inae,ay ‘who…him’, forai *ĭ contracted; syllabicy < *ĭ; *ĭ < *en < *em ‘him’; the nasal ending caused the rad. of tenues, which was generalized;‑s from the fem. acc. *sīm ‘her’, *si̯ās ‘them’, with the initial doubled as in *mm‑, *tt‑, so that it gives‑s (not *h‑); in Ir.‑s- is f. sg. only; in Corn. it is f. sg. and pl.; in W. extended to the m. because the m. *ĭ was lost afterni; thus *ni caf ef becamenis caf ef on the anal. ofnis caf hi; soae ‘who…her’ instead ofas on the anal. ofae ‘who…him’;—rel.nyw <nuy (≡nw͡y) < *no ĭ, seeii (2).
(3) Affixed.—The substantive forms are the same as the independent forms. Auxiliary:i,b.b.‑e (≡ɥ) < *iᵹ < *egō: Lat.ego, Gk.ἔγω, etc.; originally used as subject after a verb, it came to supplement a 1st sg. pron. in other cases;—di,b.b.‑de < *tu;—ni,b.b.‑ne < *nes or *nos (which may have become nom. likenōs in Lat.).
¶ For pronouns suffixed to prepositions see§§ 208–212.
Possessive Adjectives.
§ 161. i. A possessive adjective was placed after its noun, which was usually preceded by the article, asytŷtau D.G. 18 ‘thy house’, sometimes by a pref. or inf. pron., asẏ’thwyndutteur.p. 1202 ‘to thy paradise’; rarely it was added to an indefinite noun, as
‘And to make measures out of sweet verses of mine.’
The above adnominal use is common as a poetical construction; in prose it survived only in one or two phrases likeyreieiẟawỺ.A. 20 “suos”. Ordinarily the possessive adjective stands as the complement of the verbs ‘to be’, ‘to become’, etc., asmalpeiteuveir.m. 127 ‘as if it were thine’; or is used substantially preceded by the article, asarnaf i ac ary meus.g. 268 ‘on me and on mine’.
ii. (1) The forms of the possessive adjectives in use in Ml. W. are the following-:
| Sg. | 1.meu | Pl. | 1.einym |
| 2.teu | 2.einwch | ||
| 3. m.eiẟaw, f.eiẟi | 3.eiẟunt |
In Mn. W. the first three forms becamemau,tau,eiddo, by the regular change of final syllables; and new forms of the 1st and 2nd persons arose; see iii.
See Ml.W.einymr.m. 132,eiẟunt do. 26,eiẟiw.m. 476;einwch etc. see below. The formeiẟẏawỺ.A. 129 showsi̯ afterei§ 35 ii; but the present N.W. sound iseuddo with no trace of‑i̯- before‑o, and the intrusion is only sporadic in Ml. W.
(2) The above forms are sometimes extended by the addition of auxiliary affixed pronouns; thusmeu i ormeu inneu, teu di or teu ditheu,eiẟaw ef oreiẟaw efo, etc. In Mn. W. the 1st sg. takes the formmau fi ormau finnau.
Pa ẟarpar yw yreinwch chwi?r.m. 292 ‘what preparation is yours?’By ryw neges yw yreiẟaw ef?w.m. 40 ‘what business is his?’ẏ’rmeu is.g. 34 ‘to mine’,yteu diw.m. 84 ‘thine’,ymeu inneus.g. 251;A’r cwyntau di…yw’r cwynmau finnau I.G. 392 ‘and thy plaint is my plaint’; thef- is attested by the cynghanedd in I.G. 318 q.v.
iii. In the 15th century new forms of the 1st and 2nd sg. and pl. sprang up. Siôn Cent hasA’i natur…ysyeiddomẏ’n soddic 7/86 ‘and its [the earth’s] nature is ours to sink us’. T.A. haseiddocha31102/121. We also findeiddod:
‘Fine men got a word of praise; the best was the word [spoken] of thee.’
H.R. uses the curious 2nd sg. einwyd D. 185. G.R. (1567) gives einofor eiddof, eiddot,einom p. [123]; einom in A.G. 52. J.D.R. gives eiddof, eiddol, eiddom, eiddoch 69. These are the forms used in Late W., though mau and fan persisted in poetry.
Wm.S. usedmau andtau in his N.T., which were mostly changed intoeiddof andeiddot by the translators of the Bible, see e.g. Ioan xvii 6, 9, 10.
The forms of the 3rd sg. and pl. remain unchanged, except thateiddunt is misspelteiddynt in Late W.
iv. (1) It is generally assumed thatmeu is a new formation afterteu, and that the latter comes from the Ar. gen. *teu̯e: Skr.táva. But Ir.mui shows that the formation is not very new; it goes back at least to Pr. Kelt. The Ir.mui occurs as a gloss, but *tui is not found, and neither form occurs in construction. It is probable therefore that the predicative and substantival constructions so common in W. are secondary; for if original they might be expected to survive in Ir. on account of their convenience. Hence we may conclude thatmeu andteu were originally postfixes, a construction which disappeared in Ir. and only survived in poetry in W. They may therefore be derived directly from the Ar. enclitic genitives *moi, *toi: Gk.μοι, τοι (σοι), Skr.me,te (e < *ai < *oi), Lat.mī (< *moi), see§ 75 viii (2).
(2) The Ar. 3rd sg. corresponding to *moi, *toi was *soi: Gk.οἱ, Av.hē,šē; this gives W. *(h)eu. Besidey meu andy teu, there must have beenyr *heu, which givesrheueẟ ‘property, wealth’ (r͑eueẟm.a. i 244a); andyr *(h)eu ‘his property’ became ‘the property’ whence *(h)eu ‘property’. When *(h)eu became obsolete as an enclitic it was replaced in the sense of ‘property’ bymeu, which givesmeueẟ ‘property’ (meuetm.a. i 361b). It was followed byi ‘to’ and a pronoun:Aemeu ẏ minneudy verch di weithon?Meuheb ynteur.m. 142, lit. ‘is thy daughter property to me now? Property [i. e. Yes] said the other’;vy merch inneu a geffy ynveu itt do. 125 ‘and my daughter thou shalt have as property to thee’, i.e. for thine own;ynveu iẟawe hun do. 207 ‘as property for himself’. In its orig. form the last expression would be *eu iẟaw; of thiseiẟaw is an obvious contraction; similarlyeiẟi for *eu iẟi;eiẟunt for *eu iẟunt. On the analogy ofeiẟaw ef (for *eu iẟaw ef) arosemeu i,teu di. Ineiẟaw ef theef is of course the ordinary affixed pron. supplementing the personal ending ofiẟaw, see§ 160 iii (2) (b).
(3) The use ofyn *eu for the lateryn veu is attested in the O. W.nou glossing genitives inm.c.; asnouirfionou gl. rosarum = (y)n *eu yr ffioneu ‘as the property of the roses’, i.e. that of the roses (n- representingyn before a vowel is common, e.g.nyl.l. 120 ‘in its’§ 107 ii). It is found before the 1st pl. pron.:nouni gl. nostrum = (y)n *eu (y)nny; later *eu ynny becameeinym on the analogy of the prepositional form ofeiẟaw, and ofgennym ‘(belonging) to us’ (mae gennym ‘we possess’);einwch was evidently formed fromeinym on the analogy ofgennwch.
The processes which produced these forms have repeated themselves at later periods:eiẟo ‘his’ (like the old *eu ‘his’) became a noun meaning ‘property’; it began to be used with a dependent genitive in the 14th century:a vueiẟawdy vam dis.g. 270 ‘was thy mother’s property’;eiẟawnepỺ.A. 35;eiddo’r Arglwydd 1 Cor. x 26; thus O. W.n‑ou-ir-fionou would now beyneiddo’r ffïon. Fromeiddo were formed the new 1st and 2nd sg. and pl. formseiddof (fi),eiddot (ti),eiddom (ni),eiddoch (chwi), carrying further the analogy ofeiddo (ef). Lastly, there is a recent tendency, instead ofyn eiddo (ef), to sayyneiddoiddo (ef), which exactly reproducesyn *euiẟaw (ef), which is the origin ofyn eiẟo (ef).
The Relative Pronoun.
§ 162. i. The forms of the relative pronoun are—nom. acc.a [soft]; adverbial cases, before vowels Ml.yd,yẟ, Mn.yr, before consonants Ml.yd [soft], Ml. and Mn.y [rad.]; in the genitive and in cases governed by prepositions botha andyẟ (yr),y are used.
Nom.:gyrru yr erchwysalaẟyssei y carw eymdeithw.m. 2 ‘to send the pack that had killed the stag away’;Gwyn ei fyd y dynawnelo hyn Es. lvi 2 ‘Blessed is the man that doeth this’.—Acc.:o ymgael a’r gwraẟywedy diw.m. 4 ‘to find the manwhom thou mentionest’;Ai dyma’r ymprydaddewisais? Es. lviii 5 ‘Is this the fastthat I have chosen?’—Adv.:o’r lleyẟoeẟw.m. 39 ‘from the placewhere he was’;e korneẟeuo e brenhẏna.l. i 76 ‘the horn fromwhich the king drinks’.—Nom. and adv.:
‘I will go with praisethat is sweet from the landwhere I am to Father Rhys.’
The gen. rel. is supplemented by a prefixed personal pronoun to point out the case:Mab…aẟylivas Iẟasẏleithb.b. 87 ‘the Sonwhose death Judas plotted’;Ol…aẟucpwyd mochẏdatw.m. 469 ‘Ol,whose father’s pigs were stolen’;brawt ẏ’r gwrybuost neithwyr ynẏlys do. 130 ‘brother of the man in whose court thou wast last night’;y nebymaddeuwydeidrosedd Ps. xxxii 1 ‘hewhose transgression is forgiven’.—Similarly a preposition takes a personal ending to show the gender and number of the relative:ẏ’r nebawelei newyn a sychetarnawỺ.A. 126 lit. ‘to the onewhom he saw hunger and thirston him’;nyt amgen no’r prennydibynnawẟ yr arglwyẟarnnaw do. 61 ‘no other than the tree on which the Lord was crucified’.—Dat.y followed byi with suff.:y rhaiyrhoddwydiddynt Matt. xix 11 ‘they to whom it is given’; also without the prep.:
‘Fair Ieuan with his spear of ash and steel to whom belong the qualities of Arthur.’Rhywia’ dynyrhoed enaid T.A.a 14967/29 ‘the most generous man to whom a soul was [ever] given’.
The formae inE betevaegulich y glavb.b. 63 ‘The graves which the rain wets’ may be an echo of O.W.ai with the rad. after the acc., see vi (1).
By the elision of unaccented syllablesa is often lost in Mn. W. verse, asY ddraig coch ’ ddyry cychwyn D.I.D.g. 177 ‘[it is] the red dragon that gives a leap’.Y gŵr llên ’ gâr holl Wynedd Gut.O.g. 204 ‘the learned man whom all Gwynedd loves’. The soft initial remains to represent it. In Ml. W. it may be lost before initiala‑. The frequent dropping of the rel.a is a characteristic of much of the slipshod writing of the present day.
ii. (1) The usual adverbial form before a vowel in Ml. W. isyẟ; butyr, though rare, appears in the 14th cent., asynoyradeilawẟ Beuno eglwysỺ.A. 123 ‘[it was] therethat Beuno built a church’;hyt y seneẟyroeẟit yn ẏ aros do. 114 ‘as far as the synodwhere he was awaited’. In Mn. W.yr became the usual form, butyẟ remained as a poetical form, the bards using both indifferently according to the demands of the cynghanedd, as
‘[It is] from an acre to a hundred that a man goes, [and] a churl from two to one.’
(2) Between vowelsyẟ oryr may become’ẟ or’r, e.g.wedi’ddêl L.G.C. 394 ‘after [the time] when it goes’; but before a consonant it is alwaysy; unlike the article, it cannot appear as’r after a vowel if a consonant follows. On the sound of they in the word see§ 82 ii (1).
iii. In Early Ml. W. the adverbial rel. often appears asyd (≡yd, notyẟ), later writtenyt; this occurs not only before vowels but before consonants also, the latter usually undergoing the soft mutation.
Tecydgan ir adarenb.b. 107 ‘[it is] sweetlythat the bird sings’;mynydvo truinydvit trev do. 83 ‘[it is] therewhere a nose is that a sneeze will be’;yn Aber Cuawcytganant gogeur.p. 1034 ‘[it is] at Aber Cuawgthat cuckoos sing’.
In theb.b. the soft occurs afteryd twelve times; the rad. occurs four times (id p- 41, 53,id k- 85, 95), and in each case may be due to provection. Beforet‑,d‑,g‑,ff‑,s‑,m- n‑, onlyy [rad.] occurs; beforek‑,gw‑,b‑,ll‑, bothy [rad.] andyd [soft] appear; beforep‑,r- onlyyd‑; before a vowel,yẟ, rarelyyd.
iv. (1) The pres. ind. of the verb ‘to be’ has a relatival formsydd,sy, Ml. W.yssyẟ,yssy, in theb.b. oftenissi (i ≡y). The full formysydd is also used in Mn. W., and is generally wrongly dividedy sydd, because the accent is on the second syllable. The suffixed rel. is thesubject of the verb, which always means ‘who is’, ‘who am’, etc.
Although originally 3rd sg., the rel. may have a noun or pron. of any number or person as antecedent; thusDiau mat chwychwisybobl Job xii 2 ‘Doubtless it is youwho are people’.
(2) In the verbpieu the interrogative elementpi came to be used as a relative; see§ 192 ii (2), (3).
(3)pan, originally interrogative, is mostly relative in Ml. and Mn. W. It is used for ‘when’, chiefly where no antecedent is expressed; see§ 222 vi (1).—In questions and answers it expresses ‘whence’, aso py wlat…panhenwytc.m. 33 ‘from what country [is it] that (= whence) thou art sprung?’Ae o bysgottapandeuy di do. 53 ‘is it from fishing that thou comest?’ In these casesyẟ may be used, andyr supplantspan in Mn. W. Onpan in answers see§ 163 i (6).
v. (1) The negative relative is nom. acc.ni, nid, Ml. W.ny,nyt; this form is also used in the gen., in the loc. afterlle, and in cases governed by prepositions; but the adverbial form generally (e.g. afterpryd,modd,fel,megis,paham,pa fodd, etc., and adverbs likebraidd,odid, etc.) isna, nad, Ml. W.na,nat. In Late W. there is a tendency to use thea form everywhere.
Nom.:Nyt oes yndi nebny’th adnapor.m. 3 ‘there is in it no onewho will not know thee’.Gwyn ei fyd y gŵrnirodia Ps. i 1.—Acc.:yr hynnnywelsyntỺ.A. 12 ‘thatwhich they hadnot seen’;cenedlnidadweini Es. lv 5; also with a redundant‑s:llyna bethny‑sgwrthodaf-ic.m. 42 ‘that is a thing which I will not refuse (it)’.—Gen.:y drwsnyẟylywn nyẏagorib.m. 41 ‘the door which we ought not to open’, lit. ‘whose its opening we ought not’.—Loc.:llenywyperỺ.A. 26 ‘[in] the placewhere it isnot known’. After a prep.:nyroẟei hi…iẟawr.m. 33 ‘to whom she did not give’. Adv.:prytnaỺ.A. 26,w.m. 183,r.m. 85,prydna Jer. xxiii 7, D.G. 29,g. 297;malnac.m. 20;braiddna D.G. 50.
(2) The perfective particlery may introduce a rel. clause; see§ 219 v.
vi. (1) The relative pron. a probably comes from the Ar. relative *i̯os, *i̯ā, *i̯od: Skr.yá‑ḥ,yā́,yád, Gk.ὅς, ἥ, ὅ. It was a proclitic in Brit., and pretonic *i̯o might become *i̯a§ 65 vi (2); this was metathesized toai the oldest attested form, as inhai-oidb.s.ch. 2 ‘which was’,aitorro hacaydimanuo y bryeint hunnl.l. 121 ‘who breaks and who dishonours this privilege’,haibidcp. ‘which will be’; andai was reduced toa, a trace ofae occurring in Ml. W., seei.—To explain the soft mutation after it we have to assume that in Kelt. the nom. sg. m. was *i̯o like that of *so, *sā, *tod: Gk.ὁ, ἡ, τό (forms without‑s are older, and *i̯o might be a survival).—The verbsyẟ,yssyẟ represents regularly *estíi̯o = *estí i̯o; it differs fromyssit ‘there is’, which sometimes precedes it, asyssit rin yssyẟ vwyb.t. 28 ‘there is a secret which is greater’,§ 189 iii (3). The acc.a (< *i̯om) prob. had a radical initial after it at first, cf.ae gulichi above, anda gulich…‘which…moistens’ four times inb.b. 46.
(2) In Ar. adverbs were formed from pronominal and other stems by adding various suffixes, many of which began with a dental: thus, denoting place, *‑dhi (Gk.πό-θι ‘where?’ὅ-θι ‘where’), *‑dhe, *‑dha (Skr.i-há ‘here’, Gk.ἰθα-γενής), *‑ta (Gk.κατά, W.gan < *km̥-ta); whither, *‑te (Gk.πό-σε? <‑τε, Goth,hvaþ ‘whither?’); whence, *‑dhem (Gk.‑θεν), *‑tos (Skr.yá-taḥ ‘whence’, Lat.in-tus, W.hwn‑t ‘hence’); manner, *‑ti (Skr.í-ti ‘thus’, Lat.iti-dem), *‑thā (Skr.ka-thā́ ‘how’,yá-thā ‘as’, Lat.ita < *i-tā); time, *‑dā (Skr.ya-dā ‘when’), *‑te (Gk.ὅ-τε ‘when’); Brugmann² II ii 728–734. To these may be added the adj. of number formed with *‑ti (Skr.ká-ti ‘how many?’ W.pe‑t id., Lat.quo‑t, Skr.yá-ti ‘as many’).
The W. adverbial forms of the rel. prob. represent several of these derivatives of the rel. *i̯o‑; accentedo would remain, and, becoming unacc. later, would givey§ 65 iv (2). Distinctions of meaning were lost, and the forms were adapted to the initials which followed them.—yẟ before a vowel may represent *i̯ó-dhi ‘where’ or *i̯ó-dhem ‘whence’; possibly inid thrice beforeaeth inb.b. 3, 97 (marg. bis) an old distinction is reflected:id < *i̯ó-te ‘whither’.—yd [soft] denoting manner askelvitidganb.b. 15 ‘[it is] skilfullythat he sings’ < *i̯ó-ti or *i̯ó-thā; denoting number, aspop cantidcuitin do. 95 ‘[it was] by the hundredthat they fell’ <*ió̯-ti, cf. Ml. W.pet ‘how many?’—y [rad.] prob. has two sources: 1.yd [soft] beforet- gives *yd d- which becomesy t‑, i. e.y [rad.], afterwards extended to other initials; 2.yẟ must have been orig. used before consonants as well as vowels, and might take the rad. (yẟ ‘whence’ < *i̯ó-dhem); the‑ẟ would be lost before the consonant§ 110 iv (3).—Asyr is not known to occur before the 14th cent. it is improbable that it represents an oldr-derivative. It is most probably for Late Ml.yr as inval yr lygryssit…ẏ grofdeuw.m. 75 ‘the way that his crofts had been ruined’, fromy ry, aspob gwlat o’r y ry fuum do. 144 ‘every country of those where I have been’. (Earlier,ry is used withouty asHuchof re traydhassama.l. i 58.) The analogy of the art.y:yr might help to spreadyr rel. before a vowel.
(3) The neg. rel.ny may be < *no < *ni̯o < *ne i̯o. It caused lenition because orig. unaccented, see§ 217 iv; later the mutation after it was assimilated to that following ordinaryny ‘not’; probablynyt rel. is also analogical.na is probably the same as indirectna, see ib.
vii. (1) The relative in all cases comes immediately before the verb of the rel. clause (only an infixed pron. can intervene); and is often preceded by the demonstrativesyr hwn,yr hon,yr hyn,ar as well asy sawl,y neb,yr un,y rhai. In translations these, which are properly antecedents or stand in apposition to the antecedent, are often attracted into the relative sentence, producing a confused construction; see Syntax. Before the adverbial forms there occur similarlyy lle ‘[in] the place’ (the rel. meaning ‘where’),modd,mal,megis ‘[in] the manner’ (the rel. meaning ‘in which’),pryd ‘the time’ (the rel. meaning ‘when’), etc.
(2) In sentences beginning with a noun or adverb followed by a rel., the noun or adv. is the predicate and the rel. clause the subject. ThusDafydd a welais i means ‘[it is] David whom I saw’ or ‘[the man] whom I saw [is] David’;yma y ganed Dafydd means ‘[it is] here that D. was born’. In the spoken language the noun or adv. is always emphatic and predicative, and the literal meaning is not departed from. But in lit. W. sentences of the above form are used rhetorically where the noun or adv. is not emphatic; hence some scholars have doubted thata andyẟ are relatives. It seems clear however that the sense preserved in the spoken language is the literal one. This is confirmed by the use of the rel. verbssydd,pieu, seeiv (1),§ 192 ii (3); cf.§ 163 v.
Interrogative Pronouns, Adjectives and Adverbs.
§ 163. i. The interrogative pronouns, adjectives and adverbs are the following (the form of the interrogative is the same whether the question be direct or indirect):
(1) Ml. and Mn. W.pwy ‘who?’
Puyguant cath palucb.b. 96 ‘who wounded P.’s cat?’Ac ny wnn ipwywyt tiw.m. 3 ‘and I know not who thou art’;ẏbwyy r͑oẟitw.m. 402 ‘to whom it should be given’;Pwya osododd ei mesurau hi, os ywyddost? neupwya estynnodd linyn ami hi? Job xxxviii 5.Bwy W.Ỻ. 44, 59.
In Ml. W.pwy is also used for ‘what is?’ asdayar,pwyẏ llet neupwyẏ thewhetb.t. 20 ‘the earth, what is its breadth or what is its thickness?’pwyenw y teir kaer do. 35 ‘what is the name of the three forts?’ Cf.r.p. 1054. It is also found later withenw, asPwydy henw D.G. 365 ‘what is thy name?’ This may be forpy *wy where *wy is an older form ofyw ‘is’§ 78 iv (1); if so, inpwy yw dy enwỺ.A. 128 theyw is redundant.
The use ofpwy before a noun is rare:Pwyystyr yw gennyt ti kelu…w.m. 454 ‘what reason hast thou to conceal…?’ Probably theyw here is redundant as above, and the construction was originally that inPwyystyr nas agory ti do. 456 ‘what is the reason that thou wilt not open it?’ This type of phrase might give rise to the adjectival use ofpwy, which occurs more frequently later, and is common in the dialects:pwywrỺ 30/103,pwyryw fyd do. 480, cf.pwyun§ ii (1) below.
(2) Ml. W.pa, py, ba, by, Mn. W.pa, ba (rarelypỿ) ‘what…?’ adjectival. It causes the soft mutation (b.b.pa gur ≡pa ᵹwr).
Pagur yv y porthaurb.b. 94 ‘what man is the porter?’Pagyvarwydd a vyẟ ẏmiw.m. 4 ‘what indication will there be to me?’ẏ edrychpaveẟwl yw yr eiẟunt do. 39 ‘to see what thought is theirs’;ymmhaddinasoedd y maent yn preswylio Num. xiii 19.—Pyẟrwc yw hynnyr.m. 178 ‘what evil is that?’ i.e. what does that matter?pyle pan ẟeueiw.m. 132,r.m. 204 ‘whence he came’.—Babeth see (3),byẟyn bynnacr.p. 1256. Forms withb- are common in Early Mn. verse.
In Early Ml. W.pa,py is also used for ‘what?’ substantival, asparoteiste oth oludb.b. 20 ‘what didst thou give of thy wealth?’Paẟarvuw.m. 58,r.m. 41 ‘what happened?’Pawnafr.p. 1045 ‘what shall I do?’Pygynheil magwyr dayar yn bresswylb.t. 28 ‘what supports the wall of the earth permanently?’—It is also used for ‘why?’ asPyliuy (≡livy orliwy)diw.m. 454 ‘why dost thou colour?’Duw reenpybereist lyvwrr.p. 1032 ‘Lord God, why hast thou made a coward?’
(3) Ml. W.peth ‘what?’ substantival, usuallybeth, alsopa beth,ba beth: Mn. W.beth,pa beth.
A wẟost tipethwytb.t. 27 ‘dost thou know what thou art?’Na wn, heb ynteu,pethyw marchawcw.m. 118 ‘I do not know, said he, what a knight is’;Pethbynnac seeiv.
bethyw dy arch diw.m. 20 ‘what is thy request?’bethyw hynny do. 28, 42 ‘what is that?’bethyssyẟ yn y boly hwnn do. 54 ‘what is in this bag?’bethyssyẟ yma ib. ‘what is here?’Betha ẟarvu yn y diweẟ iẟaw efỺ.A. 16 ‘what happened in the end to him?’betham y r͑ei bychein do. 41 ‘what about the little ones?’Beth…pei ‘what if’ 12 times inỺ.A. 67–8.Betha gawng. 228 ‘what shall we have?’Betha wnawn i’n chwaer? Can. viii 8.
Papeþbijuv. gl. quid;papedpinnacm.c. gl. quoduis;ba bethoreu rac eneidb.b. 84 ‘what [is] best for the soul’;Pa betha wnnant wyỺ.A. 66 ‘what do they do?’Pa bethyw dŷn i ti i’w gofio? Ps. viii 4.
(4) Early Ml. W.pet [soft] ‘how many…?’ (In Late Ml. W. and Mn. W. this gave place topa sawlii (4).)
petwynt,petffreu,petavonb.t. 20 ‘How many winds, how many streams, how many rivers’;Gogwn…petẟyẟ ym blwyẟyn,petpaladɏr yg̃ kat,petẟos yg̃ kawat do. 21–2 ‘I know how many days [there are] in a year, how many spears in an army, how many drops in a shower’.
(5) Early Ml. W.pyr ‘why?’
pirdeuthosteb.b. 23 ‘why hast thou come?’pyrna’m dywedyẟb.t. 27 ‘why dost thou not tell me?’pyrna thr(a)ethwch traethawt do. 19 ‘why do you not make a statement?’pyry kyverchy diw.m. 486 (inr.b. 126Py rac…) ‘why dost thou accost [me]?’ A formpyt occurs once, and may be an error forpyr:—pytechenis drwcb.t. 27 ‘why did evil arise?’
(6) Ml. W.pan ‘whence?’ alsobanb.b. 102. It is generally repeated before the verb in the answer.
panẟoy di, yr yscolheic?Panẟoaf, arglwyẟ, o Loygɏrw.m. 76 ‘Whence comest thou, clerk? I come, lord, from England.’ In the answerpan has become a relative, so that the original meaning would be ‘whence I come, lord, [is] from England’.pan is similarly used in the answer when it occurs as a relative (foryẟ) in the question;o ba lepanẟeuy di?Panẟeuaf, heb ynteu, o’r dinasr.m. 275 ‘from what place [is it] that thou comest? I come, said he, from the city’. Onpan rel., see§ 162 iv (3).
(7) Early Ml. W.cw, cwd (cwt),cwẟ ‘where?’ ‘whence?’ ‘whither?’
mor,cvthreiacudechwit…Redecauc duwɏr…cvda…cvtreigil,cvthrewna(?),pa hid a, nevcudvitb.b. 88 ‘The sea, whither it ebbs, whither it subsides…Running water, whither it goes, whither it rolls, where it settles (?), how far it goes, or where it will be’.kwtynt plant y gwrw.m. 453 ‘where are the children of the man?’ (in ther.m. 101ble mae forkwt ynt).Neu noscwtẟyuyẟ,kwẟẟirgel r͑ac dyẟb.t. 41 ‘or night, whence it comes, whither it recedes before day’;cwẟvyẟ nos yn arhos dyẟ do. 28 ‘where the night is, awaiting the day’.Ny wtantcwt (t ≡ẟ)ant P.M.m.a. i 284 ‘they know not where they go’.
(8)pi-eu ‘to whom belongs?’ See§ 192.
ii. Many interrogative expressions are formed by combining pa, py with nouns and adjectives; thus
(1)pa un, pl.pa rai ‘which?’ (followed byo ‘of’),pwy un is also found.
Amba uno’r gweithredoedd hynny yr ydych yn fy llabyddio i? Ioan x 32.gwraig ibwy uno honynt yw hi? Luc xx 33.Pa reivu y r͑ei hynnyỺ.A. 17 ‘which were those?’
pa un is also used sometimes for ‘who?’ asdywet titheu..pa unwyt tis.g. 57 ‘and do thou say who thou art’.
pa un andpwy un are sometimes contracted top’un andpwy’n; thuspunwytr.m. 222 ‘who thou art’ (forw.m. 154pwy wyt);Brig kŵyr, pwy ni ŵyrpwy’nyw S.Ph.c 19/274 ‘(Maid of) the waxen hair, who knows not who she is?’
(2)pa le,ple,ble ‘where?’ ‘whither?’o ba le,o ble ‘whence?’i ba le,i ble ‘whither?’pa du ‘where?’ ‘whither?’ (These forms supplantedcw,cwd,cwẟ in Late Ml. and Mn. W.)
Pa ley bu BabelỺ.A. 44 ‘where was Babel?’blemae plant y gwrr.m. 101, see i (7) above;Pa leyẟ aeth Aẟaf ynaỺ.A. 13 “quo ivit tunc Adam?”Ble’dd ân’ rhaig blaidd o Wynedd T.A.a 14966/57 ‘whither will they go from the wolf of Gwynedd?’O ba ley daw breuẟwydonỺ.A. 57 ‘whence come dreams?’I bley tyn heb weled tir T.A.a 14979/143 (D.G. 296) ‘whither will it (the ship) make for without seeing land?’Pa duỺ.A. 19 ‘whither?’py tuw.m. 484 ‘where’.
(3)pa ẟelw, pa weẟ, pa ffurɏf, pa voẟ, latepa sut ‘how?’
Pa ẟelwy daw yr arglwyẟ ẏ’r vrawtỺ.A. 61 “qualiter veniet Dominus ad judicium?”Pa weẟ do. 15 “quali modo?”Pa ffurɏf do. 4;pa voẟ do. 21.
pa bryd ‘when?’pa awr (pa hawr§ 112 i (2)),pa ẟyẟ, etc., ‘what hour?’ ‘what day?’
(4)pa faint ‘how much? how many?’ followed byo ‘of,pa hyd ‘how long?’pa sawl [rad.] ‘how many?’
ny ẟiẟorypa veinto wyrda Ffreinc a ẟivaerc.m. 78 ‘thou carest not how many of the nobles of France are destroyed’.Pa fainto gamweddau…? Job xiii 23.Pa hydarglwydd y’m anghofi? Ps. xiii 1.Bysawlnef ysyẟỺ.A. 128 ‘how many heavens are there?’Pysawlpechawt a oruc Aẟaf do. 131 ‘how many sins did Adam commit?’Pa sawlllyfr,pa sawlbedd…a welsochb.cw. 70 ‘How many books, how many graves have you seen?’
maint andhyd are equative nouns§ 148 i (12),(8).pa may also be put before any equative adj. withcyn; aspy gybelletoẟyma yw y crucw.m. 154 ‘how far from here is the mound?’ It is also used in Mn. W. withmor and a pos. adj.pa mor ẟa, etc.
(5)pa gyfryw [soft] ‘what manner of…?'’ Mn. W.pa ryw fath [soft],pa fath [soft] id.
Py gyfrywwr yw awch tat chwi pan allo lleassu pawb vellyw.m. 152 ‘what manner of man is your father when he can kill everybody so?’Pa ryw fathraia.g. 36.—cyfryw is the equivalent of an equative§ 149 ii (1).
(6)pa ryw [soft] ‘what…?’ adjectival.
Sometimespa ryw means ‘what kind of?’ asPa rywlun yssyẟ ar yr engylẏonỺ.A. 9 “qualem formam habent angeli?” But generally it means ‘what particular (thing, etc.)?’ or ‘what class of (things etc.)?’ preserving the older meaning ofryw§ 165 vi; aspa rywlu sy’n poeri i lawr D.G. 409 ‘what host is spitting down [the snow]?’ynteu a ofynnwyspa rywẟynẏon oeẟ y r͑ei hynnyc.m. 14 ‘and he asked what class of men those were.’
pa ryw becamepa rỿ (cf.amrỿ-§ 165 iv (9)) wrongly writtenpa ’r y, aspa ’r yddyfnder M.Ỻ. i 212 ‘what depth?’ This is again reduced topa r’ (wrongly writtenpa ’r), aspa r’ofid waeth T.A.a 14866/201 ‘what sorrow [could be] worse?’Perygl i wŷr,pa ’r glwy waeth L.M.d.t. 145 ‘dangerous to men, what disease [is] worse?’apha ’rgledi sydd arno ’rŵanb.cw. 73 ‘and what hardship does he suffer now?’—pa ryw un ‘which (particular) one?’ becomespa r’un M.Ỻ. i 182, which is very common in Gwynedd, and is sometimes further reduced top’r’un.
iii.pa orpy might have a postfixed preposition,§ 47 iv. Of the expressions so formed onlypahám ‘why?’ survives; often contracted topam which is at least as early asw.b. Others in use in Ml. W. arepa-har andpa rac orpy rac; for references see§ 47 iv.
Pamy kymerwn inheu hynny gan y tayogeu lladronw.m. 68, cf. 73 ‘why should we take that from the thievish villains?’
Ml. W.paẟiw, pyẟiw ‘to whom?’ seems to belong to this class, but its formation is obscure; seevi.
O.W.padiuox. ‘for what?’ glossing quid in “Quid tibi Pasiphae pretiosas sumere vestes?”issit padiu itau gulatjuv. lit. ‘there-is to-whom-it-is that-comes lordship’ (?) glossing est cui regia in “Cunctis genitoris gloria vestri laudetur celsi thronus est cui regia caeli”.—Ml. W.geẏr eu ẏ eẏr [ef]paẟẏuẏ r͑oẟes [pyẟiwnys r͑oẟes]a.l.ms. a. [ms. d.] i 108 ‘his (the donor’s) word is word (i.e. decides) to whom it is that he gave it, to whom it is that he did not give it’.gwynn ẏ vytpyẟiwy r͑oẟir kerennyẟ Duwr.p. 1056 ‘Blessed is he to whom is given the grace of God’. Later with a redundantẏ ‘to’:ẏ byẟiwy bo gorẟerch deciẟawc.m. 32 ‘[we shall know] to whom it is that there will be a fair leman’.
iv. The formspwy bynnag,peth bynnag,beth bynnag,pa beth bynnag,pa..bynnag, etc., have lost their interrogative meaning, and are used as “universal” relatives, meaning ‘whosoever’, ‘whatsoever’, ‘what … soever’.
Pwybynnaca vynnhoỺ.A. 138 “Quicunque vult”.Peth bynnaco garueiẟrwyẟ a vei yrungthuntw.m. 6 ‘whatsoever of blandishment there was between them.’A Duw a vyẟ ẏ gyt a thibethbynnaca wnelychỺ.A. 105–6 ‘And God will be with thee whatever thou doest’.Byẟynbynnacvych,bygerẟ a vettrychr.p. 1256 ‘what man soever thou art, what craft [soever] thou art skilled in’.paddaionibynnaga wnelo pob un Eph. vi 8.
In S.W. dialectsbynnag loses its final‑g, and in late S.W.mss. it sometimes appears asbynna orbenna. We also find in Late Mn. W.bynnag put beforepa,peth, asBynnag bethsydd mewn creadur Wms. 294 ‘whatsoever is in a creature’;bynnag pa’r foddm.l. i 82, 97 ‘however’; though used here by W.M., it does not seem to be a N.W. construction. A dialectal form in S.W. ofbynnag isgynnag, andgynnag pwy,gynnag beth are found in some lesser writings of the late period; more recently they appear in the corrupt and curiously meaningless formsgan nad pwy,gan nad beth.
v. As the interrogative is always predicative it is followed regularly in Ml. and Mn. W. by the relative on the analogy of affirmative sentences; thuspwyaŵyr ‘who [is it]that knows?’ on the analogy ofDuwaŵyr ‘[it is] Godthat knows’,§ 162 vii (2). But this appears to be an innovation in the case of the interrogative, as the oldest examples omit the relative, aspuy guant i (1),pa roteiste i (2),pir deuthoste i (5).
vi. The stems of the interrogative in Ar. were *qu̯o‑, *qu̯e‑, f.qu̯ā‑, also *qu̯i‑, *qu̯u- the last in adverbs only (Brugmann² II ii 348).—W.pwy < nom. sg. mas. *qu̯o‑i: Lat.quī < *qu̯o‑i.—W.pa,pỿ adj. < stem *qu̯o- compounded with its noun and so causing lenition;o after the labial becomesa, or remains and becomesỿ, cf.§ 65 iv (2).—W.pa,pỿ subst. < nom., ace. sg. neut. *qu̯o‑d, *qu̯i‑d: Lat.quod,quid; lenition is perhaps due to the analogy of the adj.pa,py.—W.peth < *qu̯id-dm̥§ 91 ii; already in Brit. the word had become indef., meaning ‘something, thing’, hencepa beth ‘what thing?’beth is not necessarily a shortening of this, aspa is not omitted in such phrases in Ml. W.; butbeth is forpeth (= Ml. Bret.pez ‘quid?’) which occurs in Ml. W., seei (3), withb- as inba,byi (2),banb.b. 55, 56.—Ml. W.pet ‘how many?’ Bret.pet < *qu̯e-ti§ 162 vi (2).—Ml. W.pyr ‘why?’ < *qu̯o‑r: Goth., O.E.hwar ‘where?’ < *qu̯o‑r, Lat.cūr < *qu̯ō‑r.—W.pan < *qu̯an-de < *qu̯ām-de: cf. O. Lat.quamde, Umbr.ponne§ 147 iv (4) p. 245.—Ml. W.cw,cwd,cwẟ represent different formations of *qu̯u- (qu̯ >k beforeu§ 89 ii (3)) by the addition of more than one of the suffixes named in§ 162 vi (2); the different forms have been confused, and can no longer be disentangled; similar formations are Skr.kú-ha (h <dh), Gathav.ku-dā ‘where?’ Lat.ubi < *qu̯u‑dh‑, O. Bulg.kŭ-de ‘where?’
W.pam,pahám < *pa(ẟ)am < *qu̯od m̥bhi ‘what about?’paẟiw orpyẟiw is obscure; no dative form seems possible; an analogical *pod-do might give *pyẟ (asd‑d >d§ 93 iii (1)) andiw may beyw ‘is’§ 77 v; so ‘to whom it is’ or ‘for what it is’.
W.bynnag, Bret.bennak,bennag, seems to be from some such form as *qu̯om-de ‘when’ +ac ‘and’, so that in meaning it is the literal equivalent of Lat.cum-que, and is, like it, separable (Lat.quī cumque lit. ‘who and when’).
Demonstrative Pronouns and Adjectives.
§ 164. i. (1) The demonstrativeshwn ‘this’,hwnnw ‘that’ are peculiar in having a neuter form in the singular. Both are substantival and adjectival. The adjectival demonstrative is placed after its noun, which is preceded by the article; thusy gŵr hwn ‘this man’. The different forms are—sg. mas.hwn,hwnnw, fem.,hon,honno, neut.hyn,hynny, pl. m. and f.hyn,hynny.
The following forms occur in O.W.:hinnm.c., juv., cp. ‘hyn’;hunnoidox.,hunnuidm.c. ‘hwnnw’;hinnoidox. ‘hynny’;hirunnjuv. ‘yr hwn’,ir hinnm.c. ‘the one’, m., seeiv (1);hunnuithcp. f.hinnuith ib. m.,hinnith ib. neut. and pl.
(2)hwnnw means ‘that’ person or thing out of sight, ‘that’ in our minds. To indicate objects in sight, adverbs are added tohwn; thushwn yna ‘that (which you see) there, that near you’,hwn acw, Ml. W.hwnn racko ‘that yonder’. Sohwn yma ‘this here’. Butyma andyna are also used figuratively;hwn yma ‘this’ which I am speaking of,hwn yna ‘that’ which I have just mentioned. Hence we can have the abstracthyn before these; but not beforeacw which is always used literally of place.
Vy arglwyẟes i ywhonn rackor.m. 175 ‘that (lady) yonder is my mistress’.Guttun Ywain a ysgrivennoddhwnnyma Gut.O. auto.Ỻ 28/33r. ‘Guttun Owain wrote this’.
‘It is rare for this one to store or to want wealth.’
These expressions are sometimes used adjectivally asywreic weẟwhonn ymanỺ.A. 114 ‘this widow’;o’rbythwnn yma do. 117 ‘from this world’;yvorwynhonn ymas.g. 143 ‘this maiden’. But for this purpose the adverb alone is generally used:ynybytymaỺ.A. 102, 155 ‘in this world’;o’resgobawtymar.p. 1272 ‘from this diocese’;yvyẟin burwennraccor.m. 151 ‘the white army yonder’. Any other adverb of place may be similarly employed:yfandraw,ytuhwnt, etc.
In the spoken languagehwn ýna,hon ýna,hɥn ýna are commonly contracted tohẃ|na,hó|na,hɥ́|na (nothwnna, etc.); and these forms occur in recent writings.
(3) The neut. sg.hyn,hynny always denotes an abstraction; it means ‘this’ or ‘that’ circumstance, matter, thought, statement, precept, question, reason, etc.; or ‘this’ or ‘that’ number or quantity of anything; or ‘this’ or ‘that’ period or point of time.
Hynny,hep ef,ansyberwyt oeẟw.m. 2 ‘that, said he, was ungentlemanliness’ (meaning ‘that’ conduct);Pater noster…sef yw pwyllhynnyyn tat niỺ.A. 147 ‘Pater noster…the meaning of that is our Father’.A wnelohynnid ysgogir yn dragywydd Ps. xv 5;wedihyn ‘after this’.
‘I have not wept with the harp for my [own] father as much as this.’
ii. (1) The neut.hyn orhynny is substantival, not adjectival. In Mn. W. it is sometimes used adjectivally after certain nouns; but as the construction is unusual in Ml. W., it must be a neologism:yn y kyfrwg̃ hynnyr.b.b. 11 foryg̃ kyfrwg̃ hynny do. 319, 320, 321. The examples show that it is added to nouns expressing ideas for which substantivalhyn stands.
o’r chwedl hirhyn H.A.Ỻ 133/164 ‘of this long story’;A’r pethhyn S.Ph.e.p. 275 ‘and this thing’ [which thou knowest];y pethhyn Dan. iii 16 ‘this matter’;ein negeshyn Jos. ii 14, 20 ‘this our business’;y prydhynny 1 Sam. xiv 18;ai’r prydhyn Act. i 6.—This use ofhyn,hynny never became common, but seems to have been more or less local. In Gwenthyn adj. has spread, and is now used with all nouns.—O.W.hinnith afterir loc guac incp. 6 seems to be an error forhinnuith as in 9, 11, 14, 15, a form ofhwnnw, withỿ forw in the penult, cf.§ 66 ii (1).
(2) The pl.hyn orhynny is both adjectival and substantival. The former use is extremely common. The latter is comparatively rare; examples are—
ny thebygaf i ẏ un ohynvynetw.m. 35 ‘I do not imagine any of these will go’,ahene (≡hỿnnɥ)a elguyr goskorth e brenyna.l. i 8 ‘andthose are called the king’s guard’.Ni phalla un ohyn Es. xxxiv 16 ‘No one of these shall be missing’.
The reason that this use is rare is thathyn orhynny pl. was liable to be confused withhyn orhynnyneut. sg.; thushyn ‘these’ might be taken forhyn ‘this (number)’. To avoid the ambiguity ‘these’ and ‘those’ substantival were expressed byy rhai hyn andy rhai hynny, literally ‘these ones’ and ‘those ones’. Though still commonly written in full, these expressions were contracted, early in the Mn. period, toy rhain G.G1.c. i 198 andy rheiny do. do. 194, ory rheini T.A.a 24980/85.
‘The death [angel] of God has been at Cedewain, robbing these [i.e. the people there[7]] of their treasure.’
‘Where are the elders? Are those dead? Eldest of all to-night am I.’
iii. Adjectivalhwn andhon form improper compounds with nouns of time; thusyr awr hon >yr áwron (§ 48 iv),yr áwran;y waith hon > Ml. W.e weẏthẏona.l. i 242 (ms. b) usuallywéithon, Mn.wéithi̯on,wéithi̯an (§ 35 ii (1));y pryd hwn >y prýtwnw.m. 102;y wers hon >y wérshonw.m. 128; all the above mean ‘now’. Soy nos hon >y nóson ‘that night’, andy dydd hwn >y dýthwn,y dẃthwn§ 66 ii (1) 'that day'. The formdỿthwn was still in use in the 17th cent.; see Silvan Evans, s.v.dwthwn.
‘It is a sign now that Rhys is sprung from this land.’
‘On every altar now provision is made of wine and white [bread].’
‘I am now a bard to Ieuan.’
By dissimilationyr awran (pron.yr owran§ 81 iii (2)) becameyr owan, and is now sounded in N.W.yrŵan. The loss of ther goes back to the 15th cent.: :O bu draw ’r bywyd ar ran,
‘If his life has been spent partly away, the Nightingale is here now.’
As ‘this day’ and ‘this night’ were expressed byheẟiw andheno, the formsy dỿthwn andy noson were used for ‘this day’ or ‘this night’ of which we are speaking, i.e. ‘that day’ or ‘that night’. When the composition of the words was forgottenhwnnw andhonno were added for clearness’ sake; thus ina.l. i 142, wherems. a. hasni ẟeley dithunkafail ateb ‘he is not to have an answer that [same] day’, the laterms. e. hasy dythwn hunnw. This is the Biblical construction; seey dwthwn hwnnw Jos. iv 14, vi 15, viii 25, ix 27, etc.;y noson honno Dan. v 30, vi 18. Later,noson anddwthwn were wrested from this context, and taken to mean simply ‘night’ and ‘day’; e.g.a dreuliodd ydwthwnyn sanctaiddrh.b.s. 215 translating “who has spent hisday holily”.
iv. (1) The formsyr hwn,yr hon andyr hyn (but not *yr hwnnw etc.) are used before the relative, meaning, with the latter, ‘the one who’ or ‘he who’, ‘she who’, and ‘that which’; in the pl. y rhai ‘the ones’ is used, which is more strictly the pl. ofyr un ‘the one’; the latter is similarly employed, as are alsoy neb,y sawl and definite nouns likey gŵr Ps. i 1, etc.
O. W.ir hinn issidm.c. ‘he who is’ gl. ille;ir hinn issid Christjuv. ‘he who is Christ’;hirunnjuv. gl. quem. The first two glosses show thatir hinn might be mas. in O. W.
(2) The above forms may be qualified by superlatives:o’r hynn odidockafa wypychr.m. 163 ‘of the rarest that thou knowest’;o’r hyn goreua gafferw.m. 428 ‘of the best that is to be had’. When so qualified a rel. clause need not follow:o’r hyn lleiaf Act. v 15 ‘at least’;taledo’r hyn goreuyn eifaes ei hun etc. Ex. xxii 5. So with adverbial expressions:yr hwnny tu a Chernyww.m. 59 ‘the one towards Cornwall’.
(3) In the 16th cent.yr was often omitted beforehwn in this construction:hwna fedd fawredd W.Ỻ.g. 292 ‘he who possesses greatness’;Hwna wnaeth nef E.P.ps. cxxi 2 ‘He who made heaven’;ihwna’th wahoddodd Luc xiv 9;ihyna weddiller Act. xv 17. In Gwyn. dial.yr hwn has been replaced byhwnnw.
v. Before relatives we also have in Ml. W. the formar, which is sg. and pl.
Ioluneara beirb.b. 88 ‘let us praiseHim who creates';yno kyrcheistara gereist o rei goreu G.M.D.r.p. 1202 ‘there thou broughtestthose whom thou lovedst of the best’;arny ẟel yn uvyẟ kymmeller o nerth cleẟyveuw.m. 8 ‘lethim who will not come obediently be compelled by force of arms’;ac a vynnwys bedyẟ o’r Sarascinẏeit a adwys Charlys yn vyw, acarnys mynnwys a laẟawẟc.m. 3 ‘and [those] who would be baptized of the Saracens Charles left alive, andthose who would not he slew.’
It is chiefly found in the form’r aftero ‘of’.
Ac o’ra welsei efo helgwn y byt, ny welsei cwn un lliw ac wyntw.m. 1 ‘and ofthose that he had seen of the hounds of the world he had not seen dogs of the same colour as these’;o’ra ẟelei ẏ’r llysw.m. 34 ‘ofthose who came to the court’;pob creadur o’ra wnaethpwytỺ.A. 4 ‘every creature ofthose that have been created’;bob awr o’rẏ hoetterc.m. 86 ‘every hour of those during which it is delayed’.
In Mn. W. this construction survives witho replaced bya§ 213 iii (1)
na dim a’rsydd eiddo dy gymydog Ex. xx 17.Pob peth byw a’rsydd gyda thi Gen. viii 17, see ix 16.ym mhob dim a’ry galwom arno Deut. iv 7.dim a’ra wnaethpwyd Ioan i 3.
vi.hwn andhon come in the first instance from Brit. *sundos, *sundā; the neut.hyn from *sindod, and the pl.hyn from either *sundī or *sindī. The‑u- and‑i- are undoubtedly for‑o- and‑e- before‑nd-§ 65 iii (1); we arrive, therefore, at *sondos, *sondā forhwn,hon, *sendod forhyn neut., and *sondī or *sendī forhyn pl. (In the Coligny Calendarsonno andsonna occur, Rhys CG. 6, but the context is obscure or lost.)
The most probable explanation of the above forms seems to be that they are adjectives formed from adverbs of place, which were made by adding a‑d(h)- suffix,§ 162 vi (2), to *sem‑, *som‑: Skr.samá‑ḥ ‘same’, Gk. ὁμός, Ir.som ‘ipse’. The form of the adverb would be similar to that of Skr.sa-há ‘in the same place together’ < *sm̥-dhe; but the Kelt. formations have the full grades *sem‑, *som- (instead of the R‑grade *sm̥‑) and the demonstrative meaning (‘in this place, here’). For the formation of an adj. *sendos from an adv. *sende cf. Lat.supernus:superne, and cf. the transference of the flexion to the particle‑te in Lat.is-te, etc.
It is probable that coming after its noun the form of the adj. was m. *sondos, f. *sondā, neut. *sondod, pl. m. *sondī giving W. m. and neut.hwn, f.hon, pl.hyn. This agrees with the fact that neut. adj.hyn after a noun is an innovationii (1).—Before a noun the form would be *sendos etc., whence the Ir. article (s)ind. This survives in only a few phrases in W.—The substantival form would also be m. *sendos, f. *sendā, neut. *sendod, pl. m. *sendī which would give W. m.hyn, f. *hen, neut.hyn, pl.hyn. We have seen above,iv (1), thatir hinn was m. in O.W., but was already beginning to be ousted byhirunn (for *ir hunn), as *henn had perhaps been already replaced byhonn, for in Corn. the forms are m.hen (= W.hynn), f.hon (= W.honn). The result is thathyn remains as the neut. subst.; but the m. and f. substantiveshynn, *henn were changed tohwnn,honn on the analogy of the adjectives.
The formhwnnw comes from a derivative in´‑ii̯o- of the adj. *sondos; thus *sóndii̯os >hunnoiẟ§ 75 iv (2) >hunnuiẟ >hwnnw§ 78 i (1), (2). The fern. *sóndii̯ā would also give the same form, which actually occurs as f.:ir bloidin hunnuithcp. ‘that year’;honno is therefore a re-formate on the analogy ofhon; so the last syll. ofhynny§ 78 i (1).
ar is prob. formed in a similar manner from an adv. with the suffix‑r which was mostly locative, Brugmann² II ii 735. The stem might be *an‑§ 220 ii (11); thus *an-ro‑s > *arr >ar.
Pronominalia.
§ 165. i. Pronominalia expressing alternatives are substantival and adjectival, definite and indefinite.
Subst. def.:y naill … y llall ‘the one … the other’; pl.y naill … y lleill ‘these … the others’. In Ml. W. the first term isy neill ory lleill, thusy lleill … y llall ‘the one … the other’. With an adj. or rel. clause, and in negative sentences, the first term isyr un ‘the one’, pl.y rhai, Ml.y r͑ei ‘the ones’.
Subst. indef.:un … arall ‘one … another’; pl.rhai … eraill, Ml.r͑ei … ereill ‘some … others’.
In the following list of adjectival formsgŵr,gwŷr,gwraig show the position and initial mutation of the noun:
Adj. def.:y naillŵr …ygŵrarall ‘the one man … the other man’;y naill wraig … y wraig arall;y naill wŷr … y gwŷr eraill. Fory naill Ml. W. hasy neill ory lleill, and foreraill,ereill, also used in Mn. W.
Adj. indef.:rhywŵr … gŵrarall ‘a certain man … another man’;ungŵr … gŵrarall ‘one man … another man’;rhyw wraig … gwraig arall;un wraig … gwraig arall;rhyw wŷr … gwŷr eraill; Mn. W.rhai gwŷr … gwŷr eraill. Ml. W.ereill, also used in Mn. W.§ 81 iii (1).
y naill (and Ml.y lleill) adj. ‘the one’ andrhyw form compounds with their nouns, which are lenited§ 155 ii (1),iii (7). The compound is often a strict one asy néillffordd,rhýwbeth. As‑ll causes provection of mediae, an initial tenuis afterneill,lleill generally appears unmutated in Ml. W., asy neillparth fory neillbarth, etc.,§ 111 vi (2); but analogy generally restores the mutation in Mn. W., especially when the compound is loose, asy naillbeth a’r llall ‘the one thing and the other’; butneilltu, see ib.
Subst.:yn gyflytn y llaẟawẟy neillo’r gweisson, ac yn y lle y llaẟawẟy llallr.m. 191 ‘he quickly slew one of the youths, and forthwith slew the other';yny orffeiy lleillary llallr.m. 262,w.m. 408 ‘until the one overcame the other’;a’r uny byẟei borth ef iẟi a gollei y gware, a’r llalla ẟodei awrw.m. 174–5 ‘and the one that he supported lost the game, and the other gave a shout’.—r͑eiohonunt yn wylaw,ereillyn udaw,ereillyn cwynawỺ.A. 152 ‘some of them weeping, others moaning, others crying’;iun, …ac iarall …ac iarall … etc. 1 Cor. xii 8–10; the second term may of course be repeated when indef.
Adj.:o’r lleillḅ parth … ac o’rpartharallw.m. 421–2 ‘on the one hand … and on the other hand’ (b beginningbarth deleted by underdot);am nat oeẟ kyn ẟiogelety neillfforẟ a’r llalls.g. 29 ‘because the one way was not as safe as the other’.—Or bwytey mywnunamser yn y dyẟ, a symut hynny ẏ amserarallm.m. 33 (fromr.b.) ‘if thou eatest at one time in the day, and changest that to another time’;rywẟyn cynbhigennus … undynarall J.D.R. [xxii] ‘a jealous man … any other man’; Mn. W.rhaidynion …eraillrh. b.s. 87 “some men … others”; the use ofrhai before a noun seems to be late, butneb r͑ei occurs so in Ml. W.,iv (3).
ii. (1) The first alternative may be a noun or personal or demonstrative pronoun, asti ac arall ‘thou and another’ (i.e. such as thou),hyn a’r llall ‘this and that’.
‘A kinsman accusing another!’ [It is] easy for the hand to accuse the other.’—kanys yr hynn a vynneihwnnnys mynneiy llalls.g. 49 ‘for that which this [one] desired the other desired not’. In these cases the second term subst. pl. may be (y)rhai eraill ‘(the) others’:mwy … oeẟhonnono’r rei ereillollw.m. 180 ‘that [ship] was larger than all the others’;llog̃a oeẟ vwy noc un o’r rei ereill do. 185; cf.Ỻ.A. 102.
(2) The first alternative may be implied, as in other languages; asydyddarall M.Ỻ. i 178 ‘the other day’;ynosarallr.p. 1362, D.G. 25 ‘the other night’;Gad ieraillgadw arian T.A.f. 6 ‘let others hoard money’.
iii. All the forms of the first term excepty naill subst. may be used without a sequel as ordinary pronominalia meaning ‘one, some’; thus
(1) Adj.y naill ‘one’ iny naill hanner ‘one half’ (now generally ‘about a half’),y naill du ory neilltu ‘one side’ (henceneilltuo ‘to retire’ etc.);neill-law see example.
Eisteẟ a oruc Peredur arneill lawyr amherodresw.m. 164 (neill-lawr.m. 231) ‘Peredur sat beside the empress’, lit. ‘on one side of the e.’ond pan êl o’r neilltu Diar. xx 14; see Gen. xxx 40; Barn. vii 5; 2 Sam. iii 27; etc.
(2) Subst.un ‘one’, pl.rhai, Ml.r͑ei ‘some’; often with qualifying adjectivesunda ‘a good one’,rhaidrwg ‘bad ones’. Alsoyr un ‘the one’, pl.y rhai, Ml.y r͑ei ‘the ones’; these are chiefly used with adjectives asyr un drwg ‘the evil one’, or with a relative clause§ 164 iv (1); andyr un instead of the indef.un in negative sentences, as—
Pa obeith yssyẟ ẏ’r gler? Nyt oesyr unỺ.A. 40 ‘What hope is there for the bards? There is none.’ Cf.s.g. 17, l. 10.
Adj.yr un [m. rad., f. soft] ‘the same’, followed, if necessary, byac (ag),a ‘as’. Alsoun [soft], forming compounds strict or loose with nouns; the compound is an adj. meaning ‘of the same…’,§ 149 ii (3).
(3) Adj.rhyw ‘a (certain), some’. The noun with whichrhyw is compounded, seei, may be singular or plural.
r͑yvduted edmicb.b. 43 ‘an admirable covering’.r͑ywẟavatenneum.m. 6 (fromr.b.) ‘some warts’.Yr oedd ganrywŵr ddau fab Luc xv 11 “ἄνθρωπός τις”.rhywddynion 1 Tim. v 24 ‘some men’;rhywbethau 2 Petr. iii 16 ‘some things’;mywnrhywbhanneu (bh ≡v) J.D.R. [xvii] ‘in some places’.
iv. Subst.un, pl.rhai and adj.rhyw, preceded by pronouns, numerals or prefixes, form composite or compound pronominalia, thus:
(1)Pa un, pl.pa rai ‘which?’§ 163 ii (1);pa ryw un§ 163 ii (6).
(2)pob un ‘every one’, pl.pob rhai.
Afob uno honuntw.m. 7 ‘and each one of them’.pop r͑eyo(’r)r͑eẏ hennea.l. i 8 ‘all of those’.Gofyn a oruc ẏ Chyarlys ansawẟpob r͑eio naẟuntc.m. 14 ‘he inquired of Charles the condition of all (i.e. each group) of them’.
(3)neb un ornebun subst. ‘some one, any one’, adj. ‘a certain’, pl.neb rhai, generally in positive sentences.
Subst.Nid mor ddiharebnebun§ 151 ii (3);neb r͑eio ovynnei [read‑eu]bycheinỺ.A. 2 “quasdam quaestiunculas”;nep r͑eidrwc do. 30 ‘certain bad ones’.—Adj.neb unvrenhindref yniỺ.A. 166 ‘a certain province of ours’;nebungenedɏlr.b.b. 280 ‘a certain tribe’;neb r͑eir͑inweẟeuỺ.A. 102 ‘certain miracles’.
(4)rhyw un, rhýwun ‘some one’, pl.rhyw rai, rhýwrai, Ml.r͑yw rei.
rhyw un 1 Cor. xv 35 “τις”;O achaws mileindrar͑yw rei …kanys y maer͑yw reia’m llaẟei is.g. 320 ‘On account of the brutality of some people; for there are some who would kill me’.
(5)dau ryw, tri rhyw, etc. ‘two (three, etc.) different, two (three, etc.) kinds of’.
Seithrywpechawt (readbechawt)marwawl ysyẟỺ.A. 147 ‘there are seven different deadly sins’.Tri r͑ywgywyẟ yssyẟ …Deu rywgywyẟ deu eir yssyẟr.g. 1134 ‘there are three kinds ofcywyddau, … there are two kinds ofcywyddau deuair’.
(6)pa ryw§ 163 ii (6).
(7)pob rhyw ‘every, all manner of’.
Pob r͑ywẟa o’r a orchymynnei yr yscrythur lanỺ.A. 126 ‘Every good that holy scripture commanded’.aphob r͑ywvlas yssyẟ ar y dwfɏr hwnnw do. 167 ‘and that water has every kind of taste’.aphob r͑ywunpethr.p. 1214 ‘and every single thing’.ibob rhywaderyn Ezec. xxxix 4;obob rhywbeth Matt. xiii 47.
(8)neb rhyw ‘any, any kind of’, in negative sentences.
canyt oesnep r͑ywgreadur a allo ẏ drossi efỺ.A. 33 ‘for there is not any creature that can turn Him’,nyt argyweẟaneb r͑ywwenwyn do. 166 ‘no poison hurts’.
neb rhyw ddim, see§ 170 iv (2).
(9)amryw ‘various, several’. In Ml. W. it was generally used with a sg. noun; in Late Mn. W. a pl. noun is generally used. In the Bible the noun is sometimes sg., but often pl.
Yssit yn y holy hwnnamrywvlawtw.m. 54 ‘There are in this bag various kinds of flour’;amrywduted (t ≡ẟ)m.a. i 220, ‘various coverings’;amrywwleẟeuỺ.A. 70 ‘various feasts’;amrywbwys, …amrywfesur Deut. xxv 13, 14;amrywhad …amrywddefnydd Deut. xxii 9, 11;amrywGalan Gr.O. 40 ‘many a New Year’s Day’;amrywbwysau acamrywfesurau Diar. xx 10;amrywglefydau Matt. iv 24;amrywddoniau …amrywweinidogaethau …amrywweithrediadau …amrywdafodau 1 Cor. xii 4, 5, 6, 10.
amryw, likerhyw, forms the first element of a compound; in some cases the compound is strict, andamryw then appears asamrỿ‑; thusamrỿ́-liw ‘parti-coloured’;amrỿ́son ‘wrangle’ (sôn ‘talk’);amrỿ́fus ‘erring’ (‑fus <*mois- < *moit‑t‑: Lat.mūto, E.miss, W.meth).
The recentamrai is a fiction; see Silvan Evans, s. v.
(10) cyfryw ‘such’, usually with the article,y cyfryw; followed, if necessary, byac (ag),a ‘as’, which may be omitted before a demonstrative pron. or a relative clause (the rel. itself is ‘as’ in this case, cf. Eng.the same who; and the demonst. prob. represents an old obl. case of comparison).
y kyfrywvwytaca oeẟ ganthaws.g. 200 ‘such food as he had’ (lit. ‘as what was with-him’);yny kyfrywleahwnnw.m. 10 ‘in such a place as this’;y kyfrywẟynahwnw.m. 123 ‘such a man as this’. Withoutac ‘as’:y kyfrywvarchawc yẟ oeẟ ef yn ẏ olw.m. 138 ‘such a knight as he was after’;y kyfrywẟyn hwnnr.m. 198 ‘such a man [as] this’;ẏ’r kyfrywwr hwnnwr.b.b. 65 ‘to such a man [as] that’.—Without the art.:a galwkyfrywẟynahwnw.m. 123 l. 30 (besidey kyfryw l. 16 quoted above) ‘and to call such a man as this’; cf.s.g. 316, Jer. v 9, Matt. ix 8.
On the analogy ofy meint etc.,y rhyw is used instead ofy cyfryw in the above constructions.
Ny bu eirẏoety r͑ywlewenyẟaca wnaethpwyts.g. 144 ‘there never was such a welcome as was prepared’;y r͑ywbryf a hwnnww.m. 77 ‘such a reptile as that’. Withoutac ‘as’:y r͑ywgenedɏl a elwir y pagannẏeitỺ.A. 166 ‘such a tribe as is called the pagans’;y r͑ywbryf hwnnwr.m. 54 ‘such a reptile [as] that’;y r͑ywgatwent honnor.b.b. 58 ‘such a fight [as] that’.
y cyfryw is also substantival.
lawer o’r kyfVrywỺ.A. 49 ‘many such’.Yn erbyny cyfrywnid oes ddeddf Gal. v 23.
pa gyfryw§ 163 ii (5);pob cyfryw ‘all’ emphatic§ 168 i (2);neb cyfryw ‘any such’§ 170 iv (3).
(11)unrhyw, generallyyr unrhyw ‘the same’, followed, if necessary, byac (ag),a ‘as’.
a’r unr͑ywymadrawẟ gantuntaca ẟothoeẟ gan y marchawc cyntafr.m. 200 ‘and [bringing] the same tale with them as came with the first knight’.Nid yw pob cnawdun rhywgnawd 1 Cor. xv 39.Note.—unrhyw came in the 19th cent. to be commonly used as a translation of the English ‘any’; thusni welaisunrhywddyn forni welaisundyn. Pughe in his Dic. does not give the word this meaning. (In D.G. 519 l. 46unrhyw seems to be a mistake foryn rhyw.) The phraseo un rhyw ‘of any kind’ is older.
un rhyw orunrhyw ‘same’ is also substantival.Ponytun r͑ywa gymerth IudasaPhedɏrỺ.A. 25 “Nonne Judas idem accepit quod Petrus?”
v.rhyw is also used as a noun m. ‘kind’; and as an ordinary adj. in the phraserhyw i ‘[it is] natural to…’. Fromrhyw ‘kind’ comerhywiog ‘kindly, of a good kind’,rhywogaeth ‘species’,afryw,afrywiog ‘unnatural, harsh’.
Yrhywhwn Marc ix 29.—mor oeẟrywym llew llywẏaw G.D.A.r.p. 1226 ‘how natural it was to my lion to rule!’Rhywiddi roi rhodd yr ŵyl T.A.a 9817/179 ‘It is natural to her to give a gift at the feast’.Nidrhywiddaw ond rhoddi G.G1.p 152/102 ‘It is only natural to him to give’.
vi.y naill (Ml.y neill) ‘the one’ is for *ynn eill in which *ynn =hynn ‘this’, Ir.ind ‘the’ < *sendos§ 164 vi; *eill < *ál’li̯os < *álali̯os, redupl. of *ali̯os: Lat.alius, Gk.ἄλλος; owing to the wrong division they is treated as the art. and becomes’r after a vowel.—Ml. W.y lleill ‘the one’ may be similarly for *yll eill, in which *yll is anl-demonstrative, like Lat.ille etc., ultimately allied to *ali̯os itself, Brugmann² II ii 340.—y llall similarly for *yll all;all < *áli̯os; pl.y lleill with *eill < *áli̯ī.—arall < *aráli̯os (: Ir.araile) by dissim. for *aláli̯os§ 102 iii (2); pl. ereill < *aráli̯ī; see§ 100 iii (2), (3).—Note the contrasted accentuation *ál(a)li̯os > *eill ‘one’: *aláli̯os >arall ‘other’.—un ‘one’§ 75 ii (1).—rhyw < *rii̯ó‑;rhai < *rii̯ī́§ 75 v; *rii̯o- < *pri‑o- =‑prio- in Lat.proprius: Lat.prīvus, Umbr.prever ‘singulis’,preve ‘singillariter’. Osc.preivatud ‘privato. reo’ (the‑v- in these is a suff.); the orig. meaning is ‘proper, particular’;rhyw ẟyn ‘a particular man’;rhyw i ‘proper to…, natural to…’;rhyw ‘a particular kind’; etc.; *pri‑o- may be an adj. derived from the prep. *pri (: *prei, *prai) ‘before’ (‘prominent’ > ‘characteristic’), spv. Lat.prīmus.
§ 166. i. ‘Each other’ is expressed bypawb i gilydd orpob un i gilydd, literally ‘each his fellow’ or ‘each one his fellow’.
ac y tag̃noveẟwydpawbo naẟunt ae giliẟw.m. 451 ‘and each of them was reconciled to the other’.Llawen vupob unwrthẏ giliẟo honunt do. 9 ‘Each of them welcomed the other’. (For the formgiliẟ see§ 77 iii; it is of course the spoken sound at the present day.)
‘Farewell now until the day when we shall see each other,’ lit. ‘each his fellow’.
In the 15th centurypawb orpob un came to be omitted, andi gilydd alone thus came to mean ‘each other’.
‘We shall see each other through the branches of the trees.’Ni a ddylem garui gilydda.g. 25 ‘we ought to love one another’.
In the familiar Salesburian orthographyi gilydd is of courseei gilydd ‘his fellow’. As the antecedent is generally pl., thei was mistaken in the spoken lang. fori ‘their’ (writteneu); and after the 1st and 2nd pl.ỿn andỿch are substituted for it on the analogy of the construction ofhun ‘self’; thus in the recent periodein,eich,eu are written beforegilydd, which owes itsg- to the fact that the pron. before it was the 3rd sg. m.i ‘his’.
Wm.S. and Dr. M. sometimes misspell the pron. aseu (Salesbury often confuses his own inventionei witheu; the spoken form of both wasi then as now). In the 1620 Bible the 3rd sg. m. pron. is correctly written in the orthography adopted in it:ar garu o honochei gilydd Ioan xiii 34;os bydd gennych gariad i’w gilydd do. 35;Byddwch yn vn-fryd â’i gilydd Rhuf. xii 16;Anherchwchei gilydd 1 Petr v 14;Anwylyd carwnei gilydd 1 Ioan iv 7, see 11, 12. In all these cases the 3rd sg. pron. was changed by R.M. (1746) toeich,’ch,ein.
ii. (1) Afteryr un in negative sentencesi gilydd often takes the place ofy llall.
Ac nyt attebeiyr unmwy noe gilyẟr.m. 211–2 ‘and neither answered more than the other’.—ny ẟigawnyr unohonunt vot ẏ wrthẏ gilyẟỺ.A. 128 ‘Neither of them can be away from the other’.
(2) It takes the place ofarall afterneu ‘or’; asrywddyddne’i gilydd D.G. 337 [ne’i (forneu’i) misprintednoi] ‘some day or other’.
(3) It is used instead ofarall ory llall after a noun,§ 165 ii (1), in such phrases as the following :
O ẟrwc ẏ [=ẏẏ]gilyẟr.m. 141 ‘From one evil to another’;o’r pryt ẏ [=ẏẏ]gilyẟ do. 62 ‘from one time to the other’ (? the same on the following day);o’r ysgraff pwy gilyẟs.g. 125 ‘from one barge to the other’;o’r mor pwy [gilyẟ]w.m. 180,o’r mor py [=pyẏ]gilyẟr.m. 83,o’r mor bwy gilyẟr.p. 1263 ‘from sea to sea’.
‘Right well she knows under the trees [how] to plait an osier with another.’
The noun would originally be mas., as it is in the above examples. Breton has a formé-ben to be used instead ofé-gile after a fem. noun; this is more likely to be original than the Corn. use ofy-ben after both genders. (The idea that this ispen ‘head’ is refuted by Henry, Lex. 109.)
iii. Irishcāch a chēle, the exact equivalent ofpawb i gilydd, is used in the same way. The Breton expression isann eil égilé (Legonidec 227) which in W. would be *y naill i gilydd.
The wordcilydd is used as an ordinary noun in the older Welsh poetry; asr͑ac Davyt awchkilytkilẏwch P.M.,m.a. i 280 ‘before David your comrade stand aside’.Duw ẏ Cheli vu ẏchilyẟ B.D.r.p. 1251 ‘God her Lord was her companion’. Also in the proverbCh(w)echach bwytkilyẟr.b. 966 ‘A neighbour’s food is sweeter’.
For the etymology of the word see§ 106 ii (1).
§ 167. i. (1) ‘Self’ is expressed by sg. and pl.hun or sg.hunan, pl. Mn.hunain, Ml.hunein with prefixed pronouns; for the forms see§ 160 i (2).
(2)fy hun means both ‘myself’ and ‘alone’; thusmi af yno fy hun ‘I will go there myself’ or ‘I will go there alone’. After gen. prefixed or infixed pronouns it means ‘own’, asfy llyfr fy hun ‘my own book’.
(3)fy hun,dy hun, etc. always stand in an adverbial case, meaning literally ‘by myself’, etc.; they do not replace a pronoun or pronominal element, butsupplement it. Thuseuthum fy hun ‘I went by myself’ (not *aeth fy hun ‘myself went’);fynhŷfy hun ‘my own house’ (not *tŷ fy hun ‘the house of myself’);amcanoddeiladdei hun Act. xvi 27; cf. 1 Ioan i 8; Iago 122; 2 Tim. ii 13;efe a’idibrisioddei hun Phil. ii 7; similarlyarnat dy hun 1 Tim. iv 16 (not *ar dy hun);ynddo ei hun Es. xix 17 (not *yn ei hun);drostun e‑huneinỺ.A. 37 (not *dros e hunein), etc. The reflexiveym‑ counts as a pronoun:ymroẟie‑hunỺ.A. 120, cf. 89 anda.l. i 176. (In colloquial Welshi hun is used alone as the object of a verb or v.n., aswedi lladd i hun instead ofwedi i ladd i hun, and this neologism occurs in recent writings; but in other connexions the old construction survives, thusmi af fy hun, arnat dy hun etc.) But after a conjunction joining it to another clause the pronoun which it supplements is not necessarily expressed; thusnyt archaf inheu ẏ neb govyn vy iawn namynmy hunr.m. 64 ‘I will bid no one demand my indemnity but myself;nad oes o’r tu yma ’r un ondfy hunanb.cw. 68 ‘that there is on this side none but myself;yn uch nomy‑hunỺ.A. 67 ‘higher than myself’.—When put at the head of the sentencefy hun etc. are followed by the adverbial rel.y (yẟ,yr), asvy hunyraf I.D. 35 lit. ‘[it is] myself that I will go’;canys ei hunanygelwais ef, acybendithiais, acyramlheais ef Es. li 2.
ii.un ‘one’ has a derivative *un-an lost in W. but surviving in Corn.onon,onan, Bret.unan; this and the fact thathun,hunan express ‘alone’ make it probable that the‑un in these is the numeral. But Corn.ow honan, Ml. Bret.ma hunan show that theh‑ in W.fy h‑unan is not merely accentual. Beforeu it may represent either *s‑ or *su̯‑; thushun may be from *su̯’oinom < *su̯e oinom (limiting accusative); the reflexive *su̯e might stand for any person at first (Brugmann² II ii 397), but personal pronouns were afterwards prefixed, thus *me su̯’oinom >my hun. Theu in Ml.mu etc. is due to assim. to theu ofhun.
168. i. (1) Subst.pawb ‘everybody’. Though sometimes treated as pl., e.g.pawb a debygyntw.m. 463 ‘everybody thought’,pawb a’m gadawsant 2 Tim. iv 16,pawb is, like Eng.everybody, properly sg., and is mas. in construction:
Pawbry-gavasẏ gyvarwsw.m. 470 ‘everybody has receivedhis boon’. So in a large number of proverbial sayings:Pawba’i chwedl gantho ‘everybody withhis story’;Rhydd ibawb i farn ‘free to everybody [is] his opinion’;Pawbdrosto’i hun ‘each forhimself’.
(2) Adj.pob [rad.] ‘every’. It sometimes forms improper compounds with its noun; aspopeth (≡poppeth forpobpeth) besidepob peth ‘everything’;pobman besidepob man ‘every place’;poparthg. 234 besidepob parth ‘every part’;o boptu besideso bob tu ‘on each side’.
The mutated form bob, by dissimilation of the consonants appears, though very rarely, asbod, in late Ml. orthographybot: asẏbotun ohonuntỺ.A. 3 ‘to each one of them’. N.W. dial.bṓd ỿg ū́n ‘each and all’, lit. ‘and one’; earlierbod ag unỺ.M. 9, T. i 346.
'pob un, pob rhyw§ 165 iv,pob cyfryw ‘every such’, aspob cyfryworfoledd Iago iv 16 ‘all such rejoicing’. But ordinarilypob cyfryw means ‘every’ emphatic, ‘all manner of’, thecyf- having the intensive meaning§ 156 i (9) (b). It is followed byo ‘of’ afterpob (not byag- ‘as’ aftercyf‑, so that thecyf- is not comparative).
pob kyfrywẟyn eithɏr Awtr.p. 1245 ‘every single person but Awd’.Yr r͑ei hynn oeẟ gyfrwys … ympob kyvrywarveuc.m. 10 ‘these were skilful in all manner of arms’.Pa le i mae Christ?Ymhob cyfriwlec.c. 319 ‘Where is Christ? In every single place’.Pob cyfriwbeth coll. ‘every single thing’.—obop kyfrywvwydeuo’r a rybuchei ehuns.g. 10 ‘of all viands which (lit. of those which) he himself desired’. Cf.r.m. 8,r.b.b. 50.
(3)pawb, Ir.cāch, gen.cāich < Kelt. *qu̯āqu̯os; the second element is probably the interr. and indef. *qu̯os and the first, *qu̯ā‑, an adverbial form of the same (Thurneysen Gr. 293).
pob, Ir.cach is the same, with the vowel shortened before the accent, which fell on the noun. The shortening is independent in W. and Ir.; the W.o (likeaw) implies Brit,‑ā‑,§ 71 i (2). Similarly Bret.pep < *peup with *eu <‑ā‑. The Ir.cech is an analogical formation; see Thurneysen ibid.
ii. (1) Adj.yr holl [soft] ‘all the’,fy holl [soft], etc., ‘all my’. Before a definite noun the article or its equivalent is omitted:holl Gymryr.b.b. 340 ‘all Wales’;holl lyssoeẟ y ẟayarw.m. 6 ‘all the courts of the earth’ (lyssoeẟ being made definite by the dependent gen.).
A wybybyr hollseint a wnneuthum i ymaỺ.A. 71 ‘Will all the saints know what I have done here?’a’r hollbethau hyn Matt. vi 33 ‘and all these things’;dy hollffyrdd Ps. xci 11.
A compound ofholl of the formhollreỺ.A. 166,holre do. 165,y rolre (=yr olre)b.b. 71 is used much in the same way, but is rare.
The derivativehollol ‘entire’ is an ordinary adj. following its noun, but is used chiefly withyn as an adverb:a hynnyyn hollawlỺ.A. 162 ‘and that wholly’; cf. Ps. cxix 8; Gen. xviii 21, etc.
(2)oll. This is always used in an adverbial case (of measure), and generally follows the word or phrase which it limits, though in poetry it may precede it.
Kemryolla.l. i 2 ‘all Wales’, lit. ‘Wales wholly’;y bydollg. 294 ‘the whole world’, lit. ‘the world wholly’;gwaduolly dadɏla.l. i 396 ‘to deny wholly the plea’;Nynioll Es. liii 6.
It cannot be used in the nom. or acc. case, but is always adverbial, limiting the pronominal element which is subj. or obj., and which must be expressed; thusaethant oll ‘they went wholly’ (not *aeth oll ‘all went’);arnaẟunt ollr.m. 113 ‘on them altogether’, Mn. W.arnunt oll (not *ar oll), etc.; cf.fy hun§ 167 i (3).
Note.—In Recent written Welsh a neologismyr oll has arisen to express ‘the whole’, instead ofy cwbl which is the form used in the natural spoken language,yr oll is even substituted foroll in late editions of earlier works; thusTi sy ’n trefnuolldy hun Wms. 555 appears in recent hymn-books asTi sy ’n trefnu’r olldy hun. (Of courseyr +oll givesyr holl the adjectival phrase, see below.)
(3) W.oll < Kelt. *oli̯od (limiting accus.); Ir.uile < Kelt. *olii̯os; probably cognate with Eng.all, Germ.all, Goth.alls < *ol-no‑s.
Theh- of holl is caused by the‑r of the article before the accented vowel§ 112 i (2), and was transferred to cases where the article was not used. But the adverbialoll remained, since the article never occurred before this.
hollre seems to be compounded ofholl andgre < *greg‑: Lat.greg‑; as incamre§ 127.
iii. (1) Subst.cwbl ‘the whole’, followed byo ‘of’.
Ef a ẟoy am dy benncwbɏl o’r govutw.m. 80 ‘all the retribution would have come upon thy head’;cwbɏla geveis io’m hamherodraeth do. 190 ‘I have recovered the whole of my empire’;kaeawẟkwbɏl oẟrysseu … y neuaẟs.g. 5 ‘closed all the doors of the hall’;kwbɏl o’r wirioneẟ do. 161 ‘the whole of the truth’;yn ôlcwbl ogyfraith Moses 2 Bren. xxiii 25; cf. Nah. i 5.
In Late Mn. W. the article came to be put beforecwbl; this appears already in the Bible : Gen. xiv 20 (1620); in late edns. in Ex. xxiii 22, 2 Chron. xxxii 31.
(2) Adj.cwbl [soft] ‘complete’.
cwbɏlwaradwyẟ a geveisw.m. 42 ‘[it is] a thorough insult that 1 have had’;cwbɏlweithret,cwbɏlsarhaeta.l. i 526 ‘the complete act, the full fine’;cwblddiwydrwydd 2 Pedr i 5.
It is also used after its noun:kanny bu weithretcwbɏla.l. i 526 ‘since there was not a complete act’;cymodloneddcwblm.a. i 348 ‘complete reconciliation’.
Adv.yn gwbl,o gwbl ‘wholly’:ac ereẏllen kubɏla ẟẏleassant a.l. i 2 ‘and others they entirely abrogated’;y byẟei euro gwbɏlr.m. 62 [where iron should be] ‘there was gold throughout’, cf.r.b.b. 280. In neg. sentenceso gwbl ‘at all’ is in common use in spoken W. (pron.ṓ gẃbwl).
(3) W.cwbl, Corn.cowl,cowal probably represent *cwvl§ 111 vii (4) < *kom-(p)lu‑(s): Gk.πολύς, W.llawer§ 169 ii (3), the prefix having its intensive meaning, as incom-plete, etc.,§ 156 i (9) (b).
§ 169. i. (1) Subst.y sawl sg. ‘such’, pl. ‘as many’, used only before relative clauses, the rel. expressing ‘as’,§ 165 iv (10).
Y sawlae gwelei kyflawn vyẟei oe serchr.m. 117 ‘such as saw her was filled with her love’;gwelety sawla welei o velineuw.m. 161 ‘to see as many as he saw of mills’.Y sawla’m car ant i a garaf inneu Diar. viii 17.
Rarelysawl with a dependent genitive:a r͑wy osawly r͑ei yssyẟr.p. 1252 ‘and more of the like of those that ar’.
(2) Adj.y sawl [soft] ‘as many’, usually with a pl. noun and withoutac; but the noun may be sg. andac expressed; cf.§ 165 iv (10).
Ac ny ellit dwyn bwyt ý’r sawlvilẏoeẟ yssyẟ yma, ac o achaws hynny y maey sawlvelineu (hynn)w.m. 162 (E.M. 229) 'and food could not be brought to as many thousands as are here, and [it is] for that reason that there are so many mills ([as] these);y sawlvorynyon rackos.g. 33 ‘as many maidens [as those] yonder’.y sawlryveẟawtacyssyẟ yn y wlat honns.g. 18 ‘as many a wonder as there is [lit. as which is] in this land’.
(3) The original meaning seems to be ‘such’; hence probablysawl < *s‑tāl‑: Lat.tālis, with Kelt. prefixing ofs-§ 101 ii (1).
ii. (1) Subst.llawer sg. ‘much’, pl. ‘many’, followed, if need be, byo ‘of’. Also pl.llaweroedd ‘multitudes’.
A guedy byrẏerllaweryndiw.m. 21 ‘and when much has been thrown into it’, i.e. much food;llauernys guir ae gowin B.B. 68 ‘many who do not know ask it’;allawer ovein gwerthvawr ereillỺ.A. 166 ‘and many other precious stones’;llawera ddichon taerweddi y cyfiawn Iago v 16;fy ngwas cyfiawn a gyfiawnhâlawer Es. liii 11.
In an adverbial case (of measure)llawer [rad.] before a cpv. andlawer after a cpv. signify ‘much’ adv.:llawergwell ‘much better’;llaweriawn gwell Phil. i 23 ‘very much better’;mwylawerỺ.A. 68 ‘much greater’;a muy Wydẏon noc ynteulawerw.m. 106 ‘and Gwydion [regretted] more than he, much’;mwy oeẟ eflawerno hynny do. 229 ‘he was bigger much than that’. Buto lawer is perhaps more common after the cpv., as in the last two passages inr.m. 77, 166.
(2) Adj.llawer [rad.] ‘many a’ followed by a sg. noun.
allawerdamwein a ẟigawn botw.m. 28 ‘and many an accident may happen’.
‘Many a woman widowed of her lord, many a man in a white corselet.’
(3) W.llawer < *(p)luu̯eros formed by adding the cpv. suffix‑ero- to *plu‑, *p(a)lu- < *pₑlu‑ Gk.πολύς < *pₑlu‑.
iii. (1) Subst.llḯaws ‘many, a multitude’;lluosydd id.
llẏausb.b. 5 (ẏ ≡i);yn llvyr ẏ guyrlluossitb.b. 66 (‑it ≡‑yẟ) ‘thoroughly does a multitude know it’.Na ddilynliawsi wneuthur drwg Ex. xxiii 2;lliawso flynyddoedd Job xxxii 7. With a dependent genitive:lliawsdy dosturiaethau Ps. li 1.
(2) Adj.llḯaws [soft] ‘many a, much’, with a sg. or a pl. noun; this is the nounllḯaws compounded with another noun. The adj., used as a complement, is Ml. W.lluossawc, Mn. W.lluosog.
Lliawsgurẏawr.p. 1216 ‘much suffering’;Ceveis iliawsawr eur a phali M.m.a. i 192 ‘I had many a time gold and silk’;olïawseirchẏeidm.a. i 259 ‘of many suppliants’;ilioslu§ 71 ii (1);Morlluosogyw dy weithredoedd Ps. civ 24.
(3)llḯaws < *plēiōs-tā(t)s. The longer forms haveu aslluossaucr.p. 1043,lluossogrwyẟw.m. 34,r.m. 22,lluosog in 1620 Bible. These are not formed fromllïaws but from an old adj. *plēiŏsto‑s) see§ 74 i (2),§ 75 iii (3) and§ 76 ix (2).
iv. (1) Subst.peth ‘some, a certain quantity’.
Dywedadwy yw rac llaw obetho vucheẟ VeunoỺ.A. 118 ‘[the story] is to be told in what follows of some of the life of Beuno’;ac wrth hau,petha syrthiodd ar ymyl y fford … aphetharall, etc. Luc viii 5–8.
In an adverbial case,beth ‘to some extent, for some time’:
‘We must tarry a little, and awaitawhile the course of events.’
(2)peth is the interrogative pronoun§ 163 i (3) used indefinitely (cf. Gk.τις); from ‘some, something’ it came to mean ‘thing’, and thus became an ordinary noun, pl.pethau; see§ 163 vi.
v. (1) Subst.bychydic, ychydig ‘a little, a few’.
bychydica dal vy nghyngor i ẏ tis.g. 43 lit. ‘[it is] little that my advice avails to thee’ i.e. my a. is worth little.Pa obeith yssyẟ ẏ’r porthmyn?YchydicỺ.A. 40 ‘what hope is there for the merchants? A little’.ychydigo nifer Ezec. v 3;ychydigo honaw Job iv 12.
(2) Adj.ychydig [soft] sg. ‘a little’, pl. ‘a few’.
ychydiggysgu,ychydighepian, etc. Diar. vi 10;ychydigwin 1 Tim. v 23.—ychydigbechodau T.A.c 16/13 ‘a few sins’;ychydigddyddiau Gen. xxix 20;ychydigbethau Dat. ii 14.
(3)ychydig is forfychydig mut. ofbychydic: W. bychod ‘small quantity’,bychodedd ‘scarcity, poverty’; Corn.boches ‘a little’,bochesog,bochodoc ‘poor’, Ir.bocht ‘poor’: *buk-so‑t‑, *buk-to‑: with Kelt,b- for *p- to Lat.paucus?§ 101 iii (2).
(4) Subst.odid ‘a rarity’.
odita vo molediwr.p. 1041 ‘a rarity [is he] who is worthy of praise’;acodito’r r͑ei hynny ysyẟ yn gristonogyonỺ.A. 165 “quarumpaucae [lit. paucitas] sunt Christianae”;odidelw heb antur prov. ‘a rarity [is] (i.e. there is rarely) profit without enterprise’.
ond odid ‘probably’, literally ‘excepting a rarity’.
(5)odid: Lat.paucus, E.few§ 76 ii (3).
vi. (1) Adj.aml [soft] sg. ‘many a’, pl. ‘many’;ambell [soft] ‘an occasional’.
‘Full many a cry for fair Elin, many a need for charity.’
‘But from afar bantering (if it were better for me) an occasional word.’
y mae rhai a graffant arymbellair M.K. [vii] ‘there are some who will look at an occasional word’.Amlddrygau Ps. xxxiv 19,dyamldrugareddau di Dan. ix 18;ambelldro ‘occasionally’.
The dialectali sometimes heard before the noun is a recent intrusion (? corruption ofiawn as in the first example).
Both these words are used as ordinary adjectives, and are compared; see Silvan Evans s.vv.
(2)aml < Brit *amb’lu‑s for *ambilus < *m̥bhi-(p)lu‑, with *plu- for *pₑlu‑: W.llawer ‘many’, Gk.πολύς, seeii (3) above.
ambell < *ambi-pell- ‘mutually far’; for the prefix see§ 156 i (4) (b); for the stem§ 89 i.
§ 170. i. Subst.neb ‘any one’,dim ‘anything’, are used chiefly with negatives; asni welais neb ‘I did not see anybody’; heb Dduw, heb ddim ‘without God, without anything’. Also in conditional sentences, aso phechaneb 1 Ioan ii 1 ‘if any man sin’; in questions; in comparisons; etc.
A derivativenebawd occurs:nebaudb.b. 21, 43 ‘any one’,ny gwybyẟ nebawtb.t. 19 ‘no one will know’.
ii. Owing to constant association with negativesneb anddim came to be used in certain phrases for ‘nobody’ and ‘nothing’.
As a rule it is the verb that requires the negation; thus ‘he gave me nothing’ is logically ‘he did not give me anything’ni roes ef imi ddim, since there was nogiving. But the verbal idea may be positive, as in ‘it is given for nothing’; this has to be expressed byfe’i rhoddir am ddim, wheredim has to stand for ‘nothing’.dim is thus used as early as the 14th cent.; seeỺ.A. 60, 89. But there seem to be no Ml. examples ofneb ‘nobody’.
iii.dim andneb are positive in positive sentences in the phrases—
(1)pob dim ‘everything’:
Pob dimkywrein … goruc Kelvyẟ B.D.,r.p. 1251 ‘every cunning thing the Artist made’.Duw, maddenbob dimiddaw I.F.m 148/329 ‘God forgive him everything’. Cf. 1 Cor. xiii 7; Deut. iv. 7, xxviii 47, 48; Col. i 16.
(2)y neb ‘the one, he’ before a relative§ 162 vii (1):
twyllwr ywy neba aẟefvo kyfvrinach arglwyẟ ẏ’r nepa wypo ẏ vot yn elyn iẟawỺ.A. 26 ‘he who betrays a lord’s secret to him whom he knows to be his enemy is a traitor’. Cf.Ỻ.A. 28, 32, 33, 34, etc.Y neba atalio ei yd, y bobl a’i melldithia Diar. xi 26.
(3)neb un§ 165 iv (3).
iv. (1)neb is used adjectivally, thusneb [rad.] ‘any’:ni bu ymanebamarchf. 14 ‘there has been no disrespect here’. It is rarely adjectival except in the following phrases:
(2)neb un above;neb rhyw§ 165 iv (8);neb r͑yw ẟim ‘anything at all’,w.m. 64, 65,r.m. 46, 47;neb dyn ‘any man’Ỻ.A. 126.
(3)neb cyfryw [soft] ‘any at all’, cf.§ 168 i (2).
Kanyt oesneb kyfrywrym … y gallem ni vynetr.b.b. 178 ‘for there is no power by which we might go’.
(4)nĕ́mawr, nĕ́mor (for *neb mawr), with a negative ‘not much, not many, but little’.
ny weleiste etonemawro boeneu uffernnỺ.A. 154 ‘so far thou hast seen but little of the pains of hell’.
Adjectival, with neg.,nemorddim ‘hardly anything’,nemorun ‘hardly any one’.
yn emawrs.g. 27,yn ymorc.m. 55, with prostheticỿ§ 21 iii.
(5)nĕ́pell (for *neb pell), with a neg. ‘not far’.
er nad yw efe yn ddiauneppelloddiwrth bob un o honom Act. xvii 27;yn epells.g. 219.
v. (1)dim is probably never an adj.; a noun following it is a dependent genitive, as—
hebẟimllywenyẟỺ.A. 147 ‘without anything of joy’ i.e. without any joy;heb allel gwneuthurdimlless.g. 37 ‘without being able to do any good’;na wna ynddoddimgwaith Ex. xx 10; cf. Ps. xxxiv 10.
(2) But before a definite noun or pron.o ‘of’ is used afterdim:
ny wyẟantẟim ohonuntỺ.A. 8 ‘they know nothing of them’;ac nyt oeẟdim ohonawynor.m. 18 ‘and there was nothing of him there’ i.e. he was not there;ny warandaweiẟim o’r attepw.m. 53 ‘he would not listen to anything of the reply’ i.e. to the reply.
ẟim o was of very frequent occurrence, and was reduced tomo in the spoken lang. (chiefly N.W.) as early as the 14th cent, if D.G. 496 is authentic. Cf. E.P. 271, Diar. xxii 22, 28, Job xxxvii 23,b.cw. 18 l. 1.
‘Scarcely will God, come what may, ever choose such a one as Howel.’
(3) Used in an adverbial caseẟim signifies ‘at all’, etc.Nac efẟim.Ỻ.A. 48 ‘not at all’; cf. 1 Cor. xv 29, 1 Thes. v 3.
This adverbialddim is nearly as frequent in the spoken lang. aspas after a neg. in French.
vi. (1) W.neb, Ir.nech ‘any one’ (gen.neich) < Kelt. *nequ̯os: Lith.nekàs ‘something’,nekùrs ‘quidam’. It is believed that the *ne- is the neg. particle, so that the meaning was originally neg., and became positive by the use of another neg. in the sentence (cf. Fr.nul). But it is possible that this *ne- is positive, and is a form of then-demonstrative: Lat.ego-ne, see Walde² 255 (where Lith.ne-kùrs is so explained, though differently in 510).
(2) W.dim: Ir.dim ‘something’, as inni di nacca dim, acht is du dim ‘it is not from no thing, but is from something’.—The W.dim is written withi in Ml.mss. which distinguishi andɥ; anddim in “proest” withgrymm.a. i 374 shows that its vowel was notɥ in the early 13th cent.[8] The v.n.diddymu is a late 16th cent. word formed fromdiddim on the false assumption that it stands fordiddym asdibin does fordibyn§ 77 iii, whencedibynnu; a more correct, and prob. older, form isdiddimio M.K. [40]. In the lawsdyn diẟim means ‘a man without assets’, seea.l. ii 36. Hence we may suppose W.dim < *dī-smen ‘share, part, fraction’, √dāi- ‘divide’, R1a *dai‑, R2 *di‑, R3dī-§ 63 vii (5): Gk.δαίομαι, δαίς, Skr.dáyate ‘divides, allots, possesses’,dítiḥ ‘distribution’ (E. time < Pr. Germ. *tīman- ‘period’ < *dī‑);heb ddim lit. ‘without a fraction’. A dimin. (or obi. case)dimyn occurs inkymeinttimmynr.p. 582 ‘every jot’ (cf.kymein hun§ 106 iii (2)); whence perhaps Mn.bob tipyn (by dissim.mm >bb, which givespp).