Verbs

The impf. is derived from the Ar. optative, and preserves its original meaning. It is used now in spoken W. as it is used in Homer and the Rig-Veda. Taking Meillet’s examples (Intr.² 193): Vedickāmáyeta rā́jā samrā́ḍ bháviṭum ‘a king would like to be a supreme ruler’ = W.caraibrenin fod yn benadur, cf.Mi wn plemynnwnfy mod D.G. 501 ‘I know where I should like to be’,Mynnwn,pe nef a’i mynnai do. 288 ‘I would, if heaven would, [that ...]';χερμάδιον…ὃ οὐ δύο γ’ ἄνδρε φέροιεν, E 303 = W.maen … nichodaideu-ddyn, cf.Nithynnaisaith einioes hwn T.A. ​A 14975/107 ‘seven (men) could not take his life’;θεός γ’ ἐθέλων … ἀμείνονας … ἵππους δωρήσαιτο, K 556 = W.rhoisai (plup.)duw ewy­llysgar well meirch; Vedicyát páceyuḥ kravyā́daṃ kuryuḥ = W.pespobynt gwnaent [y tân]yn gnawd-ysol (carni­vorous), etc. It denotes a possible or hypo­thetical as opposed to an actual thing; cf.O na welwn Wms. 508 ‘Oh that I am unable to see’ i.e. would that I saw! The impf. use comes through forms likegwelai ‘he could see’ > ‘he saw’, as inef a welei lannerch … ef a welei carw etc.w.m. 1. The formoeẟ ‘would be’w.m. 17, l. 29, has passed over entirely to the impf. sense, and forms peri­phrastic impfs. in the spoken lang., which does not use the impf. of other verbs in that sense. In speaking, we do not sayfe safai ’r dref or y bryn ‘the town stood on the hill’ as the expres­sion of a fact, but we do sayfe safai Dafydd yn segur am oriau ‘D. would stand idle for hours’ express­ing a possi­bility; we sayfe welai rywbeth ‘he saw something’ (could see), but notfe safai yno ‘he stood there’ (was standing).

The impersonal form is generally spoken of as a “passive”; but as it takes after it pronouns in the accu­sative case, it cannot be parsed as a passive. Thusfe’m cerir orcerir fi ‘on m’aime’ (not *cerir i ‘I am loved’). The older gram­marians pretended to inflect it for the different persons by addingaccu­sative affixed pronouns§ 160 iii (1); ​ascerir fi,cerir di,cerir ef, etc., though Dr. Davies confesses that “omnia verba passiua ad naturam imperso­nalium quam proxime accedunt” D. 101. It has been argued that a substan­tival object has a soft initial, asgwêl ẟyn ‘he sees a man’; but this is a late use; the soft is rarely found after the 3rd sg. in Early Mn. poets. It arose to distin­guish the subject from the obj., but in the case of the im­personal there is no ambiguity. Intran­sitive verbs including the verb ‘to be’ are frequent­ly used in the imper­sonal, and the forms are not felt to be in any way different from tran­sitive imper­sonals except that a trans. verb requires an object:cychwyn­nir am ddau ‘a start will be made at two’.

The impersonal with its object is generally most con­venient­ly trans­lated into English by a passive with its subject, thuscerir fi ‘I am loved’; but this should not blind us to the con­struction in Welsh.

The Regular Verb.

Indicative Mood.

Present Tense.

Imperfect Tense.

Aorist Tense.

Pluperfect Tense.

Subjunctive Mood.

Present Tense.

Imperfect Tense.

Imperative Mood.

Present Tense,

Verbal Noun.

karu;caru

Verbal Adjectives.

karedic,karadwy;caredig,caradwy.

Notes and Additional Forms.

§ 173.Pres. Ind.—i. In the 2nd sg. and pl. and the imps.,a andaw in the stem are affected; thus Mn. W.teli ‘thou payest’,ceni ‘thou singest’,gw̯randewi ‘thou listenest’,gw̯randéwch forgw̯randéw̯wch ‘ye listen’,gofelir ‘care is taken’,amcenir ‘an attempt is made’.

ii. The 1st sg. ends in‑af; inb.b. written‑aw, asdywedaw,kyuodaw,credaw 82 (≡dywedaf,cyfodaf,credaf); in O.W.,‑am (≡aṽ), asni choilamox. 22b ‘I do not believe’.

Traces of an ending‑if occur:gwneifB.A. 1 ‘I will do’,kuynhiwb.b. 100 ‘I complain’,kynn mudif ller.p. 1037 ‘before I change [my] place’,cenif,dygifm.a. i 191 ‘I sing, I bring’; cf. Bret. fut.kaninn.

iii. (1) The Ml. ending‑y of the 2nd sg. remains in D.G., seeceny 186,rhedy 132, and is sometimes met with later; but in Mn. W. generally it became‑i, see§ 77 iv.

(2) The Ml.‑y itself seems to be for‑yẟ = Bret.‑ez by loss of‑ẟ,§ 110 iv (3); the form‑yẟ occurs in Early Ml. verse:ymwareditb.b. 19 (where‑it ≡‑yẟ) ‘savest thyself’,digonit ib. ‘commit­test’,guneit do. 23 ‘makest’;roẟyẟb.t. 57 ‘givest’,mal y kynnullyẟ yt wesceryẟ ib. ‘as thou gatherest thou scatter­est’. Beforedi the‑ẟ was lost early:nerthitiox. gl. hortabere, Ml. W.nerthy di ‘thou streng­thenest’ (cf.diwedyẟ for *diweẟ-dyẟ§ 110 iv (2)).

(3) In some expres­sions in common use forms without an ending occur; thus besidewely dy ynaw.m. 36 we havewel dy ynar.m. 23 ‘seest thou there?’wel dy raccow.m. 59, etc.§ 221 iv (2). Soos mɥn di E.M. 93 ‘if thou wilt’; and dial,fɥ́n di ‘wilt thou?’glɥ́w di ‘dost thou hear?’ Withoutdi we haveos mɥ́n D.G. 113 ‘if thou wilt’.

iv. (1) The standard form of the 3rd sg. has no ending. The vowel of the stem undergoes the ultimatei-affection§ 83 ii; thusdaliaf ‘I hold’,deil ‘holds’;—archaf ‘I bid’,eirch ‘bids’;—galw̯af ‘I call’,geilw̯;—safaf ‘I stand’,saif;—paraf ‘I cause’,pair,peir;—gannaf ‘I am contained’, v.n.genni ‘to be contained’ (< *ꬶhn̥d‑: Lat.pre‑hendo, Gk.χανδάνω), 3rd sg.gain, see example; in Ml. W. (g)einr.p. 1055, seevi (3) below, alsogeing by§ 106 i (2), whenceng spread to other forms;—agoraf ‘I open’,egyr;—collaf ‘I lose’, ​cyll;—torraf ‘I break’,tyrr, writtentyr;—atebaf ‘I answer’,etyb;—gwelaf ‘I see’,gwŷl, in Late Mn. W.gwêl;—cynhaliaf ‘I hold’,cynnail,cynneil;—gwahar­ddaf ‘I prohibit’,gwéheirdd D.G. 20;—ataliaf ‘I withhold’,eteil;—gwasgaraf ‘I scatter’,gwesgyr andgwasgar;—tawaf ‘I am or become silent’,teu,tau;—(g)adawaf ‘I leave’,edeu, gedy;—tarawaf ‘I strike’,tereub.b. 63,tery;—gw(a)randawaf ‘I listen’,gwerendeu,gwrendy;—gosodaf ‘I set’,gesyd;—cyrhae­ddaf ‘I reach’,cyrraidd;—sorraf ‘I sulk’,syrr, writtensyr;—somaf (si̯omaf) ‘I dis­appoint, cheat’,sym;—dïolchaf ‘I thank’,dḯylch;—parchaf ‘I respect’,peirchb.b. 50,b.t. 17, G.Gr.d.g. 254;—arbedaf ‘I spare’,erbyd Diar. vi 34, E.P. 269 (butarbed Es. lv 7);—rhangaf fodd ‘I please’,reingk boẟs.g. 277.

Niaino fewn main y mur,

Ni bu ’n f’oes neb un fesur.—T.A.,a 14967/91b.

‘There is not contained within the stones of the wall, there has not been in my time, any one of the same stature.’

Am naaind’aur mewn un dwrn.—T.A.a 14975/16. ‘Because thy gold will not go into one hand’ (is more than a handful).

A fo doeth efo adau;

Annoeth ni reol enau.—G.I.H.,tr. 87.

‘[He] who is wise is silent; the unwise does not control [his] mouth.’Pan vynner iẟi tewi hi ateur.m. 122 ‘when one wishes it (a certain harp) to be silent, it is silent’.fel ytaudafad Es. liii 7 ‘as a sheep is dumb’.

Osyr,llegwesgyrgwasgwyn,

O’m dawr, Gwyn ap Nudd i’m dwyn.—D.G. 246.

‘If he sulks, where he scatters [his] gasconade, G. ap N. take me if I care.’

Nid yw anair ond ennyd;

Nisymtwyll mo bwyll y byd.—E.P. 271.

‘Calumny is but [for] a while; deceit will not cheat the good sense of the world’;ny’msymr.p. 1198 ‘will not dis­appoint me’.

I Dduw Madog addḯylch

Gan i chwaer hael cael y cylch.—D.G. 292.

‘Madoc thanks God that he has had the ring from his generous sister.’ Cf. 167, L.G.C. 70.

(2) In many verbs which havea, the vowel is un­affected; thuscâr ‘loves’,cân ‘sings’,tâl ‘pays’,gad ‘leaves’; also in some withe, ascymer ‘takes’,adfer ‘restores’,arfer ‘uses’.

Some verbs witha have both the affected and unaffected form; thusgallaf ‘I can’,geillỺ.A. 169, D.G. 29, orgall E.P. 259;dïalaf ‘I avenge’,dïail D.G. 162, G.G1.,p 108/41 B.,dḯal L.Môn§ 186 ii;chwarddaf ‘I laugh’,chweirẟr.p. 1240,chwardd D.G. 402, L.G.C. 379, Job xli 29, Ps. ii 4;barnnỺ.A. 64 ‘judges’,beirnr.p. 1321.

​(3) The vowel of the stem, if mutable, is of course mutated when the ending is dropped in the 3rd sg.; thuscỿrchaf ‘I make for’,cɥrch;dỿgaf ‘I bring’,dwg ‘brings’;ceisiaf ‘I seek’, Mn. W.cais ‘seeks’, Ml.keis,§ 81 iii (1). In many cases‑o- is a mutation of‑aw-, the latter appearing in the 3rd sg., thustoddaf ‘I melt’,tawdd ‘melts’;boddaf ‘I drown, or am drowned’,bawdd ‘drowns’;holaf ‘I ask’,hawl ‘asks’. But in di­syllabic stems, when the un­accented‑aw- in the ult. became‑o-, it was in some cases treated on the analogy of original‑o- and affected toy; thusadroẟaf ‘I narrate’,adrawẟb.a. 1 ‘narrates’, lateredryẟr.p. 1253;halogaf ‘I defile’ (denomi­native fromhalawc, Mn. W.halog),helycỺ.A. 34 ‘defiles’. In the 16th cent.dichyn was used,§ 196 ii, but was supplant­ed later by the original formdichon ‘can’, Ml. W.dichawn. The substi­tution of‑ɥ as interyc.m. 32 for the affected‑eu oftereu, etc., see(1), is due to the same analogy; see§ 83 ii.

A similar analogy gave rise togwerchyd D.G. 175 ‘guards’ from the v.n.gwarchod forgwarchawd metath. forgwar-chadw̯; the old 3rd sg. wasgwer-cheidw̯.

v. (1) Verbs with stems in‑ha- had the vowel unaffected in the 3rd sg.; the affected formsbwyty ‘eats’,pery D.G. 441 ‘lasts’ are late; the original 3rd sg. ofbwytá-af ‘I eat’ isbwytaw.m. 456 ‘eats’,ef a vwyttaỺ.A. 170, and ofparhá-af ispár(h)a, asparhab.t. 40 ‘lasts’,ny pharar.p. 1046,w.m. 86 ‘does not last’,ni phara T.A.g. 236. The accent falls regularly on the penult; and the‑h- after it was lost,§ 48 ii, as inpára, but not before changing a media to a tenuis as inbẃyta ‘eats’ (:bwyd ‘food’).

(2) The ‑(h)a of the 3rd sg. is thus the unaffected stem-forming suffix, but it came to be mistaken for a personal ending; and as‑ha- forms the stems of denomi­natives, ‑(h)a seemed to be a 3rd sg. ending of denomi­natives, and was used to form the 3rd sg. of denomi­natives generally. This may have origi­nated in doublets likeneshá-af, v.n.neshá-u andnés-af, v.n.nésu ‘to approach’ (:nes ‘nearer’); the 3rd sg. of the first is regularlynés-(h)a, which, being very naturally taken to be the 3rd sg. of the second, suggested a 3rd sg. ending ‑(h)a. For exactly the same reasons it became a 2nd sg. imper­ative ending, and is used as such in all verbs in which it appears in the 3rd sg. pres. ind. In older examples the form is‑ha, the‑h- hardening a media or remaining as an‑h‑; such examples survive in Ml. W. side by side with others in which the ending has come to be regarded as‑a simply. Thus we findgwatar.p. 1382 ‘denies’,oetta impv.r.p. 1254 ‘delay’,gwattam.a. i 319a ‘denies’,ehetta do. 319b ‘flies’,tremyccaỺ.A. 150 ‘despises’,poenha do. 28 ‘punishes’,dielwha do. 147 ‘ruins’ (makes worthless),gwyhwa do. 148 ‘withers’,cerẟha do. 168 ‘goes’,gweẟha do. 165 ‘beseems’, side by side withgwadar.p. 1256 ‘denies’,oeda impv. do. 1285 ‘stay’,llettya do. 1254 ‘lodges’,ogana ib. ‘satirizes’,a gylchynam.a. i 319b ‘surrounds’,a boenaỺ.A. 147,kerdda do. 165,kerẟa do. 167,gw̯eẟar.p. 1272. In the last examples simple‑a has become a 3rd sg. ending.

​(3) It is added to nearly all denominative stems which represent a noun or adj. without a suffix; thushw̯yẟaỺ.A. 148 (:hŵyẟ,chŵyẟ ‘a swelling’),a ge(i)thiwa ib. (:keithiw ‘captive’),argyweẟa do. 166 (:argyweẟ ‘harm’),saethar.p. 1272 ‘shoots’ (:saeth ‘arrow’),amcana 1285 (:amcan ‘design’),gwarchaea ib. (:gwarchae ‘fortifi­cation’),dilyssa ib.dilyssa 1254 (:dilys ‘certain’),llaessa 1254 (:llaes ‘slack’),surar.m. 123 (:sur ‘sour’),a gospaỺ.A. 30 (:cosp ‘punish­ment’),gwassan­naetha do. 28 (:gwasa­naeth ‘service’),kyfvɏr­golla do. 35 (:cýfr-goll§ 156 i (9)),breiniam.a. i 318a (:braint ‘privilege’),yssiga ib. (:ysig ‘crushed’),diwedda do. 3186 (:diwedd ‘end’),cynnydda 319a (:cynnydd ‘increase’),mynycha 319b (:mynych ‘frequent’),lwydda ib. (:llwydd ‘pros­perity’),a gochar.b.b. 146 (:coch ‘red’),kyflear.p. 1286 (:cyf-le ‘situation’),metha 1253 (:meth ‘failure’).

(4) It is also added to some stems not obviously denominative; thuscerddaf ‘I walk, go’ has 3rd sg.cerẟa in Ml. W., see examples above, and in Mn. W., see Diar. iii 28, vi 3, buta gerẟb.t. 15; sosathraỺ.A. 147 ‘tramples’, butsathɏrb.b.b. 144;damunaỺ.A. 148 ‘wishes’ (the noun isdamunet ‘wish’),traethab.b. 8 ‘relates’ (nountraethawd ‘treatise’ < Lat.tractāt-us).

(5) It is added to stems in‑i̯- mostly denominatives; astykẏaw.m. 14, Mn. W.tỿ́ci̯a ‘avails’ (:twg ‘success’ < *tu‑k‑, √teu̯ā- ‘increase’) used only in the 3rd pers.,§ 196 v,llywẏar.p. 1285 ‘governs’, Mn. W.llywi̯a ‘steers’ (:llyw ‘rudder’),hwyli̯am.a. i 318a, Mn. W.hwyli̯a ‘sails, governs’ (:hwyl ‘sail’, cf. Lat.gubernāre ‘steer, govern’),cili̯a do. 319b ‘recedes’ (:cil ‘back’),rhodi̯a Ps. i 1 (:rhawd ‘course’ < *rōt‑, L°-grade of √ret- ‘run’), Mn. W.preswyli̯a ‘resides’ Ml. W.presswylaỺ.A. 169 (:presswyl ‘residence’),distrywi̯a (:distryw ‘destruc­tion’). But somei̯-stems do not take it:dali̯af,deil (notdali̯a),ceisiaf ‘I seek’,cais (notceisi̯a),peidi̯af ‘I cease’,paid (notpeidi̯a),meiddiaf,beiddiaf ‘I dare’,maidd,baidd, ‘dares’.

(6) It is added to denom. stems in‑ych‑; asgwledychaỺ.A. 169,m.a. i 318a ‘governs’,fflam­mycha do. 318b ‘flames’, exceptwhennychr.m. 123,chwen(n)ychỺ.A. 73 ‘desires’ (:chwant ‘desire’).

(7) Lastly, it is added redundantly to‑ha- itself, asmwynhaam.a. i 317b, Mn. W.mwynhā́ ‘enjoys’,kyt-lawenhaaỺ.A. 72, Mn. W.llawenhā́ ‘rejoices',dynessaar.b.b. 148, Mn. W.neshā́ ‘approach­es’,arwy­ẟockaa do. 144, Mn. W.arwyẟocā́ ‘signifies’, Mn. W.glanhā́ ‘cleans’,edifarhā́ ‘repents’, etc., etc.

(8) A few verbs have two forms, one with and one without ‑(h)a; asplycca impv.r.m. 97 ‘fold’,plycb.t. 18 ‘bends’ (plygaf ‘I bend’,plyg ‘fold’);tybia D.I.D.tr. 98,tyb T.A.f. 16 ‘imagines’ (tybiaf ‘I imagine’,tyb ‘thought, fancy’);a dwylla Jer. ix 5,a dwyllỺ.A. 147 ‘deceives’ (twyllaf ‘I deceive’,twyll ‘deceit’);gweinyẟar.p. 1254 ‘serves’,gweinyẟ do. 1238;barn iv 2,barna Ps. cxxxv 14.

vi. (1) Sg. 3.‑id, used where there was no preverb, is found in Ml. W., and survived in proverbs, and rarely in verse; like the fut. ‑(h)awd it became ‑(h)id; thus O. W.prinit (without‑h‑)ox. 22b ​‘buys’; Ml. W.ottidb.b. 89 ‘falls’ (of snow),meccid do. 90 ‘nourishes';Trenghitgolut, ny threingk molutr.b. 1082 ‘wealth perishes, fame perishes not’;Tyfidmaban, ny thyf i gadachan ‘an infant grows, its swaddling cloth does not grow’;Dirmycidmerch … ŵr ni welo G.Gr.p 77/194 ‘a woman despises a man whom she does not see’.

‑yd occurs inë-yt (rh. withbyt ‘world’)r.p. 1055 ‘goes’. It seems to be confused with‑id inmegyt,meckytr.p. 1029 ‘nourishes’,gwlychyt do. 1032 ‘wets’.

(2) An ending‑(h)awd of the 3rd sg. occurs in Early Ml. W. with a future meaning:bithaud (≡byẟhawd)b.b. 7 ‘will be’,r͑eddaud (dd ≡tt fordh) do. 58 ‘will run’,dircha­vaud do. 61 ‘will arise’,parahaud do. 100,parahawtb.t. 23 ‘will continue’,gyrhawtb.t. 13 ‘will drive’. These forms were survivals, and appear sometimes to be misused as passives under the influence of the‑t im­personals:cluttaudb.b. 10 ‘will be brought’,briuhaud do. 58 ‘will be broken’.

(3) There are traces of a 3rd sg. in‑yẟ, asnywneyẟgwir ny ein ymror.p. 1055 ‘he who does not do justice will not be suffered [lit. contained] in a country’;kyn noc y daw rwng ẏ ẟwylaw ygwesgeryẟ do. 1049 ‘[it is] before it comes between his hands that he scatters it’. This is quite distinct from‑yd above, and comes, as seen, after relatives.

There is no sufficient ground for the assumption, Arch. Camb. 1873 150, of a 3rd sg.‑haw; forchaffawb.b. 8 ≡chaffaf 1st sg., see ii above,gwnawsk. 126 is an error forgwnahob.t. 16 l. 2;a wnaỽb.t. 30 l. 18 is prob. a sc. error forwnaaỽt; the other examples are from un­trust­worthy texts.

(4) In the dialects an ending‑iff, in Gwynedd‑ith, is in common use. D. 85 regards it as falsely deduced fromcaiff, “VtCeriff proCar,Periff proPair … Quæ nunquam sine indig­natione audio.” (As‑iff is not a syllable incaiff the suggested deduction is im­probable.)

vii. Beside the usual‑wn of the 1st pl., we seem to have a 1st pl. pres.‑en once in the O.W.cet ibenjuv. sk. ‘we drink together’.

viii. The affection of the stem vowel in the 2nd pl.cerwch shows that‑wch must be for‑yw̯ch§ 26 vi (5). A trace of this form occurs inchedyw̯chỺ.A. 157 ‘ye keep’ dissim. for *chedw̯yw̯ch; the usual form iscedwch forcedw̯wch:cadwaf ‘I keep’.

ix. (1) Cor­respond­ing to the 3rd sg. in‑hawt, a 3rd pl. in‑hawnt occurs rarely in the earlier periods:cuinhauntjuv. gl. defleb(unt),gwnahawntb.t. 13 ‘they will make’.

(2) In O.W. a 3rd pl. pres.‑int occurs, aslimnintjuv. gl. tondent,scam­nhegintjuv. gl. levant,nertheintjuv. gl. armant. Some examples occur in the early poetry:diwris­sint kedwyr … mi nyd awb.b. 108 ‘warriors hasten … I go not’;vyẟ … pan ẟyorf(yẟ)ynb.t. 13 ‘will be when they conquer’,discynnyn ib. ‘they will descend’.

x. ☞ The final‑t of the 3rd pl. of this and of every other tense is often dropped in poetry, even in Early Ml. W.,§ 106 iii (2):tirran (≡tỿrran)b.b. 2 ‘they muster’,dygan ib. ‘they bring’,darparan ​do. 5 ‘they prepare’,vidan (≡vỿẟan) ib. ‘they will be’; other tenses:deuthan do. 2 ‘they came’,wnaethan do. 4 ‘they did’,darvuan do. 6 ‘they perished’,cuitin (≡cwyẟyn) do. 95 ‘they fell’. The‑t is lost in the spoken language.

xi. (1) Beside the impers. in‑ir, a form in‑(h)awr, cor­respond­ing to the 3rd sg. in‑hawt, occurs in Early Ml. W.; astalhaurb.b. 31 ‘there will be payment’,ffohawrb.t. 16 ‘there will be flight’,dialawr ib. ‘there will be vengeance’,dyrehawr do. 33 ‘will be mustered’,agorawrw.m. 456 ‘will be opened’;Dygɏn yw aẟaw agarawrr.b. 1062 ‘it is hard to promise what is loved’;Heul yn Ionawr ny matwelawr,M(a)wrth a Whefrawr aedialawrr.b. 970 ‘Sun in January is not good to be seen, [in] March and February there will be retri­bution for it’.

(2) The ending‑(h)er has a fut. ind. meaning in Early Ml. W., asmochguelhery niuerb.b. 2 ‘soon will the host be seen’;nythatterti ẏ mywnw.m. 457 ‘thou shalt not be admitted’.

(3) In the early poetry an impersonal in‑itor, ‑etor, ‑ator, ‑otor occurs:kenhittor kirrnb.b. 52 ‘horns will be sounded’,canhatorb.t. 75 ‘will be sung’,megittorb.b. 62 ‘will be brought about’,r͑ewinetorb.t. 68 ‘will be ruined’,trae­thattor,molhator do. 23,bri­thottorb.b. 33 ‘are varie­gated’. Forms in‑etawr also occur:dygetawrb.t. 10 ‘will be brought’,galwet­tawr do. 41 ‘will be called’; in these the ending has come under the influence of‑hawr.

174. Imperf. Ind.—i. The 2nd sg. ending in Ml. W. is‑ud, asdianghutr.p. 1037 ‘thou wouldst escape’. In Early Mn. W. this remains, aswyddud,atebud rhyming withmud in D.G. 460; but‑ud di became‑it ti§ 111 ii,§ 77 ix; hence Late Mn. W.carit. The‑i- not being original does not affect the‑a‑;cerit is an arti­ficial form: “secunda sing. fit etiam sine mutatione vocalis, & fortasse rectiùs,Carit” D. 89. In the dialects the vowel of the 2nd pl. is intro­duced, ascaret; and this debased form occurs in recent writings.

ii. In the early poetry a 3rd sg.‑i is found, affecting‑a- in the stem (as well as the usual‑ei, not affecting); thusef gelwib.a. 22 ‘he called’,ef lleẟi ib. ‘he slew’ (besidepan elei ib. ‘when he went’),ny cheri do. 26 ‘he loved not’ (besideef carei ib. ‘he loved’),eiẟuni do. 16 ‘he desired’,klywi ib. ‘he heard’,a welib.b. 45 ‘whom he saw’.

For the 3rd sg. in‑i̯ad see§ 191 ii (3).

iii. (1) The vowel of the pl. endings is‑e‑, which regularly becomes‑y- before‑nt,§ 65 iii (1). The intro­duction of the‑y- into the 1st and 2nd as inhoffym Gr.H.g. 98 (forhoffem) is rare, and doubtless arti­ficial. On the other hand the‑y- of the 3rd has tended to be replaced by the‑e- of the 1st and 2nd since the 15th cent., e.g.nis terfynen’ L.G.C. 244 ‘they would not end him’ (usually L.C.C. has‑yn(t):a berynt 186,a’m ceryn’ 206). In Late Mn. W. the re-formed‑ent became the usual ending, though‑ynt remained in use in poetry, e.g. E.F. 36, 287, 316.

(2) In Ml. W. a re-formed 3rd pl.‑eint, with the vowel of the 3rd ​sg., occurs; asy wawt a ganeintỺ.A. 95 ‘the song which they sang’,a ẟeueint … a syrthẏ­eint do. 97 ‘which came, [tears] which fell’,achubeintw.m. 466 ‘they seized’. It is sometimes found in Early Mn. verse:an­rhegaint D.G. 24 ‘they presented’,oedaint,fyddaint,rhedaint do. 25; occa­sional­ly later:rhedeintb.cw. 23.

175.Aor. andPlup. Ind.—i. The 3rd sg. aor. has a number of endings:

(1) Ml. W.‑awẟ, Mn. W.‑odd, is common in Ml. W., and almost supplant­ed all other endings in the Late Mn. period. Ml. W. examples:kerẟauẟw.m. 9 ‘walked’ (besidea gerẟwys do. 8),cym­hellauẟ do. 17 ‘incited’,wharyawẟ do. 163 ‘played’,parawẟ ib. ‘caused’ see (4),gofynnawẟ do. 164 ‘asked’,diskyn­nawẟ do. 422 ‘descended’,r͑wymawẟ ib. ‘bound’,frwyn­glymawẟ ib. ‘fastened by the reins’,dechreu­awẟr.b.b. 117 ‘began’,dewissawẟ do. 319 ‘chose’.‑oẟ already appears in Late Ml. W.:parhaoẟ,arveroẟ,llaẟoẟc.m. 92 ‘lasted, used, killed’,brathoẟ do. 93 ‘stabbed’.

(2)‑as, incavasb.b. 66,w.m. 10 ‘got’,gwelasb.b. 101,w.m. 13 ‘saw’. It survived as the regular ending in these two verbs in Ml. W.; in Early Ml. W. other verbs take it,bradas,twyllasb.b. 81 ‘betrayed, deceived’, erects G.m.a. i 196 ‘created’,gallas B.V. do. 372 ‘could’. Incafas it survived in Early Mn. W.:

Pwy mewn gaeaf agafas

Fis Mai yn dwyn lifrai las?—D.G. 265; cf. 116.

‘Who in winter [ever] found a May-month wearing green livery?’

(3)‑es is added to stems having‑o- or‑oe‑; asdiconesjuv. sk. ‘wrought’,r͑otes (t ≡ẟ)b.b. 42,r͑oẟesw.m. 9 ‘gave’,torresw.m. 94 ‘broke’,arhoës do. 47 ‘waited’,ffoësr.m. 152 ‘fled’,ymhoelesr.b.b. 199 ‘returned’. It is common in Mn. W., more especial­ly in the earlier period:ffoës D.G. 61,si̯omes G.G1.c. i 196 ‘deceived’,colles I.T.f. 43 ‘lost’,codes do. 45 ‘rose’,rhoddes Phil, ii 9 ‘gave’,torres Gr.O. 41 ‘broke’. It survives in the spoken lang. in contract­ed formsrhoes,troes.—Contrary to analogy it replaced‑as ingwelas in Late Ml. and Early Mn. W., asgwelesr.b.b. 130, D.G. 279, T.A.g. 235.

(4)‑is is added to stems having‑a- (which it affects to‑e‑), or‑aw- ( >‑ew‑):treg̃hisb.b. 21 ‘perished’,cedwis do. 43 ‘kept’,erchisỺ.A. 2 ‘bade’,dienghisw.m. 56 ‘escaped’,peris do. 57 ‘caused’,ettellis (l‑l, vb.atali̯af)r.b.b. 174 ‘withheld’,cynhellis (l‑l, vb.cynhali̯af) do. 257 ‘held’,edewisr.m. 169 ‘left’,eẟewisr.b.b. 171 ‘promised’. Alsodechreuisw.m. 27,r.m. 17 ‘began’ (besidedechreu­wysw.m. 413,r.m. 267). It is occa­sional­ly met with in Early Mn. W., asgadewis D.G. 61.

Ni wn a fûm yn iawn fis

Heb hiraeth,—hi a’iperis.—I.D. 20.

‘I do not know that I have been well for a month without longing, [it is] she that caused it.’

(5)‑w͡ys is perhaps the commonest ending in Ml. W.:pechuisb.b. 41 ​‘sinned’,guiscvis do. 43 ‘wore’,treulwysw.m. 9 ‘spent’,cyrchwys ib. ‘made for’,meẟylẏwys do. 10 ‘thought’,diffy­gẏwys do. 12 ‘failed’,trigẏwysr.m. 92 ‘resided’,gallwys do. 108 ‘could’,mynnwysr.b.b. 200 ‘desired’. It was simpli­fied early to‑ws§ 78 i (2), asbendigusb.b. 36 ‘blessed’,ffruin­cluymus (read‑clymus) do. 93;cerẟwsp14/6r. (mid-13th cent.) ‘walked’,claẟwsp 14/14r. ‘buried’,kemerrwsp 29/31r. ‘took’. The form‑w͡ys dis­appeared, but‑ws is sometimes met with in Mn. lit. W., and became the usual ending in parts of S.W.

Hadlyd liw hudol o dlws,

Hudolion a’ihadeilws.—D.G. 447.

‘Perished colour enchantingly beautiful, it is enchanters that built it.’

(6)‑t int-aorists, see iii (1).

ii. (1) The above are strictly stem-forming suffixes, with no personal ending, added to the pres. stem. The 1st sg. has‑as affected to‑eis; the 2nd sg. has the same with added‑t; the pl. has a similar suffix, which takes three forms, to which the personal endings‑am,‑awch,‑ant are added. The forms of the suffix are Ml. W.‑ass‑,‑yss- and‑ss‑, Mn. W.‑as‑,‑s‑.

(2)‑ass- and‑yss- are not sharply distinguished: thusdywedassamr.m. 44 =dywedys­samw.m. 61 ‘we mentioned’,collassamr.m. 52 =collyssamw.m. 72 ‘we have lost’,cilẏassant,torras­santr.m. 36 =cẏlyssant,torrys­santw.m. 52 ‘they retreated, they broke’. Both forms occur through­out the Ml. period,‑ass- encroach­ing in latermss. as the examples show. Later‑yss- dis­appeared, and in Late Mn. W.‑as- alone is used.

(3)‑s(s)- is used after‑l- and‑r- and after the diphthongs‑aw‑,‑yw‑,‑eu‑:gwelsomw.m. 50,r.m. 35 ‘we saw’,cymersantw.m. 169 (=cymeras­santr.m. 235) ‘they took’,adcors­santb.b. 46 ‘they returned’,ymadaws­samh.m. ii 292,Ỻ.A. 148 ‘we left’,clywssontw.m. 33 ‘they heard’,dechreus­sant do. 41, 72 ‘they began’, besidedechreuys­sant 44. In Mn. W. it is regularly found ingwelsom, and always after‑aw- asgwran­dawsom; sometimes in other cases, astalsom,cymersom. In the dialects the‑s- form became general.

(4) Beside the usual‑am,‑awch,‑ant in Ml. W.,‑om and‑ont are often found, and are specially frequent in thew.m.;‑och is very rare:doethochw.m. 161 (=doethawchr.m. 228) ‘ye came’. In Mn. lit. W.‑om,‑och,‑ant are the usual endings. In the spoken lang. mostly‑on,‑och,on’.

(5) In the old poetry there are traces of the 3rd sg. ending‑id, as in the pres.§ 173 vi (1), asdelẏessit Ieuan … vab Duw … yn dwfɏr echwyẟr.p. 1184 ‘John held the Son of God in the water of baptism’ (the context shows that it is not impers. plup.),prinessit (readprynessit) ib.; also‑yd, askeressytr.p. 1168,pregethys­sit (/kyt)b.t. 54.

iii. (1) A 3rd sg. ending‑t added to the pres. stem is found in some verbs, ascantb.a. i,w.m. 120,r.m. 196 ‘sang’ (notcânt as wrongly assumed by some recent copyists),gwantr.m. 81,w.m. 111 ‘pierced’; *‑er‑t- regularly becomes‑yrth§ 65 iii (2), hencediffirth,kymirthb.b. 40 ​‘saved, took’, witha-affectiondifferthr.b.b. 213,kymerthw.m. 9, see§ 181 vii (1).

(2) These 3rd sg. aor. forms had come to be regarded in Kelt, as aor. stems, and other persons were formed from them,§ 181 vii (1); thuskeintb.t. 33 ‘I sang’,keintumw. 18a ‘I sang’,ceuntostb.b. 21 ‘thou hast sung’;gweintm.a. i 194a ‘I charged’ (in battle).

iv. (1) The impersonal, like the 3rd sg., has various endings. Verbs which take‑as,‑es,‑is,‑wys in the 3rd sg. have‑ad,‑ed,‑id,‑w͡yd respec­tive­ly in the im­personal.

(2)‑ad incaffatr.m. 141 ‘was had’,cahatw.m. 40,r.m. 27 ‘was had', contract­edcatr.b.b. 396, Mn. W.cad D.G. 189, etc. ‘was had’, see§ 188 i (6), and ingwelatw.m. 51,r.m. 36 ‘were (was) seen’. In the old poetry it is seen in other verbs, asartuad (t ≡ẟ)b.b. 23 ‘was blackened’se-suinad ib. ‘was conjured (?)’ (redupl. perf.?)

(3)‑ed, after‑o‑,‑oe‑:anvonetw.m. 84 ‘were sent’,collet do. 472 ‘was lost’,dodet do. 32 ‘was put’,r͑oẟet do. 33 ‘was given’ Mn. W.rhoddedf.n. 28,poenedc.c. 11,hoeli̯edp 49/54b, etc.

It is also found inganetw.m. 28, Mn. W.ganed ‘was born’; and in Early Mn. W.gweled D.E.Ỻ 163/119 ‘was seen’ for Ml.gwelat, likegweles forgwelasi (3); Ml. W.r͑ivedm.a. i 373,llaẟed do. 220.

(4)‑id, after‑a‑,‑aw‑:y delit … ac y carcharwytr.b.b. 338 ‘was caught and im­prisoned’,edewitw.m. 58 ‘were left’,eẟewitr.m. 162 ‘was promised’. Only the context, as seen in the first example, shows that this is not the imperf., which ends in‑id in all verbs. In Mn. W.‑id aor. gave place to‑wyd to avoid the ambiguity:dali̯wyd ‘was caught’,gada(w)wyd ‘was left’.

(5)‑wyd, as inmagwytw.m. 33 ‘was reared’,gollyngwyt,r͑yẟhawyt do. 25 ‘was released, was set free’,cyweirwyt do. 26 ‘was prepared’,treulwyt ib. ‘was spent’,gommeẟwyt ib. ‘was refused’, etc., etc. This is the usual ending in Mn. W., and has super­seded the others except in a few forms likeganed ‘was born’,rhoed ‘was put’, etc.—Reduced to‑wt§ 78 i (2), whence dial.cawd§ 188 i (6).

(6) The *‑t‑ of this suffix came without an intervening vowel after some roots ending in‑d‑, early enough to give "W".‑s for the group‑dt-§ 87 ii. Thusllasw.m. 89 ‘was killed’, also in Early Mn. W. and later, besidellaẟwyt H.D.p 67/277r.;klas D.E.j 17/478r. ‘was buried’, usuallyclaẟwytw.m. 89;gwŷs D.G. 236 ‘is known’.

Ef a’mllasi a’m nasiwn

Yr awr yllasyr iarll hwn.—G.G1.,c. i 193.

‘I was slain and my nation the hour that this earl was slain.’

(7) Some verbs take‑pwyd, which is generally added to the perf. or aor. stem; thusaethpwytw.m. 59 ‘there was a going’,deuthpwyt do. 141 ordoethpwyt do. 96 ‘there was a coming’,gwnaeth­pwyt do. 32 ‘was done’. In these three verbs the form persisted and is the standard Mn. form, as used e.g. in the Bible; but in Recent W., dial, and quasi-dial. formsaed,deuwyd (dial.dowd),gwnaed are also found.

Other examples areducpwytw.m. 28 ‘were brought’ (perf. st.dug‑ ​§ 194 iii),gorucpwytw.m. 452 ‘was done’,clywspwytr.b.b. 178 ‘was heard’,dechreus­pwyts.g. 291,canpwyt§ 182 iv (4).

It is added to the present stem indalpwytr.b.b. 388 ‘was caught’,kynni­cpwyt do. 398 ‘was offered’,gatpwyt do. 399 ‘was left’,dywetpwytw.m. 52 besidedywespwyt do. 189 ‘was said’.

v. (1) The pluperfect is formed by adding the personal endings of the imperfect to the aorist stem.

The impers.‑it and 3rd pl.‑ynt affect‑aw- in the penult, thusadewssyntr.b.b. 180 ‘they had left’,edewssitr.m. 288 ‘had been left’. But‑ass- usually remains un­affected:buassyntw.m. 89 (besidebuessyntỺ.A. 19) ‘they had been’,anvonas­sitr.b.b. 306 ‘had been sent’,mynnassitr.m. 13 =mynyssitw.m. 20 ‘had been desired’,collas­syntr.m. 42 =collys­syntw.m. 60. D.G. 279 hasdygesynt (ifweles before it is the correct reading; ifwelas, it would bedygasynt) forteby­gesynt; the plup. of this verb is often synco­pated,tygaswn etc. D. 134.

(2) Some verbs have a plup. formed by addingoeẟwn, oeẟut etc. to the aor. stem:caws­soeẟwn etc.§ 188 i (7),r͑oessoeẟ§ 186 iii, as well asathoed etc.§ 193 vi (5).

(3) An impers. of the plup. formed by adding‑adoeẟ,‑ydoeẟ to the pres. stem occurs in some verbs:ganadoeẟ§ 197 ‘had been born’,aẟawadoeẟg.c. 122 ‘had been promised’,mana­gadoeẟm.a. ii 103 ‘had been mentioned’,magadoet, defny­tadoet (t ≡ẟ) do. i 254.

§ 176.Pres. and Impf. Subj.—i. (1) The subj. stem is formed by a suffix‑h- which is added to the pres. ind. stem and hardens a media to a tenuis; thusnottwyfw.m. 479:nodaf ib. ‘I specify’. After vowels and sonants the‑h- dis­appears because it follows the accent§ 48 ii, but it is often written in Early Ml. W. asgwnahob.t. 16,gunelhontb.b. 60.

In Early Mn. W. the tenuis generally remained, and survived later in a few expres­sions asgato inna ato Duw ‘God forbid’:gadaf ‘I permit’. But from the 16th cent, the ind. stem has mostly been used, and the media restored, as inDyn agodoDuw’n geidwad S.T.g.b. [375] ‘A man whom God raises as a saviour’.

(2) Some verbs have special subj. stems, asel‑:af ‘I go’, etc.§ 193 vii;b‑:wyf ‘I am’§ 189; Early Ml. W.duch,gwares§ 183 iii (1).

ii. The ending of the 3rd sg. pres. is‑o:talow.m. 9 (:talaf ‘I pay’),adnappo do. 36 (adwaen§ 191),dycco do. 465 (:dygaf ‘I bear’). This is a simpli­fication of‑oe, which survives increddoe (dd ≡tt <dh)b.b. 53 (:credaf ‘I believe’), see§ 78 i (1). The form‑w͡y is a variant of‑oe§ 183 ii (1), and the former not un­common­ly occurs in Early Ml. W., asgwelhvyb.b. 74 ‘may see’,achupvy do. 75 (:achubaf ‘I seize’),nottvy do. 76 (:nodaf ‘I specify’),gule­dichuy do. 59 ‘may rule’,canhwi do. 48 ‘may sing’.

iii. (1) The 1st sg. ends in‑w͡yf:cattwyfw.m. 125 for *catw̯w͡yf (:cadwaf ‘I keep’),ymgaffwyf a ib. ‘I may meet’, etc. This is the usual form in Ml. and Mn. W. The occur­rence of‑of is com­para​tive­ly rare:gwiscofw.m. 97 (=gwisgwyfr.m. 71),cysgofh.m. ii 137,gofynnof do. 260. This is probably a re‑formation from the 3rd sg.

(2) The 3rd pl. ending is‑ont; rarely in Ml. W.‑w͡ynt, as inelwynt B.A. 2, 3 (:af ‘I go’), and‑oent, aspan venoenta.l. i 22 ‘when they desire’. All are prob. formed from the 3rd sg.

(3) The 1st and 2nd pl. end in‑om,‑och:diwyccom,digonhomb.b. 30,crettochr.m. 131.

(4) The impers. ends in ‑er; but there are examples of a form in‑w͡yr:r͑othwyrb.t. 1 for the usualr͑oẟer ‘may be given’.

iv. The 2nd sg. ending is‑ych:r͑oẟychw.m. 4 ‘thou givest’ (mayest give),gwypych do. 14 ‘thou knowest’,gellych do. 151 (:gallaf ‘I can’). In Late W. a dialectal form‑ech sometimes occurs,§ 16 iv (2) (β), aslletteuech Ruth i 16,gweddïech Matt. vi 6,poenech Marc v 7. In the present dialects the subj. is seldom used except in the 3rd sg. and pl.; and some recent writers have used‑ot for the 2nd sg. Even‑ost has been written; in Wms.’s verseMarchog,Iesu the last lineTyrd am hynny maes o law 849 appears in recent hymnbooks asPan y byddost ti gerllaw.—gellyt ZE. 512 is a misreading ofgellychr.m. 220.

v. The impf. subj. is formed by adding the personal endings of the impf. to the subj. stem; thus (subj.)bei dywettut ti … (ind.)minheu a ẟywedwnw.m. 118–9 ‘if thou wouldst say … I would say’. In Late W., owing to the levelling of the subj. with the ind. stem, the distinction between the moods is not preserved in the impf., except inaf,gwnaf,dof,wyf, which have special subj. stems; seei (2) above.

§ 177.Pres. Impv.—i. (1) The 2nd sg. is the bare stem of the pres. ind. It differs from the 3rd sg. pres. ind. in never having its vowel affected; thusdeil ‘he holds’,dal ‘hold!’tau ‘is silent’,taw ‘be silent!’pair Zech. x 1 ‘causes’,pâr Ps. xxv 4 ‘cause!’

(2) Verbs which have‑a in the 3rd sg. pres. ind. take it also in the 2nd sg. impv.:kerẟaw.m. 83,r.m. 60,llunnyaw.m. 25,r.m. 16, etc., see§ 173 v.

ii. (1) The 3rd sg. ends in‑ed:kymeretw.m. 30,r.m. 19 ‘let her take’,aet unw.m. 13,r.m. 9 ‘let one go’,gadawed, dychweled Es. lv 7.

(2) A 3rd sg. in‑id added to the subj. stem is also met with:elhidb.b. 101 (:af ‘I go’),r͑othid do. 93 ‘may he give’,gwrthleẟit DuwỺ.A. 26 ‘may God ward off’,Trowyr (≡trỿ-w̯yr),getidDuw’r ieuaf G.Gl.m 146/185 ‘three men, God spare the youngest’,gettidMair D.N.g. 154,TelidDuw iddynt M.K. [viii] ‘let God repay them’.

iii. The 3rd pl. ending is‑ent:diskynnentw.m. 22 ‘let them descend’,katwenta.l. i 138 ‘let them keep’,traethentỺ.A. 159 ‘let them speak’,deuent (rh. withstent) L.G.C. 66 ‘let them come’. This is obviously formed from the 3rd sg. in‑ed (since orig.‑ent would have become‑ynt). There is also a 3rd pl.bintỺ.A. 81 ‘let them be’ formed frombid. In the Bible a 3rd pl. in‑ant is used:gwybyddant Ps. lix 13 ‘let them know’,dychwelant do. 14 ‘let them return’. This is a late re-formation following the analogy of the 1st and 2nd pl. which are taken over from the pres. ind. In spite of the use of ​this form in the Bible, the older form persisted in the late period:Angyliondoent … Rhoenteu coronau Wms. 320 ‘Let angels come, let them put their crowns.’

iv. The 1st and 2nd pl. have taken the forms of the pres. ind.; but an earlier 1st pl. in‑em occurs rarely,§ 184 ii (1).

§ 178. i. In order to trace the development of the Welsh verb, some account, though it be in the briefest outline, must be given of the Ar. verbal system. For a fuller, but still concise and most instruc­tive descrip­tion, see Meillet, Intr.² pp. 165–219.

ii.Stem form.—Two kinds of stem may be distinguished. Thematic forms were those ending in the thematic vowel‑e‑:‑o‑; it was‑o- in the 1st sg. and 1st and 3rd pl., and‑e- in the 2nd and 3rd sg. and 2nd pl. Athematic forms were those ending in a consonant or long vowel.

iii. Personal endings.—(1) The Ar. verb had personal endings for each of the three persons of the sg., dual and pl. These were either primary or secondary; and the primary endings differed to some extent for thematic and athematic stems. There were special endings for the perfect.

In the following list I omit the dual; and as the thematic vowel cannot be separated from the ending in some primary forms, I insert the vowel before the ending through­out, separat­ing it by a hyphen, where possible, from the personal ending proper: all the persons of thematic stems are thus put on the same level.

(2)Active voice.

Primary.—Thematic: sg. 1.‑ō, 2.‑ēis, 3.‑ēit; pl. 1.‑o‑mesi,‑o‑mosi,‑o‑mē̆s,‑o‑mō̆s, 2.‑e‑the, 3.‑o‑nti.

Athematic: sg. 1.‑mi, 2.‑si, 3.‑ti; pl. 1.‑mesi,‑mosi,‑mē̆s,‑mō̆s, 2.‑the, 3. after a consonant‑enti,‑n̥ti, after a vowel‑nti.

Secondary.—Thematic: sg. 1.‑o‑m, 2.‑e‑s, 3.‑e‑t; pl. 1.‑o‑mē̆,‑o‑mō̆, 2.‑e‑te, 3.‑o‑nt.

Athematic: sg. 1. after a vowel‑m, after a cons,‑m̥, 2.‑s, 3.‑t; pl. 1.‑mē̆,‑mō̆, 2.‑te, 3. after cons,‑ent,‑n̯t, after vow.‑nt.

(3) Middle voice (medio-passive); 1st and 2nd pl. omitted. Primary.—Thematic: sg. 1.‑o‑mai,‑ōi, 2.‑e‑sai, 3.‑e‑tai, pl. 3.‑o‑ntai.

Athematic: sg. 1.‑mai, 2.‑sai, 3.‑tai, pl. 3.‑ntai.

Secondary.—Thematic: sg. 2.‑es‑o, 3.‑e‑to, pl. 3.‑o‑nto. Athematic: sg. 2.‑so,‑thēs, 3.‑to, pl. 3.‑nto.

(4) Perfect. The following endings only need be mentioned. Active: sg. 1.‑a, 3.‑e.

​(5) The characteristic of the primary endings is final‑i. The differ­ence in the sg. between primary thematic and athematic forms may have arisen by phonetic change in the parent language; thus we should expect themat. sg. 2.‑esi, but (though Skr. hasbhár-asi) the Ar. form seems to have been‑ēis; possibly by metath. and compen­satory lengthen­ing, but this is quite uncertain.

iv.Mood and Tense Stems.—(1) The present stem was rarely the simple root. In most cases it was either the redupli­cated root, the root with thematic vowel, the root with stem‑forming suffix, or the root with the infix‑n- or‑ne‑.

The present stem with primary endings formed thepres. ind.; as *dí-dō-mi (Gk.δίδωμι) ‘I give’, √dō‑; *bhér-o‑nti (Gk. Dor.φέροντι) ‘they bear’, √bher‑.

The present stem with secondary endings, and with the augment before it, formed a past, as *é bher-o‑m (Gk.ἔφερον) ‘I bore’. This augmented past is calledimperfect, because it is imperfect in meaning in Gk. In Skr. it is merely a past.

(2) The stem of thes‑aorist was formed with‑s- (athematic); of the future with‑e- or‑se- (thematic); of the optative with‑i̯ē- etc.; these forma­tions are noticed below.

(3) The simple root with or without the thematic vowel formed aorist stems as follows, all the endings being secondary: firstly, R‑grade of √ + them. vowel, as *é liq^u̯-o‑m (> Gk.ἔλιπον), √leiq^u̯‑; this may be called the thematic aorist;—secondly, F‑grade of √ (at least in sg.), athematic, as *é bheid‑m̥ (> Skr.ábhedam), √bheid- ‘split’; this is called theroot-aorist.

v. TheAugment was a separable accented preverb denoting past time. It was lost entirely except in Gk., Armenian and Indo‑Iranian.

The augment is always followed by forms with secondary endings. These forms were also used without the augment; they are then calledinjunc­tive; thus Skr. Ved.bhárat ‘bore’, Gk. Hom.φέρω ‘bore’ < Ar. *bhere‑t beside impf.ábharat,ἔφερε < *é bhere‑t. Injunc­tive forms are either past or pres. in meaning; the augment makes them definite­ly past.

§ 179.Pres. Ind.—i. In Ar. the verb was unaccented when it followed a preverb such as a negative particle, or a prepo­sition later compound­ed with it. This was un­doubted­ly the rule in Kelt. (despite devia­tions in Ir.), as it was in Italic. In the pres. ind. in Kelt. in the 3rd sg. the accented verb had the primary ending, that is, the regular present ending, but the un­accented verb had the secondary suffix, that is, the injunc­tive form. Thus the W. proverbTrenghit golut, ny threingk molut§ 173 vi (1) repre­sents Kelt. *traŋkī́-ti u̯ò…,né ttraŋkī‑t mò… It has been suggested that this reflects the original use of the Ar. primary and secondary endings; and it ​certainly accords with the fact that the augment, an accented preverb, is always followed by forms with secondary endings.

ii. The Ar. athematic stems, excepting those of a few common verbs, ended mostly in the long vowels‑ā‑,‑ē‑,‑ō‑. As medial‑ō- became‑ā‑, and‑ē‑ became‑ī‑ in Kelt., these charac­teristics were reduced to two,‑ā- and‑ī‑. The vowel had F-grade in the sg., R-grade in the pl., as in Gk.ἵστημι < *sí-sthā-mi, pl. 2.ἵστατε < *sí-sthə-the. The Kelt, forms of the 1st sg. pres. were therefore *‑ā-mi, *‑ī-mi. As the form was mostly un­accented, and un­accented‑ā- > Brit,‑a-§ 74, the prevail­ing Brit, forms were *‑a-me, *‑ī-me. These give the W.‑af,-if, the latter com­parative­ly rare,§ 173 ii, and now obsolete. Examples: (1) Ar. *dí-dō-mi ‘I give’ > Kelt. *(p)ró (di‑)dā-mi > Brit. *ró-da-me > W.rhoẟaf ‘I give’;—(2) Ar. *dhí-dhē-mi ‘I put’ > Kelt. *(p)ró (di‑)dī-mi > Brit. *ró-dī-me, which would give W. *rhoẟif ‘I put’. But the latter ending was rare, and was supplant­ed by‑af, the result being, in this case, that two verbs became one:rhoẟaf ‘I give, I put’. The re­duplicat­ing syllable was probably lost by haplology. Only the vowel of the syllable dropped indodaf ‘I give, I put’ < *dó-tāme or *dó-tīme < *dó d(i)-dōmi or *dó dh(i)-dhēmi: Gk.δίδωμι orτίθημι. Usuallydodaf is ‘I put’; fordod ‘give’ see Ps. lxxii 1, Gr.O. 87.

iii. (1) The accented forms of the 3rd sg. *‑ā́-ti, *‑ī-ti give the W. strong forms‑awd,‑id. These are used at the head of the sentence, like accented verbs in Skr. The intro­duction of‑h- before the ending in Ml. W., where not etymo­logical as intrenghit (ngh <ŋk), is ana­logical, and partly arti­ficial. The second form tended to oust the first in this case, as seen in O.W.prinit ‘buys’ for *prinaut < Brit. *prinā́-ti: Ir.cren(a)id; see§ 201 i (4). The‑id form with the initial of the affixed pron.fo, thus *‑id‑f, gave *‑it‑ff and then‑iff, the dial. ending, by loss of thet as in the 2nd pl., see§ vii. The West Gwyn.‑ith has recentth forff.

Ml. W.‑yd inëyt,§ 173 vi (1), is from *‑etī < *‑e‑tai the middle 3rd sg. ending: Gk.φέρεται; see§ 193 x (1).

(2) But the usual form of the 3rd sg. in W. is the stem without or with vowel affection; this comes from the un­accented injunc­tive form; thuscâr loves < Brit. *kara‑t;rhydd ‘puts’ < Brit. *ró-dī‑t. The latter, being more dis­tinctive, spread; thusrhydd ‘gives’ instead of *rhodd < *ró-da‑t.

iv. (1) The Ar. thematic endings *‑ō, *‑ēis, *‑ēit would become *‑ū, *‑īs, *‑īt in Kelt.; and these in W. would all drop after affecting the vowel. The 1st and 2nd sg. so formed were lost because they were not dis­tinctive; but prob. the 3rd sg. added to the number of affected stems forming the W. 3rd sg.

(2) The thematic injunctive ending‑et of unaccented verbs dropped without affecting the vowel; thus Ar. inj. *bher‑e-t ‘bears’ gives Kelt. *kóm beret > W.cymer ‘takes’, and Kelt. *áti beret > W.adfer ‘restores’, etc. It is found not only in compound, but in simple verbs, ascêl ‘conceals’ < *kelet,rhed ‘runs’ < *retet, etc., because ​the un­accented was, as in the case of athematic stems, the commoner form; e.g.nichēl grudd gystudd colon prov. ‘the cheek does not hide the sorrow of the heart’.

(3) There is no *‑ed, since the them. prim, ending was‑ēit, not *‑eti§ 179 iii (5). The strong form of the above verbs is taken over from the‑ī‑ conju­gation; asrhedid car gan anwaered prov. ‘a car will run down hill’. (So Ir.berid for *beri, with anal,‑d.)

v. The W. 3rd pl.‑ant is from Kelt,‑anti < Ar. *‑ə‑nti which was common to the‑ā‑ and‑ī‑ conju­gations; seeii above. There is no trace of the thematic *‑o‑nti, because‑ont came to be associ­ated with other tenses. The O.W.‑int, Ml. W.‑ynt, may represent the athem. *‑enti or the middle *‑ontai, more probably the latter; ‑(h)awnt is certainly formed after ‑(h)awt.

vi. The 2nd sg.‑yẟ (which is the oldest form of the ending‑y, later‑i) seems to come from accented forms of itera­tives in‑éi̯e, or denomi­natives and deverba­tives in´‑i̯e- the commonest stem-suffix in the Ar. languages. In Kelt, from *karo‑s ‘dear’ thei̯e-denom. would be *karé-i̯ū, *karé-i̯īs, *karé-i̯īt; all these would give W.keryẟ. But the 1st and 3rd sg. had more distinc­tive endings, and‑yẟ survived in the 2nd only, though there are traces of it in the 3rd, see§ 173 vi (3). The latter occur in relative sentences, where the verb was prob. accented, as in Skr. The accented 2nd sg. is frequent­ly used, and answered by accentedna and the unacc. 1st sg.

vii. The 1st and 2nd pl. in W. are re-formations, and it is useless to attempt to derive them from Kelt, forms. The Kelt. 2nd pl. was, them. *‑e-te, athem, *‑a-te. The former would give W. *‑ed (Ml. Bret.‑et); to this was added the initial of the affixed pron.chwi, thus *caret‑ch^w̯ > *carewch by loss oft, cf.iii (1); at this stage a 1st pl. *caren was formed on the analogy of the 2nd pl., with the initial of the aff. pron.ni ‘we’; this form is attested in O.W.iben, and survives to this day in West Gwyn. incaran besidecarwn ‘we love’ (Gwyn.‑an =‑en). As the 2nd pl. clashed with the impf. it was re-formed with the vowels of the 2nd sg. thus *cerywch >cerwch ‘ye love’; sub­sequent­ly the vowel of this ending intruded into the 1st pl., givingcarwn ‘we love’. A statement in the 2nd pers. is always answered in the 1st, hence the influence of the forms on one another in the less used pl.

viii. (1) In Pr. Ar. an ending *‑r- formed impersonals. It survived only in Indo-Iranian and Italo-Keltic. In Skr. it takes the form‑uḥ (before a vowel‑ur) in the active, and‑re,‑ire in the middle;‑uḥ repre­sents *‑r̥ or *‑r̥s, Meillet Intr.² 203. These endings in Skr. form the 3rd pl.; this is natural enough when one considers that there is only a shade of distinc­tion in meaning between the impers.dywedir ‘on dit’ and the 3rd pl.dywedant ‘they say’.

(2) In Italo‑Kelt. it was used in two ways; first, it might be added to the tense-stem, as Umbrian subj.ferar ‘on portera’, pres. ind.ier ‘on va’, Oscan subj.sakrafír (withúltiumam for object) ‘cysegrer’. Secondly it was added to the 3rd sg. or pl. middle, and then extended ​to other persons in deponent verbs in Ir., and deponent or passive in Lat., as Lat.itur, Osc.vincter ‘vincitur’, Umbr.emantur ‘emantur’. On the im­personal use of the Lat. passive see Ernout MSL. xv 273–333.

(3) In Kelt. the ending may be taken to have been *‑re (also *‑ro?). The Brit. shorter forms of the‑ā‑,‑ī‑, and thematic conju­gations in the pres. were *‑ā́-re, *‑ī́-re and *‑e-re re­spective­ly. These give the W. pres. impers.‑awr,‑ir and‑er. The second survives to this day, seeix (2), and is in common collo­quial use. The first was used in Early Ml. W., and the third occurs also, but was obsoles­cent owing to its clashing with the subj. form. The‑h- sometimes seen before‑awr and‑er is an intrusion from the subj.

(4) Longer forms, with *‑re added to the 3rd sg. middle secondary endings would be *‑ā̆‑to‑re, *‑ī̆‑to‑re and *‑e‑to‑re. These give the W.‑ator or‑otor,‑itor and‑etor. The dental should be‑d‑, which occurs indygedawrb.t. 75; the‑t- is partly due to the intrusion of subj.‑h‑, partly a mis­transcrip­tion of O.W.‑t‑, as these forms were obsolete at the dates of our MSS. Since the above was written an O.W. example has come to light incephitorcp., with one‑t‑ as inretec ib., Ml. W.r͑edec.

ix. (1) The reason why the Welsh pres. has always had a fut. meaning is that it contains beside the pres. the Ar.‑e- future, generally called subjun­ctive. This tense is formed by adding the thematic vowele/o to the pres. stem. In the case of thematic stems the effect was to lengthen the thematic vowel through­out. In the sg. this would make no differ­ence (Gk. subj.φέρω. ind.φέρω; the subj.φέρῃς is a re‑formation; orig. *bhérēis would give *φέρεις in the ind.). In long-vowel stems the added thematic vowel simply converted them to thematic stems, as Gk. subj.διδῶ beside ind.δίδωμι; this intro­duces no new element. The 3rd pl. fut. *‑ōnti (Gk. Dor.φέρωντι) would have its vowel shortened§ 74 iv, and so would not differ from the pres.

(2) In the impers. the fut. form for thematic stems would be *‑ē‑re > Kelt. *‑ī‑re, beside the pres. *‑e‑re. All thematic stems therefore would have a fut. in‑ir beside the pres. in‑er. This shows why‑ir became the prevail­ing pres.-fut. form.

(3) In consonantal athematic verbs the distinction between pres. and fut. is much clearer; thus the pres. stem *es- ‘be’ has fut. stem *ese‑; the former gives the Ar. pres. *és-mi, *és-(s)i, *és-ti (> Skr.ásmi,ási,ásti); the latter gives the Ar. fut. 1. *és-ō (> Lat.ero), 2. *és-ēis, 3. *es-ēit, injunc­tive *es-et (> Skr.asat, Lat.erit).

The W. pres. is a mixture of pres. and fut. forms. The Kelt. fut. *ésū, *ésīs, *ésīt would give *oe for the three persons; of this a trace survives inoe‑fb.b. 50 ‘I am’. The pres. sg. 2. *ése (< Ar. *ési) and 3. inj. *eset would give *wy, whence sg. 1.wy‑f, 2.wy‑t, 3. *wy rnetath. toyw§ 78 iv; inpi-eu ‘whose is?’ it is weakened to‑eu,§ 78 iii,§ 192. The Ar. 3rd sg. pres. *ésti survives in W.ys, which has become imper­sonal. The W. 3rd pl.ynt (for *hynt) comes from Ar. 3rd pl. pres. *s‑enti (*s- is V-grade of √es‑). The W. 1st pl.ym (Ir.ammi) ​implies a Kelt. **ésmesi, a confusion of pres. *smesi and fut. *ésomesi. The W. 2nd pl.ych is, as usual, a new form made to match.

Asbyẟaf used for the fut.,wyf has lost its fut. meaning except in certain idioms, as yr wyfyno yfory ' I shall be there to-morrow '.

§ 180.The Imperfect—i. As above intimated,§ 171 ii (2), the W. impf. comes from the Ar. optative. This was formed by means of a suffix *‑ii̯ē‑, *‑i̯ē- with secondary endings.

ii. (1) In athematic verbs the suffix *‑i̯ē- was F-grade and accented in the sg.; the preceding vowel had R- or V-grade; thus 3rd sg. Gk,τιθείη < *dhi-dhe-i̯ēt (ei̯ R_1e ofēi̯), Skr.dadhyā́t < *dhe-dh‑i̯ḗt, the Skr. pre­serving the original accentu­ation.

(2) In Kelt. theē becameī, so that the forms would be *‑a-i̯ī́t, *‑e‑i̯ī́t; these were levelled as *‑i‑i̯ī́t in Brit. and this gives‑ai,§ 75 iv,v (2); thus Kelt. *kara-i̯ī́t > W.carai ‘would love’. This form would also result from the 1st and 2nd sg. forms *‑a-i̯ēm, *‑a-i̯ēs; hence the endings for those persons were selected from thematic verbs.

(3) The consonant stem *es‑ ‘be’ gave Ar. *s‑(i)i̯ē‑t, which gives Skr.siyā́t orsyā́t, O. Lat.siet; in Kelt. it would be *sii̯ī́t. Coming generally after a preverb, or after its comple­ment, it was un­accented; and *´siiīt gives regularly W. (h)oeẟ ‘would be, was’§ 75 iv (2); theh- is seen inyttoeẟ < *yd-hoeẟ < *íta sii̯īt ‘there would be’§ 219 ii. The whole tenseoeẟwn etc. was built from the 3rd sg.

iii. (1) In thematic verbs the suffix‑i̯ē‑ had its V-grade‑i̯‑, which formed a diphthong with the thematic vowel, which was always‑o‑; thus the optative of *bhérō ‘I bear’ was sg. 1. *bhéroi̯‑m̥ > Skr.bháreyam (for *bharayam). In Kelt. it would be *béroi̯‑m̥ > Brit. *béroi-an(n) > W. *cy-merw͡y‑n >cymerwn. The only possible expla­nation of‑wn is that it is for *‑w͡yn, see§ 78 i (2); on *oi >w͡y§ 75 ii (2); on the retention of‑n§ 113 i (1).

(2) The W. 2nd sg.‑ud comes regularly from the 2nd sg. middle *‑oi-thēs. The ending *‑thēs (: Skr.‑thāḥ) is represent­ed in the‑the‑r of Ir. deponents; and‑ud spread from deponent to all verbs in W. because it was distinc­tive.

iv. (1) In athematic verbs, in the middle voice where the ending was syllabic, the suff. became R-grade *‑i̯ə‑; this coming before the accent remains as‑i̯a‑; thus in the deponent verbgwnn ‘I know’ the 3rd sg. impf. isgwyẟi̯ad for *gwẟi̯ad regularly represent­ing the 3rd sg. opt. mid. *u̯id-i̯ə-tó.

(2) In long-vowel stems the reduced stem-ending and suffix would thus be *ə-i̯ə; by§ 63 vii (5) this should give *ii̯ə >‑ī‑, which is the usual form (though other reduc­tions are possible), as in Skr.da-dī-tá < *de-dī-to, √dō‑. Thus the 3rd sg. opt. mid. of Kelt. *karā-mi would be *kar-ī-tó, which gives regularly W.cerid, the impers. of the imperf. ind. This middle was un­doubted­ly a passive in Kelt., and was assimi­lated in its use to the impers. pres. in‑r after the‑r form for this tense, namely *‑ir, had gone out of use owing to its clashing with the pres.

​(3) The 3rd sg. mid. of thematic stems ended in *‑oito. We should therefore expect‑ud beside‑id for the impers. in W. A trace of this actually occurs inac y haruetud etc.b.b. 20, which should be *ac yth arweẟud etc. ‘and thou wert borne’, etc., where the scribe mistook the impers. for the 2nd sg., which makes no sense if it is active, and we can hardly assume the 2nd sg. to have retained a passive sense.

v. (1) In the 1st and 2nd pl. of athematic stems the Ar. form was *‑i̯ə‑: *‑i‑. We can probably assume for Kelt. *kár(a)-i̯ə-me; them was doubled on the analogy of the aor.; and post-tonic *i̯a >i̯e >e in W.,§ 65 vi (1); hence W.carem. Similarly 2nd pl. *caret + chw̯- >karewch,carech.

(2) The 3rd pl. ending was *‑i̯ént (for *‑i̯ḗnt). The form *‑a‑i̯ént gives W.‑i§ 75 v (1); astri ugeint canhwr a sevib.t. 55 ‘6000 men stood’; hence the rare “3rd sg.”‑i. The 3rd pl.‑ynt seems to be a middle form < *‑ento < *‑i̯ə‑nto (or *‑into < *‑ī‑nto), which spread because it had the 3rd pl. sign‑nt.

vi. (1) Theimpf. subj. is the optative of thes‑aorist, cf. Lat.vīderīmus < *u̯eid-is-ī‑m‑. Thus Kelt. *kara-sii̯īt > Ml. W.karhei.

(2) Theplup. is an optative formed from the new Kelt.ss‑aorist. Thus Brit. *karassii̯ī́t >carassai.

The plup. is held to be a Brit. innovation. Strachan’s examples of the impf. subj. being replaced by the plup. in later texts, quoted inb.b. 157, prove nothing as to the antiquity of the plup.; its existence in Bret. shows that it goes back at least to Brit., so that the evidence of Ml. texts is ir­relevant. We also find the plup. in early texts where we should expect to find the impf. subj. asri-uelssudb.b. 20. The fact is that the two aorists were not very sharply distin­guished.

§ 181.The Aorist.—i. The Welsh aorist comes from a Keltic re-formation of the‑s- aorist. The orig. Ar. formation seems to have been (1) L‑grade of √ + ‑s‑ (in Kelt. R‑grade in the pl.), or (2) F‑grade of V + ‑is‑. The endings are secondary.

ii. (1) With long-vowel stems the suffix is‑s‑; thus Skr.á-prā-sam < *é plē‑s‑m̥, √pelē‑ ‘fill’, Gk.ἐφίλη-σ‑α (inter­vocalic‑σ- restored from cons. stems‑ψα, etc.). Thus Kelt. *kárā‑s‑m̥ ‘I loved '. Bearing in mind thatst >ss and thatsm >mm the whole Kelt. tense may be restored thus: sg. 1. *kárāsm̥, 2. *kárāss, 3. *kárāss, pl. 1. *ká-rammo, 2. *kárasse, 3. *kárasn̥t.

(2) This tense was wholly reconstituted in Kelt., with stem sg. *kárāss‑, pl. *kárass‑. The 1st and 2nd sg. were made anew with thematic endings; thus 1. *kárāssū, 2. *kárāssīs (inj.‑es). The 1st pl. became *káras­sammo instead of *kárammo; then followed 2. *kárassate instead of *kárasse. Un­accentedā was shortened in Brit, and Ir. and these forma­tions gave regularly Ir. sg. 1.ro-charus (2.ro-charais), pl. 1.ro-charsam, 2.ro-charsaid, and W. sg. 1.kereis, 2.kereis +t, pl. 1.karassam, 2. *karassat +chw̯- >karas­sawch. The ending of the 3rd pl. was made primary; thus *káras­santi > Ir.carsait, W.karassant. As a variant the thematic vowel was brought into the ​pl. also; thus Brit. *kárass-o-mmos, *kárass-o-nti giving W.karassom,karassont; from these followedcarasoch.

iii. To the 3rd sg. two things happened, (1) It remained unchanged; thus *kárăss > W. *kar, which was extended tokarawẟ to distin­guish it from the pres.; for‑awẟ see§ 182 iii. The Ir. ro-char implies *karass with short a from the pl.

(2) It was re-formed with the thematic vowel, following the 1st and 2nd sg.; thus *kárāsset; or with‑a- from the pl. as *kárāssat. Either of these would give W. *karas (caf-as§ 175 i (2)). The first gives Ir.carais.

iv. The treatment of‑ī- stems was precisely similar. The stem-ending in the sg. was *‑īss‑; this survives in the W. 3rd sg.peris. In the 1st and 2nd sg. it was replaced by‑eis of‑ā- stems; but in Gwyn. dial.‑is survives in these persons also. In the pl. the stem-ending was‑ass‑, as for‑ā- stems, the‑a- represent­ingə, the R-grade of the‑ē- from which the‑ī- is derived.

v. (1) Consonant stems formed the aorist with *‑is‑, cf. Lat.vid-is-tis, which developed similarly, and gives W.‑ỿss- ineiste­ẟyssant, etc. In the 3rd sg. it appears in W. as‑es from *‑iss‑at. In the 1st and 2nd sg. it was replaced by‑eis.

(2) The *‑iss- suffix seems to have intruded into the thematic conju­gation; thus Brit. *kóm bere-iss-at > W.kymerwys,kymerws.

vi. The impersonal forms‑ad,‑id,‑ed,‑wyd seem to have been formed on the analogy of the impf. im­personal, with the vowels of the 3rd sg. aor.

vii. (1) The root-aorist,§ 178 iv (3), was treated similarly in Kelt. Thus for the root *qan‑ ‘sing’ the orig. Kelt, root-aor. would be sg. 1. *kan-m̯, 2. *kan‑s, 3. *kan‑t. The 3rd sg. became the stem, and the new tense formed from it was sg. 1. *kantū, 2. *kantīs, 3. *kantet or *kantat. These forms gave W. sg. 1.keint, 2. *keint, 3.kant. To the 1st and 2nd sg. the perfect endings‑um,‑ost,§ 182 iv (1), were added,§ 175 iii (2).—gwant ‘wounded’ fromgwanaf < *gwonaf: Ir.gonim, √ꬶ^u̯hen‑, is probably formed on the analogy ofcant. The root *bher‑ has this aor., which survives only in the 3rd sg. in W.; thus W.kymyrth < *kóm bertet orkymerth < *kóm bertat,§ 175 iii (1).

(2) Other examples that survived are from roots ending in gutturals:dyrreithb.t. 54 ‘returned’ < *do-(p)ro-rek-t-et, √reg̑‑: W.dyre ‘come!’§ 193 x (8);—maethb.t. 74 l. 1 ‘nursed’ < *makt‑ < *māk‑t‑, √māk̑‑:magaf ‘I nourish’. The root *u̯ereꬶ‑ ‘work’ had sg. 1. *u̯rek-t-ū, 3. *u̯rek-t-et giving W.gwrith,gwreith; the former occurs inef gwrithb.t. 26 (? 3rd sg.); the latter seems to occur ingwnaeth [readgw(r)eith]gwynnẏeithgwreithe lawb.a. 2 lit. ‘work of vengeance wrought his hand’; but this verb (gwnaf) being in the pres. con­jugated likeaf, this tense was assimi­lated to the perf. ofaf, and became sg. 1.gwneuthum. 3.gwnaeth. The quotation shows that scribes changed oldgwreith togwnaeth, the wronggwreith, viz. the noun, being changed here. In Bret. the old form survived: Ml. Bret. sg. 3.grez.

​§ 182.The Perfect.—i. In Pr. Ar. the vowel-grade of the root was F° in the 1st sg., and L° in the 3rd sg., as Skr.cakára ‘I made’ < *qeqora,cakā́ra ‘he made’ < *qeqore.—Ml. W.kigleu ‘I have heard, he has heard’, Ir.ro-chūala,ro-chūalae. The W. form implies the 1st sg.k̑ū́-k̑lou̯-a: Skr.s̑u‑s̑ráva; for the longū of the redupli­cator cf. Skr.tū-tava, √teu̯- ‘be strong’. See§ 194 v (4).

ii. (1) The following old perfects are 3rd sg. only, and show L°-grade of the root: √u̯ereꬶ- ‘work’ gave *u̯e-u̯rōꬶe > Brit. *u̯o-u̯rā́ge > Ml. W.guoreu,goreu ‘did’ (u̯ lost by dissim.,āg >eu§ 71 iii);—√ret- ‘run’ givesgwa-red-af ‘I succour’; perf. sg. 3. *re-rōt-e > Brit. *u̯o-(re)rā́te > Ml. W.gwarawt ‘succoured’;—√u̯et/d- ‘say’ givesdy-wed-af ‘I say’; perf. sg. 3. Brit. *do-u̯ā́t-e or *dó-u̯at-e > Ml. W.dywawt ordywat,dywot ‘said’ (unacc.ā shortened§ 74;wa:wo§ 34 iv).

(2) √deuk- had R-grade *duk- in the Brit. pres., giving W.dyg-af (: Lat.dūco < O. Lat.douco, F°-grade); perf. sg. 1. *du-douk-a > W. *dy-ẟuc, 3. *du-dōuke > W.dy-ẟucb.t. 4, 52. The tense was re-formed with the perf. endings‑um,‑ost§ iv (1),§ 194 iii (2).—The verbamygaf ‘I defend’ has similarly a 3rd sg. perf.amuc§ 194 iv (2).

iii. In verbs likeeisteẟaf ‘I sit’,gorweẟaf ‘I lie’,arweẟaf ‘I carry’,go(r)ẟiweẟaf ‘I overtake’, etc., the form of the above perf. is seen ingoẟiwawẟw.m. 42 ‘overtook’; this being re-formed asgorẟi­weẟawẟr.m. 29 (soeisteẟawẟw.m. 188, etc.), the‑awẟ seemed to be a 3rd sg. past ending; and was added to suffix­less aorists like *kar§ 181 iii (1) givingkarawẟ, Mn. W.carodd ‘loved’.

iv. (1) Deponent verbs in Brit, had periphrastic perfects formed like those of Lat. deponents. Thus √ag̑‑: perf. sg. 1. *aktos esmi > *aktoimmi >aethum,euthum; 2. *aktos (e)si > *aktossi > *aethos +t =aethost; 3. *aktos ’st > *aktosst >aeth ‘went’. From these forms 1st and 2nd sg. endings‑um,‑ost were deduced, and added to other forma­tions, such as the root-aor.keint and the perf.duc. This perf. itself was completed in the pl. by the addition of the aor. endings‑am,‑awch,‑ant.

(2) The Ml. plup. is sg. 3.athoeẟ for *aethoeẟ, which repre­sents *akto(s)sii̯īt. The diphthongae was simpli­fied prob. by dissim. with the diphthongoe. The second perf.athwyf etc. seems to be a new creation formed on the analogy of the plup.

(3) The impers.llas ‘was slain’ is an example of this formation. It is not a root-aor. as it has R-grade of √qolād‑. It is probably a perf. passive; thus *slad-tos (e)st > *slass-osst >llas ‘was slain’. This passive has a pl.llesseintb.b. 63 ‘were slain’ which seems to be re-formed like impfs. in‑ynt§ 174 iii (2), for *llessynt < *slassī senti;lleẟes­syntb.a. 9 ‘were slain’ seems to be another re-formate.

(4) The impers. of the above perf. is formed by adding the impers. *bw͡yt of the verb ‘to be’ to the stem; thusaeth-pwyt, etc. This was extended to root-aorists, as *kant‑pwyt >kanpwyt, perfects, asduc-pwyt, and presents;§ 175 iii (7). The form *bwyt does not occur elsewhere; prob. the whole formation is new.

​§ 183.Pres. Subjunct.—i. The pres. subj. represents the Ar. fut. with suffix‑se- (fut. in‑e- of‑s- aor.), which gives Italic subj. also: Lat.faxit. The W. forms are chiefly those of the‑ā- conjugation. The accent in the sg. seems to have been on theā.—In theb.b. it seems sometimes to be a mere fut., e.g.vvnahont 61 ll. 14–15.

ii. (1) Stem *karā-se- gives sg. 1. *karā́sō > *karā́sū > *karāi̯ī > W. *karwy;‑f was added to distinguish it from the 3rd sg.; the 3rd sg. *karā́-sīt >karwy, and the unacc. injunct. *karaset, the usual form > *karoe >karo,§ 75 i (2), (3),§ 78 i (1); pl. 1. *kara-so-mos, withm doubled after the aorist pattern, gavekar-hom; pl. 3. *kara-sonti gavekar-hont.

(2) Impers. *kara-se-re >kar-her§ 75 i (2). The formr͑othwyr§ 176 iii (4) is most probably made from the 3rd sg.r͑othwy.

(3) According to the above the‑h- belongs to the pl. and impers. only; in the sg., therefore, it is an intrusion. In Ml. Bret, it is not usual in the sg. but occurs regularly in the pl.

iii. (1) In consonant stems the‑s- came immediately after the cons.; few examples survive because the conjugation had become vocalic in the indic.—√u̯ereg- ‘work’; pres. ind. *u̯rag-at > W.gw̯na ‘does’, subj. *u̯rek-se‑t >gunechl.l. 120 ‘may do’,ny ofyn ẏ neb a wnechb.t. 64 ‘he asks no one what he may do’;—√deuk‑: pres. ind. *duk-at > W.dwg ‘brings’, subj. *deuk-se‑t >duchb.b. 40, laterduwchb.t. 28;—√ret‑: subj. *u̯o-ret-se‑t >gwares§ 194 ii. The vowel of the root is seen to be F‑grade in this tense.

(2) Corresponding to the 3rd sg.gwnech the 2nd sg. *u̯rek-sīs would give *gwnych; this being re-formed as *gwne-ych andgwnel-ych, the latter form would naturally spread toel-ych anddel-ych; and as these are three of the commonest verbs in the language, the ending‑ych might spread from them to all verbs, as being the only distinctive form of the 2nd sg. pres. subj.

§ 184.The Imperative.—i. The 2nd sg. has always represented the bare pres. stem. Thus W.câr ‘love thou’ < Kelt. *karā; W.kymer ‘take’ < *kóm bere < Ar. *bhere: Gk.φέρε.

ii. (1) For the other persons the optative seems to have been once in use:ystyrẏemb.t. 33 ‘let us consider’. The 3rd sg. forms are difficult. In Ir. the endings are‑at,‑et; the lost vowel cannot be the‑ō of Lat.‑tō, or the‑u of Skr.‑tu (Thurneysen Gr. 351); it must be‑o or‑a. The forms are the same in Ir. for active and deponent verbs; this suggests that the ending was the middle secondary *‑to. In Ir. also the forms are the same as those of the impf.; the mid. forms of the 3rd sg. opt. *‑i̯ə‑to, *‑ī-to (W.gwyẟiad,cerid) would give‑ed,‑id if in the former the accent were shifted to the stem. The 3rd pl. may have been *‑ynt (Corn.‑yns beside‑ens), the form in the impf.; but it was re-formed with the vowel of‑ed, rarely of‑id as inbint§ 189 ii (5).

(2) The 1st and 2nd pl. took the forms of the pres. ind. early; and in the late period the 3rd followed.

Contracted Forms.

Subjunctive Mood.

Present Tense.

Imperative Mood.

Present Tense.

Verbal Nouns.

trói (paratói),pára,parháu (glanháu)

Verbal Adjectives.

tro-édig,tro-ádwy,trṓ

(2) It is doubtful whether‑er occurs contracted; the 3rd sg. impv. in‑ed is mostly uncontracted.

(3) The contracted forms‑ṓi,‑ā́i of the 3rd sg. impf. are often pronounced and written‑oe,‑ae, see§ 52 iii (3).

(4) The aor. stem‑oes- is generally misspelt‑ois- in Recent W.; thustroesom Es. liii 6,paratoesant 1 Bren. xviii 26 (so in 1620) appear astroisom andparottoisant! in recent bibles.

(5) On the 3rd sg. pres.para,pery see§ 173 v (1).

iii. The only possible original of the‑s ofaros is either‑d‑t- or‑s‑t- (the v.n. suffix being *‑tu‑). The latter would imply‑os- for the orig. stem; but where‑s- came between vowels in Brit., the vowel before it was either lost, or contracted with the following vowel in Brit. itself, so that we could not havearho-af. We must therefore assume that‑ẟ- has disappeared in this word as inrho-af (theẟ ofrhoẟaf being more or less artificial); hencearho-af for *ar-hoẟ-af < *ari-sod‑, √sed- ‘sit’; andaros < *ari-soss- < *pₑri-sod-tu- ‘sit before’;§ 63 ii,§ 110 iv (2).