 | ThisProto-Brythonic entry containsreconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directlyattested, but are hypothesized to have existed based oncomparative evidence. |
FromProto-Celtic*au, fromProto-Indo-European*h₂ew.[1]
a (stressed*ọ)
Originally, this preposition had two allomorphs:
This order was already breaking down in the Proto-Insular-Celtic period. In Breton and Cornish,*a was generalized. But in Welsh, the allomorphs apparently both coexisted as prepositions in the medieval period. Moderno(“from”) descends from*ọ, but*a survives as a prefix inagor(“to open”).
Conjugated forms of this preposition are also all prefixed with an element*han- (from Proto-Celtic*sani), forming a stem*han-ọ-. In the third-person masculine singular, the conjugation was*han-ọ-ð (from the adverb*audom). Breton, Cornish, and late Welsh also re-prefixed the preposition itself in front of their conjugated stems.