A
WELSH GRAMMAR
.
HISTORICAL AND COMPARATIVE
BY J^MORRIS JONES, M.A.
PROFESSOR OF WELSH AT THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF NORTH WALES, BANGOa LATE RESEARCH FELLOW OF JESUS COLLEGE, OXFORD
PHONOLOGY AND ACCIDENCE
OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 1913
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW NEW YORK TORONTO MELBOURNE BOMBAY
HUMPHREY MILFORD M.A.
FUBLISHKR TO THE UXIVER8ITY
PREFACE
" THIS book ", as V. Henry says of his Breton Lexique, " has the misfortune to have a history." It would be tedious, even if it were possible, to relate it in detail ; but the long delay in the appearance of the work calls for a brief account of the facts by way of explanation and apology.
In the early nineties I contributed to the new edition of the Welsh encyclopaedia T Gwyddoniadur an article on the Welsh language, which contained a sketch of Welsh grammar. This sketch was expanded in a course of lectures delivered to the Junior and Intermediate classes at Bangor after the foundation of the University of Wales. The idea occurred to me of prepar- ing the substance of the lectures for publication as a textbook of Welsh grammar ; but I was unable at the time to carry out the investigation which seemed to me necessary before such a book could be properly written.
The work was intended to be a descriptive grammar of Modern Welsh with special reference to the earlier period. Late Modern Welsh is more artificial, and in some respects further removed from the spoken language, than Early Modern Welsh, owing largely to the influence of false etymological theories ; and the object which I had in view was the practical one of determining the traditional forms of the literary language. Even scholars have been deceived by the fictitious forms found in dictionaries ; thus " dagr " given by Silvan Evans, after Pughe, as the sg. of dagrau, is quoted as a genuine form even by Strachan, Intr. 33 ; see below p. 212 Note. I had however chiefly in mind the ordi- nary writer of the language, to whom a clear idea of the literary tradition is at least equally important. The first draft of the
a2
iv PREFACE
1'ottk was begun in 1899 ; bat I was dissatisfied with it, and made a fresh start a year or two later. The progress of the second draft was much hindered by examination work which took up the greater part of my long vacation for some years. In 1907 I had finished the accidence and written more than half of the syntax. As Early Modern literature consists almost wholly of verse in the strict metres, I found myself in the syntax quoting more and more from Medieval prose. At last I was forced to the conclusion that the Medieval period would have to be dealt with in the earlier portion, which would therefore have to be entirely ro-written. Many Medieval forms had already been quoted in it, in order to show that the Early Modern forms followed the old tradition, especially where the late written form is artificial ; in some cases the etymology also was given, in order to show further that the traditional form had developed regularly. In re-casting the first portion I thought it would be well to bring together the laws by which Welsh sounds are derived from Keltic and Primitive Aryan, so that by reference to them any formation or word might be compared with its cognates, and traced to its origin. Thus from a descriptive grammar of Modern Welsh the book grew into a Welsh Grammar Historical and Comparative.
In its present form the work was commenced early in 1908 ; and the Phonology and Accidence now published were completed in the Spring of 1912. The volume has taken a year to print ; and I have not found the time too long for the final revision of the copy and the correction of proofs.
A few words may here be said of the most important previous works on the subject. The earliest known Welsh grammar is that preserved in the Red Book of Hergest (E.G.), and printed from a late copy as Dosparth EJeyrn Dafod Aur by Ab Ithel ; apart from the treatment of sounds and metres this is little more than a definition of the parts of speech. Simwnt Vychan's grammar (P.IL.) is also of value only for its prosody. The first printed
PREFACE v
Welsh grammar was written by Dr. Griffith Roberts, and appeared at Milan in 1567. It gives an interesting account of the language as it was written before the influence of Salesbury made itself felt ; but the most remarkable feature of the book is the section on etymology, which records the discovery by the author of the fact that the sound-changes which take place in Latin loan-words were capable of being stated as laws. Dr. J. D. Rhys's grammar appeared in 1592. The author wrote excellent Welsh, though his peculiar alphabet makes it appear uncouth ; and his grammar is an attempt to describe the language as he wrote it. It is cast almost wholly in the form of tables, and is less systematic in reality than in appearance. The prosody, which is valuable, was contributed by contemporary bards. In 1593 a small grammar was published by Henry Salesbury, in which literary and dialectal forms are given, but are not distinguished.
Dr. John Da vies published his grammar in 1621, the year after the appearance of the revised Bible, which is believed to be chiefly his work. The grammar represents the result of a care- ful study of the works of the bards. It was the first Welsh grammar to be based on an examination of the actual facts of the language of standard authors. Medieval bards are quoted in modernized spelling ; in that respect, therefore, the work is not in the strict sense historical. But the author's analysis of the Modern literary language is final ; he has left to his successors only the correction and amplification of detail.
The grammar of William Owen (later W. O. Pughe) prefixed to his Dictionary, 1803, stands at the opposite pole. It is written on the same principle as the dictionary, and represents the language not as it is, or ever was, but as it might be if any suffix could be attached mechanically to any stem. The author's method can best be realized by imagining a Latin grammarian evolving out of the stems of volo the presents ind. volo, voli#, volit ; mo, vis, nt ; v nlo, vuls, vult ; veto, vds, velt ; vello, vellis, vellit,
vi PREFACE
and the infinitives volere, tfare, vulere, velere,vetlere, with perhaps a note stating that these infinitives are " seldom used " (see his Gr.a 66, 68), or alternatively a footnote to the effect that vellt " is as often used " (do. 67). Examples are quoted of such form- as are genuine ; and the impression is conveyed by the suggestio falsi of " seldom ", " as often ", and the like, that the others also occur. To the author truth meant conformity with his theory ; facts, perverse enough to disagree, were glossed over to save their character.
In 1853 appeared the first edition of Rowland's work, which was regarded for more than a generation as the standard grammar of Modern Welsh. It is for the most part a description of the written Welsh of the ipth century ; but the paradigms contain many of Pughe's spurious forms. The author had practically no knowledge of any Welsh older than that of the Bible translation ; he records recent usages, but is unable to throw any light on them, or to decide between genuine and counterfeit forms. The use which he makes of Dr. Davies often shows that he was in- capable of understanding him ; e.g. in professing to give Davies's table of diphthongs, after including iw icy among the falling diphthongs he imagines that he has done with those combinations, and omits them from the rising class, without perceiving that the very object of the classification is to dis- tinguish between falling iw icy and rising iio wy. But his book contains a quantity of sound, if ill-digested, information about Late Welsh ; and marks the return to common sense after the domination of Pughe.
The foundations of modern Keltic philology were laid by I. C. Zeuss in his great Grammatica Celtica, which was published in 1853. The sections devoted to, Welsh grammar contain a wonderfully complete and accurate analysis of the language of the Red Book Mabinogion (ed. Lady Charlotte Guest, 1849), the Black Book of Chirk (in A.L., 1841), and the Welsh passages in Liber Landavensis (ed. Rocs, 1840).
PREFACE vii
In 1908 appeared the first part of Pedersen's Vergleichevde Grammatik der keltischen Sprachen ; two of the remaining three parts have since been issued. This important work is mainly comparative as its title suggests, and deals with the derivation and development of the grammatical forms of all the Keltic languages. It records the latest results of Keltic philology, but is in some respects rather markedly individual.
Strachan's Introduction to Early Welsh appeared posthumously in 1909. It contains a Medieval Welsh grammar, reader and glossary. The grammar was written by Strachan in a few weeks in 1907, and one cannot but wonder with his editor at "the amazing rapidity with which he toiled ". The work embodies forms from texts inaccessible to Zeuss, and is naturally the pro- duct of a more advanced knowledge. Its value is somewhat lessened by the fact that a large number of forms and phrases are quoted without references.
Of the scope of the present work I have already spoken. It embraces roughly that of the grammars of Davies, Strachan, and Pedersen (so far as this relates to Welsh). The sections dealing with the derivation of Welsh sounds were planned and partly written before the appearance of Pedersen's work ; but I had the advantage of consulting the latter in filling in the detail. I have however examined each rule for myself; many new examples are adduced, and the conclusion arrived at differs in some cases from Pedersen's. In §§ 75, 76 I have attempted a solution of the extraordinarily difficult problems presented by the development of original diphthongs in Welsh. I hope the result is in the main sound, though some of the details are tenta- tive. In § 63 I have endeavoured to compress into a few pages an account of the Aryan vowel system, a knowledge of which is essential to an understanding of the vocalism of the derived languages. The section follows the lines of Hirt's suggestive work Der idg. Ablaut ; the notation (R, F, etc.) is an adaptation
viii PREFACE
and elaboration of Hirt's. Apart from the Welsh examples the section contains nothing new except the notes on the place of a in the system (v (a)) and the treatment of long diphthongs (vii (5)). In the discussion of philological questions generally my obligation to Brugmann's great work is so obvious as hardly to need statement; for the writing of prehistoric forms his scheme has been adopted, and is departed from in only one par- ticular : er, en etc. are used here, as by Hirt, instead of rr, nn etc. I have also learnt much from Meillet's brilliant Introduction, and have borrowed from him the convenient use of the term " sonant " to denote the sounds which oscillate between vowels and con- sonants in Pr. Ar. In the search for the origin and cognates of Welsh vocables I have made extensive use of Walde's Worterluch, which contains, in a concise form and fully indexed, a vast collec- tion of the results of recent investigation in this field ; Boisacq's Dlctionnaire I have also found most valuable. For the purposes of Keltic philology I have consulted with much profit Thurney- sen's admirable grammar of Old Irish. The sections treating of the derivation of sounds are fuller than they were originally intended to be ; and with the material thus provided I was led further to attempt to trace to their origin all inflexions and im- portant grammatical forms. But in order to save space I have generally given only the explanation which seemed to me in each case the most probable ; thus the fact that Pedersen's equation of W. ynteu with Ir. intl or his derivation of eib-aw from *esio is not mentioned does not necessarily mean that it has not been considered, but that I regard it as less likely than the explanation offered in the text.
I have to express my gratitude to Dr. Gwenogvryn Evans, who was kind enough to lend me for the purposes of this work his manuscript referred to as TR., his transcripts of numerous poems by G.Gr., G.G1., Gu.O., D.N., D.E., H.D.,I.F. and IL.,and to furnish me with proofs of W.M. before it was issued, and of K.P.
PREFACE ix
and B.T. which have not yet appeared ; and to Mr. J. H. Davies who generously lent me for several years his transcripts of about 200 of the poems of T.A., and verified readings for me in MSS. at the National Library. For the latter service I am also indebted to Mr. T. Gwynn Jones at the National Library, and to Mr. J. Ifano Jones at the Free Library, Cardiff. I have to thank Mr. Shankland for the readiness with which he has assisted me in various ways at the Library of the University College of North Wales. The first proof .of every sheet was read by my colleague Professor Hudson-Williams ; proofs of the Accidence were read by my assistant Mr. Ifor Williams ; proofs of the Phonology and revises of the Accidence were read by Sir John Rhys. To each of them, and to the Reader at the Press, I am indebted for the correction of errors which had escaped me. Every reference to a printed book was verified by myself in the first proofs, and I hope few errors remain unconnected ; references to MSS. were compared with my notes and with entries in the Report on Welsh Manuscripts, but it was of course impossible, except in a few cases, to check the reading with the original. My thanks are due to Mr. Ifor Williams for much valuable criticism and many hints ; I owe to him the explanation of i'w, Ml. yw> as a metathesis of wy p. 377, see p. xxvii below. I desire to acknowledge my deep obligation to my teacher Sir John Rhys, who has always been ready to help with criticism and advice. Lastly, I owe a debt of gratitude to the Fellows of Jesus College who elected me to a research fellowship for a period in order to enable me to devote my long- vacations to the work.
J. MORRIS JONES.
May 3 id, 1913.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION : PAGB
OBIGIN AND GENERAL HISTORY i
PHONOLOGY :
ORTHOGRAPHY AND PRONUNCIATION :
The Alphabet 9
The Vowels . . . . . . . . .11
The Consonants . . . . . . . .18
Note. — Transcription . . . . . . . 29
Sounds in Combination :
Syllabic Division ....... 30
Diphthongs. Falling Diphthongs . '. . . 31 Rising Diphthongs . . . . . . -37
Ambiguous Groups . . . . . . 41
Accentuation . . 47
Quantity 65
THE ARYAN VOWELS IN KELTIC ..... 74
ARYAN VOWEL GRADATION ...... 78
KELTIC VOWELS IN BRITISH AND WELSH . . . .85
The Short Vowels 85
Affection of Short Vowels . . . . . .89
The Long Vowels ........ 93
The Diphthongs . . . . . . . 97
Later Modifications of Vowels no
VOWEL VARIATION IN MODERN WELSH . . . .116 Vowel Mutation . . . . .. . .116
Vowel Affection . . 120
THE ARYAN CONSONANTS IN KELTIC AND BRITISH . .122 The Explosives . . . . . . . .124
The Spirants . . 133
The Sonants . . . . . . . . .147
INTERCHANGE or CONSONANTS :
Consonant Alternation . . . . . . 155
Assimilation, Dissimilation, and Metathesis . . . 159
xii CONTENTS
BRITISH AND LATIN CONSONANTS IN WELSH : PACK
The Soft Mutation .... .161
The Nasal Mutation ... .167
The Spirant Mutation . • • i?5
Initial Mutation . . . . • • . -176
Later Consonant Changes :
Loss of Voiced Spirants and Sonants . . 177
Provection ... ... .181
Loss of Syllables . » 188
ACCIDENCE : THE ARTICLE .... . . 192
NOUNS .... . . 194
Number ... 195
Parisyllabic Nouns 195
Imparisyllabic Nouns ... ... 198
n-eteius . . . . . . . • .198
n-stems ',.*•••••• 2O°
t-steras .... . 202
<-stems ...... . 206
r-etems ......... 209
Vowel Changes . . . . . . , .210
Plural of Nouns with Singular Endings , . .213 Plural formed from Derivatives . . . . .214
Double Plurals . , . . . . . .215
Plural Doublets 216
Singular Doublets . . . . . . .217
Desynonymized Doublets . . . .218
Anomalous Plurals . . . . . .219
Nouns with no Plural . . . . . . .220
Nouns with no Singular .221
Gender . . . . . . . . . .222
Derivative Nouns ...... .229
ADJECTIVES :
Number. . 234
Gender 238
Comparison . . . . . . . . .241
Derivative Adjectives . . . . . . -255
NUMERALS 258
COMPOUND NOUNS AND ADJECTIVES 260
CONTENTS xiii
PRONOUNS : PAGE
Personal Pronouns . . . . . . .270
Possessive Adjectives . . . . . . .282
The Relative Pronoun . . . . . . .284
Interrogative Pronouns, Adjectives and Adverbs . .289 Demonstrative Pronouns and Adjectives . • . . .294 Pronominalia . . . . . . . . -299
VEBBS 315
The Regular Verb ........ 317
Notes and Additional Forms . . . . . '3*9
Origins of the Welsh Verb :
The Aryan Verb . ....... 330
The Welsh Verb ....... 331
Contracted Forms ........ 340
Irregular Verbs :
The Verb 'To Be* 346
Compounds of the Verb ' To Be ' . . . . 351
Af, Gumaf, Deuaf ....... 359
Verbs with Old Perfects ...... 369
Verbs with i-Aorists . . . . . . . 372
Defective Verbs .. . . . . . • 373
Verbal Stems ......... 380
Verbal Nouns ........ 385
Verbal Adjectives . . . . . . ... 396
Compound Verbs . . . . . . . -397
PREPOSITIONS . . . . . . . . • 397
ADVERBS 422
CONJUNCTIONS ......... 440
INTERJECTIONS ......... 450
INDEX .... . . .453
ABBREVIATIONS
I. SIGNS
V 'root'.
< 'from, comes from'.) The angle points in the direction of the
> ' giving, gives '. ) change.
: ' (is) cognate with ', used to connect forms having a common element, but usually varying in formation or vowel -grade. The common use of the sign as roughly equivalent to ' viz.' does not clash with the above, and has been retained.
= is used for three purposes; (i) between forms which according to the laws of their respective languages imply the same ground-form; it replaces the usual colon only where it is desired to point out identity of formation as well as of root, etc. ; — (2) between references to, or various readings of, the same passage in two different MSS. ; — (3) between two designations of the same MS., book or person ; or two characters of the same value, etc.
= ' (is) pronounced ' ; it generally introduces a phonetic transcrip- tion, see Note p. 29 ; but in some cases the phonetic spelling occurs in contemporary texts, and a reference is given.
| denotes syllabic division, see p. 31 ; division of feet on p. 18.
/ ( i) between words quoted denotes that they rhyme, or correspond in cynghanedd, i.e. have the same consonantism or accentuation or both; — (2) between letters denotes that they alternate, see e.g. § 101 iii ; — (3) in references, see VI i.
* prefixed to a form denotes that it is not attested, but only inferred from a comparison of cognates, or from the known action of sound- laws. It also marks hypothetical forms (and meanings) generally.
A dot under a vowel denotes that it is sounded close.
A comma under a vowel denotes that it is sounded open.
t under a vowel denotes that it is nasalized ; thus Fr. ban = bq.
Marks and symbols explained in the body of the work : accent marks §39; t, u § 100; w § 17 xi U; wy § 38 i; |, m, n, r§ 57; en, etc. § 61 i (2), § 62 i (a), § 63 ; » § 57 ; I, g, q, g, f , g* §°84 ; *>, » § 17 vi; 0§ 19 iv; y § 16 ii (3\ § 25 iii; y§ 16 v (2); v. V § 16 i ; f §22iv; 5§ 17 iv; 8§ 19 iii; x, X§ 17iii5 6§ 14ii(a); F, F°, L, L°, V, R, R», Rj etc. § 63.
Meanings are given in single inverted commas ; double inverted commas are used to quote the words of the original when the words explained are taken from a translation ; also as ordinary quotation marks.
ABBREVIATIONS
xv
IL TERMS
abl. 'ablative '
ace. ' accusative '
adj. ' adjective '
adv. 'adverb*
aff. 'affixed' (in Index ' affirmative ')
anal. ' analog-y, -ical '
aor. ' aorist '
auto. ' autograph '
cf. ' compare '
conj. ' conjunctive ' or ' conjugation '
cpv. ' comparative '
dat. ' dative '
def. ' definite '
denom. ' denomina- tive'
do. ' same book (or author) '
e. g. ' for example '
eqtv. ' equative '
f., fern. ' feminine '
gen. ' genitive '
gl. ' gloss on '
ib. ' same book and page'
id. ' same meaning ' i. e. ' that is ' impers., imps. c im- personal ' impf. ' imperfect ' impv. ' imperative ' ind. ' indicative ' indef. ' indefinite ' inf. ' infixed ' inj. ' injunctive ' instr. ' instrumental ' interr. ' interroga- tive '
intj. 'interjection' I.e. 'in place cited' lit. ' liter-ary, -ally ' loc. ' locative ' m., mas., 'masculine' nom. ' nominative ' obj. ' object(ive) ' obi. ' oblique ' orig. ' original(ly) ' perf. ' perfect ' pers. ' person(al) ' pi. ' plural ' plup. ' pluperfect '
pos. 'positive' pref. ' prefix(ed) ' prep. ' preposition ' pres. ' present ' prob. ' probably ' pron. 'pronoun' or ' pronounced ' ac- cording to context, prov. 'proverb' q.v. ' which see ' redupl. ' redupli- cated '
rh. * rhyming ' sc. ' scribal ' sg. ' singular ' spv. ' superlative ' subj. ' subjunctive ',
rarely ' subject ' suff. ' suffix ' s.v. ' under the word ' unacc. ' unaccented ' v.a., v.adj. ' verbal
adj.'
vb. ' verb ' v.n. ' verbal noun ' voc. ' vocative '
III. LANGUAGES
Abbreviations denoting languages are obvious contractions of the names of languages given on p. i .
Mn. 'Modern'. Ml. 'Medieval' or 'Middle'. O. 'Old'. Pr. ' Primitive '.
Note that Ir. means ' Old Irish ' as in Thurneysen Gr., Vendryes Gr., and Windisch, Irische Texte. Ml. and Mn. Ir. are so named.
O.E. < Old English '= Anglo-Saxon. O.H.G. ' Old High German '. Gathav. ' Gathic Avestic ', Oldest Avestic.
Hes(ych). designates forms and meanings from the Lexicon of Hesychius.
xvi ABBREVIATIONS
IV. AUTHORITIES
PERIODICALS AND WORKS ON GRAMMAR AND PHILOLOGY
Ab Ithel, see Dosp. Ed.
Anwyl, Gr. : A Welsh Grammar for Schools ... By E. Anwyl, M.A.
Oxon. London 1898-9. Arch. Camb. : Archceologia Cambrensis. Boisacq : Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque . . . Par
Emile Boisacq. a — 6px~. Heidelberg and Paris 1907-13. Brugmann : Grundriss der vergleichenden Grammatik der indogerma-
nischen Spracheri* . . . Strassburg, I 1897, II i 1906, II ii 1911.
[The Eng. trans, of the ist edn., vol. iv, 1895 = ' II iii revised,
has also been used.] Camden4 : Britannia . . . Londini 1594. GIL. : Corpus Inscrijrtionum Latinarum. Berolini 1862 ff. Coel. y B. / Traetliauxi ar f/ynafiaeth ac Awdurdodaeth Coelbren y
Beirdd . . . Gann Taliesin Williams (Ab lolo). Llanymddyfri
1840. Cymmrodor : T Cymmrodor, the Magazine of the Honourable Society
of Cymmrodorion. D. : Antiqvce Lingvce Britannicce, nunc communiter dictce Cambro-
Britannicae . . . Rvdimenta . . . Londini 1621, by Dr. John Davies
of Mallwyd, author of D.D. below ; see above, p. v. D.D. : Antiques Linguae Britannicce, Nunc vulgo dictae Cambro- Britan- nicce . . . et Lingvae Latince Dictionarium Duplex . . . Londini,
Impensis Joan. Davies SS. Th. D. An. Dom. 1632. Dosp. Ed.: Dosparth Edeyrn Davod Aur ; or the Ancient Welsh
Grammar ... to which is added T Pum Llyfr Kerddurriaeth . . .
With Eng. trans, and Notes, by the Rev. John "Williams Ab
Ithel M.A. Llandovery 1856. Fick4 ii : Urkeltischer Sprachschatz von Whitley Stokes. tJbersetzt
. . . von Adalbert Bezzenberger. Gb'ttingen 1894, being the and
vol. of the 4th ed.of Vergleichendes Worterbuch der indogermani- schen Sprachen von August Fick. G. Mechain : Gwaith y Parch. Walter Davies A.C. (Gtcallter Mechain).
Dan ol. y Parch. D. Silvan Evans B.D. 3 vols. Caerfyrddin
1868. G.R. : Dosparth Byrr ar y rhann gyntaf t ramadeg cymraeg . . .
[Milan] 1567. Reprinted as a suppl. to RC. 1870-83 under
the title A Welsh Grammar and other Tracts by Griffith Roberts. Henry (or Henry Lex.) : Lexique etymologique des termes les plus
usuels du breton moderne. Par Victor Henry. Rennes 1900. Hirt Abl. : Der indogermanische Ablaut , . . von Herman Hirt.
Strassburg 1900. Holder : Altceltischer Sprachschatz. Leipzig 1891 S.
ABBREVIATIONS xvii
IA. : Anzeiger fur indogermanische Sprach- und Altertumskunde.
Supplement to IF. IF. : Indogermanische Forschungen. Zeitschrift fur indogermanische
Sprach- und Altertumskunde, herausgeg. von K. Brugmann und
W. Streitberg. Strassburg. J.D.E. : Cambrobrytannicce Cymraecceve Lingvae Institvtiones et
Rvdimenta . . . conscripta a Joanne Dauide Rhseso Monensi Lan-
uaethlseo Cambrobrytanno. Londiui 1592. J. J. : Transcripts and original notes on orthography etc. in the
hand of John Jones of Gelli Lyfdy, fl. 1590-1630. KZ. : Kuhn's Zeitschrift = Zeitschrift fur vtrgleichende Sprachfor-
schung aufdem Gebiete der indogermanischen Sprachen. Legonidec : Grammaire celto-bretonne . . . Par J. F. M. M. A. Legoni-
dec. Paris 1807 Lhuyd : Archceologia Sritannica . . . By Edward Lhuyd. . . Oxford
1707. Lindsay: The Latin Language: An Historical Account of Latin
Sounds, Stems, and Flexions. By W. M. Lindsay. Oxford
1894. Lindsay EWS. : Early Welsh Script. By W. M. Lindsay. Oxford
1912. Llyfryddiaeth: Llyfryddiaeth y Cymry . . . Gan y diweddar Barch.
William Rowlands (Gwilyrn Lleyn). Ed. by D. Silvan Evans.
Llanidloes 1869.
Loth Voc. : Vocabulaire vieux-breton . . . Par J. Loth. Paris 1884. Macbain : An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language. By
Alexander Macbain. 2 Stirling 1911. Meillet Dial. : Les dialectes indo-euroj)eens. Par A. Meillet. Paris
1908. Meillet Intr. : Introduction a I 'etude comparative des langues indo-
europeennes. 2 Paris 1908. Mendus Jones Gr. : Gramadeg Cymreig Ymarferol . . . Gan J. Mendus
Jones ^Llanidloes 1847), 2 Caernarfon n.d. Mona Ant. : Mona Antiqua Restaurata . . . By Henry Rowlands.
1 Dublin 1723.
MSL. : Memoires de la Societe de Linguistique de Paris. Paris. O'Donovan (or O'Don. Gr.) : A Grammar of the Irish Language . . .
By John O'Donovan. Dublin 1845. Paul-Strong: Principles of the History of Language. By Hermann
Paul. Trans, by H. A. Strong. London 1891. Pedersen Gr. : Vergleichende Grammatik der keltischen Sprac/ien,
von Holger Pedersen. i Gottingen 1909; ii, i. Teil ib. 1911. Sir J. Price : see Y.L.H. under VI u. R. I. Prys : Orgraph yr laith Gymraeg. Gan R. I. Prys a Thomas
Stephens. Dinbych 1859.
Pughe : A Dictionary of the Welsh Language . . . To which is pre- fixed a Welsh Grammar. By W. Owen Pughe. * Denbigh 1832. RC. : Revue Celtique . . . Paris.
xviii ABBREVIATIONS
Rhys CB. : Celtic Britain. By J. Rhys. London 2i884.
Rhys CC. : A'otes on The Coligny Calendar. By Sir John Rhys.
From the Proceedings of the British Academy iv. Rhys CF. : Celtic Folklore Welsh and Manx. By John Rhys . . .
Oxford 1901. Rhys CG. : Celtae and Galli. By John Rhys. From the Proc. of the
British Acnd. ii. Rhys CIFI. : The Celtic Inscriptions of France and Italy. By John
Rhys. From the Proc. of the Brit. Acad. ii. Rhys GIG. : The Celtic Inscriptions of Gaul. By Sir John Rhys.
From the Proc. of the Brit. Acad. v. Rhys LWPh. : Lectures on Welsh Philology. By John Rhys. 2 London
1879.
Rhys no. : Number of inscription in LWPh2. Richards : Antiquce Linguce Britannicai Thesaurus, being a British,
or Welsh-English Dictionary ... By . . Thomas Richards. 3 Dol-
gelley 1815.
Rowland : A Grammar of the Welsh Language ... By Thomas Row- land. 4 Wrexham [1876]. Salesbury : A Dictionary in Englyshe and Welshe ... by Wyllyam
Salesbury. London 1547. Cymmrodorion Soc. Reprint. See
also under V.
Seebohm : see under VI ii. Silvan Evans : A Dictionary of the Welsh Language. By the Rev.
D. Silvan Evans, a — en-. Carmarthen 1888-1906. Silvan Evans, Llythyraeth : Llythyraeth yr laith Gymraeg. Gan D.
Silvan Evane. Caerfyrddin 1861. Sommer : Handbuch der lateinischen Laut- und Formenlehre . . . Von
Dr. Ferdinand Sommer. Heidelberg 1902. S.R. : Si6n Rhydderch = Gyrt»MnacZe<7 Cyvnraeg . . . O Gasgliad, My-
fyriad acArgraphiad John Rhydderch . . . Mwythig (Shrewsbury)
1728.
T. Stephens : see R. I. Prys. Stokes, Fick : see Fick. Strachan Intr. : An Introduction to Early Welsh. By the Late
John Strachan . . Manchester 1909. S.V. : Pump JLyfr Kerowriaeth [Welsh Grammar and Prosody by
Simwnt Vychan, see V] ; see P.HJ. under VI n. T. Charles : Geiriadur Ysgrythyrol . . . sBala 1836. Tegai : Gramadeg Cymraeg . . . Gan Hugh Hughes (Tegai). 3 Caer-
narfon [1859]. Tegid : A Defence of the Reformed System of Welsh Orthography . . .
By the Rev. John Jones M.A. [Tegid]. Oxford 1829; and
another tract ; confuted by W. B. Knight, to whom the chief
credit is due for saving the Welsh Bible from the vandalism of
Pughe's followers. Thurneysen Gr. : Handbuch des Altirischen . . . Von Rudolf Thur-
neysen. i. Teil : Grammatik. Heidelberg 1 909.
ABBREVIATIONS xix
Thurneysen KR. : Keltoromanisches. Von Rudolf Thurneysen. Halle
1884.
T.J. : The British Language in its Lustre, or a Copious Dictionary oj Welsh and English . . . Compiled by the great Pains and
Industry of Tho. Jones. London 1688. TPS. : Transactions of the Philological Society. London. Tr. Gym. : The Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmro-
dorion. London. Troude : Nouveau dictionnaire pratique breton-francais . . . Par A.-E.
Troude. Brest 1876. Troude, Die. Fr.-Bret. : Nouveau dictionnaire pratique francais 4*
breton . . . Par A. Troude. 8 Brest 1886. Vendryes Gr. : Grammaire du vieil-irlandais . . . Par J. Vendryes . . .
Paris 1908. Walde : Lateinisches etymologisches Wdrterbuch, von Dr. Alois Walde
. . . Heidelberg ' 1906, 2 1910. Whitney : A Sanskrit Grammar ... By William Dwight "Whitney.
'Leipzig 1896. Williams Lex : Lexicon Cornu-Britannicum . . By the Rev. Robert
Williams M.A. . . Lland every 1865. ZE. : Grammatica Celtica . . . Construxit I. C. Zeuss . . . Editio Altera
curavit H. Ebel . . . Berolini 1871. ZfCP. : Zeitschrift fiir celtische Philologie, lag. v. Kuno Meyer und
L. Chr. Stern. Halle a. S.
Other references seem to require no explanation. The most im- portant of the works used, but not referred to, are the following : A New English Dictionary. — Skeat, An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language * 1910. — Kluge, Etymologisches Worterbuch der deutschen Sprache 7 1910. — Prellwitz, Etymologisches Worterbuch der griechischen Sprache 2 1905. — Macdonell, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary 1893. — Wiedemann, Handbuch der litauischen Sprache 2 1897. — Wright, A Primer of the Gothic Language z 1899. — Windisch, Irische Texte mil W'Crterbuch 1880. — Loth, Les mots latins dans les langues brittoniques 1892. — Rhys, The Outlines of the Phonology of Manx Gaelic 1894.
V. AUTHORS
(m. before an author's initials in brackets denotes that the quotation is from a marwnad in his memory.)
A.R. : Absalom Roberts (Conway Vale), d. 1862 (?), see IL.M. B.A. : Bedo Aeddren (Llangwm, IL 15/44 R.), c. 1500. B.Br. : Bedo Bnvynllys (Brec.), c. 1460. B.D.: Bleddyn Du [BleSyn Tu §111 vii (2)], c. 1350. B.F. : y Brawd Fadawg ap Gwallter, c. 1250. B.Ph.B. : Bedo Phylip Bach, c. 1480.
b2
xx ABBREVIATIONS
B.V. : Bleddyn Vardd, fl. 1250-90.
C. : Cynddelw (Powys), fl. 1150-1200.
Ca. : Casnodyn, c. 1320.
Ceiriog : John Ceiriog Hughes, 1832-87.
D.B. : Dafydd Benfras, fl. 1200-50.
D.E.: Dafydd ab Edmwnd (Flintsh.), fl. 1450-80.
D.G. : Dafydd ap Gwilym (N. Card.), fl. 1350-80; ref. to Bardd-
oniaeth Dafydd ab Gwilym . . . Llundain, 1789. D.I.D. : Deio ab leuan Du (Card.), c. 1480. D.IL. : Dafydd Llwyd ap Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, c. 1480. D.N. : Dafydd Nanmor (Beddgelert), c. 1460. Dr. M. : William Morgan (C'vonshire), 1541-1604; Bp. of St.
Asaph, translator of the Bible, 1588. Dr. P. : Richard Parry (Ruthin), 1560-1623 ; Bp. of St. Asaph, editor
of the revised Bible, 1620. Internal and other evidence points
to the version being largely if not mainly by Dr. John Davies. D.W. : Dewi Wyn o Eifion = Dafydd Owen (Llanystumdwy), 1784-
1841 ; ref. to Blodau Arfon . . . Caerlleon (Chester), 1842. D. y C. : Dafydd y Coed, c. 1330. E.F. : Eben Fardd = Ebenezer Thomas (S. C'von), 1802-63 ; ref. to
Gweithiau Barddonol Eben Fardd. [Pangor, n.d.] E.M. : Edward Morris (Cerrig y Drudion), d. 1689 ; ref. to Edward
Morris . . . f-i Achau . . etc. Liverpool 1902. E.P. : Edmwnd Prys, Archdeacon of Merioneth, 1541-1623; ref. to
Edmwnd Prys . . . Gan. T. R. Roberts (Asaph). Caernarfon 1899.
PS. refers to his metrical version of the Psalms. E.S. : Elidir Sais, fl. 1160-1220. E.U. : Edward ab Urien, c. 1610. G. : Gwalchmai (Anglesey), fl. 1 1 50-90. G.B. : Gwynfardd Brycheinog (Brec.), c. 1 1 70. G.C. : Gruffudd ap Cynfrig Goch, p. 119, error in p 64/1 2 2 E. for
Rhys ap Cynfrig Goch P 97/244 ("nai . . i I.G." 1) ; p 100/408 ;
n, 133/129 R.(< = RG.G.). G.D.A.: Gwilym Ddn o Arfon, c. 1300. G Gl. : Guto'r Glyn (Denb.), fl. 1450-80. G.Gr. : Gruffudd Gryg (Anglesey), c. 1370. G.Gw. : Gruffudd ap Gwrgeneu, c. 1200. G.H. : Gruffudd Hiraethog (N. Denb.),.fl. 1520-60. G.I.H. : Gwilym ab leuan Hen, c. 1460. G.I.IL.F. : Gruffudd ab leuan ap Llywelyn Fychan (Denb.), fl. 1500-
25; selected poems ed. by J. C. Morrice, Bangor Welsh MSS.
Sec. 1910.
G.J. : Griffith Jones, Rector of Llanddowror, 1684—1761. G.M.D. : Gruffudd ap Maredudd ap Dafydd, c. 1320—50. Gr.O. : Goronwy Owen (Anglesey), 1723-69; ref. to Gwaith y
Parch. Goronwy Owen . . . Llanrwst, 1860. (In R. Jones's
edn., 1876, the text is tampered with.) G.S. : Guto ap Siancyn y Glyn=G.Gl.
ABBREVIATIONS xxi
G.T. : Gwilym Tew (Glam.), c. 1450.
Gu.O., Gut.O. : Gutun Owain (Denb.), fl. 1450-90.
G.V. : Gruffudd Vychan, c. 1320.
G.Y.C. : Gruffudd ab yr Ynad Coch, c. 1280.
H.A. : Huw Arwystl c. 1550.
H.C.1L. : Huw (or Hywel) Cae Llwyd, c, 1480 [E, B. p. 428 footn.
for 1525 read I475J- H.D. : Huw Dafi, or Hywel ap Dafydd ab leuan ap Rhys (Brec.), c.
1480.
H.K.: Hywel Kilan (1 = 1-1) (Ltyn 1), c. 1480. H.M. : Hugh Maurice (Uenb.), 1622-1709; ref. to Eos Ceiriog ... 2
vols. Wrexliam, 1823. H.O.G. : Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd, Prince of the House of
G-wynedd, d. 1170. H.R. : Hywel Rheinallt, c. 1480. H.S.: Hywel Swrdwal (Montgomerysh.), c. 1450; ref. to Gwaith
Barddonol Hywel Sivrdwal ai Fab leuan, ed. by J. C. Morrice,
Bangor Welsh MSS. Soc., 1908. I.B.H. : leuan Brydydd Hir (Merioneth), c. 1450. I.C. : lorwerth ab yCyriawg, c. 1360. I.D.: leuan Deulwyn (Carra.), fl. 1460-80; ref. to Gwaith leuan
Deulwyn, ed. by Ifor Williams, Bangor Welsh MSS. Soc. 1909. I.F. : lorwerth Fynglwyd (Glam.), c. 1490. I.G. : lolo Goch (Denb.), fl. 1370-1405; ref. to Gweithiau lolo
Goch . . . Gan Charles Ashton, Cymmrodorion Soc., 1896. I.H.S. : leuan ap Hywel Swrdwal, c. 1470; ref. as for H.S., q.v. I.ILaf. : leuan Llavar, c. 1590. Io.G.=I.G.
I.E.: leuan ap Rhydderch ab leuan Llwyd, e. 1420. I.T. : leuan Tew o Gydweli, c- 1460 (often confused with the later,
and lesser, leuan Tew who graduated at the Caerwys Eisteddfod
of 1568). L.G.C.: Lewis Glyn Cothi, fl. 1440-^80; ref. to Gwaith Lewis Glyn
Cothi.. . Oxford 1 837.
L.M. : Lewis Morris (Llywelyn Ddu o Fon), 1701-65. L.Mon: Lewis Mon, c. 1500. L.Mor. : Lewis Morgannwg, c. 1520. IL. : Llawdden (Llandeilo, I.MSS. 320), c. 1460. 1L.G. : Llywelyn Goch Amheurig H6n, c. 1380, M. : Meilyr (Anglesey), c. 1137. M.B. : Madog Benfras, c. 1380. M.D. : Madog Dwygraig, c. 1370. M.K. : Maurice Kyffin; ref. to Deffynniad Ffydd Eglvoys Loegr 1595,
reprint ed. by Wm. Pochard Williams, Bangor 1908. M.BJ. : Morgan Llwyd o Wynedd, 1619-1659; ref. to Gweithiau
Morgan Llwyd o Wynedd, i ed. by Thomas E. Ellis, Bangor 1899 ;
ii ed. by John H. Davies, Bangor 19*08. M.R. : Maredudd ap Rhys, c. 1440.
xxii ABBREVIATIONS
O.G. : Owain Gwynedd, c. 1580.
P.M. : Llywarch ap Uywelyn, Prydydd y Moch (Wigwer, St. Asaph ; " wele [gwely] Pridith Mogh " at " Wyckewere ", Seebohm 3 1 ), c. 1160-1220.
E.G. : Rhys Cain, c. 1580.
R.D. : Richard Da vies (Conway), Bp. of St. Davids, 1501-81 ; trans- lator of some epistles in Wm.S.'s N.T. 1567.
R.G.D. : Robert ap Gwilym Ddu «= Robert Williams, Betws Fawr, Llanystumdwy, 1767-1850; ref. to Gardd Eifion . . . Dolgellau 1841.
E.G.E. : Rhys Goch Eryri (C'vonsh.), c. 1430.
R.G.G. : Rhys Goch Glyndyfrdwy, c. 1420 (?), see G.C.
R.IL. : Rhys Llwyd ap Rhys ap Rhicart, c. 1460.
R.M. : Richard Morris (Anglesey, brother of L.M.), 1703-79; editor of Bible, 1746, 1752.
R.V. : Rowland Vaughan, Gaer Gai, Llanuwchllyn, d. 1667.
Salesbury, see Wm.S.
S.B. : Sion Brwynog (o Frwynog ym Mon), d. 1562.
S.C. : Sion Cent (Kentchurch), c. 1420.
S.M. : Sion Mawddwy (native of Glam.), c. 1580.
S.Ph. : Sion Phylip (Ardudwy, Mer.), 1543-1620.
S.T. : Sion Tudur (Wigwer, St. Asaph), d. 1602.
S.V. : Simwnt Vychan (Ruthin), born c. 1530, d. 1606; author of
P.1L.
T. : Talhaiarn = John Jones, Llanfair Talhaearn, 1810-69 ; ref. to
Gwaith Talhaiam, i London 1855, ii London 1862, (iii Llanrwbt
1869).
T.A. : Tudur Aled (N. Denb.), fl. 1480-1520. W.IL. : Wiliam Ll$n (1 Llyn ; res. Oswestry), 1535-80; ref. to
Barddoniaeth Wiliam Llyn . . . Gan y Parch. J. C. Morrice M.A.
Baiigor 1908.
W.M. : William Morris (brother of L.M.), 1705-63. "Wm.S. : Wyllyam Salesbury (Llanrwst); translator of the bulk of
N.T. 1567 ; joint tr. and ed. of Pb. 1567, 1586 ; etc. Wms. : William Williams, Pant y Celyu (Carm.) ; hymn-writer,
1717-91 ; ref. to Gwaith Prydyddawl . . . William Williams . . .
sefyr Holl Hymnau . . . Caerfyrddiu, 181 1, definitive edn. by his
sou.
ABBREVIATIONS xxiii
VI. SOURCES
T. COLLECTIONS OF MANUSCRIPTS
The name of the collection is denoted by a sm. cap. initial without a stop ; the number of the MS. follows, and generally the number of the page or folio, separated by an oblique stroke; thus P 99/469 means Peniarth MS. 99, page (or folio) 469. The MSB., except those of the Brit. Mus., are numbered as in the Historical Manuscripts Commission's Report on Manuscripts in the Welsh Language. E. after a reference indicates that the words quoted appear in the Report. As many of the quotations are taken from transcripts in some of which only the p. or fol. of the opening lines of a poem was given, the refer- ence may be to the piece beginning on the p. or fol. named.
A = British Museum Additional Manuscripts.
c = Cardiff Free Library Manuscripts.
j = Manuscripts in the Jesus College Library, Oxford.
IL = Llanstephan Manuscripts, now in the National Library of
Wales.
M = Mostyn Manuscripts, at Mostyn Hall.
p = Peniarth Manuscripts, now in the National Library of Wales. Stowe = British Museum Stowe Manuscripts.
II. MANUSCRIPTS AND TEXTS
0. W. materials are distinguished thus t. References are not usually given to the pages of ox., ox. 2, juv. and M.C., as Loth Voc. forms an index to these MSS. The reference is to pages except where otherwise stated below.
fA.c. : Annales Cambrice in Y Cymmrodor ix 152-169; reference to years. [Early i2th cent, literal transcript of late roth cent. orig. by scribe ignorant of Welsh, see Philliinore's preface.]
A.G. : Athravaeth Gristnogavl [Milan 1568]. By Morys Clynoc ; ed. by G.R. Cymmrodorion Soc. Reprint 1880.
A.L. : Ancient Laws and Institutes of Wales ... 2 vols. 1841.
B.A. : The Book of Aneirin = c i, circa 1250. Facsimile and Text by J. Gweuogvryii Evans. Pwllheli 1908. [Parts are transcribed literally from older copies not understood by the scribe.]
BAR. : Barddas . . . With trans, and notes by J. Williams ab Ithel. i Llandovery 1862 ; (ii London 1874). [Late Gwentian.]
xxiv ABBREVIATIONS
B.B. : The Black Book of Carmarthen = P i, end of 1 2th cent. Ed.
by J. Gwenogvryn Evans. Pwllheli 1906. B.CH. : The Black Book of Chirk = p 29 = A.L. MS. A., circa T 200.
Quotations taken from the orig. MS. (Quotations from A.L. are
referred to the latter.) B.cw. : Gweledigaetheu y Bardd Cwsc. [By Ellis Wynne]. Llun-
dain 1703. Reprint ed. by J. Morris Jones, Bangor 1898. BK. : Y Brython. i Weekly; ii-iv Monthly ; v Quarterly. Tre-
madoc 1858-63. [Contains old cywyddau etc.] fB.8.CH : The Book of St. Chad. 9th cent, entries in W., see
Lindsay EWS. 1-6 ; transcribed (with facsimiles) in L.L.
pp. xliii— xlviii ; ref. to nos. of entries ib. B.T. : The Book of Taliessin = p 2, circa 1275; ref. to the edn.
about to be published by Dr. Gwenogvryn Evans.
C. i and c. ii : Ceinion LUnyddiaeth Qymreig . . . Dan olygiad y
Parch. Owen Jones. 2 vols. London 1876. C.B.Y.P. : Cyfrinach Beirdd Ynys Prydain . . . .Dan olygiad . . .
lolo Morganwg. Abertawy (Swansea) 1829. c.C. : The Cefn Coch MSS. ... Ed. by the Rev. J. Fisher. Liver- pool 1899. [Late 1 6th and i7th cent.; mostly poetry.] C.G. Cant o Ganeuon. Gan John Ceiriog Hughes. Wrexham [ 1 863]. C.IL. : Cynfeirdd Lleyn : 1500-1800 . . . Cynuulledig . . . gan J. Jones
(Myrddin Fardd). Pwllheli 1905. C.M. : Ystorya de Carolo Magno. From the Red Book of Hergest.
Ed. by Thomas Powell. Cymmrod. Soc. 1883. fCP. : Fragment of an Old Welsh Computus. 23 lines [loth cent].
Fac., transcr. and transl. by E. C. Quiggin. ZfCP. viii 407-10.
Ref. to lines. CY. : Reproductions in Y Cymmrodor.
D. : Quoted in D., see under IV.
D.G. : By G.Gr. etc., printed in D.G. ; see under V.
D.P.O. : Drych y Prif Oesoedd . . . Gan Theophilus Evans . . .
2Mwythig (Shrewsbury) [1740]. Reprint ed. by Samuel J.
Evans . . . Bangor 1902. D.T. : Diddanwch Teuluaidd : neu Waith Beirdd Mon ... * Caer-
narfon 1817.
E. : Egluryn Phraethineb . . . Gan Mr. William Salesbury, a ...
Mr. Henri Perri . . . Lhundain 1595 ; "Llaurwst 1829. Ref.
to chapters. E.G. : Eos Gwynedd . . . Gan . . John Thomas, Pentre'r Foelas.
Dan olygiaeth G. Caledfryn. Llanrwst[i845]. : Quoted in E.P. ; see under V.
Flores Poctarum Britannicorum ... 0 gasgliad J[ohn] D[avies]
SS. Th. D. . . . Mwythig (Shrewsbury) 1710. F.K. : Y Flodeugerdd, Newydd. Casgliad o gywyddau . . . Wedi eu
golygu gan W. J. Gruffydd. Cardiff 1909. [Early Mn. verse.] G. : Gorchestion Beirdd Cymru . . . O Gasgliad Rhys Jones . . .
Amwythig (Shrewsbury) 1773. [Early Mn. verse.]
ABBREVIATIONS xxv
G.c. : The History of Gruffydd ap Cynan. The Welsh Text with
trans., intr., and notes. By Arthur Jones. Manchester 1910.
[Pp. 102-142 = P 17/1-16, mid-i3th cent.] tGEN. Old-Welsh Genealogies in Y Cymmrodor ix 169-83; ref.
to nos. of genealogies. [From the same MS. as A.C., q.v.] G.B. Quoted in G.R., see under IV. ORE. (or Greal) : Y Gi-eal ; sev Cynnulliad o Orchestion ein
Hynaviaid . . . Llundain 1805-7. H.G. : if en Gwndidau, Carolau, a Chywyddau...[Ed.^ by Hopcyn . . .
and Cadrawd . . . Bangor 1910. [Gwentian 1 6th— 1 7th cent.] Hyff. Gynn(wys) : Hyfforddiad Gynnwys I Wybodaeth jachusol o
Egwyddorjon a Dyledswyddau Crefydd . . . Gan Weinidog
o Eglwys Loegr [Griffith Jones]. Llundain 1749. H.M. ii : Selections from the Hengwrt MSS. . , in the Peniarth
Library. Vol. ii. Ed. . . by . . Robert Williams . . . transl. contd.
by . . G. Hartwell Jones . . London 1892. [Vol. i is referred
to as S.G.] I.MSS. : lolo Manuscripts . . . Coll. . . by . . Edward Williams, lolo
Morganwg . . . Llandovery 1848. [Contains cywyddau etc.
besides late Gwentian memoranda].
t Juv. : Glosses in the Juvencus MS., Cambridge Univ. Libr. Pub- lished by Stokes in Kuhn's Beitrage iv 385-421. [9th to nth
cent., Lindsay EWS. 16.] •\ Juv. SK. : The verses in the Juvencus MS., printed in Skene's Four
Ancient Books of Wales ii 1-2. L.G.C. : Appearing in L.G.C., see under V. 1- L.L. : Liber Landavensis, c. 1 1 50. The Text of the Book ofLlan Ddv
. . . by J.Gwenogvryn Evans . . . [and] John Rhys . . Oxford 1893.
[Contains documents with O.W. forms literally transcribed]. IL.A. : Llyfr yr Ancr, dated 1346. The Elucidarium and Other
Tracts in Welsh . . . Ed. by J. Morris Jones . . . and John Rhys
. . . Oxford 1894. IL.B.M. : Llyfr Bychan Mawddwy, a i6th cent. MS. in the National
Libr. of Wales. HJ.H. : Y Llyfr Hir in the National Libr. of Wales. [MS. collection
by W. Jones (Bleddyn), of Early Mn. cywyddau. J HJ.M. : Lloches Mwyneidd-dra . . . Gan Absalom Roberts. Llanrwst
1845. [Contains coll. of old penillion telyu.] M.A. : The Myvyrian Archaioloyy of Wales ... 3 vols. London
1801-7. [Corpus of Ml. poetry and prose. 2 Denbigh 1870.] t M.C. : Glosses on M artianus Capella in the Libr. of Corpus Christi
College, Cambridge, ed. by Stokes in Arch. Camb. 1873 PP-
1-2 1. [Mostly 9th cent., Lindsay EWS. 22.] M.E. : Mil o Englynion = Pigion Englynion fy Ngwlad . . . Gan
Eifionydd. ia and ii, Liverpool 1882. M.L. : Morris Letters. Tlie Letters of Lewis, Richard, William and
John Morris, of Anglesey . . . 1728-1765. Transcr. . . and ed.
by John H. Davies ... 2 vols. Oxford 1906-9.
xxvi ABBREVIATIONS
M.M. : Meddygon Myddfai. The Physicians of Myddvai. . . Transi. by John Pughe . . F.R.C.S. . . and ed. by . . John Williams Ab Ithel. Llandovery 1861. [Pp. 1-34 are from E.B. 928 ff.] N.T. : New Testament.
O.B. : Oriau'r Bore. Gan John Ceiriog Hughes. 2 Wrexham n.d. O.H. : Oriau'r Hwyr. Gan John Ceiriog Hughes. 5 Wrexham [1872]. f ox. : Oxford Liber Commonei and Ovid, Bodleian Libr., Auct. F 4. 32. Date 817, Lindsay EWS. 7 (812, Dosp. Ed. 10). Glosses in W. and notes in mixed Lat. and W., printed in ZE. 1052-60.
t ox. 2 : Cod. Oxoniensis Posterior. Glosses in Bodl. 572 printed in ZE. 1060—3 as W. ; given as Corn, in Loth Voc. ix; shown to be W. by Loth, RC. xiv 70 ; loth cent. Pb. : Prayerbook. P.G.G. : Pattrwm y Gwir-Gristion . . . Chester 1723. Reprint ed. by
H. El vet Lewis. Bangor 1908.
P.JL. : Pump ILyfr KerSwriaeth by S.V. = J 9 autograph; printed (from a copy by J.J. of a copy of the orig.) in Dosp. Ed. pp. xlii— cxxviii. P.IL. refers to the latter, j 9 to the auto. MS. E.B. : The Red Book of Hergest=j i, late i4th and early igth cent.
Quotations taken direct from the MS. ; ref. to columns. B B.B. : Red Book Bruts. The Text of The Brutsfrom the Red Book of Hergest. Ed. by John Rhys . . . and J. Gwenogvryn Evans. Oxford 1890.
R.G. : Red Book Grammar; cols. 1117-1142 of E.B. Ref. to columns. The Bangor MSS. Soc. will shortly publish an edn. by the writer. EH.B.S. : Rheol Buchedd Sanctaidd . . . Llundain 1701. Transi. of
Jer. Taylor's Holy Living by Ellis Wynne, author of B.cw. E.M. : Red Book Mabinogion. The Text of the Mabinogion . . . from the Red Book of Hergest. Ed. by John Rhys . . . and J. Gwenogvryn Evans. Oxford 1887.
E.P. : Red Book Poetry ; quotations taken from corrected proofs of the edn. about to be published by Dr. J. Gwenogvryn Evans. Ref. to columns. Ruthin Court Rolls : The Court Rolls of the Lordship of Ruthin
of the Reign of King Edward the First. Ed. . . by
R. A. Roberts. Cymmrod. Record Series. London 1893. [Contains Welsh names in Norman-Fr. spelling.] Seebohm Trib. Sys. : The Tribal System in Wales ... by Frederic Seebohm . . . London 1895. [Contains reproductions of Norman documents with Welsh names.]
s.G. : Selections from the Hengwrt MSS. . . Vol. i. T Seint Greal . . . Ed... by .. Robert Williams. London 1876 [ = PII, end of 1 4th cent.]
SK. : The Four Ancient Books of Wales . . . By William F. Skene. Edinburgh 1868. Vol. ii. [Texts; now superseded except pp. 1-2, see JUT.]
ABBREVIATIONS xxvii
TB. : Tremvan MS. ; cywyddau etc. in the hand of Robert Vaughan of Hengwrt 1592—1666 ; used by the editor of G. ; now in the possession of Dr. J. Gwenogvryn Evans.
w. : 1 3th cent. MS. copied by Dr. Davies in 1617, since lost sight of, recently re-discovered; Davies's copy in A 14869, the source of the poems of M., G., H.O.G., etc. in M.A. i. A reproduction, ed. by the present writer, will be issued in the IJniv. of Wales Guild Series.
W.B. : The White Book of Rhydderch = p 4 and 5.
W.M. : The White Book Mdbinogion . . . Ed. by J. Gwenogvryn Evans. Pwllheli 1907. From the White Book of Rhydderch =p 4, late 1 3th cent. Ref. to columns. The volume also contains other early versions of the Mabinogion, inch the fragments in p 6/i, ii, circa 1225 ; ref. in this case to pages distinguished by " p."
W.M.L. : Welsh Medieval Law . . . Harl. MS. 4353 . . . isth cent. . . . By A. W. Wade-Evans. Oxford 1909.
Y.L.H. : Tn y Ihyvyr hwnn y traethir GwySor kymraeg, etc., 1546. By Sir John Price. Reprint ed. by John H. Davies . . Bangor 1902.
CORRECTIONS
P. 54, § 44 i, 1. 9, read Kellynnawc (H = l)
P. 71, § 54 ii, 1. i, after b, d, g, insert f, dd,
P. 113, § 78 i (2), 1. 7, delete ; — raccw § 210 x (3)
P. 131, iv, 1. 8, insert * before ghuer-
P. 153, 1. i, read di\e\fyl
P. 1 66, iv (3), 1. 6, for * ad-rim- read *ad-rlm-
P. 194, 1. 9, insert * before is-le.
P. 277, 1. 7, delete * before wy
The metathesis was suggested by Mr. Ifor Williams ; unfortunately I overlooked his note in his Cyfranc Lludd a Llefelys (1910), p. 20, in which he adduces examples of wy M.A.Z 1456 and uy do. 2276, so that the form need not have been starred. The same explanation is given by Pedersen Gr. ii (1911), p. 158.
INTRODUCTION
ORIGIN AND GENERAL HISTORY
§ 1. i. The Welsh Language is a member of the Keltic branch of the Aryan (also called the Indo-European or Indo- Germanic) family of languages. .
The languages of this great family are classified as follows, names of branches and groups being printed in spaced type :
(1) Indian, comprising (a) Sanskrit; (b) Prakrit dialects, from which are descended numerous modern languages in India.
(2) Iranian : (a) Avestic (East Iranian, also called Zend or Old Bactrian) ; (1} Old Persian (West Iranian), later Pehlevi ; (c) Modern Persian.
(3) Armenian.
(4) Greek, which comprises many dialects, the most important being (a) Ionic- Attic ; (b) Doric ; (c) Aeolic : Lesbian, Thessalian, Boeotian ; (d) Arcadian and Cyprian ; (e) Pamphylian.
(5) Albanian.
(6) Italic : (a) Latin, from which are derived the modern Romance languages ; (6) Oscan, Umbrian.
(7) Keltic : (a) the Q division, consisting of dialects in Gaul and Spain, and the Goidelic group, comprising Irish, Scotch Gaelic and Manx ; (b) the P division, consisting of Gaulish, and the British group, comprising Welsh, Cornish and Breton.
(8) Germanic : (a) Gothic ; (b) the Norse group, including i. Swedish, Gutnish, Danish; 2. Norwegian, Icelandic; (c) the West-Germanic group, including i. Old English (or Anglo- Saxon), now English ; Frisian ; Old Saxon, now Low German ; Dutch, Flemish ; 2. Old High German, now German.
(9) Baltic-Slavonic: (a) the Baltic group : Old Prussian, Lithuanian, Lettish ; (b) the Slavonic group: Old Bulgarian; Russian, Bulgarian, Illyrian ; Czech, Sorabian, Polish, Polabian.
(10) Tocharish, recently discovered in East Turkestan.
1402 £
2 INTRODUCTION § 1
ii. All these languages are descended from a common ancestor called the Aryan parent language, Primitive Aryan, or briefly Aryan. Similarly, the languages of each branch may be re- ferred to a common parent called Primitive Keltic, Primitive Italic, Primitive Germanic, etc., as the case may be. Some of the above branches are perhaps to be regarded rather as groups ; Indian and Iranian are often classified together as the Indo-Iranian branch ; and the common features of Keltic and Italic are such as to render it certain that the two branches were united and shared the same development for a period after their separation from the others ; hence we may classify them together as Italo-Keltic ; see § 86 ii (2), § 113 i (3), § 147 iv (a), § 203 vii (3).
iii. Our earliest knowledge of the various languages varies widely in point of date, and naturally those of which we possess the most ancient records on the whole bring us nearest the fountain head. But the Baltic group, of which our knowledge is only recent, are of a remarkably archaic character ; Lithuanian, whose earliest text is dated 1547, and which has changed comparatively little since, pre- serves to this day some forms which are practically identical with those which we have to postulate for Primitive Aryan itself.
From the cradle of Aryan speech various tribes migrated at different periods in different directions, establishing themselves in distant lands, in which their speech prevailed, though the aborigines cannot have been exterminated, since the speakers of Aryan languages in historical times belong to many races, and it is still matter of dispute which of these has the best claim to be regarded as representing the original Aryans. The dispersion commenced not earlier than about 2000 B.C. according to Hirt, Die Indogermanen 22. The centre of dispersion is now generally believed to have been somewhere in Europe.
A parent language is not necessarily isolated ; analogy rather suggests the contrary. As Latin, which is the parent of the Romance languages, is derived from Aryan and allied to the other Aryan languages, so Aryan itself must be derived from some remote ancestor, and it is improbable that it is the only descendant of it which survived. Sweet, by a comparison of the pronominal and verbal forms of Aryan and Ugrian, has made out a strong case for supposing that the two families are allied; see his History of Language pp. 112 ff. On the other side Moller,in his Semitisch undlndogermauisch i (1907), has compared the consonant sounds of Aryan in detail with those of Semitic, and in KZ. xlii 174 ff. the vowels ; and claims to have proved their derivation from a common source. But none of these affinities can yet be regarded as established.
§ 2 INTRODUCTION 3
§ 2. In the oldest forms of Goidelic found in the ogam inscrip- tions, Primitive Keltic q* from Aryan q* remains ; but in the oldest British it had already become _p, and it isjt? in Gaulish. Traces of a Keltic q* language in Gaul are seen in names like Sequani ; and in some recently discovered inscriptions further evidence of the survival of such a language is believed to have been found. As the change of q* to p is the earliest sound- change known which is not common to the whole branch, it seems reasonable to classify the Keltic languages as above § 1 i (7).
The more usual classification adopted in recent yeai's is that in which the Keltic languages are grouped into " insular " and " continental ". But this is a negation of all classification; it is as if we were to group together English and Icelandic as insular Germanic ! Thurneysen now calls it a "geographic" classification (Gr. i), which is equiva- lent to saying that it is no classification at all. It arose out of the view put forward in Rhys's LWPh.2 (1879) pp. 16 ff. that the language of the ogam inscriptions in Wales is an old form of Welsli. Thurneysen, KR. (1884) pp. 7 ff., adopts this view; dismisses Rhys's later view, CB. (1884) p. 215, that the ogams are Irish ; and concludes that, as the ogams have q*, the change 3* > p in British is much later than the same change in Gaulish. Of course, if the ogams are Welsh, there was no difference in the 5th cent, between Welsh and Irish, and "both differed from Gaulish, which alone had p. Hence the classification into insular and continental. But the assumption on which it is based is groundless ; no one now holds that the ogams are Welsh.
If it is denied that a systematic classification of the groups is possible, it would be better to take them separately than to adopt a classification which implies a close relationship between Goidelic and British. But there seems no sufficient reason for separating British from Gaulish. It is now admitted that Brit, p from q* is ancient ; and it is extremely improbable that this p developed independently of Gaulish p. Tacitus, Agricola xi, tells us that the speech of the Britons differed little from that of the Gauls. The Gaulish forms Ilevvo-ovivS- os, Vindomag(os), ambact(os), Voretovir(os) are identical with the British forms which we have to postulate as the originals of the Welsh penwyn ' white-headed ', gwynfa ' paradise ', amaeth ' serf ', gwaredwr ' saviour'. It is for those who would separate British and Gaulish to prove that Tacitus was wrong.
For the continental <?** dialect or group of dialects various names have been suggested, as Sequanian (Nicholson), Pictavian, Celtican (Rhys), Ligurian (Jullian). The language of the Coligny calendar con- tains both qu and p ; but whether the latter is secondary, or borrowed from Gaulish, or represents Aryan p, cannot yet be decided, since independent evidence as to meaning is lacking. The presence of Ar. p, ' if proved, would constitute these dialects a class apart.
B2
4 INTRODUCTION § 3
§ 3. i. Welsh, Cornish and Breton are descended from British (properly Brittish), the language of the ancient Britons. The speakers called themselves Brittones, and their language *Brittonikd.
The Old English name wnsBrittisc orBryttisc,asOnBryttisc sprecende Guthlac, Godw. 42, 17 (cf. Rhys, CF. 676), which in later spelling was Jirittish, misspelt British* under the influence of the Lat. Britannia. The name continued to be used for the derived languages: "The Gaulish speach is the very Brittish, the which was very generally used heere in all Brittayne before the coming in of the Saxons ; and yet is returned of the Walshmen, the Cornishmen, and the Brittons," Spenser, State of Ireland (Lloyd's Enc. Die.). It was commonly used for Welsh as late as the 1 8th and beginning of the ipth cent. : "In these Schools . . . Men, Women and Children being ignorant of the English Tongue, are taught to read their native British language," Welsh Piety 1754 p. 53, 1755 p. 47 etc. Cf. dedication of Grawn Awen (Caledfryn) 1826.
ii. The Welsh call themselves Cymry, from *kom-brogl ' fellow countrymen'; but the use of this as a national name is subse- quent to the separation of the Welsh from the Cornish and the Bretons. The old name, which survived in poetry, was Brython B.T. 1 3 from Brittones ; the corresponding name of the language Brythoneg was superseded by Cymraeg, but some memory of it sur- vived (D.D. gives Brythoneg, but with no quotation). The Bretons call their language Brezonek, and Cornish was called Brethontc', all these forms imply an original *BrUlonika. Sir John Rhys in his LWPh.2 1 6 adopted the names Brythons and Brythonic for the Brittones and their language, remarking, however, that he would " like to have called them Brittons and their language Brittonic ". I prefer to call the language by its traditional English name British, which in this connexion involves no ambiguity. The "term Brythonic suggests a later period, and tends to disguise the fact that the language meant is the speech of the ancient Britons.
iii. The name Britto, sg. of Brittones, probably owes its tt to its being a formation of the type of Gk. NIKOTTW etc.. see § 93 iii (2), for an earlier Britann(os), pi. Britannl. Similarly we have a late Bpirria for Britannia. *Brittia survives in Bret. Breiz 'Brittany', and * Britannia, in Ml. W. Brydein used as a variant of the more usual Prydein as in B.B. 100, 'tnilvir Prideln 1. 5, milguir Bridein 1. 7. Britan- seems to be for Pritan- by British alternation p:b § 101 iii (2) ; cf. PKIT(AN)NII Holder i 564, PRITWII do. ii 1046. Pritto also occurs as a personal name beside Britto, and Prittius beside Brittius (see Holder s. w.). The view now generally held that the members of these pairs are unrelated rests on no other basis than the assumption that British p- could under no circumstances pass into b-. The fact,
* It ia of course still pronounced BriUish, rhyming with tkiltish, not with whitish.
§ 3 INTRODUCTION 5
however, is that Pritan- and Britan- are synonymous. The P- goes back through Diodorus Siculus probably to Pytheas (4th cent. B. c.). Polybius (2nd cent. B. c.) seems to have used B/aeT^ai/iKcu vrja-oi ; but Strabo and Diodorus have Upcr^aviKat VVJ<TOI and Hper^avoL ; later Ptolemy and Marcian used II-. Stephanus of Byzantium (c.' A. D. 500) wrote BpcTTavtSes vrjcroi and Bperravot, remarking that I)ionysius (Periegetes ; Augustan age) wrote "one t . . . Bperdvot " [read Rptravvoi], and that others used " p, nperaviSes vfjo-oi, as Marcian and Ptolemy " ; elsewhere Stephanus himself wrote HperaviKr) and n/acravoi Holder i 560. The e in Uper- = Brit. ?, see § 66 i. Pritan- is an w-stem representing original (*q*rttn- or) *q*riten-; for the «« see § 62 i (2).
The surviving forms show that the old P- forms had one t ; thus W. Prydain ' Britain ', Ml. W. Prydein, implies *Pritan(n}ia and Ir. Cruithnech 'Pictish' implies a Pictish * Pritenikos ', hence the -TT- iu HpfTTavLKat is probably a misspelling of copyists, due to the Britt- forms which prevailed later. The forms with -on- had -tt- ; thus W. Brython < Brittones, Bret. Brezonek <*Brittonika, and Ml. Ir. Bretain ' Britons ' represents Brittones regularly. As the new form Brittones spread, Britannia became Brittannia which survives in Fr. Bretagne ', later we find Britlania BpeTravi»o; etc. which were substituted for older forms in MSS. There is no possible doubt that the oldest 2?- form is Britann- : Catullus (died 54 B. c.), Propertius, Vergil, Horace, Ovid, all scan Britann-. The evidence of the dated coins and inscriptions in Holder is as follows (the numbers in brackets refer to Holder i) : coins of Claudius A. D. 41, 46 have Britannia, Britanni., Britann. (564, 36, 37); inscriptions: A. D. 41 Britannia (589, 52); time of Claudius Britannia (590, ay); A. D. 43 Britannic(um) (598, 34); A. D. 49 Britan(nicin) (599, 34). In A. D. 49 or 50, at least a century after the first evidence of Britann-, -tt- appears first in two inscriptions in the name of Claudius's son Britannicus : Britta\nico\ (602, 18), Brittanici (602, 22); in eight other cases it is Britannicus or B/acrawi/cos (602). The early appearance of tt in this name may mean that Britto was in use as an abbreviated personal name earlier than as meaning 4 Briton '. In the national name the single t continued in use : A. D. 54 Britan(nicum] (600, 22) ; A. D. 65 Britannico (599, 5) ; A. D. 80 Britannica (598, 37). In A. D. 85 Brittones first appears in the gen. pi. Brittonum side by side with Britannica (607, 41-2). In A. D. 90 first occurs Brittanniae (588, 7); in A. D. 98 and 103 Britannia again (590, 25; 588, 9); in A. D. 99 Brittonum (607, 43); in A. D. 105 Brittan[nia~\ (588, 10), in A.D. no Brittanniae (590, 5) and Britannica (598, 40). In the 2nd cent. Britann- and Brittann- are both common. Brittania first occurs on a coin in A. D. 185 (590, 50) and Brittanicae in A.D. 210 (599, 51).
The W. Pryden ' Picts ' § 121 iii from *Pritenes, Prydyn B.T. 13 4Piot- land ' from *Priterii, and the Ir. Cruithen Cruithnech seem to have the F-grade -en- of the stem-ending, probably a Pictish form. The Picts were Britons, as shown by the fact that p < q* abounds in Pictish names. They kept in their own name the P- which also survives in
6 INTRODUCTION §§ 4, 5
W. Prydain ' Britain ', and so came to be distinguished from the Southern Britons, who called themselves Briltones. Picti, which is i;ot known to occur before A. D. 297, seems to be a Latin translation of *Pritene8 explained as meaning 'figured' (:W. pryd 'form', Ir. cruth), jus-t as W. Brithwyr ' Picts ' is a translation of Picti. This explanation of *Pritenes is probably only a piece of popular etymology ; but even if it had some old tradition behind it, the name is equally applicable to the other Britons, for they all painted or tattooed them- selves, Caesar B.G. v 14, Herodian iii 14, 7. Indeed the objection to accepting it as the true explanation is that at the time when it was first applied it could not be distinctive.
The etymology of a proper name is always uncertain, except when, like Albion, it hardly admits of more than one meaning, and that meaning fits. Britain like Albion must have been a name given to the island by its Keltic invaders, and Albion suggests the feature most likely to impress them. There is an Italo-Keltic root of some such form as *q*rei- which means 'chalk ' or 'white earth ', giving Lat. creta, and W. pridd ' loam ', Irish ere ; the attempt to derive the Welsh and Irish words from the Latin is a failure — the root must be Keltic as well as Italic ; and it may have yielded the name Pritannia meaning ' the island of the white cliff's '.
§ 4. i. Gaulish ajid British are known to us through names on coins, and words and names quoted by Greek and Latin authors. No inscriptions occur in British, but British names are found in Latin inscriptions. A number of inscriptions in Gaulish have been preserved. Goidelic is known from the ogam inscrip- tions, of which the oldest date from the 5th century.
ii. The scanty materials which we possess for the study of Gaulish and British are sufficient to show that these languages preserved the Aryan case-endings, and were at least as highly inflected as, say, Latin. The great change which transformed British and converted it into Welsh and its sister dialects was the loss of the endings of stems and words, by which, for example, the four syllables of the British Maglo-cunos were reduced to the two of the Welsh Mael-gwn. By this reduction distinctions of case were lost, and stem-forming suffixes became a new class of inflexional endings; see § 113, § 119 i.
§ 5. The history of Welsh may be divided into periods as follows :
(i) Early Welsh, from the time when British had definitely become Welsh to the end of the 8th century. Of the forms of this
§ 5 INTRODUCTION 7
period we have only echoes, such as the names found in Bede,
§1131(4).
(2) Old Welsh (O. W.), from the beginning of the 9th to the end of the nth century. The remains of this period are a number of glosses, and some fragments of prose and anonymous verse. But O. W. forms are preserved in later copies in the genealogies, the Book of Llandaf, the Laws, the Book of Aneirin, etc.
(3) Medieval Welsh (Ml. W.), from the beginning of the 1 2th to the end of the I4th century and somewhat later. The orthography varied much during this period, and was at first in an unsettled state. It will be convenient to refer to the language of the I2th and early I3th century as Early Ml. W., and to that of the T4th and early i5th as Late Ml. W.
(4) Modern Welsh (Mn. W.), from Dafydd ap Gwilym to the present day. Though D. ap Gwilym wrote before the end of the 1 4th century, he inaugurated a new period in the history of the language, and is in fact the first of the moderns. The bards of the I5th and i6th centuries wrote the bulk of their poetry in the cywydd metre popularized by Dafydd ; and the forms used by him, with some alterations of spelling (ai, au for ei, eu § 79), were preserved unchanged, having been stereotyped by the cynghanedd. The language of this body of poetry may be called Early Mn. W.
At the introduction of printing, Wm. Salesbury attempted in his works, including the New Test. (1567), to form a new literary dialect, in which the orthography should indicate the etymology rather than the sound. His practice was to write Latin loan- words as if no change had taken place in them except the loss of the ending, thus eccles for eglwys ' church ', descend for disgyn ' to descend ' ; any native word with a superficial resemblance to a Latin synonym was similarly treated, thus i ' his, her ' was written ei because the Latin is eius (perhaps eu ' their ' suggested this). But Dr. Morgan in his Bible (1588) adopted the standard literary language as it continued to be written by the bards, though he retained some of Salesbury's innovations (e.g.ei for i f his'). Some dialectal forms used by Morgan (e.g. gwele for gwelai ' saw ' § 6 iii) were replaced by the literary forms in the revised Bible (1620), which became the standard of later writers. Thus
8 INTRODUCTION § 6
Late Mn. W., which begins with the Bible, though influenced to some extent by Salesbury, is based upon Early Mn. W., and forms a continuation of it. In the iQth century several neologisms were introduced, chiefly under the influence of Pughe ; the language of this period will be referred to, when necessary, as Recent Welsh.
§ 6. i. The spoken language has four main dialects, as follows :
(1) Venedotian, the dialect of Gwynedd or North West Wales. (Gwyn. dial.)
(2) Powysian, the dialect of Powys, or North East and Mid Wales. (Powys dial.)
(3) Demetian, the dialect of Dyfed or South West Wales.
(4) Gwentian, the dialect of Gwent and Morgannwg, or South East Wales.
N. W. is used as an abbreviation for * North Wales ' or 1 North Walian ', S. W. for ' South Wales ' or ' South Walian '.
ii. The two N. W. dialects differ from the two S. W. chiefly in the choice of words to express some common ideas, the most noticeable difference being the use of o, fo in N. W., and e,fe in S. W., for the pronoun ' he ' or ' him'.
iii. In the final unaccented syllable the diphthongs ai and an are mostly levelled with e in the dialects. In Powys and Dyfed, that is, in an unbroken belt from North East to South West, the three are sounded e ; thus cader, pethe, bore for cadair ( chair ', pethau ' things ', Lore ' morning '. In Gwynedd and Gwent they are sounded a, as cadar (Gwent cd\far), petha, bora. When ai is significant (e.g. as denoting the plural) it is ai in Gwynedd, i in Gwent, sometimes i in Powys, as Gwynedd defaid ' sheep ', llygaid (when not ll'gada) ' eyes ' ; Gwent defid, lly\cid ; Powys defed, llygid ; Dyfed defed, llygecl.
Dialectal forms, chiefly Demetian and Powysian -e, begin to appear in the MSS. of the I5th century ; but the rhymes of the bards of the I5th and i6th centuries, with the exception of some poetasters, always imply the literary form, which is still used in the written language except in a few words. See § 31 ii.
PHONOLOGY
ORTHOGRAPHY AND PRONUNCIATION
THE ALPHABET.
§ 7. i. Welsh, in all its periods, has been written in the Latin alphabet.
The ogam inscriptions are Irish. The letters of the ogam alphabet consist of scores and notches on the edge of the stone ; one to five scores, cut at right angles to the edge on either side, or obliquely across it, form 15 consonants; one to five notches on the edge form 5 vowels.
The "alphabet of Nemnivus", contained in ox., dated 812, and reproduced by Ab Ithel in Dosp. Ed. 10, n, is stated in the MS. to have been formed by Nemnivus " ex machinatione mentis suae " in answer to a Saxon's taunt that the Britons had no letters. Most of the signs are forms of Latin characters made to imitate runes ; two (•^ n and A u) are runes, while others seem to be arbitrary inventions. There is no evidence of the use of this alphabet. The "winged alphabet" given by Ab Ithel ibid. 12 consists of two classifications of Scandinavian tree-runes, the top line representing the two schemes of classification. The reason given for supposing the scribe to be a Welshman is too ridiculous to need refutation.
Among the "traditions " invented by the Glamorgan bards in support of their claim to be the successors of the druids was the " wooden book " ; though all the accounts of it are in lolo Morgannwg's handwriting, contemporary evidence of its existence in the early ifth cent, is afforded by Rhys Cain's satirical englyn (Ab lolo, Coel. y B. 50) ; but it cannot be traced further back. The ' bardic alphabet ' called coelbren y beirdd was a conventional simplification of ordinary characters adapted for cutting on wood ; its letters are derived from the hand- writing of the period, as V b, ) d, <\ ts (= e), K A, M n, K* r, except where it was easier to adapt the Latin capitals, as A A, C' G. With one or two exceptions, such as U IL, the " derived characters " denoting consonant mutations, so far from proving the coelbren's antiquity, are its very latest development, Pughe acknowledging himself to be the author of five of them (L.G.C. 260 footnote). lolo's memoranda (Coel. y B. 27) refer to an old form given by Gwilym Tew in his grammar; but this work is preserved in G.T.'s own hand in p 51, which does not mention the coelbren. The famous transcriber of MSS. John Jones
10 PHONOLOGY § 7
of Gelli Lyfdy compiled two collections of the alphabets known to him p 307, IL 144, but neither contains anything like the coelbren. No MS. is written in it, for the simple reason that it was easier to write ordinaiy characters than the coelbren caricature of them. The writing in P 54 pp. 359 ff., stated in the R. to be in " ' bardic ' characters, which are widely different from Roman characters ", bears no resemblance to the coelbren, and is no more " widely different from Roman characters " than the coelbren itself is ; it is the hand of an illiterate person ; the letters are written separately, but all are clumsy copies of the script characters of the period, mostly formed with awkward curves, the antithesis of the coelbren angles. There is a somewhat similar scribble written upside down on the bottom margin of B.CH. = p 29, p. 19. — The wooden book consisted of squared inscribed sticks in a frame; it was called peithynen from its resemblance to a weaver's reed, and not the reverse, as lolo asserted, for peithyn(eri) comes regularly from Lat. ace. pectin-em ' comb, weaver's reed '. The absurdity of the supposition that such a device ever served any serious purpose of literature is manifest when one considers what a cartload of wooden books would be required to carry the contents of a small manuscript volume.
ii. The earliest Welsh alphabet given as such is that found in the B.G. col. 1117: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, k, I, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, v, x, y, to, If. It contains q, which is not used in Welsh, and omits all the digraphs except II ; they could not be included in the traditional number, 24.
Sir J. Price's alphabet in T.L.H, (1546) is as follows: a, b, c, d, d, e,ff,f, g, h, i, k, I, Ih, m, n, o, p, r, rh, 8, t, v = u, v, y, w.
VV. Salesbury gives the following alphabet in his Playne and Familiar Introductio, 1567 (written in 1550): A, b, c, ch, d, dd, e,f,ff, g, h, i, k, I, tt, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, th, v, u, w, y. He distinguishes between u and v, using the latter for Eng. v, Welsh/.
G.R., (1567), who uses d, I, u for dd, II, w, gives the following alphabet : a, 6, c, ch, d, d, e,f, g, i, h, I, I, m, «. o, p, r, s, t, th, u, u, y, omitting ng and ph (both of which he uses, the latter to the exclusion of^"), to make the number 24.
S.V., (1568), gives the following alphabet of 24 letters: a, b, d, dd, e> ft ffi 9> »j ^> I, tt m, n, °> Pt »*} *> t, v, w, y, ch, th, adding that h is the sign of a breathing, J 9/3.
J.D.R., (1592), used h to form all his digraphs, thus bh =• f, dh = dd, gh = ng. His alphabet is as follows : a, b, bh, c, ch, d, dh, e, g, gh, yhh, h, i, Ih, I, m, mh, n, nh, o, p, ph, rh, r, s, t, th, u, y>, y, y. It contains a character for each simple sound in the language, including the two sounds of y ; but it was too cumbrous to win general adoption.
The alphabet of the present day is first met with in D. (1621), with the single difference that D. has two forms of the letter y ; thus, a, b, c, ch, d, dd, e, f,ff, g, ng, h, i, I, II, m, n, o, p. ph, r, s, t, th, u, w, y/y. It omits mh, nh, ngh, rh. The names now given to the letters are, in the above order, in Welsh spelling (all vowels not marked long to be
§§8,9 THE VOWELS 11
read short) : a, In, ec, ech, dl, ecfd, e, eft eff, eg, eng, dets, I, el, ell, em, en, o, pi, yff 'vrffl, er, es, ti, eth, u, w, y. The names 7>a, he, hi given to the letter h by some writers on Welsh grammar and orthography a are figments. The name is nets, borrowed from Eng. or Fr. (Eng. aitch, Fr. ache, Span, atche):
H. arall it sy — Harri
Wyth yw 'r dyn a 'th eura di. — T.A., c. i 340.
' Thou hast another H. — Henry the Eighth is the man who will ennoble thee.' — The first line is to be read Aets arall it sy Harri, as shown by the cynghanedd : t s r — t a r.
Lhuyd, (1707). used ^ for ch, X for II, and b for dd. The last has survived iu the form 8 in ordinary handwriting, but manuscript 8 is printed dd.
§ 8. The orthography of Mn. W. is almost purely phonetic : each letter of the alphabet has one standard sound, except y which has two. It will therefore be convenient to give the values of the letters in the modern alphabet, and then, rising the modern characters to represent the sounds of the language, to show in detail how each sound was written in earlier periods, noting any changes which have taken place in the sounds themselves.
THE VOWELS.
§ 0. The letters a, e, i, o, u, w, y represent vowel sounds. The following diagram shows the approximate relative positions of the vowels at the present day. y and y denote the two sounds of y. Vowels pronounced with rounded lips are enclosed in brackets. The more open the sound the less the rounding.
Front ° Back
The vowel sounds i, e, a, ot w, except in certain diphthongal combinations, have probably undergone no material change from
* G.R., Rowland, Silvan Evans, Tegai. Rowland's Aaitch is a S.W. vulgarism.
12 PHONOLOGY §§10 -14
the O. W. period to the present day ; the sounds a, e, o, have always been represented by the characters a, e, o,a and the sound i always by i, with some exceptions in Early Ml. W., § 16 ii (2).
§ 10. The sound of a is that of the English a in father. It occurs long as in tad 'father', medium as in td\dol ' fatherly ', and short as in mam ' mother '.
The sound does not occur short in English, the a of Eng. man being a more forward sound, which may be denoted by ce. This sound ce is heard in Welsh in a narrow strip stretching from the English border to Harlech, and in Glamorganshire.
§ 11. The sound of e, when long or medium, is the middle e, as in the Eng. men, let ; thnsgwe/t ' smile ', gioe\nu ' to smile ' ; when short it is generally more open, tending towards the Eng. e in there ; ihusywenn ' white '. For its sound in diphthongs, see S§ 29, 79.
§ 12. The sound of i is the close i of the French ^rc?', si, or the North Eng. i in king, machine. The Southern Eng. i is more open. It occurs long as in gwin ' wine ', medium as in gwi\noed(l ' wines ', short as v&prin ' scarcely '.
§ 13. The sound of o, when long or medium, is the middle o, midway between the close o in Eng. note and the open o in not ; thus ton ' tune ', t6\nau ' tunes ' ; when short it is more open, tending towards the o of not, as tonn ' wave ', tonnau f waves'.
§ 14. i. The sound of w is that of the French ou in sou, or the North Eng. oo in food, book. The Southern Eng. sound is more open. It occurs long as in gwr ' man ', medium as in gw\rol ' manly ', short as in trwm ' heavy '.
ii. (i) The sound to was written u in O.W., and thus could not be distinguished (except by the context) from the sound w, § 15 i, which was also written u (though sometimes i, § 15 ii).
(2) In Early Ml. W., the sound w, both vocalic and conso- nantal was written u (or v) and w, and as the former also repre- sents the sound u, and both represent the sound/", the spelling is often ambiguous. In Late Ml. W. the uncertainty is partly re- moved by the restriction of w and the use of 0 (a peculiar shape
* Here and in the following sections up to § 26, a letter printed in heavy type represents the written letter j a letter printed in italics represents the sound.
§15 THE VOWELS 13
of v) to represent the to sounds. The characters w and 0 repre- sent both w and w almost indifferently. Theoretically perhaps w stood for w, and the R.B. scribe wishing1 to distinguish between gwyr ' men ' and gwifr e knows ' writes them gwyr, g6yr respectively, R.G. 1118 ;• there seems to be a slight predominance of the w value for w, but no systematic distinction is made between the sounds, whole pages frequently occurring, e.g., in W.M., where 6 is used exclusively for both.
<£?• In this work Late Ml. W. 0 is transcribed w, as nothing is gained by reproducing a distinction which would often be misleading if taken to have a phonetic significance.
(3) In Mn. W. the sound is represented by w.
G.R. uses u; and J.D.E. a peculiar character based on 6, a late script form of 6 ; § 7 ii.
§ 15. i. (i) In Late Mn. W. the sound of u, long, medium, and short, is the same as the clear sound of y, § 16 i ; thus the words hun ' sleep ' and Jiyn ' older ' have now absolutely the same sound. But in O. and Ml. W. u had the sound of the French it, that is, an i pronounced with rounded lips. In accented syllables it retained this sound down to the end of the i6th cent., as is shown by the fact that J.D.R. (pp. 33, 34) describes both n and y, and distinguishes between them with a phonetic truth which could only be derived from actual acquaintance with both as living sounds.
(2) In the final unaccented syllable the original u sound became 7 as early as the I4th cent.; see ZfCP. iv 118. Hence we find u and y confused from the 1 4th century on. Kymry ' the Welsh, Wales ' often appeared as Cymru ; see y Cymru ' the Welsh ', G.R. p. [v] ; M.IL. (3 Ader. — Title). Later, the misspelling Cymru came to be used for ' Wales ', the true form Cymry being retained as the pi. of Cymro. In the 3rd pi. of prepositions, arnunt ' on them ', etc., in dywedud ' to say ', anoddun ' deep ', credadun ' believer ', arofun ' intend ', munud ' minute ', y is in Late Mn. W. wrongly written for u ; for testun ' text ', ysgrythur ' scripture ', see § 82 iii (3). The converse error was frequent in the i6th cent., Dr. M. writing fellu, i fynu, gorthrymmudd, etc.
The view that the distinction survived in monosyllables down to a late date is corroborated by the fact that out of about 140 monos. in use containing either u or tf only one, crud 'cradle' (crut IL.A. 72, R.P. 1418), is now commonly misspelt; and even this misspelling is due to Pughe's bringing the word under the same head as cryd
14 PHONOLOGY §16
' quaking, fever ' obviously on a false etymological theory. D.D. and Richards have crud ' cradle ', cryd ' fever '.
ii. The O. and Ml. W. sound above described was written n. It was therefore not distinguished in writing in the O. and Early Ml. period from the sound w which was also written u. We may call O. W. u the front u, or «, when it corresponds to Mn. W. u, and the back u when it represents Mn. W. w. It is certain that the two sounds were as distinct then as they were later, for in O.W. we find the u sound written i, as in fdpanr juv. 'barn', Mn. W. ysgubor. Still earlier evidence of « is furnished by Bede's spelling Dinoot of a name which was later Dunawd.
§ 10. i. y has two sounds, the clear and the obscure.
The clear sound of y is a peculiar z'-sound very difficult to acquire. It is a dull i produced further back than ordinary i. The sound is very similar to French u in its effect upon the ear, and has the same absolute pitch ; but it is produced quite differ- ently. The French u is an i pronounced with rounded lips, but the Welsh y is an * pronounced further back, but with open lips; see the diagram, § 9. Ml. W. had both sounds, written u and y respectively ; but gradually the roiinded sound, which was written u, was replaced by the unrounded sound, though still continuing to be written u, the result being that Welsh has now the unrounded sound only, written u and y.
The sound y is long as in dyn ' man ' or short as in bryn ' hill '. It cannot be medium except when written as w, as in lino ' to unite ', and in the word gyda for gyd a, § 82 ii (2).
In S. W. dialects both M and y are sounded as i or nearly so.
The obscure sound of y is the sound of the Eng. o in ivory. It is medium or short in the penult, or short in an unaccented syllable. It is long in the penult before a vowel or h as cjj-oedd, c$-hoedd, and in the name of the letter y.
<Jsr In this grammar the character y is used as in ordinary written Welsh to represent both the clear and the obscure sound ; but when it is required to distinguish between them, the character H is used to denote the clear, and y to denote the obscure sound. — Note that y is the clear \ in the diphthong wy, and when cir- cumflexed, y.
§16 THE VOWELS 15
A special character for the sound y was used by some i6th century scribes, and is regularly employed by J.D.R. and Dr. Davies in their grammars. A distinctive character is also needed for the clear sound ; and n is convenient because it suggests u which has now the same sound.
NOTE. — The idea that y has borrowed its clear sound from u, which, as we have seen, is the exact reverse of the truth, has led some writers to call y the primary, and y the secondary sound of y. The former is of course secondary, being the obscured form of y and other sounds.
11 On the use of the two sounds of y see § 82.
ii. (i) In O. W. the sounds of y are denoted by i, and are therefore not distinguished in writing- from the sound i. That y and i were then distinct requires no further proof than that they are different in origin, and if the difference had been lost it could not have been recovered.
(2) In Early Ml. W. MSS., as in the B.B., y and i are used in- differently to express the i sound and the sounds of y. In B.CH. ( = A.L. MS. A.) y is used in some parts almost to the exclusion of i, as Irenyn, tyr for brenin ' king ', tir ' land ' ; yx p. 9 for ix ' nine ' (printed nau in A.L. i 18 !) shows that the scribe treated y and i as identical. In some early MSS. the sounds of y were repre- sented by e ; see the passage in ancient orthography in A.L. ii 36-8, where y lie, y dqn appear as elle, eden ( the place ', ' the man'.
(3) In Late Ml. MSS., as in Mri. W., the sounds y, y are written y, and are not confused with i which is written i (except that y also represents i, § 25 iii).
In a few monosyllables of frequent occurrence, if by constant repeti- tion advanced to the easier front position of i towards the end of the Ml. period. These are y ' to ', y ' his ' or ' her ', ny, nyt ' not '. The latter often appears as ni, nit in W.M., see 46, 48, showing the thinning of the vowel to be so early. That the sound was once y is shown by the fact that ni/d, written nifdd (dd = double d, not 8) by J.D.R. in 1592, may still be heard in Anglesey.
<SJ§r In this grammar the Ml. W. y ' to ' and y ' his ' or ' her ' are dotted thus, y, to distinguish them from the article y = y. As the y was probably sounded i some time before it came to be so written, it may be read i. [There can be no confusion with y = i, which never stands by itself, § 25 iii.]
iii. Though not indicated in writing, the difference between y and
16 PHONOLOGY §16
y goes back to the O. W. period. That O. W. i represented iiot only the clear if hut also the obscure y is shown by such forms as cimadas (zzcyfaddas) M.c. Here cyf- comes from *kom-\ the y results from the indistinct pronunciation of o, § 65 iv (2), and was never sounded if ; hence the written i must have meant y. See also § 40 iii (2). In Ml. MSS. generally, as in Mn. W., no distinction is made l>etween if and y. But in some parts of 13. OH., e stands for y, and y for if regularly; thus Ylety yu ety muyhaf ene tref akemeruedaf ac y kyd ac ef erey auenno or teylu, A.L. i 12 = if lety ifw y tif mivifhaf yny dref a chymherfeSaf, ag if gqd ag ef y rei a vynno o'r teilu, ' His lodging is the largest and most central house in the town, and with him such as he may please of the household.' The scribe's observance of the rule is remarkable ; and though there are many slips due to mechanical copying, his spelling in some cases helps to decide the sound in obsolete forms.
iv. (i) In Early Ml. W. if and y were probably nearer e than at present. If we assume the line a — if more inclined towards the line a — i in the diagram p. 1 1 above, it will be seen at a glance not only why both were written e at that time, but why the B.CH. scribe uses y to represent both i and if, and e to represent both e and y.
(2) The sounds if and y in these forward positions were less stable, being not merely felt to be near enough to e to be represented by e in writing, but also liable to be confused with e in speech. Some examples of this confusion survived, and are met with in the later language: (a) Interchange of y and e: Myrddin, Merddin D.G. 471 ; tymestl, temestl G. 153; ystifnv. 24, esttfn; cybyddiaeth, a cheby&yaeth IL.A. 1 44 ; y bellynnic IL.A. 1 26, 1 46, pdlennig ; ketymdeith, cydymaith ; ynnill, ennill ; cynfigen, cenfigen ; Tal-y-bolion M.A. 131 501, explained as tdl ebolyon W.M. 45 ; Pen-e'-goes for *Pen-y'-goes, see § 46 ii (3). — (y8) Interchange of if and e : velle IL.A. 148 for fellif ; Late Mn. W. wele 'behold' for (a) ivelif 'dost thou see?' § 173 iii (3); Mercher for Merchifr B.A. 17, B.B. 48, see § 69 v ; hiody C.M. 31, hiode R.M. 173; mifwn, mewn; Lhfifn, Lletfn. Dial, edrech for edrych, -ech for -ifc/t 2iid sg. pres. subj. § 176 iv. — (y) In Ml. W. if hun 'himself, herself is written e hun, the e modification being preferred owing to the difficulty of sounding unrounded if and rounded ii in consecutive syllables, cf. § 77 viii. Dissimilation also occurs in e IwerSon W.M. 59 for if IwerSon. Similarly te\ifrn for *tif\ifm § 103 ii (i); diell for di-hyll § 146 ii (2).
In Breton *y has generally become e ; thus nevez = W. newydd ; 2)emp = W. pifmp ; kevrann = W. kyvran ; ened =. W. ynifd.
(3) y before a nasal tended to be lowered towards a, and is some- times written a in the B.CH., as cantaf A.L. i 84 for cyntaf; kannal, do. 154 for kynnal; kafreiht do. 130 for kyvreith. Hence y and o interchange before a nasal : Yngharad, Angharad ; ymheraiudr, am- herawdr; ymddifad, amddifad; . canhorthwy, cynhorthwy; mynach, manach, etc.
Unaccented a is sometimes weakened to y in the dialects, but
§ 16 THE VOWELS 17
examples are rare in lit. W. : rhyglyddu ' to merit ', for rhaglyddu, see faclySei W.M. 428.
(4) In Mn. W. since y has become quite neutral, it is apt in some cases to be coloured by neighbouring sounds : after w or followed by w in the ultima, it becomes w, § 66 ii. When immediately followed by another vowel it is assimilated to it, § 82 ii (3).
v. (i) In Ml. W. an inorganic y is written between two consonants at the end of a word in the following groups : i. cons. + r, 1 or n ; 2.rm, rf, 1m, If; 3. 8f; 4. rarely rch, Ich ; thus pobyl for pobl 'people', vy »ian//w.M. 59 for/y mar/ 'my beard'. In O. W. it appears as i, as in reatir juv., Mn. W. rhaeadr ' cataract ', but is of rare occurrence, being usually omitted as in Mn. W., thus cruitr, disci JTTV. dail, scribl ox. It occurs medially as i in centhiliat JTJV. ' singer ' for centhliat, as o in cenitolaidou ox., Mn. W. cenedlaetliau 'generations'. In Early Ml. W. it appears as i, y, and e, as perygil B.B. 31 ' danger', cathil do. 1 6 'song', autyl do. 15 'ode', coloven A.L. i 10 'column'. It occurs sometimes in initial groups : o gynaud B.B. 84 ' of flesh ' ; keleuuet A.L. i 40 = clywed ' to hear '.
(2) The sound intended to be represented was the glide between the consonants, which was becoming perceptible as a dull sound resembling y. It was naturally written i in O. W., e in B.CH., these being the signs for y, see iii above. It was not written where no audible glide developed, as in nt, rth, r8, and was rare where the glide was voiceless, as before ch. It did not form a full syllable in Ml. W., at least in the standard pronunciation, for (a) it is occasionally written in groups where it is generally omitted, and which seem never to have been syllabic, as in meirych W.M. 41 = meirch K.M. 28 ' horses ' ; (/3) it is sometimes found medially where it could not be syllabic, as in kenedyloeft IL.A. 1 1 = kenedloeft IL.A. 169 'nations', dadeleu A.L. i 20
= dadleu ' lawsuit ' ; (y) it does not affect the accentuation ; thus in
co\lofyn gwe8 e\ofyn y gwe\fa\eu, — B.P. 1239
' Upholder in fearless manner of prayers ', the e of eofyn is accented to correspond to the i of gwe&ieu ; (8) it does not count as a syllable in Ml. verse ; the above is a line of nine syllables ; in the following cy wydd couplet the cynghanedd requires chalych to be read as an absolute monosyllable, as it is pronounced at the present day : Pwy a attei, pei pennsaer, peintyaw a chalych pwynt vy chwaer? — I.G.,R.P. 1408.
' Who could, though he were a master, paint with chalk my sister's mien ? '
«W In the quotations in the present work this non-syllabic y is represented thus, y.
(3) In Mn. lit. W. the epenthetic y is simply dropped ; thus pobl, ffeneslr, ofn. The non-syllabic pronunciation continued to be the only one admissible in cynghanedd, and so remained the standard literary form ; and the mute y came to be dropped in writing to prevent ambiguity. [In one form of cynghanedd, however, exemplified by—
not C
18 PHONOLOGY §17
Da os6diad hyd i satvdl. — D.N., o. 1 58,
-1 answers a syllable -tad in the cynghanedd, though it does not count as a syllable in the metre, an inconsistency which shows that such a word as this, treated as a monosyllable in verse generally, sounded like a disyllabic when it ended a sentence.]
In the spoken language, when the word was disyllabic the final liquid was lost, thus perig,ffene8t for perigl ' danger ', ffenestr 'window', or metathesized as in ewyrth for ewythr' uncle'. In monosyllables the glide was assimilated to the vowel of the syllable or the second element of its diphthong and became syllabic ; thus pobol, cefen, tttffqbyr, sowdwl, bara' for pobl ' people ', cefn ' back ', llwybr ' path ', sawdl ' heel ', barf ' beard '. Some examples of this assimilation already appear in Late Ml. W., as budur IL.A. 18 ' dirty ', kwbwl C.M. 87 'all ', vy maraf K.M. 42 ' my beard '. — The colloquial syllabic pronunciation is the one generally implied in recent verse in the free metres ; thus Anne Griffiths's Llwybr cwbl groes i natur, though so printed in all hymn- books, is intended to be sung Llwybyr \ cwbwl \ grdes i \ ndtur. But in N. "W. dialects the parasitic vowel did not arise in groups containing /; thus in the greater part of N. W. ofn, ' fear ', cefn ' back ', llyfr ' book ', barf ' beard ' are purely monosyllabic to this day. Forms like march, calch are everywhere monosyllabic.
«I For prosthetic y- see § 21 iii, § 23 ii, § 26 vi (4).
THE CONSONANTS.
§ 17. The values of the letters representing consonants in the Mn. alphabet are as follows :
i. Voiceless explosives (tenues) : p = English p ; t, normally more dental than Eng. £, but varying to Eng. t; c = Eng. k, having two sounds, front c (%} before i, e, like k in Eng. king, back c (q) before a, o, w, n g, like e in Eng. coal.
ii. Voiced explosives (mediae) : b = Eng. b ; d corresponding to W. t as above ; g front and back (g, g], like Eng. give, go.
iii. Voiceless spirants : ff or ph = Eng. f, labiodental ; th = Eng. th in thick (which may be denoted by /) ; ch = Scotch ch in loch, German ch in nock (x), but not German ch in ich (x). Even after e and i, as in llech ' slate ', gwlch ' squeak ', the ch is the back sound x-
i + back x is an awkward combination, and becomes difficult in the short time available when the i is the second element of a diphthong ; hence baich, braich are generally pronounced bayx, brayx (with the short a of the original diphthong). This pronunciation is con- demned by D., p. i o ; but the spelling ay is common earlier, e. g. J.D.K. 271. But beichiau, breichiau are so sounded, with back x (not x).
& 17 THE CONSONANTS 19
3
iv. Voiced spirants : f = Eng. v, labiodental ; dd = Eng. th in this (8). O.W. had also the guttural voiced spirant, which may be represented by 5, corresponding to ch ; see § 19 i.
v. Voiceless nasals : mh ; nh ; ngh. The nasals can only be made voiceless by a strong emission of breath, which causes a distinct aspirate to be heard as a glide after the consonant. Thus nh is somewhat similar to Eng. nh in inhale.
vi. Voiced nasals : m ; n ; ng. The last has two positions corresponding to those of g, namely front », back K>.
vii. Voiceless liquids : 11 ; rh. The former is a voiceless / pro- nounced on one side. It is produced by placing the tongue in the I position, raising it so as to close the passage on one side, and blowing between it and the teeth on the other. The common imitation thl conveys the effect of the " hiss " (voiceless spirant) in the th, and gives the side effect in the I. But 11 is of course a simple sound, which may be described shortly as a " uni- lateral hiss ". The sound of rh is the Welsh trilled r made voice- less by a strong emission of breath, causing an audible aspirate glide after it. Briefly, it is r and h sounded together.
viii. Voiced liquids : 1 ; r. The latter is trilled like the strong- Scotch r, or the Italian r. The trilled r is a difficult sound to acquire ; young children usually substitute I for it. A few never acquire it, but substitute for it a guttural r ( = 5). This is almost the only defect of speech to be found among speakers of Welsh ; it is called tafod tew ' thick tongue '.
ix. Sibilant : s. Welsh has no z ; such a pronunciation as z&l *zeal* is pure affectation; unsophisticated persons say sel, seloff. Before i as in eisiau, 9 now tends to become Eng. sh, and in some S.W. dialects after i. But many old speakers cannot pronounce shibboleth at all. Standard Welsh * is the ss in hiss.
x. Aspirate : h. The aspirate is distinctly sounded, and is never misused except in Gwent and Glamorgan. It is really the voiceless form of the vowel which follows it, or the glide between a voiceless nasal or liquid and a vowel.
xi. Semi-vowels : i ; w. As these letters also represent vowel sounds, they will be marked «, w in this work where it is neces- sary to point out that they are consonantal, i is the sound of the Eng. y in yard ; w is the Eng-. ^o in will.
c2
20 PHONOLOGY § 18
^T Welsh w is the same sound as that which is written u in the hypothetic forms of Ar., Kelt., Brit., etc. Thus Mn. W. wir ' indeed ' is identical with the first syll. of Kelt. *mr-08 'true'<Ar. *uer-os.
§ 18. i. The characters p, t, o had the values in O.W. of modern p, t, c. They also represented the mutated sounds b, d, g, see § 103 iii; as in scipaur i\rv. = 8cubaicr, Mn. W. ysgubor 'barn', creaticaul ox. = creadigawl, Mn. W. creadigol 'created'. When they have this value they are sometimes doubled ; thus in M.c. we find catteiraul, Mn. W. cadeiriol ' cathedral ' adj., carrecc, Mn. W. carreg ' stone ', hepp, Ml. W. heb ' says '. Possibly this is due to the influence of Irish spelling. [In Old Ir. original *nt > *d-d written t and sometimes tt.]
ii. In Ml. W. p, t, c no longer represent bt d, g medially, but finally after a vowel they continued to do so even down to the Mn. period. The facts are briefly as follows : In the B.B., late I2th cent., the final labial is written p, but often b (mab 27, 28, 29) ; the dental is always d, because t is used for the soft spirant 8 ; the guttural is always c. In the I4th cent, the labial very generally appears as b, though often as p ; the dental is always t, the guttural always c. In the J5th cent. (e.g. IL 28) we have b, d, c. In the 1620 Bible b, d, g, but c in many forms, unic, lluddedic, etc. The final c is still written in ac and nac, which should be ag, nag, § 222 i (i), ii (3). On the sound of the consonant in these cases see § 111 v (4).
Finally after a consonant p, t, c have always represented the voiceless sounds.
iii. In Ml. W. and Early Mn. W., initial c is generally written k. The chief exceptions are the combinations cl, or. Medially we find c, k, cc, ck. Finally after a consonant, though we generally have c, we also find k (or even ck) ; as grafangk, oer- drangk K.P. 1321, diagk etc. do. 1314, digelk do. 1364, lork K.B.B. 397, carbunck, IL.A. 170. In these words the sound was, and is, voiceless. Note that after a vowel, where the sound is now g, it is never written k in Ml. W. Thus k, which represents the tenuis only, is clearly distinguished from c, which also finally represents the media.
NOTE. In O. W. and the earliest Ml. W., as in L.L. (about 1 1 50), c alone is used ; k appears in B.B. and was general in Ml. and Early
§ 19 THE CONSONANTS 21
Mn. W. G.R. discarded k on the principle of " one sound one letter ", p. 20. But the decisive factor in its banishment from the "Welsh alphabet was its replacement by c in Salesbury's N. T., published the same year (1567). This being one of the many innovations ' ' quarrelled withall" in his orthography, Salesbury,' in the Prayer Book of 1586 gave his reason for the substitution: "C for K, because the printers haue not so many as the Welsh requireth," Llyfryddiaeth 34. It is curious to note that a letter which was thus superseded because of its greater prevalence in Welsh than in English was classed 160 years later among "intruders and strangers to the Welsh language", Gor- mesiaid a dieithriaid i'r laith Gymraeg, S.R. ( 1*7 2 8) p. i.
§ 19. i. The characters b, d, g, in O.W. represented initially the modern sounds b, d, g ; but medially and finally they stood for the mutated sounds f, 8, 5, as in gilbin Juv., Mn. W. gylfin 'beak', guirclglas M.C. = ffw$rrb%las, Mn. W. gwyrddlas 'greenish blue '. Medially and finally/" was also represented by in, though in this case the spirant was doubtless nasalized then, as it is still normally in Breton ; thus nimer ox. = niver, Mn. W. nifer ' number ', heitham ox.,, Mn. W. eithaf ' extreme '.
ii. (i) In Ml. W., b represented the sound b, but no longer the sound/.
(a) The sound/ was written in Early Ml. W. u or v, w and f ; thus in B.B., niuer 7 = nifer; vaur zi=fawr 'great'; sew 45 = sef 'that is'; dihafal ZQ = dihafal 'unequalled'. We also find ff, as affv 2,1= a fu 'who has been', bariffvin 53 = barfwyn ' white-bearded ,' tiff 50 = tyf ' grows '.
As u and v also represented the vowel ii, and as u, v, and w repre- sented w as well, the orthography of this period is most confusing.
(3) In Late Ml. W. the sound /was written medially u or v and fu; finally it was represented by f regularly (the few exceptions which occur, e.g. in W.M., being due to mechanical copying). Thus, IL.A., vy i =fy ' my ' ; llamir 3 = ttafur ' labour ' ; kyfuoet/tawc 55, Mn. W. cyfoethog ' rich ' ; gyntaf 3 ' first ', dywedaf 3 ' I say ', ef 3 ' he ', etc. u and v continued to be used medially for /during the Early Mn. period ; but G.R. has f everywhere, and was followed by Dr. M. in the 1588 Bible, which fixed the Late Mn. orthography.
As u and v also represented the vowel ii, the word fu may be found written w, vu, uv, uu. But there is much less confusion than in the
22 PHONOLOGY § 19
earlier period, for (i) w is distinguished from il ; (2) finally u and / are distinguished ; thus nev means neu ( or ', not nef' heaven '.
The distinction between the characters u and v is a modern one ; double v (i. e. w) is still called " double u " in English.
€»• In the quotations in this grammar the letter u or v (for it was one letter with two forms) is transcribed u when it stands for the vowel, and v when it represents the consonant f, irrespective of the form in the MS. , which depended chiefly on the scribe's fancy at the moment.
(4) The sound which is now the labiodental f (= Eng. v) was in O. W. and probably also in Ml. W. a bilabial J, like the South German w. It was the soft mutation of b or m, and resulted from these bilabial sounds being pronounced loosely so that the breath was allowed to escape, instead of being stopped, at the lips. It was sometimes confused with w, § 26 v ; and was so soft that it might, like w, be passed over in cynghanedd, e.g.jjwynt vy ckicaer p. 17 above; see Tr. Gym. 1908-9, p. 34.
iii. (i) The letter d in Ml. W. stands for both d and dd (8).
(a) In some Early Ml. MSS., of which the most important is the B.B., the sound 8 when it is an initial mutation is generally repre- sented by d, but medially and finally is represented rather illogi- cally by t; thus B.B., cly divet ig = dy biweb ' thy end ' ; imtuin 32=ymbwyn 'to behave'; guirt $3=gwyrb 'green'; betev 63 = bebeu ' graves '. Medially, however, we also have d, as adaio 41 E Abaf l Adam ' ; and occasionally, by a slip, finally, as oed i = oeb ' was ' (conversely, by a rare slip, final t = d, as imbit jo=ym myd 'in the world '). In B.CH. usage is still looser.
(3) In the Late Ml. period the sound 8 is represented by d, rarely by dd, see IL.A. p. xxii. Initially and medially d and 8 cannot be distinguished at this period, but finally they can, since final d is written t, § 18 ii, so that final d must mean the sound 8. But it often happens that -d for -d and -t for -8 are copied from an earlier MS.
While w. is distinctly Late Ml. W. in the representation of ic, i, y, it has -d for -d and medial and final t for 8 ; also occasionally dd, as ar dderchet izoa = arberc/ieb.
(4) dd came generally into use in the I5th cent. In the i6th Sir J. Price, 1546, used dr ; G.R., 1567, used d ; Salesbury, 1567,
§ 20 THE CONSONANTS 23
used dd and * ; Dr. M. in the Bible, 1588, used dd, which in. spite of J.D.R.'s dh, 1592, has prevailed.
«*r In this grammar Ml. W. d when it stands for dd (8) is transcribed 8.
iv. (i) In Ml. W. the letter g stands initially and medially for the sound g. The voiced spirant 5 had then disappeared.
(a) But g is also used as well as ng for the sound ng (») (as in Eng. song). "When final, g must mean the nasal, for the explosive is written c, § 18 ii ; thus Hog B.B. 90, W.M. 180, E.M. 87 must be read llong ' ship '.
&r In this work Ml. g when it represents the nasal ng (») is transcribed g.
(3) Medially ng sometimes stands for n\g (pronounced wg like the ng in the Eng.^mgw) ; thus Sangor, pronounced Banger. The simple sound represents original iog as in angel ( = awnel § 54 i (2)) < Lat. angdus ( = atogelus) ; the composite sound occurs where the nasal and explosive came together later, and the g is the soft mutation of c, as in Ban-gar, radical cor ; un-glust ' one-eared ', dust ' ear '. In O. W. the composite sound appears as nc, as uncenetticion M.C. = un-genedigion, gloss on ' solicanae '. Cf. Bede's Bancor, doubtless the Early W. spelling.
§ 20. i. (i) The sound ff\s represented in O.W. by f, as/«w, fionouM.c. = ffynn ' sticks ', ffionou 'roses'; sometimes medially by ph as in ciphillion M.C. ' sprouts ', grephiou M.C. ' pencils ', Griphiud A.C. 814, § 36 ii, and p or pp as Gripiud B.S.CH. I, Grippi(ud) GEN. xxx.
(2) In Ml. W. the sound ff is represented initially by f, both when it is radical and when it is a mutation of p, though in the latter case ph is perhaps more usual ; rarely we have ff; thus banfoher B.B. 5 'when they are put to flight \fort do. 33 = fforb ' way ', nyforthint do. 34 ' they did not cherish ', ny phercheiste do. 21 Hhou hast not respected'; A fa le e maynt A.L. i 160, MS. A., a phy . . . MS. D., ' and where they are ' ; heb bant yn y fenn W.M. 453 . . .ynyphenn R.M. 101 'without a tooth in her head' ; ffoes B.B. 44 ' fled '. Medially and finally it is generally ff, as diffuis B.B. 35 = diffwys 'steep', proffuid do. 85 ' prophet ', grofft B.M. 52 ' croft ', aiiffurvaw do. 29 ' to disfigure ', gorffen do. 5 'to finish', sarff do. 186 'serpent', hoff W.M. 72 'desirable'. It also appears as ph, as corph B.B. 20 ' body ', (g)orphen do. 76 ' end ' ; and often as f, as deu gorf B.M. 5 ' two bodies ', anfuryf do.
24 PHONOLOGY § 21
29 ( = anffu)f) 'disfigurement', yn braf W.M. 53 (=yn bran') ' strong ', graft do. 73 ' croft'.
(3) In Mn. W. ff and ph are used, the latter generally as a mutation ofj) only ; but G.R. and J.D.R. use ph exclusively.
Many modern writers use ph in all positions where they perceive that it is derived from /?, as in corpk < Lat. corpus, writing ff where it does not appear to them to be so derived, as in cyff 1 stem, trunk \ffon 'stick*. It is mostly a distinction without a difference : cyff comes from Lat. cippus, and ffon is from Pr. Kelt. *spond-, § 96 iv (i). The attempted differentiation is a useless one ; and as the etymology of too many words is still uncertain, it cannot be earned out. It is better, therefore, to write ff always where the sound is immutable, and ph only as a conscious mutation of initial /; ; thus coiff, cyff, ffon ; chwe phunt, chwepkunt ' £6 ', gwragedd aphlant ' women and children ', blith draphlith c higgledy-piggledy '.
ii. (i) The sound th (/) is represented in O. W. by th, as brith Juv. ' variegated ' ; by d, as papedpinnac M.C. =pa betk bynnag 'whatsoever'; by t after r, as gurt OK.=gicrth, Mn. W. wrtJt ' against ' ; and Ly )?, as papefi Juv. = pa lieih ' what '.
(a) In Ml. W. the sound is generally written th, though in some early MSS., as B.CH., sometimes t (after r) as kemyri A.L. i 4 = kjmyrih ' took '. In Mn. W. it is always written th.
Such a form *& perffeidyaw IL.A. 19 is no exception to the rule. The th had been voiced to dd, and the word was perffeiddiaw. It is so written in Early Mn. W., and the Late Mn. W '. perffeithio is a re-fornia- tion. See § 108 iv (2).
iii. (i) The sound ch (x) is written ch in O. "W., as liclian ox. = lyclian ' little '. Once we have gch, in iurgc/iell M.C. ' fawn ', Mn. W. lyrchell.
(2) The sound is written ch consistently in Ml. and Mn. W., and there seem to be no variations to note.
§ 21. i. The sounds m/i, nh, and ngh were written mp, nt, and no in O. W. ; and mp, nt and nc, ngk, or gk in Ml. W. These combinations continued to be written throughout the Ml. period, though the modern signs appear as early as W.M. or earlier ; see § 107.
<§ 22 THE CONSONANTS 25
In Early Ml. W. we also fincf m for ink, n for nh, and g for ngJi ; see § 24 i.
ii. The letters m, n, ng have always represented the sounds m, n, 10 ; but m also represented v in O. W., § 19 i ; ng may represent %>g in Ml. and Mn. W. ; and x> was also written g in Ml. W. ; § 19 iv.
iii. Initial n has sometimes a prosthetic y- ; as ymung e yniver ef ac yniver y llys . . . yr yniveroeS W.M. 40 ' between his host and the host of the court . . . the hosts '. It is also written a as bnadreS •C.M. 21 'snakes', smniver W.M. 65.
§ 22. i. In O. W. the sound II was written 1 initially, and 11 medially and finally; as leill ox. 'others', lenn M.c. 'cloak' guollung juv. =gwollwng ' release '. In dluithruim Juv., if rightly analysed into llwytk ' weight ' and rhwyf ' oar ', we have dl- for pi-, the usual imitation of the II sound, § 17 vii, proving the sound to be as old as the 9th cent., though then usually written 1- initially. The imitation thl is common in the earliest Norman records, but has not been used by Welsh writers.
ii. In Ml. W. the II sound is represented by 11 ; in some MSS., e.g. the K.B., it is ligatured thusli, enabling it to be distinguished from double 1 as in callon R.M. 106 'heart ', lotto R.P. 1369, 1407, kollyn R.B. 1073 ' pivot ', which we now write colon, lolo, colyn, § 54 ii. The ligatured capital IL has been used from the Ml. period to the present day in lettering done by hand.
iii. In Mn. W. 11 is used.
Several attempts have been made from time to time to find substi- tutes : G.R. used 1, Sir J. Price and J.D.R. used Ih ; Ed. Lhuyd used In and X; but 11 has held the field.
iv. The sound rli was written r in O. and Ml. W. The scribes use r for rh even when the h has a different origin, and some- times even when it belongs to another word, as in y gwanwyn ar^B.B.B. 194 fory gwanwyn a'r haf 'the spring and summer'.
fcs- Ml. W. r for rh is transcribed /• in our quotations.
v. In the late I5th and early i6th cent, the sound rh was represented by rr and B- ; it was not until the middle of the 1 6th cent, that the present digraph rh, which seems to us so obvious and natural a representation of the sound, came into general use.
26 PHONOLOGY § 23
vi. The sounds / and r have always been represented by the letters 1 and r.
§ 23. i. The sound * has always been written s. In O. W. it is sometimes doubled as in dritn JUY. = dryai ' thorns ', i*9 M.C., Ml. W. ya ' is'. In Ml. W. it is usually doubled medially between vowels, as in lessu B.B. 25, 50, IL.A. I, 19, etc., Saewon B.B. 48, messur B.B. 3 ' measure ', etc., but sometimes written single as in Saesou B.B. 60. Initial ss also occurs, as ssillit B.B. 99 = sylly^y Mn. W. *ylli ' thou g-azest '. z for 8 is rare : tryzor IL.A. 17 ' treasure'.
ii. Initial s followed by a consonant has developed a prosthetic y- (written y, e, i, etc. § 16), as in ysgol ' school '.
It is not derived from the late Lat. prosthetic »'- as in iscola, since Corn., Bret., Ir. scol do not show it, and it appears in native words in W., as ystrad. It arose in W. for the same reason as in late Lat., a syllabic pronunciation of 8- after a consonant. The earliest recorded examples are Istrat, Estrat, beside Strat in L.L. see its index s.v. Istrat. In the spoken language it is not heard except in words in which it is accented, as ysgol, ystrad, ysbrqd, etc., and sometimes in derivatives of these, as ysgdlion; but sgtibor, strodur, sgrifen, stryd. In O.W. it is not written : scipaur JUV., strotur M.C., scribenn M.C. In Early Ml. W. we have gwastavel A.L. 14 = gwas-stavell for the later gwas ystavell \V.M. 183, E.M. 85. In the oldest verse it does not count as a syllable :
Stavell Gyribylan ys tywyll heno (10 syll.) B.P. 1045.
' The hall of Cynddylan is dark to-night.' In later verse it usually counts after a consonant and not after a vowel :
Mi Iscolan yscdheic ( = Mi 'Scolan yscdlhe\ic, 7 syll.) B.B. 8 1 .
'I am Yscolan the clerk/ But in B.B. 91 we seem to have scolheic after ivyd, see § 41 iii (2).
Mae sgrifen uwchben y bedd.— L.G.C. 20. ' There is a legend above the tomb.'
Damasg a roed am i sgrin. — T.A., A 31101/115. ' Damask was spread over his coffin.'
Ac ysgrln i geisio gras. — D.G. 60. ' And a coffin to seek grace.'
The y- was general in late Ml. MSB., but it is possible that when unaccented the actual spoken sound consisted of a gradual beginning of the s, which like a vowel preserved the r of the article, etc. G.R., 1567, says that yr is used before st, sc, sp, as yr stalwyn, though some
§§ 24, 25 THE CONSONANTS 27
write yr ystalwyn, p. 68. He himself also writes ag scrifennu, p. 69, etc. In the 1620 Bible we find sceler, sclyfaeth, serif ennedic, but yscubor, yspeilio, yscrifen, each word generally written in the same way whether it follows a vowel or a consonant. The r of the article is retained before forms without y-, as yr scrifenyddion Barn, v 14, Matt, vii 29. The y- is introduced more freely in the 1690 edition; but its insertion everywhere is late, and of course artificial, since it never became general in natural speech.
§ 24. i. The letter h has always been employed to denote the aspirate ; but it was not used to represent the aspirate glide after r until the modern period, § 22 iv ; and in some Early ML MSS. m/t, nh and ngh were written m, n and g, as emen ( =ymhen) A.L. i 84, eurenynes ( =y vrenhines) do. 4 ; vy gerenhyt w. 30 ( = vy ngherennkyfy • yg gadellig do. 90 (=.yng Ngkadelling).
ii. In O. and Ml. W. h seems also to have been used to denote a voiced breathing ; see § 1 1 2.
§ 25. i. Consonantal i is represented in O. W. by i, as iar 3W. = iar ' hen', hestoriou ox., pi. of hestawr, cloriou ox., Mn. W. cloriau 'boards', mellkionou M.C., Mn. W. meillion 'clover'. Before -oil it is also found as u (once iu), as enmeituou ox., Mn. W. amneidiau ' beckonings ', damcirchinnitou Juv. 'circuits' ; dijiciwrn JUV. ' defects ' ; here it was probably rounded into u in anticipation of the final u ; cf. § 76 iii (3). Where it is the soft mutation of front g it appeal's as g in O. W., as in Urbgen in Nennius = Urfien, Mn. W. Urien ; Morgen GEN. xxv = Morten. Here the i was doubtless heard with more friction of the breath being the spirant 5 corresponding to front g ; see § 110 ii.
ii. In Early Ml. W. i is represented by i, except in MSS. where y is used for ?', § 16 ii (2) ; thus tirion B.B. 26, pi. of tir ' land ', dinion do. 45 ( = dynipti) ' men '.
iii. In late Ml. W. it is represented initially by i, rarely by y ; as lemt, B.B. 25, 50, IL.A. i, 19, etc., leuan IL.A. 78, iarll, iarlles W.M. 136 ' earl, countess', iaivn R.M. 16 'right', yawnhaf do. 24 ' most proper ', Ye»*u, Yiessu, IL.A. 100. Medially it is written y, as dynnyon W.M. 32 'men', bedybyaw do. 32 'to baptize', me&ylyaw do. 34 ' to think ', etc., etc., rarely as i, as ymbilio n.M. 3 ' he may entreat.'
iw When y represents i it will be dotted as above in the quota- tions in this book.
28 PHONOLOGY § 26
iv. In Mn. W. i is written i ; but often j in the i8th cent., see e.g. Llyfryddiaeth 1713, 4 5 I74&, 4, 8 ; 1749, 2.
v. Voiceless i occurs where the word or syllable preceding i causes aspiration, and is written hi (also hy in Ml. W.), as y Jriarllaeth R.M. 178 ' her earldom ', kennhyadu IL.A. 79 ' to consent '.
If pronounced tensely hi becomes the palatal spirant \ as in the German ich, but this does not occur in Welsh : hi remains a voiceless seini- vowel. Cf. § 17 iii.
§ 26. i. Consonantal w is written gu in O. W. as in petgv.ar ox. =pedwar 'four '. See § 112 ii (i).
ii. In Early Ml. W. w is represented by u, v, and w ; in Late Ml. W. by w and 0. Its representation is the same as that of the vowel w ; see § 14 ii (2). In Mn. W. it is written w.
The letter w sometimes appears in the form uu, as in keleuuet A.L. i 40 ( = cylywed) ' to hear '.
iii. Initial w- had become gw- in the Early Welsh period ; see § 112 ii (i) ; but it is w- under the soft mutation, thus gicallt ' hair,' dy wallt ' thy hair '.
Initial gw may come before I, r or n, as in gwlad ' country ', gwraiy ' wife', gymdf1 1 do ', each one syllable. The initial combinations are practically gl, gr or gn pronounced with rounded lips, the rounding taking place simultaneously with the formation of the g, so that the off-glide of the g is heard as w. When the g is mutated away the initial is I, r or n with w as an on-glide ; thus dy wlad ' thy country sounds like dyw lad, except that the syllabic division is dy \ wlad.
iv. In Ml. and Early Mn. W. final w after a consonant was consonantal ; see § 42. Now the w is made syllabic.
The exceptions to the rule were forms in which -w represents earlier -wy, as hwnnw ; Mn. W. acw, Early Ml. W. raccw, Ml. "W. racko ; assir, gwrw, banw§ 78 i (2). It may have been made consonantal in the last three by analogy, coming after s, r, single n.
v. Medial w is liable to interchange withy ; thus cawod, cafod ' shower ' ; cyfoeth, cywaelh § 34 iv ; diawl ' devil ' for *diafl. The old verbal noun from lliw ' colour ' is Uifo ' to dye ', a newer formation is lliwio ' to colour '. The reason for the interchange is that f was once a bilabial, 5, § 19 ii (4), and so, very similar to w, being in effect 10 with friction of the breath at the lips in- stead of at the back.
vi. (i) Voiceless w, by being pronounced tensely, has become
§ 26 THE CONSONANTS 29
a rounded ck) written chw. It is the result of pronouncing voiceless w with the mouth-passage narrowed at the back so as to produce audible friction, which is heard as cli (x) accompany- ing the w. In S.W. dialects the loose voiceless w (written wh or hw) prevails initially. In O.W., in Juv. and M.C., cliwi ' you ' appears as liui ; later this word was everywhere c/twi, the cJi being still heard even in S.W. (though now unrounded in this word, thus chi). Initial chw prevails in Ml. W. and later, as chuerv B.B. 83, 84 = chwerw ' bitter ', cJiuec do. 84 ' sweet ', chuant do. 34 ' lust ' ; chwythu W.M. 47 ' to blow ', chwaer do. 41 ' sister', chwedfl do. 42, E.M. 29 ' tale', chwythat IL.A. 9 ' breath', chwant do. II ' lust', and so generally in Mn. W. ; but wh fre- quently occurs in Ml. MSS. and sometimes in Early Mn. poets, as whechet IL.A. 147 ' sixth ', whennychu do. 149 'to desire', whaer R.M. 28, whedlG. 147.
(2) Initial rounded ch is heard with w as an off-glide, as in chwaer ; final rounded ch has w as an on-glide, as in iwch ' to you ', ewch ' go ye '. In the latter case the sound is ch in all the dialects, not h.
(3) Initial chw sometimes interchanges with gw; as Gware dy chware E.M. 154 'play thy game', chwith, gwith do. 301 'sinister'; this is due to the variability of original initial s-, § 101 ii (i); *su- > chw- ; *u- > gw-. nghw for chw is due to a preceding n (nhw > nhw), as chwaneg, anghwaneg ' more ' ; yn chwaethach K.M. 7, ygkwaethach do. 85, 108 'rather'.
(4) Initial chw has often a prosthetic y-, as yclnvaneg 'more', ychwanegu W.M. 44 'to add'.
(5) Final rounded -ch, of whatever origin, becomes unrounded if the syllable is unaccented ; thus welewch W.M. 50 ' ye saw ' is welech. But -ijwch gave -wch, as in cerwch 'ye love' for *ceri[wch, see § 173 viii; so peswch for *pesywch : pas, § 201 iii (2). The form ydych is due to the analogy of ydym; so Late Mn. W. gennych after the ist pi. for Ml. and Early Mn. gennwch.
NOTE.
TKANSCKIPTION. — By means of the devices mentioned in the above sections (the use of 8, g, r, etc.) the forms of Late Ml. W. can generally be transcribed eo as to indicate the approximate sound while preserving the exact spelling of the MS. But, as we have seen, the orthography of 0. and Early Ml. W. is so irregular that no such plan is possible. Accordingly, for these periods, the form in the MS, 13 given, followed, where necessary, by a transcription introduced by the sign = , giving the probable sound in modern characters.
The works of Early Mn. poets are often found in late MSS. and
30 PHONOLOGY § 27
printed books containing not only dialectal forms inconsistent with the forms implied by the rhymes of the bards, but also late inventions, such as ei, eich, etc. In these cases the spelling has been standardized in the quotations in this work. The spelling of the ,MS. is here of no importance, as the cynghanedd, rhyme or metre is in every case relied on as showing the exact form used by the author.
All quotations are given with modern punctuation, including the insertion of the apostrophe, and the use of capital letters.
SOUNDS IN COMBINATION. Syllabic Division.
§ 27. i. In Welsh, a single consonant between two vowels belongs normally to the second syllable ; thus ca\nu ' to sing ', gwe\le\dig ' visible ' ; when there are two or more consonants the first belongs to the first syllable, as can\tor ' singer ', can\wtd 'song', tan\wydd 'fire-wood', can\tref ' hundred (district)'. A double consonant belongs to both ; thus in can nu ' to whiten ', the first syllable ends after the stoppage of the mouth-passage for the formation of the n, and the second begins before the opening of the passage which completes the formation of the consonant. Thus a double consonant implies not two indepen- dent consonants, but a consonant in which the closing of the passage takes place in one syllable and the opening in the next, and both count. This is seen most clearly in a word like drycin 1 storm ', where the c closes as a velar q and opens as a palatal k (drf(i\%iii), and yet is not two complete consonants. The conso- nants p, t, c, m, s, ng, 11, are double after accented vowels, though written single; thus ate&, canasant = at\tel, cdna$\sanf. See § 54.
ii. A consonant which is etymologically double is simplified after an unaccented syllable; as cy\nJ\Jiit R.M. 183 'familiar' (cyn-Tief-in < *kov.-<\.om-mo- : Lat. domus) ; whe\ny\chu K.B.B. 89 (from chwaut] 'to desire'; ym\gy\Tiull\aw, do. 49 (from cynnull) 1 to gather together '. But this phonetic rule is not regularly observed in writing, except in the final unaccented syllable, calonn ' heart ' (pi. calonnau), Cdlann (from vulg .Lat. Kaland-\ etc., being generally written colon, Calan, etc.
iii. In modern writing the division of syllables where required, as at the end of a line, is made to follow the etymology rather than the
§§ 28, 29
SYLLABIC DIVISION
31
sound ; thus it is usual to divide can-u ' to sing ' so, can being the stem and u the ending, instead of ca-nu, which is the true syllabic division. In the case of more than one written consonant the division is usually made to follow the sound ; thus, canrnu ' to whiten ', plen-tyn ' a child ', the etymological division being cann-u, plent-yn. Ml. scribes divided a word anywhere, even in the middle of a digraph.
In this grammar syllabic division is indicated when required by | as above ; and the hyphen is Used to mark off the formative elements of words, which do not necessarily form separate syllables.
Diphthongs.
§ 28. A diphthong consists of the combination in the same syllable of a sonantal with a consonantal vowel. When the sonantal element comes first the combination is a falling diphthong. When the consonantal element comes first it is a rising diphthong. " Diphthong" without modification will be understood to mean falling diphthong.
Falling Diphthongs.
§ 29. i. In O. W. falling diphthongs had for their second element either i, front u, or back u. The O. W. diphthongs with their Ml. and Mn. developments are as follows :
O. W. Ml. W. Mn. W.
Front ii
Back u
ai
oi
ui
ei
ou (au)
au
eu
iu
iu
ou
a\i, ae
on, oe
wti
ei
eu
aw
ew
iw
uw, yw
yw, ew
aii, ae (on), oe wy ei, ai eu, au aw ew iw
uw, yw yw, ew
ii. (i) As i in O. W. represented both i and ?/ the exact value of the second element in O. "W. ai, oi, ui cannot be fixed ; but it was probably receding in the direction of if. In wy it has remained ?/. The former diphthongs are generally written ae and oe ; but the spellings ay, oy are commonly met with in Early Ml. W., and sometimes in MSS. of the Mn. period; as guayt 'blood', coyt 'timber', mays 'field' L.L. 120; croyn 'skin' A.L. i. 24, mays do. 1 44 ; Yspayn ' Spain ', teyrnassoi/8 ' kingdoms ' P 9 R. In E.M. 1 1 8
32 PHONOLOGY §§30,31
we have hatarn, in 119 hayarn ' iron '. Though now always written ae, oe, the sound in N. W. is still distinctly ay, o?/; thus maes, coed are read mays, coifd. In Mid and S. Wales the sound approaches the spelling ae, oe. In parts of S. W. the diphthongs are simplified into a, o in the dialects : mas, cod. In Pembrokeshire oe becomes to-e and even we.
(2) Ml. W. ae and oe are derived not only from O.W. ai and oi, but also from O.W. disyllabic a|e and o e ; thus saeth < sa\eth < Lat. sagitta ; nw.es < ma\es (rhyming with gormes, B.T. 25) < *ma%es ; troed pi. traed (rhyming with vrithret / bryssyet K.P. 1042) from *troget-, *traget-, § 65 ii (i). They may also represent a contraction of a|u., oju. as in daed § 212 iv, troent, § 185 i (i).
iii. Ml. W. ei had an open and a close e according to position ; these developed into Mn. W. ai and ei ; see § 79 i. The present sound of the form ei is n, where 9 is an obscure vowel which is hardly, if at all, distinct from y.
iv. O.W. ou ( = ou) occurs once as au, in anutonau juv. ' perjuria ', which in ox. is anutonou. The o was unrounded in Ml. W., becoming an indistinct vowel, open and close, written e ; the two forms became Mn. W. au and eu ; see § 79 ii.
v. O.W. au and eu (back u) have remained the same phonetically, the back u being written w in the later language. O.W. iu repre- sented three distinct diphthongs according as i represented i or either sound of y. The diphthongs yw and yw are even now of course both represented by a single group yw in ordinary writing. The rules for distinguishing between them are those that apply to ?/ and y generally ; § 82 ii (4).
vi. O.W. ou (back u) represents the diphthong yw, written yw and also ow at a later period, § 33 iii (2). Thus diguolouichetic ox.; Ml. W. llywychedic R.M. 84 'shining', llywifch B.P. 1153, which appear beside llewych E.P. 1154, Mn. W. lleimich corr. into llew^rch 'light'; § 76 vi, viii.
§ 30. The diphthongs ae or aq and oe or oq followed by w form the falling triphthongs aew, oew or auw, ouw, in gwayw 'spear', gloifw l bright ', Jioipv 'sprightly', croyio 'clear', which remain strictly monosyllabic in the cynghanedd of the Early Mn. bards. In late pronunciation the w is made syllabic, except when a syllable is added, as in the pi. glo^won which is still disyllabic. In ddi/wcft, contracted from da ywch, the ci^w has now been simplified into aiv ; see § 212 iv.
§ 31. i. Unaccented ae in the final syllable was often re- duced to e in the Ml. period, especially in verbal forms and proper names ; as in adwen for adwaen ' I know ', chware for chivarae ' to play ', Mel for ItJiael, O. W. ludJiail ( = iiti-liail).
§ 32 FALLING DIPHTHONGS 33
Pan aeth pawb allan y chware R.M. 1 1 6 ' When everybody went out to play'; see also R.M. 15, 38, 84, 87, 153, etc.
Lloches adar i chwarae,
Llwyn mwyn, llynar llun y mae. — D.G. 37.
'A retreat for birds to play, a pleasant grove, that is the manner [of place] it is.' See also D.G. 40, 58, 465 (misprinted -au in 169).
Nid gwr heb newid gware :
Nid Hong heb fyned o'i lie. — G.G1. c. i 197.
' He is not a man, who does not change his pastime ; it is not a ship, that does not move from its place.'
For examples ofadwen, see § 191 ii (2).
ii. (i) The simplification of final unaccented ai and au to e are dialectal and late. Such forms as llefen for llefain, gwele for gwelai are avoided by the Early Mn. bards in their rhymes, but they begin to appear in MSS. in the late isth cent., and were common in the 1 6th and i7th cent. But the literary forms never fell out of use, and ultimately supplanted the dialectal forms in the written language, though some of the latter have crept in, as cyfer for cyfair, Ml. AV. kyveir § 215 iii (9), ystyried for ystyriaid § 203 iii (2).
(2) The levelling in the dialects of the sounds mentioned gave rise to uncertainty as to the correct forms of some words. The word bore 'morning' began to be wrongly written boreu or borau in the isth cent.a ; see o. 190. The forms camrau, godreu, tylau are later blunders for the literary forms camre 'journey', godre ' bottom edge', pi. godreon, K.M. 147, and tyle 'hill; couch'. The new ychain for ychen 'oxen' § 121 iii is due to the idea that -en is dialectal. In Gwynedd ychain is heard, but is a dialectal perversion like merchaid for merched.
Tesog fore gwna'r lie 'n lion,
Ac annerch y tai gwynion. — D.G. 524.
'On a warm morning make the place merry, and greet the while houses.' See bore B.B. 31, 55, 82, 92, 108, W.M. 56, 73, etc.
Ni adewais lednaia le
Ynghymry ar fy nghamre. — I.G. 201. 'I left no noble place in Wales on my journey.' See kamre, R.P. 1269.
Lluwch ar fre a godre gallt,
A brig yn dwyn barug-u-allt. — D.G. 508.
' Snowdrift on hill and foot of slope, and branch bearing hair of hoar- frost.' See also R.P. 1036.
A phan edrychwyt y dyle K.M. 146 'And when the couch was examined.'
§ 32. The diphthong- ai is wrongly written ae by most recent writers (under the influence of Pug-he) in the words afiaith
\ & / v •**
* There ia one example in C.M. 5, which stands quite alone in the R.B., and so is prob. a scribal error.
i«oa I)
34 PHONOLOGY § 33
' delight ', araith ' speech ', cyffaith ' confection ', disglair ' bright', goddaitk ' conflagration ', gweniaith (or gweiniaith) ' flattery ', rhyddiaith 'prose', talailh 'crown; realm'. See §202 iv (i). The word diffaitJi, Ml. W. diffeith, ' waste, wild, evil ' (from Lat. defect-u*) is generally written so in the good periods (e.g. diffeilh B.B. 1 06, B.M. 183); but some early examples occur of a new forma- tion fvomffaeth 'cultivated' (from Lat. ./«<•<«*), R.P. 1047, 1. a.
Yn y nef mae 'n un afiaith
Yn son archangylion saith. — Gr.H. G. 101.
' In heaven in pure rapture there speak archangels seven.' See D.G. 358, where afiaith is printed afiaeth in spite of its rhyming with gobaith. See also G. 122.
Ef a gdr awdl ac araith,
Ef a wyr synnwyr y saith. — H.D. P 99/469.
' He loves song and speech, he knows the meaning of the seven [sciences].' See G. 118; areith B.B. 9, 15.
Disgleir Siweir Veir vorwyn. — Ca., R.P. 1247. ' Bright chaste virgin Mary.'
Coed osglog, caeau disglair,
Wyth ryw yd, a thri o wair. — D.G. 524.
' Branching trees, bright fields, eight kinds of corn and three of hay.' See D.G. 54, 120, 209, 404. See B.CW. 8, early editions of Bible, etc.
Fal goddaith yn ymdaith nos. — D.G. 13. ' Like a bonfire on a night's march.' See goSeith B.P. 1042, B.B. 73.
Gwenwyn ydiw eu gweiniaith,
Gwynt i gyd gennyt eu gwaith. — I.F. M 148/721.
' Their flattery is poison, to thee their work is all wind.'
Twysog yw, enwog i waith, Teilwng i wisgo talaith. — E.U.
' He is a prince whose work is famous, worthy to wear a crown.'
Trees dilyw tros y dalaith,
Torri ar rif tyrau'r iaith. — Gu.O. A 14967/62.
' A deluge has overflowed the realm, thinning the number of the nation's towers.' See G. 80, 87, 199, 218, 257.
Tro 'n d'61 at yr hen dalaith ;
Digon yw digon o daith. — E.P. IL 124/283 B.
' Turn back to the old country ; enough is enough of travel.'
§33. Late Contractions, i. (i) We have seen that a-e and o-e were contracted early into ae and oe ; § 29 ii (a). This contraction also took place later, as in Cymraeg ' Welsh ', Groeg
^ 33 FALLING DIPHTHONGS 35
' Greek ', and in verbal forms such as aed ' let him go ', rhoed 'let him give ', rhoes 'he gave ' ; see § 185.
In B.P. 1189 Gro-ec is a disyllable rhyming witli chwec, ostec, Cyni\ra\ec, tec; in the E.G. 1119 it is stated to be a monosyllable; D.G. uses it as a monosyllable, 53, as well as rhoes 6 ' gave ', troes 68 'turned', gwnaed 149 'let her do', doed 145, 228 'let him come', ffoe.s 191 'fled', but ffo\es 61. He uses Cym\rdeg as a trisyllable rhyming with teg, 2, 179; so G.Gr., D.G. 243. This form persisted in the 1 5th cent. ; as
Cymro da i Gym ra|eg,
Cymered air Cymru deg. — G.G1., M 146/281.
' A Welshman of good Welsh, let him take the praise of fair Wales.'
In the 1 5th cent., however, we meet with the contracted form ; see T.A. G. 251. Later, this was usual :
Da i Gymjraeg, di-gytnar oedd, . Di-dldwd ym mlwb dadl ydoedd. — W.IL. 1 20 (in.S.B.).
' Good [in] his Welsh, incomparable was he, resourceful in all debate.'
(2) The contraction of the accented penult with the ultima results in an accented ultima § 41 iii. But in newly-formed compounds, contracted forms such as maes, troed are treated like other mono- syllables, and the accent falls on the penult; thus glyn-faes D.G. 135 'vale', mein-droed do. 262 'slender foot', deu-droed 'two feet'.
ii. The R.G., 1119, states that ey is always a disyllable. This is not necessarily the case in the penult, for in such forms as Aeyryb, § 122 ii (3), pi. of Icaer 'fort', trei/t/it/c/i R.P. 1153 from traethaf ' I treat ', etc., it is an old affection of ae. In other oases, however, the diphthong is late, and the disyllabic form is used in poetry down to the i6th cent. Thus:
Lloer yvi a dawn llawer dyn,
Lleuad rh'ianedd Llolqn. — G.G1., M 148/191.
• She is the moon and the grace of many women, the moon of the ladies of Lleyn.' See also I.G. 388, 405.
Salbri ieuanc sel bre|\ir
Sydd i gael swyddau a gwyr. — Gu.O. A 14967/94.
' Young Salesbury of the stamp of a chieftain [is he] who is to have offices and men.'
Nid di na chaivr na dyn chivy rn, Heb haint Dmv, a'n pen te|nrn. — T.A. c. ii 81.
' Neither a giant nor a violent man, without the scourge of God, could take our liege lord.' See G. 176, r. 14, 33. See heqrn / tejurn / kcdyrn E.P. 1226.
D 2
36 PHONOLOGY § 33
The contracted form sometimes occurs ; as
Penfar he\\rn.panfo'r hirnos. — D.G. 267. ' A head-dress of iron spikes when the night is long.' — To the holly.
The name LUi/n is now pronounced Llifn, and regarded as an exception to the rule that Welsh is written phonetically. Llyn, as the name should be spelt, is a contraction of Llyyn, which also occurs, B.B.B. 307, 342 ; and has been written in the contracted form from the 1 6th cent. The contraction is as old as the i4th, for we find llyyn in B.P. 1360, where the metre proves the sound to be llijn. 0 Lyn i Dywyn, yn dau, 0 Dywyn i dir Dean. — W.IL., G. 297. ' From Llyn to Towyn, we two, from Towyn to the kind of the south.'
iii. (i) The Mn. W. diphthongs oi, ou and ow are always late contractions ; as in r/ioi for rho\i from rhoddi ' to give ' ; ymarhous c.c. 330 for ymarJio\u% ' dilatory ' ; rhmcch for rho\wch ' give ye ' ; rhoist for rho\ei%t ' thon gavest ' ; r/ioi for rho\ei ' he gave'.
These contractions occur in common words in the i4th cent.; see roi B.P. 1206, 1210, rhoi D.G. 206, 521, 524, rhois do. 206, rhoist do. 2, B.P. 121 1 ; rout (printed roit) D.G. 206, roi, rown do. 243. But uncontracted forms occur even later ; trb\ais D.G. 307, tro\i I.G., cyffro\i L.G.C., D. 16.
(2) The diphthong ow is pronounced with the o unrounded, thus 9w, where the 3 is closer than the first element in the Eng. oiv, and is scarcely distinguishable from the obscure y ; in fact the yw in cywydd and the ow in rhowch are identical. Hence in the I5th, i6th and 1 7th cent, the old diphthong yw was often written ow; as in cowydd or kowydd for cywydd, see Mostyn B. pp. 2, 3, etc., 26, 27, etc. etc.
iv. A late contraction may take the form of one of the old diphthongs, or even of a simple vowel ; as gla\nJtdu for gla\nhd\u ' to clean ' ; plan K.P. 1 222 for pld\eu ' plagues ' ; di\leu for di\l^u 'to delete'; awn for d\wn 'we go'; gla\nhdd for gla\nJid\ad * cleansing ' ; (g)icnai W.M. 54, 250 for gwna\ei 'did', cf. B.B. 64; cy\tun for cy\tu\un ' united'; oum for bu\um 'I have been'; gwy\bum for gwy\bu\um 'I knew'; can for cdt\u ' to shut '. These forms occur uncontracted in Ml. W. : gunaun B.B. 8 1 ( =gwna\wn rhyming with ten) ' I would do ' ; yn gyttuun B.B.B. 238; cayu IL.A. 167 ( = cdy\u), kaeu W.M. 24 ( = kde\n). Uncontracted forms are met with as late as the i6th cent.
Dy gam a wybu|um ;
Darllain dy bylgain y bdm. — H.S. 5.
§ 34 FALLING DIPHTHONGS 37
'I have known [what it is] to love thee; I have been reading thy vigil.' See D.GK 38.
v. A late contraction usually takes place when a word ending in a vowel is followed by i 'his' or 'her', Ml. y, and often when it is followed by the preposition i ' to ', Ml. y. Ac, ag lose their final consonant and form a diphthong with the former, as a'j Ml. W. ae, ay ' and his, with his ', but not with the latter : ac i ' and to '.
Ancr wyffi'n cyweirio \fedd. — 7 syll. § 44 vi.
Do, i Gymraeg, di-gymar oedd. — 7 syll., i above.
Nos do, i walch onest y Waun. — 7 syll. G. 177. ' Good night to the honest fellow of Chirk.'
Rising Diphthongs.
§ 34. i. The rising diphthongs in the Mn. language are as follows : —
ia as in caniad, idr ; wa as in anwar ;
ie as in iechyd ; we as in adwen ;
io as in rhodip, ipr ; wi as in cedwir ;
iw as in iwrch, rhodiwn ; wo as in gwalwor ;
iy as in iyrchell ; wu as in galwut ;
•wu. as in edwi/n ; wy as in penwynni.
In Ml. W. i is generally written y, § 17. The combinations ii, iy, in, mo do not occur in Mn. W. They occur in verbal forms in ML, W. but are generally simplified ; see § 36 i, ii.
ii. When j or w comes before a falling diphthong the com- bination becomes a mixed triphthong ; as iai in with ' language ' ; iau in teithian 'journeys'; waw in ywawd 'song, mockery'; iwy in meddyliwyd ' it was thought', neithiwyr, D.G. 424 (now generally neithiwr § 78 i (a) ) ' last night'. — We have a tetraph- thong in the old pronunciation of gwayw (or gwaew) § 30.
iii. When an unaccented i comes before any other vowel the two are frequently contracted into a rising diphthong ; thus di\6\ddef ' to suffer ' becomes a disyllabic d'i6\ddef D.G. 137. Some early examples occur, as er\ioed ' ever' for *er \ i \ oed ' since his time '. dioer ' by heaven ' § 224 iv (a) is a mono- syllable, as the metre shows in R.P. iao6, D.G. 46, 51. diawl ' devil ' must have been contracted into a monosyllable in O.W.
38 PHONOLOGY § 35
when the accent fell regularly on the ultima ; otherwise it would have become *di\awl.
iv. The rising diphthongs wa and wo are frequently inter- changed; as gwatwar W.M. 185, gwatwor D.G. 136 'to mock'; marwar IL.A. 39, marwor ' embers ' (cf. maroiyn § 36 Hi) ; cainttf, caicod ' shower ' ; pedwar, pedwor ' four '.
Pedwor tri/sor tir lesu. — H.R., c 7/114. 'The four treasures of the land of Jesus.'
The change takes place both ways ; wa becomes wo in cawad R.M. 180, K.P. 1223, D.G. 57 (rhyming with brad) and cawodydd or cafod- ydd D.G. 305 (penult rhyming with bod} ; wo becomes wa in cynawau C.M. 21 for cynawon pi. of ceneu § 125 iii ; dywad for dyiyod from dyfod § 193 ix (3").
v. (i) The rising diphthongs ivy and wy are of course not distinguished in ordinary writing, both being represented by wy; see § 82 ii (5). Note then that wy represents three distinct diphthongs, the falling wy as in mwyn ' gentle ', swyno ' to charm ' ; the rising wy, short in gwynn ' white ', long in ywyr ' men ' ; the rising icy as in tywynnu ' to shine '. See § 38.
(2) In ordinary writing the falling iw and the rising iw are also not distinguished. See § 37.
§ 35. i. Many stems end in i, which appears before all inflexional endings beginning with a vowel (with the exceptions mentioned in § 36), but is dropped when the stem has no ending; thus 'tnyfyrmf 'I meditate', myfyr{ant 'they meditate', myfyrjp ' to meditate ', myfyrwl ' meditating ', but myfyr ' medita- tion '.
In words borrowed from Lat. the i can be traced to its source in short ? ; thus myfi/r < memoria ; synn, syniaf < sentio ; ystt/r, ystyriaf < historia. In native words it represents original i, as in dyn 'man' pi. dynion from Kelt. *donios : Ir. duine § 100 iv; cf. also § 201 iii (6). — In a few new formations the i is ignored as in di-ystyru ' to ignore ', dynol ' human ' a new formation which has replaced Ml. "W. dynyaivl IL.A. 12, 24, 38, etc.
ii. (i) In Mn. lit. W. i generally appears after syllables having ei, as in ysbeilmf ' I rob ' (ysbail ' spoil '< Lat. tpo&*m) ; teithntf'- 1 journey ' (faith ' journey'), geirian ' words' (ffai/- ' word'), neith'no(yy 'last night', Ml. W. neithwyr § 98 i (3). In these cases the i is omitted in S. W. dialects and most Ml. MSS., as
§ 36 RISING DIPHTHONGS 39
keinhauc B.B. 54 = keinhaicc B.T. 28 ; but the oldest Ml. prose MSS. (the early MSS. of the laws) and Mn. lit. W. follow the practice of the N. W. dialects and insert the i, as keynyauc A.L. i 24 MS. A., cf. 22 MSS. B., D., Mn. W. ceinwg ' penny '.
(2) There are, however, several exceptions to this rule besides those mentioned or implied in § 36. The i is omitted before the substantival terminations -en, -es, -edd; as dellen (M.IL. i 155 has the unusual deilien) 'leaf, bugeiles 'shepherdess', cyfeilles (printed cyfeitties in D.G. 75) c amie ', meithedd ' lengthi- ness ' ; before endings of comparison, as meithed, meithach, meithaf (maitJi ' long '), meined, meinach, meinaf (main ' slender '), except rheit-ied, -{ac/i, -iaf § 149 i, stems in -eidd- as manwe&yach IL.A. 8 'finer', perelddiaf ' sweetest', and some stems in -eith- as perffeithjaf l most perfect ' ; before the pi. endings -edd, -oedd, as ieithoedd ' languages ' ; in a few isolated words as teilo ' to manure' (but teylyaw in B.CH. 102), adeilad 'building' (but adeilyat in R.P. 1220), cymdeithas 'society', eiddo 'property'.
(3) Medial ei before a consonant originally simple must be due to affection by i after the consonant ; and the i in ysbeiliaf etc. is the affecting i preserved, -eith- generally represents *-ekt- a verbal noun and adj. formation, as in perjfeith ' perfect ', and the i in perffeithio is probably analogical, § 201 iii (6). From these the i has tended to spread. But there is necessarily no original reason for it when ei comes from -ek- or -eg- ; hence the exceptions meithach, cymdeithas, teilo (tail < *tegl- § 104 ii (i)), etc.
iii. i is also added to many stems having i or u\ as cil 1 back ', pi. ciliaU) cUiaf ' I retreat ' ; fir ' land ', old poetic pi. tirion B.B. 26, R.P. 1144, tirw 'to land', tiripg 'landed' (but pi. tiredd, tiroedd); grudd 'cheek', pi. gruddiau ; linn 'form', pi. lluniau, llunio ' to form ', lluniaidd ' shapely ' ; ystudyaw, llavuryaw IL.A. 1 1 ' to study ', * to labour '. In some of these cases also the i is lost in S. W. dialects.
iv. Many stems end in w which forms rising diphthongs with the vowels of all endings, except with w § 36 i ; thus galw ' to call ', galwaf ' I call ', gelwaist ' thou calledst ', gelwynt ' they called ', etc.
§ 36. i. w drops before w, and i drops before i. The semi- vowel is sometimes written (as w or y) in Ml. W., but is often
40 PHONOLOGY
omitted. Thus while B.M. 51 has mi a gadwwn, mi ae kadiown, the older W.M. 71 has in the same passage mi a gadwn, mi ay cadwn. Similarly we have vedybyil in IL.A. 48 but ledybir earlier, p. 42.
The syllable closed by the w or i remains closed after its loss ; thus cad\wwn, be\dydd\iir became cdd\wn, be\dydd\ir (not cd\dwn, be\dy\ddir). By re-formation the w is sometimes restored in the spoken lang. in forms like ber\wwch ' boil ye ' impve., on account of the strength of the analogy of ber\wi, ber\waf, ber\wo8, etc. But the lit. and ordinary form is ber\wch, and the absence of ww in the traditional pronunciation accounts for the well-known W. pronunciation of E. wood as 'ood, etc.
ii. i drops before if and n in monosyllables and final syllables ; as yrch A.L. i 20, IL.A. 67 for *iijrch pi. of iwrch ' roebuck ' ; udd !lord'<O. W. Jud- ('*warrior') ; peidynt B.M. 90 (from peidyaw 'to cease', cf. peidywy* E.M. 98); Maredub R.P. 1194 for *Marediubt O. W. Morgetiud GEN. xiii ( = Mory;tiub), GruffwU< O. W. GripMitd ( = Griffiub). It is often found written in Ml. W., 9*y*tyryyck E.P. 1153 'thou ma}rst consider', liilyynt IL.A. u ' they would breed', llafvuryus do. 28 'laborious', metylyut W.M. 103 ' thou wouldst think ' ; but the spelling is perhaps theoretical ; see below.
Initial iu in polysyllables has given i, as in Iddew ' Jew ' for *inbew ; Ithel < *iu8-/iael, O. W. Indfiail.
See I8ew p 14/1 R. (isth cent.); itewon (t = 8) B.B. 102; so in IL.A. see its index, and in E.B., see B.B.B. index. Salesbury wrote Ivddew, which he inferred from the derivation. The Bible (1588 and 1620) has Iddew ; but late editors have adopted Salesbury 's unphonetic spelling. D. includes iu among rising diphthongs ; but his only example is the artificial luddew.
It is seen that iu became u in the syllables which were accented in 0. W., and i in syllables unaccented at that period, § 40. The simplification must therefore have taken place before the shifting of the accent ; and Ml. W. forms with yu ( = iu) are analogical forma- tions, and perhaps artificial.
iii. w sometimes drops before o ; as in the prefixes go-, gor- for f/wo-, gwor- ; thus Ml. and Mn. W. goleuni ' light ', O. AY. guolleuni juv. But analogy has tended to restore it ; thus while we find athraon M.A. i 256, ii 319 for athrawon IL.A. 112, E.M. 19, E.P. 1234 'teachers', canaon B. A. 38, M.A. i 261, 315 for kanawon E.B.B. 147 'whelps', lleol H.M. ii 234, 235 for llewot IL.A. 10
§ 37 RISING DIPHTHONGS 41
'lions', maroryn IL.A. 25 for marworyn D.G. 363 'ember', it generally remained in these words. Late examples of its loss : Ml. W. etwo (varying with etwa by § 34 iv) gives elto K.P. 1357, Mn. W. eto ( = etto) 'again'. So penwag became *penwog whence pennog ' hening ', the pi. retaining the w : penwaiy L.G.C. 158, Ml. W. penweic A.L. i 66.
*gwolchi ' to wash ' gave golchi, whence gylch ' washes ' ; but in M1,~W. the latter was gwylch, as y dwfvyr a wylch pob peth IL.A. 18 ' water washes everything.'
Mor a wylch mioyn amgylch Mdn. — Ca., B.P. 1244. ' The sea washes the sweet coast of Mon.'
iv. i drops before w owing to the extreme difficulty of pro- nouncing the combination, but it remains before vocalic w ; thus gweithiwr ' worker ', gweitkiwyd ' was worked ', but gweithwifr ' workers ' (not ^gwcitJtiw^r}. — Of course vocalic i remains in all cases : ysbi-wr ' spy ', pi. ysfji-wifr.
v. i drops after w following a consonant, or following a diphthong ; thus ceidwad for *ceidwiad ' keeper, saviour ', geirwon for *geirwwn, pi. of gurw ' rough ', lioywoti for *koywion> pi. of hoyw ' sprightly '. But when w follows a simple vowel the \ remains, as in glewion, pi. of gleio ' bold ', glawip ' to rain '.
It is kept in gwidlen when contracted (as in D.G. 60) for gwi\d\len, § 75 vi (2).
vi. j drops after u> as in duon for *dwon, pi. of (lit ' black ', goreuon for *goreuion pi. of goreu ' best '.
vii. i drops after r or I following a consonant, as meidrol for meidriol 'finite' (veidryawl R.P. 1233, veidrawl do. 1234), budron for tfwdrjpn, pi. ofbudr ' dirty ', crwydrad for crwydrwd ' wanderer ', meistraid for meistriaid ( masters ', teimlo for *teimlio ' to feel ', treiglo for treigljp ' to roll '.
This rule is not always observed. In some late Bibles crwydrad has been altered into crwydriad. We also find meistriaid in Mn. W. ; dinistrio always retains i, and mentrio occurs for mentro.
Ambiguous Groups.
§ 37. i. As above noted iw in ordinary writing represents both the rising diphthong iw and the falling diphthong iw.
42 PHONOLOGY § 37
ii. iw in the ultima followed by a consonant is iw, as iwrch 'stag', rftod{icctt 'walk ye', cofmn 'we remember', ntyrddiu-n 'a myriad'. The only exceptions are the Mn. forms itcch for Ml. yicc/i ' to you ', and niwl for Ml. nywl § 77 v, § 90.
The Deuietian disyllabic niwl (D.D. s.v., D.G. 150 ni-wl /na-wyr) is <*niwwl < *niw#l < nqwl with irregular epenthetic vowel § 16 v (3) (y> to after w § 6G ii (2)). Nifwl existed beside *niwwl. But the standard form appears to be a monosyllable (D.G. 70 niwl / nos) ; and all the derivatives are from niwl-, as nhvliog or niwlog ' misty ', niivlen ' a veil of mist '.
Initial iw became *uw and then uw in uwd 'porridge' < Ml. \Y. iwt ( = iwd) K.B. 1 06 1, Bret. eo£ ; but m>rc& remained because it is easier so than if another consonant were added to the group at the end of the syllable.
iii. In all other cases iw is iw ; thus (i) finally, as in i'w, Ml. yw ' to his ', rJiiw ' hill ', hnw ' wound ', edliw ' to reproach', Jieddiw 'to-day'.
There is no exception to the rule in lit. W. In the Powys dialect lieddiw is sounded heddiiv, and in Gwynedd lieiddiiv ; but the Demetian hecldi' implies heddiw. The bards always rhymed it as Jwddiw, till it came to be written heddyto in the 1 5th cent, (one example in R.P. 1286), an artificial restoration, see § 77 v.
Nid oes fyd na rhyd na rhiw
Na lie rhydd na llcnor heddiw. — D.G. (to the snow), 408. ' There is no world or ford or hill or any free place or ground to-day.' See also D.G. 16, 26, 82, 86, 126, 153, 194, etc.
Ni fu hawdd nofio heddiw
7 un affrwd yn i ffriw. — T.A., F. 22.
' It has not been easy to swim to-day for one with the stream in his face.'
(2) In the penult or ante- penult, as diwedd ' end ', ni\weidio ' to harm ', ciwdod ' race, people '. Exceptions are the borrowed words siwrnai 'journey ', srwr ' sure ', and diicrnod ' day ' when contracted, as in Gr.O. 88, for di\wrnod for Ml. W. diwyrnawd, AV. la (generally in Ml. W. diwarnaivt, a S. W. form).
iv. iw is disyllabic when it is formed by adding a syllable beginning with w to a syllable ending in i ; thus giceddi ' prayer ', gweddi-wu ' let us pray ', gweddi-wr ' suppliant '. In such words the i is generally written in Mn. W. with a diaeresis — gweddiwr.
§ 38 AMBIGUOUS GROUPS 43
v. The combination iwy has four sounds : (i) the mixed triphthong iwy, as in neithiwyr, § 34 ii. It occurs in verbal forms when the terminations -wyf, -wyd, -wys are added to stems in i, § 35 ; as rhodiwyf ' I may walk ', tybiwyd ' it was thought '.
(2) iwy disyllabic. It occurs when the above endings are added to stems in vocalic i, as gweddiwyf (3 syll., see example in § 201 ii (2) ) ; and in compounds of di- with stems having ivy, as in di-wyr ' not bent ' (gwyr 'bent').
(3) i^Ui or (4) zV2/> according to position, as in lliw^dd G. 164 ' painter ', pi. lliwyddion ; diwqd ' diligent ' spv. diwytaf. These sounds may occur either when iw is followed by y or y or when i is followed by wif or wy in word- formation.
§ 38. i. The distinction between the falling diphthong wy and the rising diphthong wq, both written wy, is an important one. The difference between them is seen most clearly in mono- syllables such as ffwyr ' he knows ', gwyr ' men '. In other posi- tions they are liable to be confused in the dialects, and in a few cases we find confusion even in lit. W.
In ordinary written W. the falling diphthong when long is denoted by wy (only used initially and after g, c/i), but when short or unaccented there is no method in ordinary use by which it can be distinguished ; in that case it is printed wy, where necessary, in this book. The rising diphthong is indicated by marking the w a consonant.
ii. In monosyllables wy represents the falling diphthong ex- cept when preceded by g or ch ; thus dwyn ' to bring ', lrwi[n ' rashes ', civyn ' complaint ', chvyd ' hurdle ', llwylr ' path ', h'lrifnt 'they, them', cwymp 'fall'. Words beginning with g or ch have usually the rising diphthong, as gwyn ' white ', gwifrdd ' green \gwydcl ' trees ', chw^rn ' roaring ', chwyth ' blows ' ; the exceptions are Gwif ' the Wye ', gwydd ' goose ', gi&ydfl ' pre- sence ', ffwyl 'vigil, holiday', f/wifl 'modest', ywidl 'goblin', 1^ 'knows', ffivyr 'a bend', gwystl •' pledge', gwi[th 'anger', ' swelling '.
Note the following words which conform to the rule, though spelt like some of the above-mentioned exceptions : gwydd ' trees ', gwyl 'sees' § 173 iv (i), gwifll 'darkness'.
iii. When a word has the falling diphthong wt[ in its simple form, the diphthong remains so in all derivatives ; thus miv//n
44 PHONOLOGY § 38
' gentle ', mwynach ' gentler ', mwynhau ' to enjoy ' ; cwyn ' com- plaint', pi. cwynion, v.n. cwyno ' to complain'. Similarly the rising diphthong remains rising, the i/ becoming y according to rule, § 82 ii (5) ; thus gwyn ' white ', gwynnach ' whiter ', gwpnnu ' to whiten'.
In N. W. dialects wy has come to be sounded wy in the penult after c, g or ch, as cwyno for cwyno ' to complain ' ; gwtidd.au for gwyddau ' geese ' ; chwyddo for chwyddo ' to swell '. But original yrtf, which in the penult is properly toy, has become w in all dialects, as chwthu for chwythu ' to blow ', chivrnu for chwyrnu ' to roar ', gwnnu for givynnu ' to whiten ' ; see § 66 ii.
iv. When a word in its radical form begins with wy the diph- thong is the falling one ; thus wy ' egg ', wyl/t ' eight ', wythnos ' week ', wybr ' sky ', wylo ' to weep ', wyl ' weeps ', wyneb ' face '.
wybr, wylo and wyneb are frequently mispronounced ; and in N. W. dialects the w of wyneb having been made consonantal a g has been prefixed to it giving gwqneb. This vulgarism hardly occurs before the i pth cent.
fthaid im ddwyn pridd ar f wyneb a
Ithag bod i'ln adnabod neb. — D.G. 307.
' I must bear earth upon my face, so that no one shall know me.' See vyrth f wyneb D. G. 23, yn f 'wyneb do. 442.
Amlwg fydd irwyn ar wyneb ; a
Afraid i ni nodi neb. — E.P. 212. ' Plain is the nose on a face ; we need mention no one.'
A'r anadl oil a'r wyneb b
Fal aroglau siopau Sieb. — D.G., 330.
' And all the breath and face like the perfume of the shops of Cheap- side.' See also G. 49.
Os wyneb b iarll sy 'n y bedd,
larll a aned erllynedd. — D.N., c. i 1 6 r . ' If an earl's face is in the grave, an earl was born last year.'
So always in the Bible; Beefy wyneb f Gen. xliii 3, Ex. xxxiii 20, Lev. xvii 10, etc. ; eu hwynebauf Gen. xlii 6, etc. An early indication of the mispronunciation is found in y wynebeu, B.cw. (i 703), p. 7, which should be yr wynebeu, but has not yet become y gwynebeu.
v. Final wy is always the falling diphthong ; as pwy ' who ? ' Conwy, Myfanwy, arlwy ' a spread ', dirwy ' fine ', llywy ' beautiful ',
* Pronounce the wyn of wyneb so that it rhymes with the wyn of ddtcyn, tncyn as the cynghanedd lusg demands.
b Not a'r tjwyneb, os gwyneb, the g being ruled out by the cynghanedd. c Not/y ngtoyneb, eu gwynebau.
§ 38 AMBIGUOUS GROUPS 45
Tawy ; also medial wy followed by a vowel, as mwyar ' black- berries ', gwyar ' gore '.
Tlawd a wyr talu dirwy :
Ki tJielir math Lowri mwy. — T.A., A 14879/20.
' The poor are accustomed to pay forfeit ; they will never more forfeit such a one as Lowri.'
But in the Ml. and sg. pres. hid. of verbs with w stems, as in gelwii l thou callest ', kedwy ' thou keepest ' § 173 iii (i), Mn. W. gefwi, cedwi, the diphthong- is of course the rising- one.
vi. When a word has wy in the last syllable and a in the penult, the wy is the falling- diphthong; thus arwydd ' sign.', arglwydd ' lord ', annwyd ' cold ', addwyu D.G. 355 ' g-entle ', cann- wyll * candle ', gwanwyn ' spring', cadwyn ' chain ', annwyl' dear ' ; awyr ' air ', awydd ( desire ', see x below. Except in compounds, such as tanwifdd ' firewood ', etc. ; see § 83 iii.
Rhaid i'r ywan ddal y gannwyll
Tr dewr i wneuthur i dwifll. — E.P. 235.
' The weak must hold the candle for the bold to do his deceit.'
Oer gennych eira gwanwyn :
Oerach yw 'inyd er ych inwifn. — T A., c. i 342.
' Cold you deem the snow of spring : colder is my plight because of you.' See D.G. 321, 408, 525.
Aur a gdd yn ddwy gadwyn,
A'i roddi'n faich i'r ddyn fwyn. — D.G. 64.
' Gold was brought in two chains, and laid as a burden on the gentle maiden.' See also o. 250.
Dyfynnodd i'w dai f annwyl —
Da o le inae 'n dala i wi[l. — H.D., p 99/430
' He has summoned to His mansions my dear one — it is a good place where he is keeping his holiday.' See § 54 i (3).
vii. wy is the falling diphthong when it is derived from Kelt, ei corresponding to Irish la or e, as inj)ivi/ll ' thought ', Ir. eiall, fjib/ldd ' goose ', Ir. ged, gwyM ' pledge ', Ir. giall, etc. ; or when it is derived from Latin e, ig or I, as in r/twyd ( net ' from refe, cwyr ' wax ' from cera, eglwys ' church ' from ecclesia, egwyddor ' alphabet ' from dbeceddrium, gwenwyn ' poison ' from venenum, dii-qs ' intense ' from densus, swyn ' charm ' from signum ; sjniiwyr 1 sense ' from sentire. Rule vi may be verified in many words
46 PHONOLOGY § 38
by applying the test of derivation ; e. g. canuwyll from candela,
ceulwyn from catena,* parddwys from paradtsits. Geiriau da a gwyr i'w dwyn A ddinistr y ddau wenwyn. — D.I.D., F. 1 1 .
' Good words and men to bring them will destroy the two poisons.'
Y doetJk ni ddywaid a wyr ;
JVtVZ o son y daw synnwyr. — G.I.H., o. 144.
' The wise does not say what he knows ; it is not from talk that sense comes.' See also o. in, 175, 234, 296.
viii. wy is the falling diphthong in the substantival termina- tions -rwydd ' -ness ', -wyx ' -ians ', and in the verbal terminations -wyfi ~wys> -wyd, but is the rising one in -wyr pi. of -wr ' -er '.
The ending -wys ' -ians ' added to names of places is probably derived from the Latin -crises.
II yd Tork y bu hydrefdwifs,
A'r gwamct[n ar y Gwennwys. — L.G.C. 421.
' As far as York it has been a very autumn, while it was spring to the men of Gwent.'
ix. The following words may be mentioned as those most commonly mispronounced : wy is the falling diphthong in cerwyn 'vat', dissgwyl 'look, expect', Gwynedd 'Venedotia', Gwyndiid, id., morwyn ' maiden ', terwyn ' fervent ' ; it is the rising diphthong in oherwydd 'because of, cychwifn 'rise, start', erchwyn ' protector, [bed]-side ', dedwydd ' happy '. See terwyn / gwyn / bnoyn R.P. 1206; cerwyn / coll-lwyn D.G. 347.
Tferch addfwyn o Wynedd,
Sy ymysg osai a medd, — D.G. 314.
' The gentle maid of Gwynedd, who lives in the midst of wine and mead.' See also L.G.C. 219.
Mi a eurafbob morwyn
0 eiriau maiol er i mw^n. — D.G. 281.
' I will gild every maiden with words of praise for her sake.' See also D.G. 126, 236, 297, 298, 356, and G. 119, 229, 243.
Ar ifarch yr di f ' erchwuji
Yn y llu ddoe'n Hew o ddyn. — T.A. o. 234.
• Puglie, deriving cadwyn from cadw, made it cadwyn, and asserted that it was masculine. He then inferred a fem. cadicen, which (as cadwyn is fern.) was un- fortunately adopted by many igth cent, writers. But no one has had the courage to write cndwenni for the pi. ciidusyni. There is an old word cadiren or cadwent which means ' a battle ', from ccul.
§ 39 AMBIGUOUS GROUPS 47
' On his steed went my protector in the host yesterday, a man like a lion.' See also L.G.C. 143, D.G. 510.
The word kyfrwifs ' shrewd' (rhyming with henwerifs and ynys in B.T. 78, and with prises pry s and chuis = chwys in B.B. 57) is now sounded kyfrwys on account of the difficulty of the consonantal group frw. The word celwtfdd has undoubtedly the rising diphthong ; see kelwtfi / kynnyS B.P. 1 223, cf. 1 251, and D.G. 338 ; probahly gwifdd / yelwydd, D.G. 256, is a misreading, but this form occurs in the i6th cent., see F. 36.
x. wy after a vowel has generally been changed to wii, except in verbal terminations. Thus awyr/ hwyr / llwyr R.P. 1029, and generally so rhymed, see D.G. 395, 416, is now pronounced awyr, and the rhyme with i[r occurs already in the i3th cent. : awyr / syr B.T. 23, G.Y.C. R.P. 1418. Similarly awy8 / rtinfi / arwyS R.P. 1180 is later a-wydd. Powys L.G.C. 381 is pronounced Powys § 192 ii (2); tywyll as in tywill / canmll B.B. 30, tywyll / gannwyll / pwyll R.P. 1045, tywyll/ amwyll D.G. 267, twqll / tywyll do. 117, 283 is now tywyll, and already in D.G. rhymes with hyll 71, 285, 421, and with cyll 173, 185 ; ewyn R.P. 1036, later ewtfn 'foam'. On the other hand glanha-wyd ' was cleansed ' and all similar inflected forms are still so pronounced.
Lat. dvtdus would have given *ewydd in Welsh ; awtidd cannot be derived from it, see § 76 iii, iv.
Accentuation.
§ 39. i. In a polysyllabic word, one syllable is always pro- nounced with more emphasis than the others ; this is called the syllable bearing the principal accent, or, simply, the accented syllable. In Welsh the accent is a stress accent.
A syllable may be emphasized either by raising the tone of voice or by a more forcible utterance. The two tilings may go together ; but speakers of various languages unconsciously adopt one or the other as their principle of accentuation. The first produces musical or pitch accent, the second produces expiratory or stress accent. In Pr. Aryan the accent before the dispersion is believed to have been predominantly pitch, though vowel gradation, § 63, points to the working of a strong stress accent. In Keltic, as in Italic and Germanic, the accent became predominantly stress, and has remained so, though its position has varied greatly. .
<to~ The syllable bearing the principal accent is denoted by an acute accent ' placed above its vowel.
ii. The remaining syllables of the word are also pronounced with varying emphasis, but this may generally be disregarded, and they may all be considered as unaccented syllables. In
48 PHONOLOGY § 40
some cases, however, one of them may attain a decided pro- minence in comparison with the others ; such a syllable may be said to bear a secondary accent.
«*s* The vowel of the syllable bearing the secondary accent is denoted where necessary by the grave accent \
iii. Most monosyllables are stressed, but many frequently- recurring monosyllables bear no stress, but are pronounced in conjunction with another word. These are proclitics, which precede the accented word, and enclitics, which follow it.
The Welsh proclitics are the article y, yr, the prefixed pronouns fy, dy, etc., which are always unstressed. Usually also the relatives a, 2/8, yri y> the negative, interrogative and affirmative particles, most conjunctions as the a in bara a chaws ' bread and cheese ', and often prepositions as the rhag in rhag ofn ' for fear '.
The Welsh enclitics are the auxiliary pronouns i, di, etc. They are often written in MSS. where they do not count in the metre, as in Arduireaue tri B.B. 36 (ArSwyreaf-i drf) for Arddwyreaf dri (5 syll.) ' I will exalt Three '. These may however be accented for emphasis.
§ 40. i. In Mn. W. all polysyllables, with a few exceptions named in § 41, are accented on the penult ; as cd\naf ' I sing ', cdn\iad ' a song 't'can id\dau ' songs '.
ii. The position of the accent was certainly the same in the Late Ml. period. This is proved by the fact that in the I4th cent, the cynghanedd was fully developed in its modern form in which the penultimate accent plays an important part, ZfCP. iv 123 ff.
iii. (i) But certain vowel values point to a period when the accent fell generally on the ultima. The evidence seems to show that this was the case in O. W., and that the transition took place in the Early Ml. W. period.
(2) The clear sound if occurs in the ultima only; the obscure sound y, which must have been the sound when unaccented, occurs in all other syllables. Hence the ultima must at one time have borne the accent. In monosyllables which have always been unaccented such as the article yr, y, the sound is y ', but in those which have always been accented, such as dy8 ' day ', it is if. There has been no shifting of the accent in y dq8 ' the day ', which therefore preserves the accentua- tion that resulted in the vowel sequence y ...?/• Hence a word like mywfi, which contains this sequence, must once have been accented
§ 41 ACCENTUATION 49
Similarly Brit, u remains (written w) in the ultima ; but appears as y in other syllables, § 66 i ; — ei remained and became ai in the ult., but became ei giving ei ( = n) in the penult, § 79 ; — Brit, a is aw in the ult., o in the penult, § 71 i ; — uw in the ult. is u in the penult, § 77 x ; from til we find ii in the ult. and monosyllables, the easier i in the penult, § 36 ii.
(3) In one or two words the vowel of the old penult has dropped since the separation of "W. and Bret.; thus W. cri/8 'shoemaker' < *ceryS < Brit. *kar(p}uo: Bret, kere, § 86 i (5); — W. ysbryd < *spryd < *spyryd < Lat. spiritus : Bret, spered.
On the other hand in some words an intrusive vowel developed before the accented syllable ; Ml. W. dyly ' deserves, owes ' comes through *dyly < *dlyi, § 199 ii (2); the y spread from this to other forms of the verb. — Ml. W. taraw ' to strike ', tereu ' strikes ' < *tardw, *tereu <*traw, *treu. The vowel did not spread from these to trawaf; the late Mn. tarawafis an artificial lit. form, § 202 i (3).
(4) The accent in ysgol, ystrad, etc., now falls on a syllable that at one time had no existence. It is obvious that the shifting took place after the introduction of the prosthetic vowel. There is no evidence of that vowel in O. W. In the earliest Ml. W. we find Istrat and Strat, §23 ii. The latter may be an archaic spelling, but it seems to show that the accent was on the a. We may therefore infer that the transition took place in the Early Ml. period. In some words the prosthetic vowel was never firmly established ; and the accent remains in its original position in these, § 41 i.
iv. In Brit, the accent was apparently free as in Pr. Ar. As unaccented a was shortened, it is seen that in *brateres (> broder) the accent was on the ante-penult ; as a which remained accented gives aw, the accent to give o must have shifted to the er in O. W., according to the general rule at that period. By the second shifting it went back to its original position, the new penult. Two shiftings must be assumed to explain such a form as ysbryd, which involves a shifting from *(y)spryd, which in turn implies a shifting from spirit-us. — It will be seen in the following pages that British cannot have shared the fixed initial accentuation of Goidelic.
§ 41. In some words in Mn. W. the accent falls on the ultima. These are
i. A few disyilables in which the first syllable is (i) ys- 01(2) ym-\ as (i) ysgrin 'shrine, coffin', § 23 ii, ystryd ' street ', ysgrech ' screech. ', ystor ( store ' ; (2) ymwel ' do thon visit ', ymad ' do thou leave '. But most words with these initial syllables are accented regularly, as ysgol ' school', yzbryd ' spirit ', ysgwyd ' to shake ', ymdaith 'journey', ymgudd D.G. 374 'hides'. In some cases we have both accentuations, see ymwel below ;
1403 E
50 PHONOLOGY § 41
occasionally with different meanings, as fimladd ' to fight ', ymladd ' to tire one's self ' ; fymcldwyn ' to behave ', ymddwyn * to bear '.
Y dydd ar awr, nfm daivr, dod ; ymwel d mi dan dmod. — G.I.H., TR. 91.
' Fix the day and hour, I care not [when] ; visit me under [that]
condition.'
Arthur o'i ddolur oedd wan,
Ac o ymladd cad Gdmlan. — L.G.C. 450.
' Arthur was weak from his wound, and from fighting the battle of Camlan.' See also T.A., c. ii 78.
Yf/>,rc7i weddw ddifryckeuddeddf
Wedi'r ymladd a'r drem leddf. — D.E., p 112/840.
'The widowed woman of spotless life after the prostration and disconsolate aspect.'
ii. The reduplicated pronouns myfi, tydi, etc. Rarely these are accented regularly ; see § 159 ii (2).
iii. (i) Words in which the last syllable has a late contrac- tion, § 33, such as pa\ra\t6i for Ml. W. pa\ra\to\i ' to prepare ', cy\tun for Ml. W. cy\tu\un ' united ', Gwr\tkeifrn for Gwr\f.he\i/rn, Cym\rdeg for Cym\ra\eg,pa\rTiad for pa\rhd\adt continuance '. It is seen that in these words the accent in Ml. W. was regular, and kept its position after the ultima was merged in the penult.
(2) In the word ysgolhdig, Ml. W. yscolheic ' scholar ', the con- traction in the last syllable seems to have taken place early in the Ml. period, as Nid vid iscolkeic nid vid eleic unben B.B. 91 (10 syll. ; read scol\keic, § 23 ii), but it was necessarily subsequent to the fixing of the present accentuation ; in B.B. 81 the uncontracted form occurs, rh. with guledic. A similar form is pen-dig ' chief. The vtOT&ffelaig seems to have been accented regularly ; thus in R.P. 1221 we bttveffelcic/jfili/, the latter being the imt.Jilii.
Tudur waed Tewdwr ydoedd,
A phenaig cyff leuan oedd. — Gu.O., G. 196.
' He was Tudor of the blood of Tudor, and chief of the stock of leuan.'
iv. A few words recently borrowed from English ; as apel, ' appeal '.
§ 42 ACCENTUATION 51
v. Disyllables in which h stands between two vowels are accented regularly ; thus cyhyd as in Cyhyd a rhai og Jidearn D.G. 386 ' [spikes] as long as those of an iron harrow ' ; and hyd gyhyd c.c. 312 'full length'; cyhoedd ' public ', as in gyhoedd/gdeat, K.P. 1283; gweheirddD.G. 20 'forbids '. Contraction has taken place in some of these, thus cyhoedd > *cohoedd > coedd, D.G. 524 ; so gwdhan > gwdn, which gave rise to gwahan. This appears to be the reason for gwahdn, cyhyd, gwahdrdd, etc. in recent W.
§ 42. In Ml. and early Mn. W. final w after d, b, n, I, r, * was consonantal, § 26 iv ; thus meddw ' drunk ', marw ' dead ', delw ' image ', were monosyllables, sounded almost like meddf, marf, delf. Hence when a syllable is added the w is non-sylla- bic for the purposes of accentuation ; thus meddwon 'drunkards ', mdrwol ' mortal ', mdrwnad ' elegy ', delwau ( images ', drddelw ' to represent, to claim '. The w is usually elided between two con- sonants, as medd-dod ' drunkenness ', for meddwdod. In B.B. 84 we have uetndaud (=febwdawd), but in Ml. W. generally such words were written without the w, as mebdawl, B.P. 1217, 1245, 1250, 1269, IL.A. 147 ; gwebdawt B.T. 31, R.P. 1261 ' widowhood '. The w inserted in these words in recent orthography is artificial, and is commonly misread as syllabic w, thus medd\w\dod, the accent being thrown on the ante-penult, a position which it never occupies in Welsh. The correct form medd-dod is still the form used in natural speech. When final, in polysyllables, the w is now dropped, and is not written in late W., so there is not even an apparent exception to the rule of accentuation ; thus drddelw ' to claim ', fd/berw ' proud ' are written drddel, sjfber. In (iwdrchadw ( to guard ', ym6ralw ' to attend (to) ', metathesis took place about the end of the Ml. period, giving gwdrchawd, ym6r- awl, which became gwdrckod, ymdrol in Mn. W.
In all standard cynghanedd the w in these words is purely non- syllabic :
Da arSelw kynnelw K^nSelw keinftawn. — B.P. 1229 (9 syll.) ' A good representation of the exemplar of Cynddelw exquisitely gifted.' The accentuation of K^nSelw corresponds to that of keinbawn. Cf. Jcyvarch / k^fenw, 1230.
I H6rf am pair yn Hwyrfarw
0 hud gwir ac o hoed garw. — D.G. 208.
' Its [the harp's] body makes me faint away from real enchantment and sore grief.'
E2
6.2 PHONOLOGY § 42
Dyn marw a allai f'drwain
Weithian drwy eithin a drain. — D.I.D., G. 182.
' A dead man might lead me now through furze and thorns.' fen aid hoen geirw afonydd, Fy nghaniad.dy farwnad yy 7c£. — 1L.G., F.N. 30.
' My beloved of the hue of the foam of rivers, my song thy dirge shall be.' Cf. i firvmad efo D.I.D., o. 184.
Marwnad ym yw awr yn d'ol. — T.A., A 14894/35. * It is a lament to me [to live] an hour after thee.'
Pwy a'th eilw pe d'th wayw onnl — T.A., A 14975/102. ' Who will challenge thee if with thy ashen spear 1 '
The last example shows that eilw could still be a pure monosyllable at the. end of the i5th cent., for the present disyllabic pronunciation mars the cynghanedd. Even stronger evidence is afforded by the accentuation deu-darw / dodi B.Ph.B., Stowe 959/986. Although final w was non-syllabic, yn or yr following it was generally reduced to 'n or V, being combined with the w to form wn or wr, § 26 iii.
A'ch gwaed, rhyw ywch gadw'r heol. — T.A., A 14965/46. ' With your blood it is natural to you to guard the road.'
Murnio da, warw'n y diwedd. — D.1L., F. 31. ' Stowing away wealth, [and] dying in the end.'
In a compound like marwnad the w was not difficult, for tni (rounded n} is common in Welsh, § 26 iii. But the colloquial pro- nunciation is now mawrnad, with metathesis of w. In i6th and i7th cent. MSS. we also find marnad and barnad. The combination is more difficult in such compounds as derwgoed ' oak-trees ', mdrwddwr ' stag- nant water', chwerw-der 'bitterness'; and though the etymological spelling persisted in these, the pronunciation der-goed, mdr-ddwr, chwer-der is doubtless old.
Lie dirgel gerllaw ddrwgoed. — D.G. 321. 'A secret place near oak -trees.' Cf. derwgist, T.A., G. 232.
Trofy chwer'der ynfelysdra. — Wms. 657. ' Turn my bitterness into sweetness.'
Gyr chw6rwder o garchdrdai ;
Newyn y lleidr a wna'n llai. — D.W. 112.
' [Charity] drives bitterness from prisons ; it makes less the hunger of the thief.'
NOTE i. The rule that such words as marw, delw are monosyllabic was handed down by the teachers of cynghanedd, but the bards of the igth cent, hardly knew what to make of it. Thus R.G.D. 97 uses marw and delw, and E.F. 185 uses tnw and gano as monosyllables, while at the same time rhyming them. They no more rhyme as
§ 43 ACCENTUATION 53
monosyllables than if they were marf, delf, or enf, garf. In standard cynghanedcl, rtiarw rhymes with garw, tarw only, and delw with elw, ywelw only ; see below. The disyllabic pronunciation may be traced as far back as the i5th cent. In a couplet attributed to D.G. (see D.G. 322) bw rhymes with galw, a rhyme condemned by S.V. because yalw is a monosyllable whose vowel is a, P.IL. xcii.
Some old rhymes are syberw/hirerw/derw/chwerw, B.B. 69 ; agerw/ chwerw/syberw/gochwerw, B.A. 19; helw/delw,\\>.; dijveinw/dyleinw, B.T. 21 ; divanw/llanw, M. A. i 475; ymordlw/salw, do. 466; cadw/ achadw/bradw, I.G. 422 ; enw/senw, do. 407 ; geirw/teirw, D.G. 500; syberw/ferw, E.P. 203.
NOTE 2. In hwnnw, acw (earlier raccw) the w was vocalic; also probably in other forms in which it is a reduction of -wy, see § 78 i (2).
§ 43. i. No Welsh word or word fully naturalized in Welsh is accented on the ante-penult. Such forms as Sdesoneg) Sdesones are misspellings of Sdesneg, Sdesnes.
A'r gyfreith honno a droes Alvryt vrenhin o Gymraec yn Saesnec R.B. B. 79 'And that law did king Alfred turn from Welsh into English.' See ib. 64, 95, 96, etc.
The following words for different reasons are now sometimes wrongly accented : catholig, omega,* penigamp ' masterly ', periglor ' parson ', Uadmerydd ' interpreter ', ysgelerder ' atrocity ', olewydd ' olives '.
A thdlu'rffin gath61ig.— S.C. 'And to pay the catholic fine.' Cf. c.c. 25; I.G. 491 ; L.M., D.T. 196.
Cyngor periglor eglwys. — M.R., r. 12. ' The counsel of a church parson '.
Pendig y glod, penigamp —
Pennod i chompod a'i champ. — M.B. (m. D.G.), A 14967/183.
' Master of the [song of] praise, supreme — the height of its compass and achievement.'
Alpha ac Ome'ga tndwr. — A.R. (1818), E.G. p. xiii. 'Great Alpha and Omega.' Cf. IL.M. 2. See Wms. 259, 426, 869.
ii. A few words recently borrowed from English are accented on the ante-penult, as melodi, philosophi ; but derivative forms of even these are accented regularly, e.g. melodaidd, philosopliydd.
* Tins word has been naturalized in Welsh as in other languages, and the natural Welsh pronunciation is probably nearer the original than the omega now some- times heard from the pulpit in imitation of the English fashion. The adjective is not an enclitic in £> ptya. The natural accentuation, as used by the hymn-writers, is unconsciously adopted by those like A. Eoberts who are not affected by a little learning.
54 PHONOLOGY § 44
§ 44. i. In a regularly accented word of three syllables the first syllable is the least stressed ; thus in can\ja\dait the stress on can is lighter than that on dau, both being unaccented as compared with {a. Hence the vowel of the first syllable is liable to drop when the resulting combination of consonants is easy to pronounce initially ; as in Mn. W. pladur * scythe ', for Ml. W.paladur, C.M. 95 (paladurwyr W.M. 425, 426) ; Mn. W. gwrando 'to listen', for Ml. W. gwarandaw, R.M. 16, C.M. 29; Mn. W. Clynnog for Ml. W. Kelynnawc, IL.A. 124.
Some shortened forms are found, though rarely, in Ml. prose and verse : gwrandaw, C.M. 27 ; kweirywyt for kyweirywyt ' was equipped ', R.P. 1276 (the y was written, and then deleted as the metre requires) ; pinywn R.P. 1225 from E. opinion ; grennyS do. 1055 for garennyS.
For dywedud ' to say ' we generally have dwedud in Early Mn. poetry (written doedyd in the r 6th cent.) ; so twyaog, E.U. § 3 2, B.CW. 7 1 , for tywysog ' prince ' ; cledion c.C. 334, 390, pi. of caled ' hard'; clonnau for calonnau ' hearts ', in Tyrd, Ysbryd Gldn, i 'n clonnau ni, R.V.
ii. In words of four or more syllables, when pronounced de- liberately, the first syllable has a secondaiy accent, as ben\dfye\dig ' blessed ', pi. len\di\ge\diy\ion. This also applies to trisyllables with the accent on the ultima, as cyj \iaw\nlad f justification '. The least stressed syllable is the second ; and this is often elided, in which case the secondary accent disappears ; as in Mn. W. gorchfygu for gorclyfygu IL.A. 1 5, and in Mn. W. verse tragwyddol for tra\gy\wy\ddol> ' eternal ', partoi for pa\ra\toi ' to prepare ', llythrennau for llytJiyrennau ' letters \perthndsau ' relations ' for perthyndsau, etc.
Gwaeddwn, feirdd, yn dragwyddol ;
Gwae ni nad gwiw yn i ol. — Gu.O., A 14967/120.
' Bards, let us cry for ever ; woe to us that it is useless [to live] after him.' See a. 160, 255.
Yn ddyfal beunydd i bartoi. — Wms. 259. ' Assiduously every day to prepare.'
iii. When a vowel is elided, as in i, ii, or v, the same vowel disappears in the derivatives of the word ; thus plailtirwyr 1 mowers ' ; ticysoges B.CW. 1 1 ' princess \ from twysog, for tywysog ; tragwyddol-deb ' eternity ', ymlartoi ' to prepare one's self, 'wyllys- gar ' willing' (ewyllys, 'wyllys ( will ').
§ 44 ACCENTUATION 55
Wedi 'mrawd ymar ydwyf\
Ato, Dduw, ymbartdi dd wyj. — L.Mor. (m. I.F.).
' After my brother I tarry here ; to him, Oh God, I am preparing [to go].' (The metre proves the elision, but not its position.)
In tragwyddoldeb the lost syllable is the second, so that there is no departure from the general principle laid down in ii ; but in pladur- wyr the first is lost because the word is formed from the reduced pladur. If paladurwyr had been reduced directly it would have given *paldurwyr ; similarly twysoges, etc.
iv. Occasionally in Mn. W. haplology takes place, that is, a consonant, if repeated in the following syllable, is lost with, the unaccented vowel ; as erledigaeth for erlidedigaeth ' persecution ', crediniol for credaduniol, § 132 (8), ' believing1 '. (Cf. Eng. singly for single -lyt Bister for Sicetier, Lat. stipend ium for ttijnpen- dium, etc.)
v. An unaccented initial vowel sometimes disappears, as in Late Ml. W. pinywn K.P. 1225 * opinion', borrowed from Eng. ; 'wyllys for ewyllys in verse ; and in Late Mn. W. machlud ' to set ' (of the sun) for Ml. and Early Mn. Vl.ym-achludd, D.G. izi, § 111 vii (3). As a rule, howevei', this elision only takes place
after a vowel :
Tebig yw V galennig Mn
/ 'dafedd o wlad If an. — I.D., TE. 142.
' The fair new year's gift is like threads from the land of [Prester] John.' Another reading is 7 edafedd gwlad I fan, I.D. 22.
Ac ef gyda'i ogyfoed
Yw gwr y wraig oreu 'rioed. — L.G.C. 318.
' And he with his mate is the husband of the best wife [that] ever [was].'
In the dialects it is very common : morol ' attend (to) ' for ymorol, molchi for ymolchi ' to wash ', deryn for aderyn ' bird ', menyn for ymenyn ' butter ', mennyB for ymenny?* ' brain ', etc.
vi. In a few disyllables the vowel of the final unaccented syllable is sometimes elided ; thus onid ' but ' appears generally as ond in Mn. W. Other examples met with in Mn. (rarely in Late Ml.) verse are mynd for mfned ' to go ', tyrd for tyred ' come ! ' gweld for gweled ' to see ', llond for llonaid ' full (capa- city) ', cans for cdnys ' because ', namn for ndmyn * but ', all except the last two in common use in the dialects. Similarly er ys be- comes ers, § 214 vii.
56 PHONOLOGY §45
Ancr wi/fji'n cyweirio i fedd,
Ond aroa mqnd i orwedd. — D.G. 295.
1 1 am an anchorite making ready his grave, only waiting to go to rest.'
Cans ar ddiwedd pob gweddi,
Cofcywir, yr henwir hi. — D.G. 235.
' For at the end of every prayer, unforgotten she is named.'
MaSeu, kanys ti yw'r me&ic. — K.P. 1298 (7 syll.).
' Forgive, for Thou art the Healer.' The length of the line shows that kanys is to be read kans. It occurs \vritten cans in W.M. 487.
Ni edrychodd Duw V achwyn ;
Ni mynncdd aur, namn i ddwyn. — G.G1., M 148/256.
' God did not regard the lamentation ; He desired not [to have] gold, but to take him away.' See also I.G. 380.
See examples of tyrd, dyrd in § 193 viii (2).
vii. The vowel of a proclitic is often elided
(1) After a final vowel, y is elided in the article^/*, § 114 ; the pronouns yn ' our ', $ch ' your ' (now written ein, eie/t), § 160 ii (i) ; the oblique relative y or yr, § 82 ii (i), § 162 ii (2) ; the pre- position yn, § 21 0 iv.
(2) Before an initial vowel, y is elided in fy ' my ', dy ' thy ', § 160 i (i).
(3) The relative a tends to disappear even between consonants, § 162 i.
(4) The vowel of pa or py ' what ? ' sometimes disappears even before a consonant, as in pie ' where ? ' § 163 ii (2).
(5) After j90, nfw tends to become ry and r, § 163 ii (6).
§ 45. i. (i) Compound nouns and adjectives are accented regularly ; thus gwiti-llan ' vineyard ', cadeir-fardd ' chaired bard ', gwdg-law or lldw-wag ' empty-handed '.
Gwawd-lais mwyalch ar g6ed-lwyn,
Ac eos ar lios Iwyn. — D.G. 503.
' The musical voice of a thrush in a grove, and a nightingale in many a bush.'
Yn i dydd ni adai wan
Acw 'n Haw- wag, Gwenllian. — L.G.C. 232. ' In her day she, Gwenllian, left not the weak empty-handed there.'
(2) Even a compound of an adjective and a proper name may be so accented ; as
§ 45 ACCENTUATION 57
Ddyrau am urddedig-Rys
Yw'r mCr hallt, os gwir marw Rhys. — •G.G1., M 146/171.
1 The salt sea is tears for noble Rhys, if it is true that Rhys is dead.'
See TTch el- Grist, D.G. 259. The name Bendig6id-fran 'Bran the Blessed ', was so accented, and the /was lost, § 110 iii (3), giving Bendigeidran (corrupted into Benegridran in Emerson's English Traits, xi).
Bondogwydr Bendigeidran. — T.A., A 14976/166; c. ii 83. ' The glass eaves of Bendigeidran.'
(3) When the first element has one of the mutable sounds ai, au, w, if it is mutated in the compound, becoming ei, eu, y, y respectively, because it is no longer ultimate when the compound is treated as a single word; thus gweith-dy 'workshop' (gwait/t 'work'), heul-des ' heat of the sun ' (haul ' sun '), dryg-waith ' evil deed ' (drwg ' evil '), melyn-wallt ' yellow hair ' (tnd^n ' yellow '). In old compounds aw also is mutated, as in llofrudd, § 110 iii (i).
$&• A compound accented as above may be called a strict compound.
ii. (i) But the two elements of a compound may be sepa- rately accented ; thus coel grefydd ' false religion ', gdu br&ffwyd 1 false prophet ', hen wr ' old man ' (sometimes accented regularly, ftenwr, B.CW. 64).
(2) The difference between a secondary accent and a separate accent should be noted. A secondary accent is always subordinate to the principal accent ; but when the first element of a compound has a separate accent it is independent of the accent of the second element and may even be stronger if the emphasis requires it. Again, the first element when separately accented has the unmutated ai, au, to, or Y in its final syllable ; thus in cyd-ndbyddiaelh ' acquaintance ' there may be a secondary accent on cyd (short y\ but in cyd gynull- iad there is an independent accent on ci(d (long ?/). In fact, when there is a separate accent, the first element is treated as an indepen- dent word for all purposes of pronunciation (accentuation, vowel quantity, and vowel mutation).
Cw A compound accented as above may be called a loose compound.
(3) Sometimes the elements of a loose compound are now hyphened, thus coel-grefydd ; but as any positive adjective put before a noun forms with it a loose compound, in the vast majority of such com- pounds the elements are written as separate words. See § 155 iii.
iii. An adjective or noun compounded with a verb or verbal
58 PHONOLOGY § 46
noun forms a loose compound, as cfinffon lonni ' to wag- the tail ', piysur redant ' they swiftly run '.
Pel y niwl o afael nant
Y dison ymadawsant. — R.G.D. 149.
' Like the mist from the grasp of the valley have they silently passed away.'
iv. (i) Prefixes form strict compounds with nouns, adjectives, and verbs ; as athrlst ' very sad ' (trixt ' sad '), dm-gylch ' circum- ference ', cyn-nal ' to hold ', etc., etc.
(2) But compounds with the prefixes an-, di-, cyd-, go-, gor-, gwrth-, rJiy-, tra- may be either strict or loose ; as dn-awdil or an hdwdd 'difficult', § 148 i (6); dn-aml/ynys G. 103, an ami, § 164 i (i) ; di-wair, di wdir ' chaste ' ; rJiy-wyr ' high time ' and r/iy hwyr ' too late ' ; trd-mawr Gr.O. 51, tra, mdwr ' very great ' ; trd-doetk do. 52, tra doetJi ' very wise '.
Di-dad, amddifad ydwyf,
A di frawd wedi i farw wyf. — L.Mor. (m. I.F.).
' Fatherless, destitute, am I, and without a brother after his death.' Y mae 'r ddwyais mor ddiwair. — D.G. 148.
' The bosom is so chaste.'
Fwyn a di wair — f'enaid yw. — D.G. 321.
' Gentle and chaste — she is my soul.' Cf. D.G. 306.
Tra da im y try deu-air. — I.F., c 18/11.
' Very good for me will two words turn out.'
In late Mn. W. new compounds are freely formed with these elements separately accented ; thus tra, go and rJiy are placed before any adjectives, and treated as separate words; § 220 viii (i).
When both elements are accented, the second has generally the stronger accent, unless the prefix is emphatic ; in gor-tiwch ' above ', gor-is ' below ', the first element has lost its accent, though these are also found as strict compounds, thus goruwch, O.G., G. 257, Gr.O. 34.
§ 46. i. Expressions consisting of two words in syntactical relation, such as a noun and a qualifying adjective or a noun and a dependent genitive, are in some cases accented as single words. $?» These may be called improper compounds. Mu- table vowels are mutated (y >p, etc.) as in single words.
They differ from proper compounds in two respects : (i) the initial of the second element is not softened except where the ordinary rules
§ 46 ACCENTUATION 59
of mutation require it; (2) the words are arranged in the usual syntactic order, the subordinate word coming last, except in the case of numerals, ii (5) below.
Cf. in Latin the improper compounds pater-familias, juris-dictio, in which the first element is an intact word, by the side of the proper compounds patri-dda juri-dicus in which the first element contains the stem only.
ii. Improper compounds accented on the penult consist of — •
(1) Some nouns qualified by da, as gwr-da ' goodman ', gwreig-dda ' good wife ', hin-dda ' fair weather ', geir-da ' good report '. Names of relatives with maeth, as tdd-maeth ' foster father ', mdmaeth (for mdm- faeth, § 110 iii (i)) 'foster mother', mdb-maeth, brdwd-maeth, chwder- fueth. A few other combinations, such as heul-wen ' bright sun ' a (haul fern., § 142 iii), coel-certh 'bonfire' (lit. 'certain sign'). See also (3) below.
A bryno tir d braint da,
Yn i drdal d'n ^frr-da. — L.G.C. 249.
' He who buys land with good title in his neighbourhood will become a goodman.'
(2) Nouns with dependent genitives: tref-tad 'heritage', dydd- brawd or dydd-barn (also dydd brdwd, dydd bdrn) 'judgement day ', pen-tref1 village ', pen-ctrdd ' chief of song ', pen-tan ' hob '. See also (3) and (4) below.
(3) Nouns with adjectives or genitives forming names of places ; as Tre-for or Tre-fawr, Bryn-gwyn, Mynydd-mawr, Aber-maw, Mm-
ffordd, Pen-tir, Pen-mon, Pen-mon MdwrP
Even when the article comes before the genitive, the whole name is sometimes thus treated, the accent falling upon the article ; as Pen-y- berth near Pwllheli, Tal-y-bryn in Llannefydd, Clust-y-blai8 near Cerrig y Drudion, Moel-y-ci (pron. Moy\lyc\i), a hill near Bangor, Llan-e-cil near y Bala, Pen-e-goes near Machynlleth, Pen-e-berth near Aberystwyth (e for y, § 16 iv (2)). Cf. (7) below. Mi afi ganu i'm oes I bendig o Ben-6-goes. — L.G.C. 429. ' I will go to sing while I live to a chieftain of Pen^goes.'
(4) The word duw (or dyw) followed by tlie name of the day in the genitive ; as Duw-sul ns well as Duw Sul or Dydd Sul ' Sunday' ; so Diiw-llun ' Monday ', Duw-mawrth ' Tuesday ', and Dif-iau for Duw Idu ' Thursday '. Similarly dd(w)-gwyl ' the day of the feast (of)'.
* It is often supposed that heulwen is a proper compound of haul and gw£n, meaning the ' smile of the sun ' ; but erroneously, for heulwen is the ' sun ' itself, not ' sunshine '.
b The common spelling Penmaenmawr appears to be due to popular etymology. Cainden, 4th ed., 1594, p. 18, has Pen-mon maur, and the word is now pronounced Pen-mon-mduir.
60 PHONOLOGY § 46
Echrys-haint, och, wir lesuf
Ddyfod i Idl Ddif-iau du.— T.A., G. 235.
' A dreadful plague, Oh true Jesus ! that black Thursday should have visited Yale.' See § 214 vii, ex. 2.
Both accentuations are exemplified in —
BAm i'r gog swyddog Dduw Sul ;
^Yy ddi-swydd, a hyn Dduw-sul. — T.A., A 14976/108.
' I was an officer of the cuckoo on Sunday ; I am without office, and this on Sunday.' (Gwas y gog ' the cuckoo's servant ' is the hedge- sparrow.)
(5) A numeral and its noun, as deu-lwys ' 2 Ibs.', dwy-bunt ' £2 ', can-punt '£100', etc. Cf. E. twopence, etc. Though the order is the same here as in proper compounds, and the mutation is no criterion, it is certain that most of these are improper compounds. In the case of un, proper and improper compounds can he distinguished : un-ben 1 monarch ' is a proper compound, the second element having the soft initial, but un-peth is precisely the combination un peth ' one thing ' under a single accent.
(6) The demonstrative adjective after nouns of time. See § 164 iii.
(7) Very rarely the article with its noun, as in E-fenechtyd for y Fenechtyd ' the monastery ', in which the article, taken as part of the word, acquired a secondary accent.
iii. Improper compounds accented on the ultima consist of —
(1) A few combinations of two monosyllabic nouns, of which the second is a dependent genitive and the first has lost its accent ; as pen-rhdith ' autocrat ', pen-Had ' summum bonum ', pry-nhdwn for pryt naion.
Tr eoff, rJi"ywiog ben-rhaith,
At Wen dos eto un-waith. — D.G. 148.
' Thou salmon, gentle master, go to Gwen once more.'
A 'in cerydd mawr i 'm cdriad,
Ac na'th gaion yn lldwn ben-llad. — D.G. 513.
' And my great punishment for my love, and that I might not have thee as my whole delight.'
(2) A number of place-names of similar formation, as Pen-tyrch.
NOTE. — (i) From this and the preceding section it is seen that accentuation does not always accord with the formation of words. A loose compound is etymologically a compound, but its elements are accented as separate words. An improper compound is etymologically a combination of separate words accented as one word. The accentua- tion of improper compounds is to be accounted for thus : in O. W. we may assume that gwr da, Aber Maw, Pen y berth