Page:Morris-Jones Welsh Grammar 0036.png

36

(1) The Mn. W. diphthongs oi, ou and ow are always late contractions; as in rhoi for rho|ï from rhoddi ‘to give’; ymarhóus 330 for ymarho|us ‘dilatory’; rhowch for rho|wch ‘give ye’; rhoist for rho|eist ‘thou gavest’; rhôi for rho|ei ‘he gave’.

A late contraction may take the form of one of the old diphthongs, or even of a simple vowel; as gla|nháu for gla|nhá|u ‘to clean’; plau 1222 for plá|eu ‘plagues’; di|léu for di|lé|u ‘to delete’; aw̯n for á|wn ‘we go’; gla|nhā́d for gla|nhá|ad ‘cleansing’; (g)wnai  54, 250 for gwna|ei ‘did’, cf. 64; cỿ|tûn for cỿ|tú|un ‘united’; bûm for bú|um ‘I have been’; gwy|bū́m for gwy|bú|um ‘I knew’; cau for cáe|u ‘to shut’. These forms occur uncontracted in Ml. W.: gunaun 81 (≡ gw̯na|wn rhyming with wn) ‘I would do’; yn gyttuun ; cayu Ỻ.A. 167 (≡ cáy|u), kaeu  24 (≡ káe|u). Uncontracted forms are met with as late as the 16th cent.


 * Dy garu a wybū́|um;
 * Darllain dy bylgain y bûm.—H.S. 5.