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§ 38 Taw͡y; also medial wy followed by a vowel, as mw͡yar ‘blackberries’, gw͡yar ‘gore’.


 * Tlawd a ŵyr talu dirw͡y:
 * Ni thelir math Lowri mŵy.—T.A., 14879/20.

‘The poor are accustomed to pay forfeit; they will never more forfeit such a one as Lowri.’

But in the Ml. 2nd sg. pres. ind. of verbs with w̯ stems, as in gelw̯ɥ ‘thou callest’, kedw̯ɥ ‘thou keepest’ § 173 iii (1), Mn. W. gelw̯i, cedw̯i, the diphthong is of course the rising one.

When a word has wy in the last syllable and a in the penult, the wy is the falling diphthong; thus arw͡ydd ‘sign’, arglw͡ydd ‘lord’, annw͡yd ‘cold’, addw͡yn D.G. 355 ‘gentle’, cannw͡yll ‘candle’, gwanw͡yn ‘spring’, cadw͡yn ‘chain’, annw͡yl ‘dear’; aw͡yr ‘air’, aw͡ydd ‘desire’, see x below. Except in compounds, such as tanw̯ɥdd ‘firewood’, etc.; see § 83 iii.


 * Rhaid i’r gwan ddal y gannw͡yll
 * I’r dewr i wneuthur i l.—E.P. 235.

‘The weak must hold the candle for the bold to do his deceit.’


 * Oer gennych eira gwanw͡yn:
 * Oerach yw ’myd er ỿch n.—T.A.,  i 342.

‘Cold you deem the snow of spring: colder is my plight because of you.’ See D.G. 321, 408, 525.


 * Aur a gâd yn ddwɥ gadw͡yn,
 * A’i roddi’n faich i’r ddyn n.—D.G. 64.

‘Gold was brought in two chains, and laid as a burden on the gentle maiden.’ See also 250.


 * Dyfynnodd i’w dai f’ annw͡yl—
 * Da o le mae ’n dala i l.—H.D.,  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 īa or ē, as pŵɥll ‘thought’, Ir. cīall, gŵɥdd ‘goose’, Ir. gēd, gw͡ystl ‘pledge’, Ir. gīall, etc.; or when it is derived from Latin ē, ig or ī, as in rhŵɥd ‘net’ from rēte, cŵɥr ‘wax’ from cēra, eglw͡ys ‘church’ from ecclēsia, egw͡yddor ‘alphabet’ from ābēcēdārium, gwenw͡yn ‘poison’ from venēnum, dŵɥs ‘intense’ from dēnsus, sŵɥn ‘charm’ from signum; sỿ́nnw͡yr ‘sense’ from sentīre. Rule vi may be verified in many words