Page:Morris-Jones Welsh Grammar 0088.png

88 (1) o and a interchange after u̯ § 34 iv. So we have gwa- beside go- for gwo- < *u̯o&#8209;: Gaul. vo- < Ar. *upo; thus gwa-red-wr ‘saviour’ < *u̯o-reto-u̯ir&#8209;: Gaul. Voretovir&#8209;;—W. gwas ‘servant’: Ir. foss < *upo&#8209;st- § 96 ii (2). The 15th cent. pedwor § 34 iv (so Salesbury’s Dic. s. v.) has a new, perhaps local, o for a § 63 vii (4).

We also find the interchange after ü (cons. or voc.), as breuan for *breuon § 76 iv (2); bū́an for *büon § 76 ix (2); (Anglesey dial. neuoẟ for neuaẟ).

After m- there is an older change of a to o, as in W. môr ‘sea’, Gaul. Aremorici, Ir. muir: Lat. mare; W. myned < *monet&#8209;, Bret. monet < *mami̯et- § 100 iv;—W. morwyn < *marein- § 125 v (1).

e after u̯ becomes o/a in the following cases: Ar. *uper > Pr. Kelt. *u̯er > Gaul. ver&#8209;, Bret. war ‘on’, W. ar, gwar&#8209;, gwor&#8209;, gor- § 36 iii;—W. Cadwallon < Brit. Catu-vellaunos;—W. gosper < Lat. vesper&#8209;. Probably the above show the influence of Brit. u̯o&#8209;; cf. Ir. for- < *u̯er- on the analogy of fo- < *u̯o&#8209;. Generally u̯e remains, as in chwech ‘six’ < *su̯ek̑s.

(1) After i̯ post-tonic a became e; thus wyneb ‘face’ < *éni̯-eq$u̯$&#8209;, § 100 v, < *éni̯-aq$u̯$- < *éni̯-əq$u̯$&#8209;, √ōq$u̯$ = Skr. ánīkam ‘face’ < *eni-əq$u̯$om. But when pre-tonic the a remained, as in wynab&#8209;, in composition, from *eni̯aq$u̯$&#8209;; gwyẟi̯ad < *u̯idi̯ətó § 180 iv (1).

Pre-tonic i̯o prob. became i̯a; thus we have aea < *&#8209;ii̯a&#8209;´, but no *aeo < *&#8209;iio&#8209;´, so that the latter perhaps became *&#8209;ii̯a&#8209;´ § 75 vi (2). So the rel. a <*i̯a < Ar. i̯os, § 162 vi (1).

i. Pr. Kelt. i and u remained in Brit. Brit. i was open, and is transcribed ε by the Greeks, as in Πρετ(τ)ανικὴ (νῆσος) : W. (ynys) Prydain, but i by the Romans as in Britannia (Gk. ι was close, Lat. i open). Brit. i gave W. y, which is ɥ in the ult. and accented monosyllables, ỿ in non-ultimate syllables and proclitics. Brit. u remains, now written w, in the ultima and monosyllables, and becomes y (≡ ỿ) in all other syllables. See § 40 iii. Examples: W. drɥch ‘appearance’, edrỿchaf ‘I look’ < Pr. Kelt. *dr̥k&#8209;, § 61 i;—W. cŵn ‘dogs’, cỿnos ‘little dogs’ < Pr. Kelt. *kun&#8209;;—W. cỿbɥdd ‘miser’ < Lat. cupidus;—W. terfɥn ‘end’ < Lat. terminus.

ɥ and ỿ may interchange with e, and ỿ with a, § 16 iv.

u before a labial may develop irregularly, § 73 ii.

(1) ỿ in the penult, whether from i or u becomes w in Mn. W. before w in the ult., as in cwmwl ‘cloud’ for cymwl < *cumbul- < Lat. cumulus; swmbwl < *stimbul- < Lat. stimulus; cwmwd ‘comot’ < Ml. W. kymwt; dwthwn < dythwn < dydd hun § 164 iii. When a syllable is added, both w’s become ỿ, as cỿmỿlau ‘clouds’.