vi. Many prepositions, adverbs and conjunctions, which are long by the above rules, by being often used as proclitics have become short even when accented, more especially in N. W.; as rhăg ‘against’, hĕb ‘without’, nĭd, năd ‘not’, dăn ‘under’ (originally one n), măl, făl, fĕl ‘like’, ăg (written ac) ‘and’, năg (written nac) ‘nor’; but ā́g ‘with’.
The long vowel is preserved in some of these in S. W. The word nes ‘until’, § 215 i (2), was circumflexed even by N. W. writers as late as the 18th cent., see nês g. 237; it is now sounded nĕs (already nes in b.cw. 83, 115 beside nês ‘nearer’ 13, 109, 110). In D.G. dan ‘under’ has long a:
- Serchog y cân dān y dail.—D.G. 225.
‘Lovingly it sings under the leaves.’
§ 52. i. If the vowel in a monosyllable is the first element of a diphthong, its quantity depends chiefly upon the form of the diphthong.
ii. The vowel is long in ae, oe, w͡y; thus trāed ‘feet’, ōen ‘lamb’, hŵyr ‘late’, cāe ‘field’, cāem ‘we might have’, dōe ‘yesterday’, mw̄y ‘more’, cŵyn ‘complaint’, hw̄ynt ‘they’, blōesg ‘blaesus’, rhw̄ysg ‘pomp’, māent ‘they are’, trôent ‘they might turn’.
But except before ‑sg, w͡y is short before two or more consonants or m; as tw̆ym, tw̆ymn, ‘hot’, rhw̆ym ‘bound’ (also rhw̄ym), cw̆ymp ‘fall’ (now pron. cw̯ɥ̆mp in N. W.), llw̆ybr ‘path’, rhw̆ystr ‘hindrance’, brw̆ydr ‘battle’, pw̆ynt ‘point’;—hw̄ynt is influenced by hw̄y ‘they’. Similarly māent formed from, and influenced by māe. The other cases are examples of contraction: cāem < cā-em, trôent < tro-ynt.
iii. The vowel is short in all other falling diphthongs; as băi ‘fault’, by̆w ‘alive’, trŏi ‘to turn’, llăid ‘mud’, brĭw ‘wound’, dŭw ‘god’, bŭwch ‘cow’, hăul ‘sun’, ăur ‘gold’, dĕwr ‘brave’, băwd ‘thumb’, măwl ‘praise’, etc.
Exceptions: (1) In N. W. aw, ew are long when final only; as tāw! ‘be silent’, bāw ‘dirt’, llēw ‘lion’, tēw ‘fat’; otherwise short as above. In S. W. the diphthongs are short in both cases.
(2) au is long in trāul ‘wear, expense’, pāun ‘peacock’, gwāudd ‘daughter-in-law’, ffāu ‘den’, gwāun ‘meadow’, cāul ‘rennet’, pāu ‘country’. The form gwaen is a recent misspelling of gwāun. In West Gwynedd the word is pronounced gwĕun (e ≡ ə), Ml. W. gweun, O. W. guoun.
(3) The vowel is long in âu when contracted for a-au, as in plâu ‘plagues’; but in cău for cáe-u, § 202 iii, it is short. It is long in âi for a-ai, and ôi for o-ai when final, as gwnâi, trôi 3rd sg. impf.; but
