(≡ aw) in accented syllables. Latin ā also shared this development.
The Early W. ɔ is attested in Bede’s Dinoot (≡ Dünɔt), Ml. W. Dunawt < Lat. Dōnātus. In all syllables except the ultima it became o, as broder ‘brothers’ < Pr. Kelt. *brāteres; in this position aw from ā occurs only in late formations like mawrion pl. of mawr ‘great’, and after w̯ § 148 i (6). But in the ultima and in monosyllables ɔ > O.W. au ≡ Ml. W. aw, as O. W. braut ox. ‘judgement’ < Pr. Kelt. *brāton, trintaut juv. sk. < Lat. trīnitātem; Ml. W. brawt, trindawt. In Mn. W. aw remains in monosyllables, as brawd, but in the now unaccented ultima it has become o, as in trindod. The following table summarizes the history of Brit. (and Lat.) ā:
| Brit. (Lat.) | Brit. | Early W. | O.W. | Ml.W. | Mn.W. | Mn.W. | ||||
| *brāteres | ā——— | ɔ | / \ |
o——— | o——— | o | broder | penult. | ||
| trīnitātem | au——— | aw | / \ |
o | trindod | ult. | ||||
| *brāton | aw | brawd | monosyll. | |||||||
(2) ā when unacc. was shortened and gives a § 74 i (1); this might happen in monosyllables as a ‘of’ § 209 vii (5), a ‘whether’ § 218 iii. When acc. in Brit. and unacc. later, it gives o, as in pob § 168 i (3), mor § 151 i, o ‘from, of’ § 209 vii (5), o, ‘if’ § 222 v (1).
ii. (1) Ml. W. aw in the unaccented ultima (whether from ā as above, or from ou § 76 iii) survives in the spoken language in canllaw ‘hand-rail’, darllaw ‘to brew’, distaw ‘silent’, eirlaw ‘sleet’, ysgaw (also ysgo) ‘elder-tree’, llỿsfrawd ‘brother-in-law’; in compounds with numerals, as deunaw ‘18’, dwyawr ‘2 hours’, teirawr ‘3 hours’, etc. (except dẃylo for dẃylaw ‘hands’); and in compounds of mawr, as dĭ́rfawr ‘very great’, trỿstfawr ‘noisy’ (except in place-names, Trefor, Coetmor). In a few book-words which have gained currency it is not a genuine survival: as traethawd ‘treatise’, catrawd ‘regiment’, bydysawd ‘universe’, rhaglaw ‘deputy’; and the forms llïaws ‘multitude’, cyfiawn ‘just’, Ionawr ‘January’, ansawdd ‘quality’, are influenced by the written language, which, however, had also llios, cyfion, Ionor, ansodd Io.G. 187, formerly; see examples below. Chwefror has o always (generally sounded Chwefrol by dissimilation). The recent written language has been influenced by mechanical ideas of etymology in the substitution of aw for the regular o in ffỿddlon ‘faithful’, dwylo ‘hands’, union ‘straight’, cinio ‘dinner’, anodd ‘difficult’, cpv. anos (§ 48 iv, § 148 i (6)); all these appear with o in early Mn. poetry, and are pronounced with o in the spoken language. On the misspelling athraw for athro see § 76 v (5).
