- Ifanc, ifanc a ofyn:
- Henaint, at henaint y tyn.—S.Ph. br. iv 391.
‘The young seeks the young: old age is drawn to old age.’ The form i̯ef- is probably older, but cannot be verified; Ml. W. ieu- is ambiguous, but doubtless generally meant i̯eü‑. The latter form is seen in
- Paham, a minneu ’n ieuanc,
- Yr wyf yn rhwym ar fy nhranc?—B.A. Ỻ 133/77.
‘Why, when I am young, am I bound at death’s door?’ The dialects now have if‑, as Ifan, ifanc, but i̯enctid for i̯euenctid ‘youth’.
(4) The ante-vocalic form aw may occur before a consonant where the vowel after it has dropped, as in W. cawr ‘giant’ < Brit. *kou̯arós: Gaul. Καυαρος, Ir. caur (< W.?) √k̑eu̯ā‑. We also have aw regularly for Lat. au, as in awdur < Lat. au(c)tṓrem; llawẟ ‘praise’ < laudem; Ml. W. Pawl < Paulus (the biblical Paul is merely the Eng. form, and is pronounced Pôl).
W. nawn ‘noon’ < *nouna possibly dial. Lat. for nōna ( < *nou̯enā), cf. Pelignian Nounis ‘Nonius’, and Lat. old spelling noundinum. Sir John Rhys suggests the influence of Brit. *nou̯an. See § 81 iii (2).
(5) Except when affected as in iv (4), v (3) (5), Brit. āu̯ gave u in W., as in bu ‘has been’ < *(be)bā́u̯e < Ar. *bhebhōu̯e § 189 iv (3); caru ‘to love’ < *karā́-u- § 202 ii. When unaccented ā was shortened, iii (1), § 74.
iv. The penultimate affection of the diphthong has the forms ew, yw, and eu; thus
(1) Before ĭ or ī remaining as y or i, it appears as ew, as in newyẟ ‘new’, Bret. nevez < *nouíi̯os < *neu̯ii̯os;—W. cnewyll ‘kernels’ < *kneu̯‑: E. nut < *knu‑d‑;—W. ewythr ‘uncle’ < *au̯on-tēr: Lat. avun-culus < *au̯on- (nom. *au̯ō see v (5)); Bret. eontr (eo for eu; i lost), Corn. euitor (‑tor ≡ tr̥?); W. ewyllys ‘will’ < *ou̯i‑, √au̯ei‑. Similarly rhewin ‘ruin’ derived from the Lat. ruīna.
(2) Before i̯ when pretonic it is eu (≡ eü), the i̯ being lost ; thus W. breuan ‘handmill’ for *breuon < *broui̯ón- (: Corn. brou, Bret. breo, Ir. brāu all from nom. *broui̯ō, Ir. gen. broon): Goth. quairnus, E. quern, √ɡu̯erā‑.
But when accented it is yw as in ultimate aff. ; thus cyw
