(1) (α) Ar. sp(h)‑ > W. ff‑, Ir. s- (mutated to f‑). Thus W. ffun ‘breath’ < *spois‑n‑: Lat. spīro < *speis-ō;—W. ffêr ‘ankle’, Ir. seir ‘heel’ (acc. du. di pherid) < *sper‑: Gk. σφυρόν ‘ankle, heel’ < *sphu̯ₑr‑: Lat. perna, Gk. πτέρνα < *pu̯er‑n- (Jacobsohn, KZ. xlii 275), √sphu̯erē- see (2) below;—W. ffonn ‘stick’, Ir. sonn ‘stake’ < *spondh‑: E. spoon, O. E. spōn ‘chip of wood’, Icel. spānn, spōnn ‘chip’, Gk. σπάθη ‘spatula’, σφήν ‘wedge’, √sp(h)ē-, spend- ‘hew’. — — Similarly before a liquid: W. ffraeth ‘eloquent, witty’ < *sphrəkt‑, √spherē̆ɡ‑: Germ. sprechen, O. E. sprecan; E. speak, see § 97 v (3);—W. ffrwst ‘haste’ < *sprut-st-: Goth. sprautō ‘quickly’, W. ffrwd § 101 ii (3);—W. fflochen ‘splinter’ < *sphloq‑n‑: Skr. phálakam ‘board, plank’, √sp(h)el‑: Germ. spalten, E. split, cf. W. talch § 86 ii (3).
(β) sp(h)- > Kelt. squ̯ > W. chw̯- (h‑) or sp‑, Ir. sc‑. Thus W. chw̯ynn ‘weeds’ (prob. originally ‘furze’, as E. whin which comes from it) < *squ̯inn- < *spid‑sn-: Lat. pinna < *pid-snā; Ir. scē gen. pl. sciad, W. yspyddad ‘hawthorn’ < *squ̯íi̯-at‑: Lat. spīna, spīca, √spei‑;—W. chw̯ydu ‘to vomit’, chw̯ŷd ‘vomit’ § 100 ii (3), √spei̯eu̯‑: Lat. spuo, E. spew, etc.;—W. hollt ‘split’, hollti ‘to split’, beside (α) Bret. faouta ‘to split’ < *spol‑t‑, √spel- § 101 iv (2);—W. yspar ‘spear’, Bret. sparr: Lat. sparus, O. H. G. spër, E. spear, √sphu̯erē- § 97 v (3);—W. chw̯yrn ‘swift’ < *sphern‑, hwrẟ ‘a violent push’ < *sphuri̯- § 100 iii (2).
(2) Medially, Ar. ‑sp- gives (α) W. ‑ff‑, or (β) W. ‑ch‑, Ir. ‑sc‑. Thus W. dual (α) uffarnau (β) ucharnau ‘ankles’ < *u̯i-sp(u̯)ₑr‑n‑: sg. ffêr, Lat. perna above;—(β) W. ucher ‘evening’, Ir. fescor: Lat. vesper, Gk. ἕσπερος § 66 iii.
After a consonant (α) ‑sp- > W. ff; unlike ‑st‑, ‑sk‑, which preserve the explosive, sp had become ‑sf‑, and there was no explosive to preserve. Thus W. effro ‘awake’ < *eksprog- dissim. from *eks-pro‑gr‑: Lat. expergiscor for *ex-pro-grīscor (Walde, s. v.): Av. fra-γrisəmnō ‘waking’, Skr. járate ‘wakes’, Gk. ἐγείρω, √ɡer‑, ɡerēi̯‑.
(3) Ar. ‑ps- also gives (α) W. ‑ff‑, or (β) W. ‑ch‑, but Ir. ‑ss‑. Thus (α) W. craff ‘sharp, keen’ < *qrap‑s- < *qrab‑s‑: Icel. skarpr, O. E. scearp, E. sharp, E. scrape, W. crafu ‘to scratch’;—W. praff ‘burly’ < qu̯rₑp‑s‑: Lat. corpus, etc.;—(β) W. uwch ‘higher’, uchel ‘high’, Ir. ūasal, uassal, Gaul.
