§ 213. i. The prepositions a [spirant], ag, Ml. W. a, ac e with ' and wedi [rad.], Early Mn. and Ml. W. (g)wedym&j be followed by independent pronouns ; thus d mi ' with me ', d thi ' with thee ' ; d myfi, d m'ji, d tkydi, d tKdi 159 ii (3) ; ag ef, ag efo ' with him ' ; etc. ; gueti ef L.L. 1 20 ' after him ', gwydi ny B.B. 44 ' after us '.
- Ac ni bydd oherwydd hyn
- Gwedy ef gwiw dy ofyn. I.G. 312 (m. D.G.).
' And therefore it will be of no avail after him to ask for thee ' (i. e. for a cywydfi).
- Y Deheu feirdd wedy fo
- Sydd wannach eu swydd yno. Gut.O., M 146/398.
' The bards of the South after him are weaker in their performance there' (m. G.G1.).
- Da oedd cyffion Huw Conwy,
- A da yw Huw wedy hwy. L.G.C. 463.
' Good were the ancestors of H.C., arid good is H. after them.'
In Late Mn. W. the use of a pron. as above after wedi is rare.
ii. (1) a is now generally circumflexed to distinguish it from a ' and '. When it is accented it is of course long, but when un- accented it is short. The same is true of a ' and '.
(2) wedi has late -i owing to the frequency of its use, cf. 16 ii (3). In Early Ml. W. where it rhymes it has -i[ ; see e. g. L.G.C. 15, 66. In Ml. W. it has -y in MSS. in which i and y are distinguished.
iii. (1) a, ag < *agg6s ; it has two distinct meanings, and may therefore have a double origin : (a) ' together with ' < *ad-g- : Ir. ac, oc, occ < *ad-go-s : Lat. ad, Goth, at, E. at, Brugmann 2 II ii 793 ; this is the prep, used after cyf- and ym-, as cyf-arfod d 'to meet with ' ; and is the same as d, ag ' as ' after the equative ; (b) ' by means of, as O.W. ha crip ox. ' with a comb', Mn. W. d phyg Gen. vi 14 'with pitch' < *ab-g- : o 209 vii (5). For ag, a [spir.] in this sense o [soft] is used in Gwent : taro ci o asgiorn ' to strike a dog with a bone ' Seren Gomer, Mai 7 1814; cf. kymynynt o 8ur B.P. 1042 for k. a dur B.B. 72 ' they hewed down with steel ' ; con- versely, after a spv. ag is used for o before a relative, as yn oreu ac y gellynt C.M. 54, gyntaf&C y gallaw8 s.o. 408,
- Y glanaf ag a luniwyd,
- A'r goreu oil o'r gwyr wyd. T.A., A 14971/53.
' The handsomest of [all] that have been created, and the very best of men art thou.' In Ml. W. this is o before the demonst. 'r, as goreu . . . o 'r a vu K.M. 82 ' best of those that were ' ; rarely a, as o bop
. . . aV a vet IL.A. 141 ; Mn. W. a'r a. The common origin and
