e + liq. + exp. > W. y; thus Ml. W. kymyrth < *kombert-et, with a-affection kymerth § 181 vii (1);—gwyllt ‘wild’ < Brit. *gu̯eltis: Ir. geilt § 92 iv.—But usually it remains as e; thus for nyrth b.b. 68, the ordinary form is nerth m. ‘strength’; so perthyn < Lat. pertin- owing to preference for the sequence e . . y.—merch ‘maid’, perth ‘bush’ are fem.; and mellt pl. ‘lightning’, gwellt pl. ‘grass’ may be neut. pl. in *‑ā or fem. pl. in *‑ās.
o + liq. + exp. > W. w ; thus W. i̯wrch ‘roebuck’, Bret. iourc’h; O. Corn, yorch: Gk. ζόρξ;—W. twrch ‘boar’, Bret. tourc’h: O. Corn. torch, Ir. torc;—W. swllt ‘money, shilling’ < Lat. sol’dus.—torch ‘torque’ is fem.: Ir. torc. But other exceptions occur as corff ‘body’ < Lat. corpus; porth m. ‘gate’ f. ‘harbour’ has exchanged genders and keeps o in both. Formations like gor-ffen etc. are also exceptions.
(3) The same change took place before rn. Thus e: W. chwyrn ‘whirling’ < *spern‑, § 96 iv (1);—W. Edyrn beside Edern < Eternus.—W. gwern ‘alder’, and cern § 95 ii (3) are fem.; so uffern ‘hell’ < Vulg. Lat. īferna.—o: W. asgwrn ‘bone’ < *ast-korn- § 96 ii (4);—W. dwrn ‘fist’: Ir. dorn.—But W. corn ‘horn’ < Lat.
e before rr > W. y; as byrr ‘short’: Ir. berr;—W. gyrr ‘a drove’ < *gerks- § 95 iv (2). But o remains, as in corr ‘dwarf’, torri ‘to break’.
(4) In many Lat. loanwords e or o before r + cons. became a (on the analogy of the R-grade in sarn etc.?); thus sarff < serpens; carrai ‘lace’ < corrigia; parchell b.b. 55 beside porchell a.l. i 276 < porcellus; tafarn < taberna; Padarn < Paternus; Garmon < Germānus.
(5) e before ss > y; as in ys (ỿs, ɥ̄́s § 82 ii (1)) < *esti ‘is’;—ŷs ‘eats’ < *essi < *ed-ti: Lat. est. Also before Lat. st as in tyst ‘witness’ < testis. But either affection or the sequence e . . y (or e . . u) causes it to be e, as in ffenestr ‘window’, testun ‘text’ < testimōnium.
iv. (1) In the present penult ỿ appears for e and o before a nasal whether followed by another consonant or not; as in cychwỿnnu, tỿmor § iii (1); ffỿnnhawn, now ffynnon < Lat. fontāna; tỿner < Lat. tenerum; mỿfɥr < Lat. memoria, mỿned ‘to go’: Bret. monet; mỿnwent beside monwent < Lat. monumenta. But many exceptions occur, as cenedl ‘nation’, Conwy; and derivatives like gwenu ‘to smile’ (: gwên ‘smile’), tonnau ‘waves’ (: tonn ‘wave’) do not show the change (exc. hỿnaf ‘oldest’ assim. to the cpv. hŷn, § 148 i (11)).
(2) o > ỿ in the prefixes *ko‑, *kom‑, *kon‑, *to‑, *do‑, *ro‑; as W. cỿwir ‘correct’ < Kelt. *ko-u̯īros; rhỿ-fawr ‘very great’ < *(p)ro-māros; see § 16 iii; except when the vowel of the root is lost, as in W. cosp ‘punishment’, Ir. cosc < *kon-squ̯- § 96 iii (5); W. rhodd ‘gift’ < *(p)ro‑d- § 63 vi (1).—When separately accented rhỿ has acquired a new strong form rhɥ̄́, as rhɥ̄́ ddā́ ‘too good’; similarly *dỿ, *ẟỿ, written di in O. W. (< *do ‘to’), as a preposition became *ẟɥ > Ml. W. ẏ > Mn. W. i ‘to’ § 16 ii (3). So cyn before the equative, now sounded cɥn, and dialectally k̑ĭn.
