ii. In some cases the desynonymization is only partial: tadau means both ‘fathers’ and ‘ancestors’, but teit Ỻ.A. 121, Mn. W. taid means the latter only, as
- Penaethiaid yw dy daid oll.—G.I.H., Ỻ 133/211.
‘All thy ancestors are chieftains.’ teidiau ‘ancestors’ is perhaps to be treated as the pl. of taid ‘grandfather’, a derivative (< *tati̯os?) of tad, cf. nain ‘grandmother’ (< *nani̯ā?). The pl. ais, while continuing to mean ‘ribs’, was used for ‘breast’ D.G. 316, and became a sg. noun, fem. (like bron), as
- Am Robert y mae’r ebwch
- Yn f’ ais drom anafus drwch.—T.A., g. 230.
‘For Robert is the cry in my heavy wounded broken breast.’
But asau and asennau retained their literal meaning. In the spoken language now, ais is ‘laths’ (sg. eisen), asennau ‘ribs’ (sg. asen).
iii. Partial desynonymization extends to the sg. in deilen ‘leaf’ (of a tree only), dalen ‘leaf’ (natural or artificial), dail ‘leaves’ (of trees or books), dalennau ‘leaves’ (artificial only, but Ml. W. dalenneu b.b. 101 ‘leaves’ of trees). Complete desynonymization has taken place in the sg. and pl. in cors f. ‘marsh’, pl. corsydd, and corsen f. ‘reed’, pl. cyrs (in Ml. W. cors, corsydd meant ‘reed, reeds’ also, see Silvan Evans s. v.); tant ‘harp-string’, pl. tannau, and tennyn ‘halter’, pl. tenynnod.
iv. Desynonymization occurs in the sg. only in conyn ‘stalk’, cawnen ‘reed’; gwïalen ‘twig, wand’, gwïelyn ‘osier’ (used in wicker-work—the original meaning, § 75 vi (2)).
In the dialects also coeden ‘tree’ “vox nuperrimè ficta” D.D. and coedyn ‘piece of wood’. The word for ‘tree’ in lit. W. is pren; cf. ny elwir coet o un prenn r.p. 1044 ‘wood is not said of one tree.’
In some cases, of course, the diminutive was from its earliest formation distinct in meaning from its base; as yden f. ‘a grain of corn’ from yd ‘corn’ mas. sg. (yr yd hwn ‘this corn’), pl. ydau ‘varieties of corn’.
Anomalous Plurals.
§ 132. A few anomalous plurals remain to be noticed: (1) ci ‘dog’, pl. cwn; ci < Kelt. *kū < *ku̯ū < Ar. *k̑(u)u̯ō: Skr. s̑vā́ § 89 iii; cŵn < Brit. *kunes < Ar. *k̑unes.
