eryr benyw ‘female eagle’ the non-mutation of the b- of benyw shows that eryr remains mas. In fact the gender of a noun must be ascertained before gwryw or benyw can be added to it.
ii. There are however several nouns of common gender in Welsh, that is, nouns whose gender varies according to the sex of the individual meant. Such are dyn ‘man’ or ‘woman’, dynan ‘little person’, cyfyrder ‘second cousin’, wyr ‘grandchild’, tyst ‘witness’ (< Lat. testis com.), mudan ‘deaf-mute’, perthynas ‘relation’, gefell ‘twin’, cymar ‘mate’, llatai ‘love-messenger’, etc. § 139 v, cyw ‘pullus’, llo ‘calf’. Thus y mudan or y fudan; y perthynas or y berthynas; llo gwryw or llo fenyw.
See cyw f. D.G. 94, usually m.; un gymar f. D.G. 274; teir wyrẏon r.m. 112, w.m. 468 ‘three granddaughters’.
- Y ddyn fwyn oedd ddoe’n f’annerch:
- Aeth yn fud weithian y ferch.—D.E., g. 117.
‘The gentle lady yesterday greeted me: now the maid has become silent.’
- Ŵyr Cadwgon yw honno:
- Ŵyr i fab Meilir yw fo.—L.G.C. 367.
‘She is the granddaughter of Cadwgon; he is the grandson of Meilir’s son.’
- Danfonaf, o byddaf byw,
- At feinwen latai fenyw.—Ỻ., Ỻ 133/102.
‘I will send, if I live, to the maiden a female messenger.’
The initial consonant of dyn is sometimes left unmutated after the art. when f., as pwy yw’r dyn deg? D.G. 53 ‘who is the fair lady?’ But usually y ddyn as above, cf. § 38 vi, ex. 3.
dynes is a N. Walian vulgarism which has found its way into recent literature; it does not occur in the Bible or any standard work. The examples quoted by Silvan Evans are evident misreadings (dynes for y ddyn and dynes sad for dyn sad); but it is found in the work of a poetaster in p 112/365 (early 17th cent.). No pl. has been invented for it. Other late formations are cymhares and wyres, the former used in the 17th cent.
iii. Some mas. nouns used as terms of endearment, etc. become fem. when applied to females; as peth ‘thing’, byd ‘life’, cariad ‘love’, enaid ‘soul’; thus y beth dlawd ‘poor thing’ f.
- ’Y myd wen, mi yw dy ŵr,
- A’th was i’th burlas barlwr.—D.G. 156.
‘My fair life, I am thy husband and thy servant in thy leafy parlour.’
