Imperative Mood.
Present.
| sg. | pl. | ||
| 1. | 1. | byẟwn | |
| 2. | byẟ | 2. | byẟwch |
| 3. | bit (bid), boet (‑d) poet (‑d) (bydded) |
3. | byẟent, bint |
.
Verbal Noun.
bot (bod)
¶ For a list of Ml. forms, with references, by Dr. J. G. Evans, see bb. 109 ff.
ii. Notes.—(1) Pres. ind.—Forms with ytt- (yt‑) appear in poetry in Mn. W. but are comparatively rare.
- Trist fu’r glêr tros dy fawr glwyf,
- Trist éto trosot ýtwyf.—G.G1., m 146/161.
‘Sad have been the minstrels for thy sore sickness, sad still am I.’
The 3rd sg. ydiw was so written up to the 16th cent.; and rhymes with words in ‑iw, as friw/ýdiw D.G. 35, cf. 119, 144, 193, etc., and g. 186, 193, 203, 206, 235, 247, also with yw (≡ iw); see § 77 v. The Late Mn. ydyw is an etymological spelling, and is read ỿ́diw, except by a few affected persons. The N.W. dial. form is ỿ́di (and, in answering questions only, ń̥di, a curious attempt to sound ỿ with the tongue in the d position). S.W. dial., in questions and answers, ódi.
ydys is sounded ỿ́dɥs; on ys see § 82 ii (1). In Mn. W. ỿd- and the rare ỿt- come only before monosyllabic forms, and always take the accent, †yssydynt w.m. 457 is formed from yssit § 162 vi (1).
The Late Mn. spelling mai of the conj, form seems to come from mai ḗ § 219 vi (1); elsewhere the pronunciation is mae ≡ maɥ or ma’; the form mai owes its adoption to the popular notion that a conjunction ‘that’ must differ from a verb ‘is’. The word means, not ‘that’, but ‘that it is’; as gwn mae Dafydd a’i gwnaeth ‘I know that it is D. who made it’.
(2) The consuetudinal pres. is in use in that sense in the spoken lang. (in N.W.), but the fut. is a commoner use. The form bit (bid) is mostly impv., see (5); but it is sometimes indic. even in Mn. W., owing doubtless to the survival of proverbs such as bid anwadal ehud ‘the fool is changeable’; thus
- Bid gwaeth gwybodau a gair
- Beirdd gwedi bardd y gadair.—Gu.O., M 146/450 (m. D.E.)
‘The sciences and renown of bards are worse after the [death of] the bard of the chair.’ Cf. bid sicr ‘it is certain, to be sure, of course’.
The forms †bi b.t. 12, †byẟhawt w.m. 456, etc. are fut. only.
