29 (≡ anffurf) ‘disfigurement’, yn braf w.m. 53 (≡ yn braff) ‘strong’, groft do. 73 ‘croft’.
(3) In Mn. W. ff and ph are used, the latter generally as a mutation of p only; but G.R. and J.D.R. use ph exclusively.
Many modern writers use ph in all positions where they perceive that it is derived from p, as in corph < Lat. corpus, writing ff where it does not appear to them to be so derived, as in cyff ‘stem, trunk’, ffon ‘stick’. It is mostly a distinction without a difference: cyff comes from Lat. cippus, and ffon is from Pr. Kelt. *spond‑, § 96 iv (1). The attempted differentiation is a useless one; and as the etymology of too many words is still uncertain, it cannot be carried out. It is better, therefore, to write ff always where the sound is immutable, and ph only as a conscious mutation of initial p; thus corff, cyff, ffon; chwe phunt, chwephunt ‘£6’, gwragedd a phlant ‘women and children’, blith draphlith ‘higgledy-piggledy’.
ii. (1) The sound th (þ) is represented in O. W. by th, as brith juv. ‘variegated’; by d, as papedpinnac m.c. ≡ pa beth bynnag ‘whatsoever’; by t after r, as gurt ox. ≡ gwrth, Mn. W. wrth ‘against’; and by þ, as papeþ juv. ≡ pa beth ‘what’.
(2) In Ml. W. the sound is generally written th, though in some early mss., as b.ch., sometimes t (after r) as kemyrt a.l. i 4 ≡ kỿmɥrth ‘took’. In Mn. W. it is always written th.
Such a form as perffeidẏaw Ỻ.a. 19 is no exception to the rule. The th had been voiced to dd, and the word was perffeiddi̯aw. It is so written in Early Mn. W., and the Late Mn. W. perffeithio is a re-formation. See § 108 iv (2).
iii. (1) The sound ch (χ) is written ch in O. W., as bichan ox. ≡ bỿchan ‘little’. Once we have gch, in iurgchell m.c. ‘fawn’, Mn. W. i̯ỿrchell.
(2) The sound is written ch consistently in Ml. and Mn. W., and there seem to be no variations to note.
§ 21. i. The sounds mh, nh, and ngh were written mp, nt, and nc in O. W.; and mp, nt and nc, ngk, or gk in Ml. W. These combinations continued to be written throughout the Ml. period, though the modern signs appear as early as w.m. or earlier; see § 107.
