√bhō̆k/g‑; in early Kelt. before the loss of p, k … p > p … k in W. archen ‘shoe’, Bret. archen < *park- for *karp- < *qₑr’p- √qerāˣp- ‘shoe’ § 86 i (5).—(c) In Brit. n … l > l … n in W. telyn f. ‘harp’, Bret. telen, Corn. telein < *telenī for *ten-el-ī, √ten- ‘stretch’: W. tant ‘harpstring’, Lat. tendo, Gk. τείνω, etc.—(d) In W. l … ẟ > ẟ … l in meẟal ‘soft’ for *melaẟ < *meləd‑: Lat. mollis < *moldu̯is, Skr. mr̥dú‑ḥ ‘soft’, etc. √melāˣ‑; and in eiẟil ‘feeble’ for *eiliẟ, § 156 i (2): ymlā́ẟ § 204 i, √lēd- ‘weary, weak’.
British and Latin consonants in Welsh
The Soft Mutation.
§ 103. i. (1) Brit. and Lat. p, t, k, b, d, g, m between vowels became b, d, g, f, ẟ, ᵹ, f respectively in W. Thus W. Cyndaf < Brit. Cunotam(os);—W. saeth ‘arrow’ < *saᵹeth < Lat. sagitta;—W. deg ‘ten’ < Brit. *dekan < Ar. *dek̑m̥;—W. cybydd ‘miser’ < Lat. cupidus;—W. llafur ‘labour’ < Lat. labōrem. Numerous examples occur in the above sections. The change is called the “soft mutation”.
(2) As the same changes took place generally between a vowel and a sonant (see the details § 104), and as every initial consonant must be followed by a vowel or a sonant, it follows that where the preceding word ended in a vowel the initial is changed as above; thus while Brit. *oinos markos gave un march ‘one horse’, Brit. *oinā mammā gave un fam ‘one mother’, not *un mam.
(3) The conditions are, however, not quite the same initially as medially. Medially ‑sk- became ‑χχ- by the reaction of the two sounds on one another before the period of the present changes. But in the case of final ‑s and initial k- no reaction took place in the earlier period, and the sounds came down to later Brit. unchanged. It was then too late for sk to give χχ as shown by the retention of Lat. sc, see (5), and of Brit. medial sk from ksk etc. § 96 iii (5); thus the k- remained, and the final syllable with its ‑s ultimately disappeared. For similar reasons final ‑s preserved an initial media or m- intact. Hence we have the radical consonant after words or classes of words which ended originally in ‑s, such as mas. sg. nouns or adjectives; thus *díi̯ēus dagos > dydd da ‘good day’.
