‘furze’ < *ektīn- < *ak-tīn‑, √ak̑‑/oq‑; seithug ‘fruitless’; < *sek-tonk- < *sequ̯- ‘without’ + *teu‑q‑, √teu̯āˣ- ‘increase’ ; eithaf ‘extreme’ < *ek-tₑm-os: Lat. extimus.
(2) In Ml. W. there was a tendency to voice this th to ẟ, as in perffeiẟẏaw Ỻ. A. 19 from perffeith, now re-formed as perffeithio ‘to perfect’; arhwaeddont do. 32 ‘they may taste’ (: chweith ‘taste’). The ẟ survives in cynysgaeẟu from cynysgaeth ‘endowment’. In aeth + vb. ‘to be’ forming old perfects and pluperfects, the diphthong was simplified, giving ath‑, affected to eth‑, as ethyw Ỻ.A. 82, more commonly eẟyw ‘went’; so aẟoeẟ ‘had gone’, etc., § 193 vi (3), (5).—Final ẟ so produced disappeared in heno, yna, etc. § 78 i (1).
v. Lat. x >*χ̑s > i̯s; thus ax > aes, etc. ; as W. llaes ‘trailing’ < laxus; pais, Ml. W. peis < pexa (tunica); coes ‘leg’ < coxa. So Saeson < Saxones, Sais < Saxō § 69 ii (2). Similarly Brit. ‑ks- from ‑nks- etc., § 96 iii (6).
Initial Mutation.
§ 109. We have seen that Welsh has nine mutable consonants. Initially the radical and mutated forms exist side by side in the living language. The use of the various mutations is determined by syntactical rules which have sprung from generalizations of prevalent forms. Thus an adjective after a fem. sg. noun has its soft initial because most fem. sg. nouns ended in a vowel.
The following table shows all the mutations of the nine mutable consonants:
| Radical | p | t | c | b | d | g | m | ll | rh |
| Soft | b | d | g | f | dd | — | f | l | r |
| Nasal | mh | nh | ngh | m | n | ng | No change | ||
| Spirant | ph | th | ch | No change | No change | ||||
The words “No change” in the table mean that the consonants under which they are placed retain their radical forms in those positions where the others undergo the respective mutations. Thus after yn, which nasalizes the explosives, m, ll, and
