(15); únon Gr. O. 118 for ún-ofn ‘one fear’; annwn for annwfn ‘hell’; dodren in the dialects, and sometimes in the bards, for dodrefn § 82 ii (3); colon for colofn, see example; ysgafn ‘light’ retains its f in N.W. dial.; in S.W. ysgawn or ysgon is used.
- Val Samson wrth golon gynt
- A fu’n rhwym yw fy nhremynt.—G.Gl. p 83/59.
‘Like Samson, who was bound to a column of old, is my condition.’
Final fl gave I in S.W. côl L.G.C. 280, for cofl ‘bosom, embrace.’
(5) Final f began to disappear very early in the spoken language; we already find gwartha for gwarthaf in l.l. 196. Its earliest regular loss (apart from the cases cited in (1) above) occurred after i, as in the v. n. termination ‑i, e.g. moli ‘to praise’ for *molif, O.W. molim juv. sk.; lli for llif ‘flood’; divri r.p. 1149 for difrif ‘serious’; cyfri D.G. 4 for cýf-rif ‘to count’. But in the 14th cent. it had come to be freely dropped after any vowel, as the following rhymes show: ne’/bore G.Gr. d.g. 238, ydwy’/mwy D.G. 72, cry’/lesu do. 474, ha’/Efa do. 157; so wna’ D.G. 72, kynta’ r.p. 1277. The word is treated in every way as a word ending in a vowel; thus it is followed by ’n for yn, ’r for y or yr, etc., as ofnwy’r D.G. 321 for ofnwyf y; ydwy’n for ydwyf yn § 125 iii ex. 1; Tre’rkastell r.p. 1210 for Tref y Castell.
Final f is not known to drop in the old words glaif ‘sword’, of ‘raw’, blif ‘catapult’ or in lit. W. llef ‘cry’, sef ‘that is’. It is still retained in the spoken language in dof ‘tame’, rhwyf ‘oar’, bref ‘bleat’, prif ‘chief’, Taf ‘Taff’, and in borrowed words, as braf ‘fine’: Fr. brave, E. brave.
iv. (1) Initial ẟ in O. W. di ‘to’ disappeared, giving Ml. W. ẏ, Mn. W. i, ‘to’ § 65 iv (2).
(2) Medial ẟ disappears in mewn: Ir. medōn § 215 iii (1); in the verb rhoddaf, v.n. rhoddi ‘to give’, which became rho-af > rhôf, v.n. rhoi; see rhoist, etc. § 33 iii (1); but the ẟ also persisted in the written language; see § 186. Similarly arhoaf for *arhoddaf § 187 iii. Medial ẟ also disappears in tỿddɥn > tyn in place-names of the form Tɥn-ỿ-mā́es (*tỿɥn > *tɥɥn, *tɥ̄n, tɥn).
Medial ẟ is sometimes lost as the initial of the second element of a compound; thus rheg-ofydd (rec ouyt m.a. i 324, 344) ‘lord of gifts’ for rheg-ẟofydd (recẟovyẟ w.m. 452, r.m. 100); Duw Ofydd for Duw Ddofydd, Cred-ofydd for Cred-ẟofydd, etc. It was also lost before an explosive, as in Blegywryt a.l. i 338 (ms. l.) for Bleẟ-gywryd (Bledeuurit l.l. 222); diwédydd (diwedit b.b. 90) ‘evening’ for *diwéẟ-dyẟ; gwybed ‘flies’ for gwyẟbed (gwyẟbet r.m. 54).
(3) Final ẟ was lost in the relative ydd before a consonant, § 162 i. It disappeared early in the 2nd sg. pres. ind. of verbs, § 173 iii (2). It dropped in yssyẟ ‘who is’ (often issi ≡ yssȳ́ in b.b.), though sydd may still be heard as well as sy. Sometimes in naw Duw! f.n. 63 for nawẟ Duw! ‘God’s protection!’ (i.e. God help us!). In i fynydd
