- Nid wylais gyda’r delyn
- Am ’y nhad gymain a hynn.—I.D. tr. 151.
‘I have not wept with the harp for my [own] father as much as this.’
ii. (1) The neut. hyn or hynny is substantival, not adjectival. In Mn. W. it is sometimes used adjectivally after certain nouns; but as the construction is unusual in Ml. W., it must be a neologism: yn y kyfrwg̃ hynny r.b.b. 11 for yg̃ kyfrwg̃ hynny do. 319, 320, 321. The examples show that it is added to nouns expressing ideas for which substantival hyn stands.
o’r chwedl hir hyn H.A. Ỻ 133/164 ‘of this long story’; A’r peth hyn S.Ph. e.p. 275 ‘and this thing’ [which thou knowest]; y peth hyn Dan. iii 16 ‘this matter’; ein neges hyn Jos. ii 14, 20 ‘this our business’; y pryd hynny 1 Sam. xiv 18; ai’r pryd hyn Act. i 6.—This use of hyn, hynny never became common, but seems to have been more or less local. In Gwent hyn adj. has spread, and is now used with all nouns.—O.W. hinnith after ir loc guac in cp. 6 seems to be an error for hinnuith as in 9, 11, 14, 15, a form of hwnnw, with ỿ for w in the penult, cf. § 66 ii (1).
(2) The pl. hyn or hynny is both adjectival and substantival. The former use is extremely common. The latter is comparatively rare; examples are—
ny thebygaf i ẏ un o hyn vynet w.m. 35 ‘I do not imagine any of these will go’, a hene (≡ hỿnnɥ) a elguyr goskorth e brenyn a.l. i 8 ‘and those are called the king’s guard’. Ni phalla un o hyn Es. xxxiv 16 ‘No one of these shall be missing’.
The reason that this use is rare is that hyn or hynny pl. was liable to be confused with hyn or hynny neut. sg.; thus hyn ‘these’ might be taken for hyn ‘this (number)’. To avoid the ambiguity ‘these’ and ‘those’ substantival were expressed by y rhai hyn and y rhai hynny, literally ‘these ones’ and ‘those ones’. Though still commonly written in full, these expressions were contracted, early in the Mn. period, to y rhain G.G1. c. i 198 and y rheiny do. do. 194, or y rheini T.A. a 24980/85.
- Angeu Duw fu ’Nghedewain
- O’i trysor hwy ’n treisiaw ’r rhain.—L.G.C. 175.
‘The death [angel] of God has been at Cedewain, robbing these [i.e. the people there[1]] of their treasure.’
- ↑ Cf. Θεμιστοκλῆς φεύγει ἐς Κέρκυραν, ὢν αὐτῶν εὐεργέτης, Thuc. i 136. “Massiliam pervenit, atque ab iis receptus urbi praeficitur,” Caes. B.C. i 36.—Paul-Strong 163.
