early 13th cent.[1] The v.n. diddymu is a late 16th cent. word formed from diddim on the false assumption that it stands for diddym as dibin does for dibyn § 77 iii, whence dibynnu; a more correct, and prob. older, form is diddimio M.K. [40]. In the laws dyn diẟim means ‘a man without assets’, see a.l. ii 36. Hence we may suppose W. dim < *dī-smen ‘share, part, fraction’, √dāi- ‘divide’, R1a *dai‑, R2 *di‑, R3 dī- § 63 vii (5): Gk. δαίομαι, δαίς, Skr. dáyate ‘divides, allots, possesses’, dítiḥ ‘distribution’ (E. time < Pr. Germ. *tīman- ‘period’ < *dī‑); heb ddim lit. ‘without a fraction’. A dimin. (or obi. case) dimyn occurs in kymeint timmyn r.p. 582 ‘every jot’ (cf. kymein hun § 106 iii (2)); whence perhaps Mn. bob tipyn (by dissim. mm > bb, which gives pp).
Verbs
§ 171. i. (1) The Welsh verb has three moods, the indicative, the subjunctive and the imperative.
(2) The indicative mood has four tenses, the present, the imperfect, the past (aorist or perfect), and the pluperfect.
(3) The subjunctive mood has two tenses, the present and imperfect.
(4) The imperative mood has one tense, the present.
ii. (1) The pres. ind. is often future in meaning. In the spoken language the future is the usual meaning; the present sense is retained only in a few common verbs such as gwelaf ‘I see’, clywaf ‘I hear’, medraf ‘I can’, tybiaf ‘I think’. (Ordinarily the present meaning is expressed periphrastically.)
(2) The impf. indic. is seldom a mere impf. in meaning; usually it expresses Eng. ‘would’ or ‘could’.
The impf. is derived from the Ar. optative, and preserves its original meaning. It is used now in spoken W. as it is used in Homer and the Rig-Veda. Taking Meillet’s examples (Intr.² 193): Vedic kāmáyeta rā́jā samrā́ḍ bháviṭum ‘a king would like to be a supreme ruler’ = W. carai brenin fod yn benadur, cf. Mi wn ple mynnwn fy mod D.G. 501 ‘I know where I should like to be’, Mynnwn, pe nef a’i mynnai do. 288 ‘I would, if heaven would, [that ...]'; χερμάδιον…ὃ οὐ δύο γ’ ἄνδρε φέροιεν, E 303 = W. maen … ni chodai deu-ddyn, cf. Ni thynnai saith einioes hwn T.A.
- ↑ The metre called proest has instead of rhyme a correspondence of final consonants with varying vowels. The stanza referred to is by G.Gw. c. 1200 a.d.
