Appendix E: Present Tense Third Person Singular

E.1 The standard paradigm for the present tense is of caraf, caru ('love'):

	caraf	carwn
	cery	cerwch (*cerywch)
	car	carant

The second person singular and plural regularly has Y-affection, so that /a/ in the base will become /e/. Examples might be erchy (from archaf), cenwch (from canaf).

E.2 The third person singular car represents original *carat. Other examples of this formation include can, tal, gad (these forms would be circumflexed in Modern Welsh ) and some verbs with /e/ or /y/, such as cymer, adfer, mynn, gofyn, dyly. But the majority of third person singulars come from an original *-it ending (whether this was an original i-stem, or by analogy). Therefore they show I-affection. Examples:

eirch from archaf ask
geill gallaf can
cynneil cynhaliaf support (note i-stem)
etteil attaliaf restrain (note i-stem)
seif safaf stand
ceiff caffaf take
dyweid dywedaf say
gwyl (*gweil) gwelaf see
rhydd rhoddaf give
hyllt holltaf split
tyrr torraf break
cyfyd cyfodaf rise
gwerendeu gwarandaf (*gwarandawaf) listen

E.3 The "centering" vowel-change means that some verbs will reveal their base vowels only in the third singular. The suffixed forms will be "centered".

dwg but dygaf, dygy, . . . take, lead
cwsg cysgaf, cysgy, . . . sleep
meddwl meddyliaf, meddyly, . . . think
hawl holaf, holy, . . . claim

E.4 Some "denominative" verbs (verbs made from nouns or adjectives) use a suffix -ha. (The verbal noun is regularly -hau. The /h/ is not regularly notated, but sometimes shows in unvoicing the previous consonant. [Note: This is the phenomenon known as "provection".] This suffix used to carry the stress, but this too is sporadic in MlW.) The third singular has a zero marker:

digrif(h)a entertains (makes digrif 'pleasant')
bwyta eats (uses bwyd 'food')
tycya avails (has twg 'success')
gwreica marries (gets a gwreig 'wife')
cadarnha strengthens (makes cadarn 'strong')
parha lasts, continues

eirch	from	archaf	ask
geill		gallaf	can
cynneil		cynhaliaf	support	(note i-stem)
etteil		attaliaf	restrain	(note i-stem)
seif		safaf	stand
ceiff		caffaf	take
dyweid		dywedaf	say
gwyl (*gweil)		gwelaf	see
rhydd		rhoddaf	give
hyllt		holltaf	split
tyrr		torraf	break
cyfyd		cyfodaf	rise
gwerendeu		gwarandaf (*gwarandawaf)	listen

dwg	but	dygaf, dygy, . . .	take, lead
cwsg		cysgaf, cysgy, . . .	sleep
meddwl		meddyliaf, meddyly, . . .	think
hawl		holaf, holy, . . .	claim

digrif(h)a	entertains	(makes digrif 'pleasant')
bwyta	eats	(uses bwyd 'food')
tycya	avails	(has twg 'success')
gwreica	marries	(gets a gwreig 'wife')
cadarnha	strengthens	(makes cadarn 'strong')
parha	lasts, continues