20 Superlatives

20.1 The superlative ending is -af

harddaf	most beautiful, very beautiful, most handsome	(The word hardd originally meant 'high', 'lofty', as in its Latin analogue, arduus. Hence the famous name of Harlech (hardd + llech -- 'the lofty rock'). Then came the semantic shift from 'high' to 'handsome'.)
cyweiraf	readiest, very ready, best equipped
disymlaf, boneddigeidaf, diwallaf, etc.
cyntaf	first	(from cynn 'before')
eithaf	lowest

At first, the ending was -haf (originally *-samos -- the same ending that you see in Latin -issimus and Italian words like fortissimo). The effect of the original -h may "unvoice" final B, D, G, so that they become P, T ,C.

	teg	'fair'
	tecaf	'fairest'

20.2

Mi a'th roddaf y wreig decaf a weleist eiroed i gyscu gyda thi beunoeth.
Ac yn y llys ef a welei hundyeu ac yneuaddeu, ac ystefyll, a'r arddurn tecaf a welsei neb o adeiladeu.
Gwelei ef y decaf wreig o'r a welsei neb.
Llyma y gwelei ef teulu ac yniferoedd, a'r nifer harddaf a chyweiraf o'r a welsei neb.
Ac o'r a welsei eirioed wrth ymddiddan a hi, disymlaf gwreig a boneddigeidaf oedd.
O'r a welsei o holl lysoedd y ddaear, llyna y llys ddiwallaf o fwyd a llynn ac eurlestri a theyrndlysseu.
Ac ar y gosod cyntaf, y gwr a oedd yn lle Arawn a osodes ar Hafgan ym mherfedd bogel ei darian.
Cyntaf y gwnaeth ef ymddiddan a'i wreig.
Cystal oedd i'r dyn eithaf ac iddaw ynteu.

Notes:

eiroed -- 'ever'; also appears in forms eirioed, erioed.
o'r a -- 'of those which'; in this phrase yr is a residue of the old demonstrative which has become the definite article. There are questions about this, but this is exactly the development which has happened in Romance, Greek, Germanic, etc.
cystal -- 'equal, the same' -- an equative as in Chapter 22.