22 Equatives

22.1 Welsh has an equative degree of the adjective, meaning 'as big', 'as new', and so on. It often has an air of exclamation about it: 'how big!', 'how new!' The equative suffix is -ed. There are no pure examples in PPD1, but the same form is used in two ways:

As an abstract noun:

gwynned y cwn . . . coched y clusteu
the (surprising) whiteness of the dogs . . . the (surprising) redness of the ears
As an equative supported by the adverb cynn -- 'equally'. (Do not confuse with cynn -- 'before'.)

The "thing compared with" may be introduced by a in the sense of 'as'.

Ni buost gynn hygared gwas ditheu.
Ni bu gynn hawsed gennyt titheu treulaw dy dda.
Cynn freisged oedd a mab chweblwydd.
Ni welsei mab a thad cynn debyged a'r mab i Pwyll Penn Annwfn.

Notes:

hawsed, equative from hawdd -- 'easy'.
Breisg -- 'sturdy'; chweblwydd = chwech + blwydd -- 'six-years'.
Tad -- 'father'; tebyg -- 'like', 'alike'.

22.2 Cynn is found in combination in a number of words:

	cystal	as good, like ('of the same status')
	cymeint	as much, as great
	cyfryw	of such a kind (here the prefix is from *cym, with the same meaning)
	cyfoed	'of such an age' (as young, as old)

"Arglwydd', heb wy, "ni bu gystal dy wybod."
Cystal oedd i'r dyn eithaf yn yr holl gyfoeth ac iddaw ynteu.
"Ni ddywedeis ys blwyddyn y gymeint yn y cyfryw le a hwnn."
"Ni byddy gyfoed ti a rei o wyr y wlad honn."
Y gwr cymeint a gerynt . . .

Note:

Cerynt (from caraf).

	gwynned y cwn . . . coched y clusteu
	the (surprising) whiteness of the dogs . . . the (surprising) redness of the ears