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16  Plurals

16.1  Plurals in this text are listed in Appendix B. A fuller treatment will be found in GMW 27. When Welsh lost its final syllables, nearly all the plural markers of Indo-European disappeared from the language. The old penultimate syllables -- all sorts of miscellaneous noun formants -- now became plural markers, and the general confusion led to many formations by analogy. To a certain extent this situation is ameliorated by the fact that Welsh uses a singular noun form in some places where English and many other languages would expect a plural.

16.2  When the "plurality" of a noun is shown by a numeral, the noun does not normally have a plural ending. A notable instance of linguistic economy!

  1. Arglwydd ydd oedd Pwyll ar seith cantref Dyfed.
  2. Mi a wnaf o anglod it gwerth can carw.
  3. Trwy y deu frenin y mae yr oed hwnn, a hynny yrwng y deu gorff wylldeu.
  4. Ac ar hynny y deu frenin a gyfodant.
  5. Ac erbyn hanner dydd trannoeth ydd oedd yn ei feddiant y dwy deyrnas.
  6. A daw y dwy deyrnas yn un drwy ei filwraeth.
Note:
  1. Daw is the third person singular of deuaf, dyfod -- 'come'.
16.3  For similar "economic" reasons, a plural noun subject usually has a singular verb. In 16.2 above, compare sentence 6, but contrast sentence 4.
  1. Yna ydd eistedd macwyfeid a gweison ieueinc.
  2. Deu farchawg a ddaw i wared ei wisg hela i amdanaw.
  3. Tyrr yr arfeu oll.
Notes:
  1. A way of expressing purpose that seems very natural to an English speaker, but do remember that gwared is a verbal noun, and that the literal meaning is 'to the taking-off'.
  2. Tyrr from torraf.
16.4  An adjective referring to a plural noun may be pluralised, as in sentence 1 of 16.3 above or the first sentence below, but more usually it is not.
  1. Ganthunt ydd oedd clusteu cochion.
  2. "Fy ngwyrda cywir," heb yr Hafgan, "dygwch fi oddyma."
Note:
  1. Imperative plural, of the same shape as the indicative.
16.5  Some more examples of plurals generally:
  1. Ymgolli a orug a'i gydymdeithon.
  2. Ac fal ydd oedd wynned y cwn oedd coched y clusteu.
  3. A cherdded a orug at y cwn.
  4. O helgwn y byd . . .
  5. Ac yn y llys ef a wyl hundyeu ac yneuaddeu ac ystefyll ac adeiladeu.
  6. Llyma a wyl ef teulu ac yniferoedd.
  7. A chyrchu y borddeu a orugant.
  8. O holl lysoedd y ddaear, llyna y llys ddiwallaf o eur-lestri a theyrn-dlyseu.
  9. Ac ynteu a ddaw i'r oed, a gwyrda ei gyfoeth ygydag ef.
  10. Ac yna fydd Hafgan hyd ei freich a'i baladr dros bedrein ei farch i'r llawr.
  11. "Fy ngwyrda cywir," heb y gwr a oedd yn lle Arawn, "cymerwch eich cyfarwydd."
  12. Cymmellaf i o nerth cleddyfeu.
  13. A threulaw a orug y dydd hwnnw trwy eistedd ac ymddiddan a'i wreig ac a'i wyrda.
  14. A dechreu ymofyn a gwyrda y wlad.
  15. A rhydd yr Arawn meirch a milgwn a hebogeu.
Notes:
  1. A common formula introducing an idea of excellence (cf. 8).
  2. ddiwallaf is a superlative, to be treated in Chapter 20.
  3. hyd is a noun meaning 'length', and this leads naturally to an adverbial 'as far as'. (Also the famous Welsh harp tune, Ar hyd y nos -- 'All through the night'.)
  4. 'By force of arms (of swords)'.
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All text copyright © 1996 by Gareth Morgan. Online layout copyright © 2001 by Daniel Morgan.