An Introduction to Early Welsh - Arthur Pendragon of Wales

24.] THE ARTICLE. 21
THE ARTICLE.
. In O.W. the article is ir throughout, e.g. ir pimphet eterin
the fifth bird, dir finnaun to the fountain. In Mid.W. yr remains
before vowels and h, e.g. yr amser the time, yr alanas (from
before other
galanas) the bloodfine, yr henwr the old man;
consonants except y
it becomes y, e.g. y bwyt the food, y wreic
(from gwreic) the woman; before y the usage varies, e.g. yr iarll
or y iarll the carl. But if the article be fused together with a
be elided after a
preceding conjunction or preposition, or if the y
preceding vowel, then 'r remains, e.g. y nef ar dayar heaven and
earth, yn gyuagos yr gaer near to the city, gwiryon yw'r liorwyn
ohonof i the maiden is innocent as regards me.
24. (a)
SYNTAX OF THE ARTICLE.
In addition to its use before common nouns the article
appears regularly before the names of certain countries, such as yr
Affrica Africa, yr Asia Asia, yr Alban Scotland, yr Almaen
Germany, yr Eidal Italy, yr Yspaen Spain, vn e.g. yw yr Asia,
deu yw yr Affrica, tri yw Europa Asia is one, Africa is two,
Europe is three FB. 216. Occasionally the article appears before
names of persons, e.g. yr Beli mawr ( = y Beli uawr WB. 191)
to Beli the Great RB. 93, 2; mwyhaf oe vrodyr y karei Lud y Lleuelys
Llud loved Llevelys more than any of his other brothers ib.
(b)
The article is not used before a noun followed by a dependent
genitive, e.g. gwyr ynys y kedyrn the men of the island of the
strong, unless it be accompanied by a demonstrative pronoun, e.g
or meint gwyrtheu hwnnw from that amount of miracles, or
unless the genitive be the equivalent of an adjective, e.g. y werin
eur the golden chessmen, y moch coet the wild pigs (lit.
the pigs of
the wood], y peir dateni the cauldron of rebirth, the regenerative
cauldron.