10 Bod -- 'To Be', and its Compounds

10.1 (Consult GMW 136ff for the full forms.) Present tense. The curiosity of this tense is the fact that it has five different forms of the third person singular. Shades of use can be listed as follows:

	ys	the archaic one, only in occasional idioms, as noted
	yw	usually comes after a predicate and before the subject
	mae	comes before the subject -- in a question it can mean 'where?'
	oes	used in negatives, questions of fact, conditions
	yssydd	can sometimes be thought of as 'there is'

It is rare that the use of one rather than another affects the meaning.

10.2 (From now on, a sentence number in green italics means that the sentence is not based on PPD1, but on some later part of Pwyll, or even Branwen.)

"Brenin corunawg wyf i: Arawn brenin Annwfn wyf i."
"Pwy wyt ti?"
"Mi a wnn pwy wyt ti."
Iawn yw ei cymryd.
Blwyddyn i heno y mae oed ar y ryd.
"Mae yr ynifer?"
Nid oes yn y llys neb.
"Nid oes ansawdd i mi i'ch cynnal chwi bellach."
"Pa amgen feddwl yssydd yn yr arglwydd heno!"
"Nid hir etwa ydym ygyd."

Notes:

gwnn -- 'I know'.
pellach -- 'further', 'longer' (-ach is the comparative ending -- see Chapter 21).
Note the tense idiom. Literally, Not long yet are we together. In English, We haven't been together long.

10.3 Bod -- 'be', as opposed to other Welsh verbs, has a separate tense with a distinctly future meaning. The official name is the habitual or consuetudinal present. But more often, when used simply, it has a future sense. When it combines with yn and a verbal noun (sentences 2, 3, 7 of 10.2) it forms a continuous or progressive idea that does not have anything future in it.

10.4

"A mi a fyddaf hebryngiad."
Ac fal y bydd yn ymwarandaw a llef yr erchwys, ef a glyw llef erchwys arall.
Ac fal y bydd yn llithiaw y cwn, ef a wyl marchawg.
"Ni a fyddwn feicheu", heb Hefeydd. (sureties)
"A byddwch gydymdeithon chwitheu." (companions)
"A chwi a fyddwch ar y ffordd yn hir." (road)
Fal y byddant yn cerdded . . .

Notes:

ymwarandaw a -- 'listen to' (literally 'be in silence with')

10.5 Imperfect tense.

"Nid ydd oeddwn i yn holi dim."
"Ar y meddwl hwnnw ydd oeddwn inneu."
"Diryfedd oedd hynny", heb hitheu.
Yn hela ydd oeddwn yn Iwerddon dyddgweith. (in Ireland one day)
Nid ymywn ty ydd oeddynt, namyn ymywn palleu. (not in a house, but in tents)
Ac fal ydd oeddynt yn eistedd yfelly . . .

10.6 The preterite tense in most verbs would be used for a simple fact ot action in the past, as opposed to the imperfect, which would imply some state. But this distinction does not operate very clearly with the verb bod.

10.7

"Ni buost gwas hygar ditheu."
Ac yno y bu y nos honno.
"Ni bu well dy dosbarth eiroed."
"Mae yr ynifer y buom ni doe?" (yesterday)
Ac ni bu hir y buont. (And it was not long they were. -- They were not long.)
Y buant flwyddyn gyda mi.
Ac ar hynny o giniaw y buant seith mlynedd. (And they were at that sort of dining [banquet] seven years.)

10.8 There are a number of verbs which are, in part or whole, compounds of bod. The most common of these is gwnn, gwybod -- 'to know'. The present and imperfect forms in Pwyll and Branwen are:

	Present	gwnn	--	gwyr	:	gw(y)ddom	--	--
	Imperfect	gwyddwn	--	gwyddat	:	--	--	--

For other parts, see GMW 147-148.

"A unben," heb ef, "mi a wnn pwy wyt ti."
"Gwnn, arglwydd," heb ef, "a hynn a wnn, mi a'e managaf iti."
"Mi a wnn beth yw hynny."
"Duw, a wyr pob peth, a wyr hynny."
"Nid oes neb yma a wyr, onís gwyr Branwen."
"Ni a wddom na byddy ti gyfoed a rei o wyr y wlad honn."
"Ni wyddwn achos i'm lladd i."
Ni wyddat pwy a'i lladdei.

Notes:

(and 8) pwy -- 'who'.
Iti = i ti.
A standard formula to describe God.
Onís (also oni, onid) -- 'unless' ('if not').
Cyfoed (cyf + oed) -- 'of equal age', rhei -- 'some'. In this sentence gwyr (with the rising diphthong) is the plural of gwr -- 'man'. See how easy it is to confuse with gwyr (with the falling diphthong) -- 'knows'. Also, in sentences 6 to 8, note the possibility of confusing the two meanings of ni.
Lladdei is a past tense, 'killed, was killing'.

10.9 The other forms of gwybod are combinations of gwydd + bod -- 'be aware'.

"Gwybyddwch y gyfranc fal y bu."
Wynteu hagen ni wybuyssynt ei eiseu ef.
Ni wybyddei neb un geir i wrth yr ebawl.
"Dial Duw i mi, oni wybyddaf pa dileith yssydd."
Pan wybu ef ar y farch pallu ei bedestrig . . .

Notes:

Gwybuyssynt (a pluperfect) -- 'they had not been aware, they had not known'.
Ebawl -- 'colt' (cf. Latin equolus -- 'small horse').
A mild oath: 'God's revenge on me, if I don't . . .'; dileith -- 'plague, destruction'.
Pallu -- 'fade, flag' -- 'the flagging of its pace'.

10.10 Some miscellaneous compounds of bod:

Atfod -- 'be possible'. Almost always in the form atfydd -- 'it is possible, maybe, perhaps'.
Adnabod -- 'recognise, know'.
Hanfod -- 'be from, originate in'.
Darfod -- 'finish, come to an end'.

"Ac atfydd y mae dy anrydedd fal na's dyly."
"Ac wrth fal y gwelych y gwasanaeth yn y llys, ydd adnabyddy foes y llys."
Ni adnabyddant y farchoges.
"Brenin corunawg wyf i yn y wlad ydd hanwyf . . ."
"Pa wlad ydd hanwyt titheu?"
Ac yna, gwedi darfod y tangnefedd . . .

Note:

Tangnefedd -- 'truce, peace'.