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!

Arglwydd ydd oedd Pwyll ar seith cantref Dyfed.
Mi a wnaf o anglod it gwerth can carw.
Trwy y deu frenin y mae yr oed hwnn, a hynny yrwng y deu gorff wylldeu.
Ac ar hynny y deu frenin a gyfodant.
Ac erbyn hanner dydd trannoeth ydd oedd yn ei feddiant y dwy deyrnas.
A daw y dwy deyrnas yn un drwy ei filwraeth.

Note:

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.

Yna ydd eistedd macwyfeid a gweison ieueinc.
Deu farchawg a ddaw i wared ei wisg hela i amdanaw.
Tyrr yr arfeu oll.

Notes:

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'.
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.

Ganthunt ydd oedd clusteu cochion.
"Fy ngwyrda cywir," heb yr Hafgan, "dygwch fi oddyma."

Note:

Imperative plural, of the same shape as the indicative.

16.5 Some more examples of plurals generally:

Ymgolli a orug a'i gydymdeithon.
Ac fal ydd oedd wynned y cwn oedd coched y clusteu.
A cherdded a orug at y cwn.
O helgwn y byd . . .
Ac yn y llys ef a wyl hundyeu ac yneuaddeu ac ystefyll ac adeiladeu.
Llyma a wyl ef teulu ac yniferoedd.
A chyrchu y borddeu a orugant.
O holl lysoedd y ddaear, llyna y llys ddiwallaf o eur-lestri a theyrn-dlyseu.
Ac ynteu a ddaw i'r oed, a gwyrda ei gyfoeth ygydag ef.
Ac yna fydd Hafgan hyd ei freich a'i baladr dros bedrein ei farch i'r llawr.
"Fy ngwyrda cywir," heb y gwr a oedd yn lle Arawn, "cymerwch eich cyfarwydd."
Cymmellaf i o nerth cleddyfeu.
A threulaw a orug y dydd hwnnw trwy eistedd ac ymddiddan a'i wreig ac a'i wyrda.
A dechreu ymofyn a gwyrda y wlad.
A rhydd yr Arawn meirch a milgwn a hebogeu.

Notes:

A common formula introducing an idea of excellence (cf. 8).
ddiwallaf is a superlative, to be treated in Chapter 20.
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'.)
'By force of arms (of swords)'.