1. _form_, Gw[^a]s fydhlon, _a faithful servant_. 2. Ei w[^a]s, _his servant_. {79} 3. Vy ngwas, _my servant_. Duw, _a god_. 1. _form_, Duw trugarog, _a merciful god_. 2. Ei dhuw, _his god_. 3. Vy nuw, _my god_. Bara, _bread_. 1. _form_, Bara cann, _white bread_. 2. Ei vara, _his bread_. 3. Vy mara, _my bread_. Lhaw, _a hand_. 1. _form_, Lhaw wenn, _a white hand_. 2. Ei law, _his hand_. Mam, _a mother_. 1. _form_, Mam dirion, _a tender mother_. 2. Eivam, _his mother_. Rhwyd, _a net_. 1. _form_, Rhwyd lawn, _a full net_. 2. Ei rwyd, _his net_. From the Erse. S['u]il, _an eye_. 1. _form_, S['u]il. 2. A h['u]il, _his eye_. Sl['a]inte, _health_. 2. _form_, Do hl['a]inte, _your health_. s. 136. When we have seen that one of the great characteristics of the Celtic tongues is to express inflection by initial changes, we may ask how far the principle of such change is common to the two branches--British or Gaelic; this and a few other details being quite sufficient to show the affinity between them. _Inflections formed by Changes of Initial Consonants._ The changes in Welsh, classified according to the relationship of the sounds are-- 1. From the sharp lenes to the corresponding flats; as _p_ to _b_, _t_ to _d_, _c_ to _g_. The changes in Irish are the same. 2. From the flat lenes to their corresponding so-called aspirates; as _b_ to _v_, _d_ to _dh_. This is the change in Welsh. In Irish we have the same, but only as far as _b_ is concerned; the aspirate of _d_ (_dh_) being wanting in that language. In neither Welsh nor Irish occurs the true aspirate of _g_. In neither Welsh nor Irish occurs the true aspirate of _c_; which, being wanting, is replaced by the sound of the _ch_ in the German _auch_, here spelt _c_. Now the Welsh grammarians deal with the changes from sharp to flat, and from lene to aspirate, alike; since, in respect to the grammar of their language, they are enabled to state that they take place under the same circumstances. {80} Taken collectively they are called light: and words wherein _p_ is changed to _b_, and those wherein _b_ is changed to _v_, are equally said to assume the light sound. This the Welsh express in spelling, and write _ben_ for _pen_, and _vraint_ for _braint_, &c. In Irish the arrangement is different. When a so-called aspirate is substituted for a lene, the word is said to take an aspiration, and _bheul_ is written _beul_. If, however, the sharp be made flat, the original sound is said to be eclipsed. In spelling, however, it is preserved; so that _teine_, with the _t_ changed, is written _dteine_, and pronounced _deine_. With this view we can now ask how far the change from _p_ to _b_, _t_ to _d_, _c_ to _g_, _b_ to _v_, _c_ to _c_, takes place in Irish and Welsh under similar circumstances.