> In the standard literary language, what is (a) the normative > rule, and (b) current practice regarding the aspiration of a vowel > following I'W when it means 'to their'? > > The handbooks I've consulted are equivocal or silent on the point, > while the obvious analogies -- i.e. eu hathro, o'u hathro, therefore > I'W HATHRO; but on the other hand i'w car, i'w tad (no > mutation), therefore i'w athro (no aspiration) -- seem to > point both ways. Although I'm no native speaker, as far as I know, both forms (eu and 'w) behave in exactly the same way: They don't cause aspirate mutation but they do prefix an h- to a following word beginning with a vowel. e.g.: eu hathro - i'w hathro eu car - i'w car eu tad - i'w tad There are some similar cases, where there is only this h-prefix to words beginning with vowels without the aspiration of consonants. Ein for example, behaves in the same way, e. g. ein car, but ein hathro. Konstantin Woebking