Category: Welsh (Cymraeg)

Throats and trees

By Simon

One Scottish Gaelic expression I learnt last week was “Tha craobh air mo sgòrnan” or literally “There’s a tree on my throat”. This is the Gaelic equivalent of “There’s a frog in my throat”, which is used when you are rendered temporarily speechless due to a small amphibian taking up residence in your oesophagus, or when you have a sore throat. Fortunately I don’t have one now, but I did have one just before I went to Scotland.

In Irish you might say:

– tá sceach i mo scornach = there’s a hawthorn / thornbush in my throat
– tá piachán i mo sceadamán = there’s a pain in my throat
– tá ciach orm = there’s a hoarseness on me
– tá slócht orm = there’s a hoarseness, throatiness on me
– tá sceadamán / scornach nimhneach orm = I have a sore throat

Sources: foclóir.ie and Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla Ó Donaill

In Manx you might say: ta cred orrym = there’s a grunt / cough / roughness / tickle on me [source].

The equivalent is Welsh is Dw i’n gryg/gryglyd/crygu [source] – gryg and gryglyd come from cryg, which means “hoarse, harsh, raucous”, and crygu means “to grow/make hoarse; to stammer” [source].

Are there equivalent idioms in other languages?

Sabhal Mòr Ostaig

By Simon

This week I am doing a course in Scottish Gaelic songs at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the Gaelic college on the Isle of Skye. While all the songs I’m learning are in Gaelic, the class it taught mainly in English, so I don’t get to speak much Gaelic in class. Outside class there are plenty of opportunities to speak Gaelic with college staff and other students, who are doing courses in language, fiddle or step dancing.

This is my fifth visit to the college, and each time my Gaelic gets a bit better. I rarely speak it at home, apart from to myself, but do listen to online Gaelic radio and occasionally read things in Gaelic. I tend to mix Irish and Scottish Gaelic a bit as I know a lot more Irish, and if I don’t know how to say something in Scottish Gaelic I try it in Irish. Sometimes it works.

On the way here and in the college I’ve heard and/or spoken quite a few different languages – plenty of English and Gaelic, and also Spanish, Italian, French, Irish, Welsh, Mandarin, Japanese, Russian and German. So this is a good place to practice a variety of languages.

Llongrats!

By Simon

In the comments on an article about Welsh literature I read today, I came across the word llongrats!, which appears to be a Welsh-English hybrid combining the Welsh word llongyfarchiadau and it’s English equivalent, congratulations.

While it’s common for bilingual people to switch languages, often in mid-sentence, this is the first example I’ve seen of a mid-word switch in Welsh/English.

Have you come across anything like this?

Actually, when I come to think about it some words in English do have bilingual roots, particularly those borrowed from Latin and Greek, such as television, from the Greek τῆλε ‎(têle – at a distance, far off/away/from) and from the Latin vīsiō ‎(vision, seeing), via Anglo-Norman and Old French.

Languages in Newcastle

By Simon

Last weekend I went to see a friend in Newcastle, and while we were exploring the place, I was listening out for languages other than English. The only ones I heard were Mandarin and Spanish, and my friend and I spoken mainly in English and Welsh, with a bit of Czech thrown in for variety.

While I was there we saw The Revenant, which includes dialogue in English, French and Arikara, a Caddoan language closely related to Pawnee, and spoken by a handful of people in North Dakota.

I’m sure other languages are spoken in Newcastle, as it’s a relatively large city with a number of universities and plenty of foreign students, but maybe we were in the wrong parts to hear much foreign talk.

I also heard plenty of Geordie, the local dialect, and didn’t get some of the things people said to me first time, so had to ask them to repeat themselves. It differs from standard English in various ways, and if you’re not used to it can sound almost like a different language.

Are there any regional accents / dialects in your country that you have trouble understanding?

Les mots de la semaine

By Simon
français English Cymraeg
le rouge à lèvres lipstick minlliw, lliwydd
le rouge, le rouge à joues rouge powdwr coch, rouge, gruddliw
la suie soot huddygl, parddu
être sur le cas to be on the case
dire qch sur un ton pince-sans-rire to say sth tongue in cheek dwueud rhwybeth â’ch tafod yn eich boch
dwueud rhwybeth â’ch tafod am eich dant
rappeler qch à qn to remind sb of sth atgoffa rhywun o rywbeth
dwyn rhywbeth i gof rhywun
l’Hôtel Matignon residence and offices of French Prime Minister
l’orchestre (m) stalls (in a theatre) seddau blaen
la fosse orchestra pit pwll cerddorfa
le balcon (dress) circle (in a theare) seddau’r cylch
cylch y boneddigion
y cylch cyntaf
la loge box (in a theatre) bocs, côr seddau
le lavabo, la cuvette de lavabo wash basin basn ymolchi
la prunelle sloe eirinen dagu
le gin à la prunelle sloe gin jin eirin
racler les fonds de tiroir to scrape the barrel crafu’r gasgen
le chevalier knight marchog
le cavalier knight (in chess) marchog
le plan d’urgence contingency plan cynllun at raid
cynllun wrth gefn

Flan cupboards

By Simon

A Welsh plygain song I’ve been learning recently with some friends (Carol y Swper) features the word fflangell in the line “Ein Meichiau a’n Meddyg dan fflangell Iddweig”.

We weren’t sure what it meant at first, and guessed that it was some kind of container for a flan or a flan cupboard. A fflan is a flan, and cell means cell or bower, and in compound words can mean a container or building. For example oergell (cold cell) is a fridge, rhewgell (frost/ice cell) is a freezer, and llyfrgell (book cell) is a library.

So we thought the line meant something like “Our arms and doctor under the Jewish flan cupboard.” Hilarity ensued. It actually means “Our Surety and Healer under the Jewish scourge.”

You can hear the whole song at:

We will be singing in a plygain service in Bangor cathedral starting at 7pm on Friday 15th January as Parti Min Menai.

Do you have any examples of mistranslated or misheard song lyrics?

Big fun!

By Simon

A friend of mine who is learning Welsh likes to translate Welsh expressions literally and then use them in English. One Welsh equivalent of goodbye is hwyl fawr [hʊɨl vaur], which he translates as “big fun”, which sounds quite funny in English. Do any other languages have a phrase used when parting that has a similar meaning?

The Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru explains hwyl fawr as “a valediction, roughly equivalent to ‘All the best!’, or ‘Cheers!’. Which should not be confused with yr hwyl fawr, which is ‘the principal sail of a ship, mail-sail or main-sheet.’

hwyl can also mean:
– sail (of ship, windmill, etc), sheet, covering, pall
– journey, progress, revolution, orbit, course, route, career, rush, assault, attack
– healthy physical or mental condition, good form, one’s right senses, wits; tune (of musical instrument); temper, mood, frame of mind; nature disposition; fervour, ecstasy, gusto, zest
– merry-making, hilarity, jollity, mirth, gaiety, amusement, fun, humour

Some expressions featuring hwyl include:
– am hwyl = for fun, by way of a joke
– hwyl dda = fine state of health; good spirits, good mood
– hwyl ddrwg = physical indisposition; bad mood
– cael hwyl = to have fun, enjoy oneself, make good progress
– cael hwyl am ben (rhywun) = to make fun of (someone)
– pob hwyl = similar to hwyl fawr

Do you use literal translations of foreign expressions in your own language like this?

Les mots de la semaine

By Simon
français English Cymraeg
avoir conscience (de qch) (to be) aware (of) ymwybodol (o); gwybod (am)
se rendre compte de to become aware of dod yn gyfarwydd â;
dod yn ymwybodol o;
dod i wybod
l’intoxication (f) alimentaire food poisoning gwenwyn bwyd
souscrire à to subscribe (to an opinion) cefnogi; arddel; coleddu
l’ovation (f) debout standing ovation cymeradwyaeth sefyll
on s’est levé pour l’acclaimer he was given a standing ovation cododd pawb i’w gymeradwyo
contrebandier smuggler smyglwr
trafiquant de drogue drug smuggler smyglwr cyffuriau
draguer to dredge (a river) carthu
les ouvrages anticrues;
les ouvrages de protection contre les eaux		 flood defences amddiffynfeydd llifogydd
la zone inondable flood plain gorlifdir; gwastatir; llifwaddod
être en crue to flood (river) gorlifo; llifo
occasionnel occasional ambell; ysbeidiol
la table d’appoint occasional table bwrdd bach
la flaque (d’eau) puddle pwll; pwdel

Les mots de la semaine

By Simon
français English Cymraeg
adroit dexterous deheuig; llawdde; medrus
habile; qualifié skilled medrus; celfydd; crefftus
la trappe trapdoor trapddor
resquilleur free-loader sbwnjwr; progiwr
contagieux; infectieux infectious heintus; heintol
contagieux contagious heintus; ymledol
s’inviter à; entrer sans invitation to gatecrash (a party) ymwthio (i barti); gwthio’ch ffordd
la pâte brisée shortcrust pastry crwst brau
le poivron sweet pepper pupryn melys
directeur de thèse academic supervisor goruchwyliwr; arolygydd
les tissus d’ameublement (m) soft furnishings carpedi a llenni
la palourde clam cragen fylchog
la soupe de poisson chowder cawl
la semaine blanche reading week wythnos ddarllen