Category: Welsh (Cymraeg)

Fy filodfa gerddorol

By Simon

Mae’r nifer o offerynnau yn fy filodfa gerddorol wedi cynyddu eleni, ac mae gen i 30 o offerynnau bellach. Yr offeryn mwyaf newydd ydy piano, sy wedi cyrraedd Dydd Gwener diwetha. Piano ail law ydy o, a dw i wedi ei brynnu o eBay o ddyn yn Salford.

Ar hyn bryd mae gen i piano, iwcalili, mandolin, bouzouki, bodhrán, xaphoon, clarinét, casŵ, ffliwt, dau gitâr, dau harmonica, a cryn dipyn o recorderau, chwibanau ac ocarinas.

Fy filodfa gerddorol / My musical menagerie

My musical menagerie has grown quite a bit this year and now includes 30 instruments. The newest addition was a piano, which arrived last Friday. It’s a second hand piano that I bought on eBay from a bloke in Salford.

The menagerie currently consists of: a piano, a ukulele, a mandolin, a bouzouki, a bodhrán, a xaphoon, a clarinet, a kazoo, a flute, two guitars, two harmonicas, and quite a few recorders, whistles and ocarinas.

Les mots de la semaine

By Simon

– être/rester coincé/bloqué = to be stuck = bod yn sownd = stankañ
– se coincer/bloquer = to get stuck
– être enlisé = to be stuck (in mud/sand) = bod yn sownd (yn llaca/tywod) = sac’hellañ
– s’enlisé = to get stuck (in mud/sand)
– à mi-chemin = half-way (in distance) = hanner ffordd = hanter hent
– à la moitié de = half-way (activity/time) = hanner ffordd = hanter
– surveiller = to supervise = arolygu, goruchwylio = evezhiañ
– la laverie automatique = laundrette = laundrette, siop golchi dillad = kanndi, kannerezh
– la mamelle, le pis = udder = cadair, pwrs, piw = bronn
– le pis-aller = stopgap = perth dros dro = defot gwell
– le chargement = load = llwyth = kargañ
– la bûche = log = boncyff = kef
– le bûcheron = logger, lumberjack = coetmon = keuneuder, koadour
– les paroles = lyrics = telynegion = gerioù

Les mots de la semaine

By Simon

– le fil électrique = (electical) wire = gwifren (trydanol), weiar (trydanol) = neudenn (dredan), orjalenn (dredan)
– le fil de fer = (metal) wire = gwifren, weiar = neud-orjal
– en moyenne = on average = ar gyfartaledd = keitad
– le rendez-vous = appointment = apwyntiad, trefniad = emgav
– l’entretien (m) = interview = cyfweliad = emziviz
– la plaque chauffante = griddle = gradell = plakenn-dommañ (?)
– le niveau de vie (élevé/bas) = (high/low) standard of living = safon byw (uchel/isel) = live bevañ (uhel/izel)
– le contact avec les malades / le comportement envers les malades = bedside manner = emzalc’h gant ar glañvourien (?)
– Il a un bon contact avec ses malades = he has a good bedside manner
– le diagnostic = diagnosis = diagnosis = diagnostik
– saper, déstabiliser qn = to undermine = tanseilio = disfontañ
– il était bien pomponné = he was all poshed up

Spench, spence and sbens

By Simon

Recently a friend told me that in North Wales the area under stairs is know as the spench – I hadn’t heard it before and didn’t know how to write it so this spelling is a guess. I found spench in the Urban Dictionary, which defines it as “the area under the stairs (often a cupboard) where things are stored. Used in North Wales.”

In the Geiriadur Mawr, one of my Welsh dictionaries, I found the Welsh word sbens, which is defined as “twll dan y grisiau” (a hole under the stairs) and is translated as spence.

The OED defines spence as “a room or separate place in which victuals and liquor are kept; a buttery or pantry; a cupboard.” and says that it is dialectal or archaic. It comes from the Old French word despense (to dispense), from the Latin word dispendere (to dispense, weigh out; pay out; open, spread out), from the Latin word pendere (to hang; depend; weigh out; pay) plus the prefix dis-.

Have you heard this word before, or do you have another word for the area//cupboard under the stairs?

Les mots de la semaine

By Simon

– un ruisseau = stream = nant = gwazh-dour
– une boîte (de conserve) = tin = tun = boestad
– un boîte de soupe = tin of soup = tun cawl = boestad soubenn
– un pot de peinture = tin of paint = tun paent = boestad livadur
– un moule à gateau = cake/baking tin = tun teisen/cacen = moull-gwestell
– un bocal = jar = jar = pod gwer
– un bonnet à pompon = bobble hat = boned-toupenn (?)
– réellement, vraiment, en fait, en réalité = actually = mewn gwirionedd = evit gwir
– une fuite = leak = diferiad, gollyngiad = fuiñ
– un poireau = leek = cenhinen = pour
– un ouvrier du bâtiment = builder (labourer) = adeiladydd = micherour
– un maçon = builder (bricklayer) = briciwr = mañsoner
– un entrepreneur (en bâtiment) = builder (owner of firm) = tisaver

Les mots de la semaine

By Simon

– la déviation = diversion (of route) = dargyfeiriad = diroudennañ
– la diversion = diversion (distraction) = gwrthdyniad = distroadenn
– faire diversion = to create a diversion = creu gwrthdyniad = distroiñ an nen
– le meeting / rassemblement = rally = rali = bodadeg
– un meeting de prostestation = a protest rally = rali protest / gwrthdystiad = manifestadeg
– un rassemblement pour la paix = a peace rally = rali heddwch
– la ceinture de sauvetage = liftbelt = gwregys achub
– sauter à cloche-pied = to hop = hercian / hopian
– le trisaïeul = great-great-grandfather = hen hen daid/dad-cu
– la trisaïeule = great-great-grandmother = hen hen nain/mamgu
– la boulette de viande = meatball = pellen gig (?)

Tête en l’air

By Simon

Penn-skañv ac’hanout? Es-tu tête en l’air? Is your head in the clouds?

Recently I came across the French expression (être) tête en l’air (‘(to be) head in the air’) which is given as the French equivalent of the Breton expression penn-skañv (‘light head’). I hadn’t seen it before and wasn’t quite sure from it meant. From the context I thought it meant something like forgetful. According to Reverso it means scatterbrained, and according to this discussion, it also means absent-minded or distracted.

An equivalent English idiom is to have one’s head in the clouds, which is also used in French – avoir la tête dans les nuages. Do you know any similar idioms in English, French or other languages?

The Welsh expression pen-ysgafn, which is a literal translation of the Breton expression, but has a related different meaning – ‘light headed’. Forgetful is anghofus in Welsh.

Les mots de la semaine

By Simon

– fossile = fossil = ffosil = karrekaenn
– contractuel = traffic warden = warden traffig
– Viking = Viking = Llychlynnwr / Ficing = Idem
– le drakkar / bateau viking = viking ship = llong/cwch llychlynnwr = drakkar
– la lacune = loophole (in law) = bwlch = toull
– la niche fiscale = tax loophole = bwlch treth
– combler une lacune = to close a loophole = cau bwlch
– l’échappatoire (f) = way out, excuse, loophole = allanfa, esgus, bwlch
– le feu (de jardin) = bonfire = coelcerth = tan
– le passage pour piétons = pedestrian crossing = croesfan gerddwyr = treuzenn kerzhourien
– le passage à niveau = level crossing = croesfan wastad = treuzenn hent-houarn
– le rayon de soleil = sunbeam = pelydryn haul = barr-heol

Cariad@iaith

By Simon

I went to an interesting discussion last night entitled cariad@iaith (love4language) which featured two English writers, Simon Thirsk and Mike Parker, who have lived in Wales for many years, learnt Welsh and written books based on their experiences. It was mostly in Welsh and was chaired by the Welsh author, Bethan Gwanas. Simon and Mike talked about how they learned Welsh, about being accepted, or not, in their local communities, and about their books.

The audience was made up of Welsh learners and native Welsh speakers, and one good question that came up was how native Welsh speakers can make things linguistically easier for Welsh learners. After some discussion we concluded that the most helpful thing the native speakers can do is to stick to Welsh and not to switch to English even when learners are struggling. Other helpful things would be for native speakers to speak a bit more slowly and to avoid using too much slang.

Native speakers of languages that many people learn, like French, German and Spanish, might be more accustomed to encountering learners and might be relatively willing and able to modify the way they speak, but for lesser-studied languages, like Welsh, the story can be different. This partly depends on whether or not the native speakers of lesser-studied languages speak another major language like English, French or Spanish.

When you speak in your foreign languages to native speakers of those languages, do the native speakers make any allowances for you as a learner (if you’re not at near-native level)?

Do speakers of some languages do this more than for other languages?

If you are a native speaker of a lesser-studied / minority language, are you happy to speak to learners in your language and to accommodate to them by slowing down and simplifying things? Or do you quickly switch to English or another major language?

Les mot de la semaine

By Simon

– la voie = lane (on road) = lôn = hent
– le chemin = (country) lane = lôn = hent
– la ruelle = lane (in town) = lôn = hent
– le couloir = lane (in race) = lôn = hent
– aléatoire = random (selection) = hap = ankivil, chañs
– au hasard = at random = ar antur, ar siawns, ar hap = en avantur
– le cantique = hymn = emyn, hymn = kantik
– le bocal = (glass) jar = jar = pod-gwer
– le pot = (jam/honey) jar = jar = pod
– le verre = tumbler, glass = gwydr = gwer
– la chope = tankard = mwg cwrw, tancard = chop bier
– le couvercle = lid = clawr, caead = golo, goulc’her
– la poignée = (door) handle = handlen = brec’h
– l’anse (f) = (cup) handle = dolen, trontol = dourgenn
– le manche (knife, spade, broom) handle = coes, carn = troad
– la queue = (saucepan) handle = coes