– le moine / le religieux = monk = mynach
– le monastère = monastery = mynachlog
– la (bonne) sœur / la religieuse = nun = lleian
– le couvent = nunnery / convent = lleiandy / cwfaint
– se vanter = to boast = brolio / ymffrostio
– la vantardise = (a) boast = brol / ymffrost
– épais = thick = trwchus / tew
– mince / fin / maigre = thin = tenau / main / cul
– une brebis galeuse = black sheep (“mangy ewe”) = dafad ddu
– à chaque troupeau sa brebis galeuse = there’s a black sheep in every flock = y mae dafad ddu ym mhob praidd
– le champ des courses = racecourse = cae rhedeg
– s’éndormir = to fall asleep = syrthio / cwympo i gysgu
– endormi = asleep = yn cysgu / ynghwsg
– à moitié endormi = half asleep = yn hanner cysgu
– la roche = rock (substance) = craig
– le roc = rock (hard, solid) = craig (galed)
– le rocher = boulder / rock = clogfaen / craig
Category: Welsh (Cymraeg)
Les mots de la semaine
– filtre = filter = ffilter, hidl
– chargeur (de piles) = (battery) charger = gwefrwr (batri)
– le public = audience (cinema, theatre) = cynulleidfa
– l’audience, les auditeurs = (radio) audience, listeners = gwrandawyr
– les téléspectateurs = (TV) audience = cynulleidfa (teledu)
– le spectateur = member of the audience, spectator, onlooker
– l’icône (f) = icon = eicon
– l’éditeur (m) = publisher (company) = cyhoeddwr
– la maison d’édition = publishing house = cwmni cyhoeddi
– le nombril = navel = botwm bol, bogail
– le nombrilisme = navel-gazing, omphaloskepsis = bogailsyllu
– il pense qu’il est le nombril du monde = he thinks the world revolves around him – (dw i ddim yn siŵr sut i ddweud hyn yn Gymraeg)
Omphaloskepsis
Omphaloskepsis /ˈɒmfələʊˈskɛpsɪs/ is an interesting word I came across today that refers to the practice of contemplating one’s navel as an aid to meditation. It comes from the Ancient Greek ὀμϕαλός (omphalos – navel) and σκέψις (skepsis -inquiry).
Apparently omphaloskepsis is used in yoga and sometimes in the Eastern Orthodox Church and it helps in the contemplation of the basic principles of the cosmos and of human nature, and naval is consider by some to be a ‘powerful chakra’.
Omphaloskepsis is also another word for contemplating one’s navel or navel-gazing, i.e. being self-absorbed.
The French equivalent of omphaloskepsis is nombrilisme, from nombril (navel) plus -isme (-ism), and the Welsh equivalent is bogailsyllu, from bogail (navel) and syllu (to gaze, look). A French idiom the revolves around the navel is penser qu’on est le nombril du monde (‘to think that one is the navel of the world’) or to think the world revolves around you. Are there similar phrases in other languages?
On another topic, have you ever heard or used the phrase “who’s she, the cat’s mother?”.
It is, or was, used to point out that referring to a woman in the third person in her presence is/was considered rude by some. It apparently was first noted in the OED in the late 19th century.
Clwb Uke Bangor Uke Club
Neithiwr yn y Vaynol Arms yn Nant Peris fel rhan o Ffair Nant, mi wnaeth y Clwb Uke Bangor perfformio yn gyhoeddus am y tro cyntaf. Mi wnaethon ni chwarae cymysgedd o ganeuon yn gynnwys Country Roads, House of the Rising Sun, Dark Moon Rising, Cockles & Mussels, Go West, I Wanna Be Like You, ayyb. Yn Go West mi waethon ni canu North Wales yn lle Go West, ac roedd y cynulleidfa yn hoffi hyn, ac fel encôr mi wnaethon ni canu Delilah unwaith eto. Ro’n ni’n argraffu y trefnyddion ac mi wnaethon nhw ein gwahodd ni dod yn ôl i’r ffair y flwyddyn nesaf.
Last night in the Vaynol Arms in Nant Peris as part of the Nant Fair, the Bangor Uke Club performed in public for the first time. We played a mixture of songs, including Country Roads, House of the Rising Sun, Dark Moon Rising, Cockles & Mussels, Go West, I Wanna Be Like You, and so on. In Go West we replaced Go West with North Wales, which went down well with the audience, and we sang Delilah again as an encore. The organisers were impressed and have invited us back for the fair next year.
Les mots de la semaine
– les boule Quiès = earplugs (to keep out noise) = plygia clust
– les protège-tympans = earplugs (to keep out water) = plygia clust
– le tympan = eardrum / tympanum = pilen y glust / drwm clust
– le bouffon / le fou du roi = jester = cellweiriwr
– le plaisantin / blageur = joker = cellweiriwr
– farceur = practical joker
– emballer / faire (la valise) = to pack = pacio
– deballer / défaire = to unpack = dadbacio
– l’avantage unique / l’argument clé de vente (ACV) = unique selling point (USP) = pwynt gwerthu unigryw
Les mots de la semaine
– le portail = gate = gât / porth / llidiart
– la critique = review (of book, film) = adolygiad
– le cours = lesson, course = gwers / cwrs
– faire un stage = to do/go on a (training) course = gwneud cwrs (hyfforddiant)
– le petit bâtiment préfabriqué = Portakabin
– aiguisser / affûter = to sharpen (knife) = hogi / awchlymu / minio
– tailler = to sharpen (pencil) = hogi / awchlymu/ minio
– le poignet = wrist = arddwrn
– la ronce = bramble = miaren
– la ronceraie = bramble patch
– la mûre = blackberry = mwyaren
– la cardère = teasel = cribau’r-pannwr gwyllt
– carder = to card (wool) = cardio
– la moisissure / les champignons = mould = lwydni
– la Tamise = (River) Thames = Tafwys
– tamiser = to sieve, sift = gogru / rhidyllu / rhidyllio
– lumière tamisée = subdued lighting = golau isel
Labhair Gaeilge liom
I just watched a video of an interview in Irish that Benny Lewis did on Raidió na Life, the Irish language radio station in Dublin. Benny mentions that he has had a t-shirt made with “Labhair Gaeilge liom” (Speak Irish with me) on it and that people who see the shirt speak Irish to him, if they can, even in places where he didn’t expect to find Irish speakers.
What a good idea, I thought. In Ireland you can’t tell if someone speaks Irish just by looking at them, so you never know who to speak Irish to, and people don’t know if you speak Irish either. A t-shirt like Benny’s clears up both uncertainties. The same is true in Wales, Scotland and other places where minority languages are spoken – you don’t know who speaks them. Similar clothing or badges could be useful for other languages as well.
It would be interesting to wander round London, for example, wearing a t-shirt with “Labhair Gaeilge liom” and/or “Siaradwch Gymraeg â fi” (Speak Welsh with me) to say how many Irish and/or Welsh speakers you could find. Or I’m sure you’d get a lot of interest if you wore a badge saying “你可以跟我说汉语” (You can speak Chinese to me).
Have you tried this for any languages?
Could you give me translations of this phrase in various languages so I can put together a new phrases page?
Llongau gofod a selsig (Spaceships and sausages)
This is my latest little animation made using Xtranormal. It’s a silly little conversation between two robots which touches on such topics as the best way to get to the moon, a top secret Welsh spaceship, why vegetarians are at a disadvantage when it comes to local news and gossip, and ostrich sausages.
The conversation is in Welsh (written and recorded by me) with Welsh and English subtitles. I might add subtitles in other languages as well.
Bead houses
There’s a village near where I live called Betws-y-Coed [ˈbɛtʊs ə ˈkɔɨd], which means ‘prayer house in the wood’. I knew the meaning of the name, but hadn’t considered where the word betws might come from. Last night a friend told me that it comes from an English word ‘bead house’, meaning a prayer house or oratory.
Wikipedia agress with this saying the word Betws or Bettws comes from the Old English bed-hus (house of prayer, oratory). The name was first recorded as ‘Betus’ in 1254.
According to this Old English Dictionary the Old English word bed means ‘prayer, supplication; religious ordinance, service’, hús means ‘house; temple, tabernacle; dwelling-place; inn; household; family, race’, and gebédhús is a house of prayer or oratory.
Apparently the Welsh words bacws (bakery) and warws (warehouse) contain the same hús root. I can’t find confirmation of this, but it sounds plausible. I guessed that these words came from English, but hadn’t made the connection with Betws before.
They must have been borrowed before the Great Vowel Shift which started during the 14th century. Before then house or hús was pronounced /hu:s/, as it still is in northern English and Scots. The /haus/ pronunciation emerged during the 18th century.
Les mots de la semaine
– bouchon (m) / embouteillage (m) = traffic jam = tagfa drafnidiaeth (f)
– descendre en rappel = to abseil = abseilio
– rebondir = to bounce = sboncio / bowndio / tampio
– rebond (m) = bounce = sbonc / bownd
– être refusé = to bounce (a cheque) = gwrthod
– videur = bouncer = dryswr
– squelette (m) = skeleton = (y)sgerbwd / esgyrn sychion
– être aigri / en voulour à tout le monde = to have a chip on one’s shoulder = sglodyn ar dy ysgwydd