
Category: Welsh (Cymraeg)
Christmas
Sniaghtey

V’eh ceau sniaghtey dy trome oie Jerdein as Jeheiney shoh chaie, as ta yn sniaghtey foast ayn ayns shoh nish. Ta yn sniaghtey aalin, as t’eh feaee er yn oyr nagh vel mooney gleashtanyn er ny raaidyn, agh t’eh feayr agglagh, as ta yn shiaghtey riojit stooalt er ny pemmadyn as er ny cooyl-raaidyn, as t’eh shliawin agglagh fo chosh. Cha ren mee fakin wheesh da shiaghtey rieau ayns Bangor.

Eira
Roedd hi’n bwrw eira yn drwm Nos Iau a Ddydd Gwener yr wythnos diwetha, ac mae’r eira yn dal i fod yma bellach. Mae’r eira yn hyfryd, ac mae hi’n dawel oherwydd nag oes llawer o draffig ar y strydoedd, ond mae’n oer ofnadwy, ac mae’r eira wedi ei rhewi yn galed ar y palmentydd ac ar y strydoedd cefn, ac mae’n lithrig iawn dan droed. Dw i erioed wedi gweld cymaint o eira ym Mangor.
Colds, streams and rivers

It’s rather cold here at the moment with daytime temperatures not much above freezing, and nighttime dropping to -10°C (14°F) or even -20°C (-4°F) in places. As a result, some of the snow that fell last week has frozen solid and been trampled down on pavements and ungritted back streets making them decidedly icey and slippery.
I also have a cold at the moment, so I thought I’d look into how to say “I have a cold” in a number of languages. In French it’s “Je suis enrhumé” or “I am enrhumed”. Enrhumé comes from rhume (cold), which comes from the Old French reume, from the Latin rheuma, from the Greek rheuma (stream, current, a flowing), from rhein (to flow), from the Proto-Indo-European *sreu- (to flow). The Proto-Indo-European *sreu- is also the root of the Irish sruth (stream, river), the Welsh ffrwd (stream) and the Polish strumyk (brook). [source].
The Czech word for cold rýmu appears to be spring from the same source – mám rýmu is “I have a cold” by the way – as does the English word rheumatism. You can also say jsem nachlazený for “I have a cold” in Czech, which has a similar structure to the French phrase – “I am colded” or something like that.
In Welsh you don’t have a cold but rather a cold is on you: mae annwyd arna i, and the other Celtic languages use the same structure, “Is cold on/at me”: tá slaghdán orm (Irish), tha ‘n cnatan orm (Scottish Gaelic), ta feayraght/mughane aym (Manx).
In German “I have a cold” is Ich bin erkältet (“I am becolded?”), with erkältet coming from kalt (cold).
In Mandarin Chinese you say 我感冒了 (wǒ gǎnmào le) or “I catch cold [change of state particle]”.
Lussyn ny cam-ching

Jiu ren mee soiaghey y fraueyn lus ny cam-ching dy chionnee mee meeghyn er-dy-henney. Ren mee soiaghey fraueyn elley (blaaghyn sniaghtee, crocysyn, cliogaghyn, a.r.e.) shiaghtyn ny ghaa er-dy-henney. Ta doghys aym dy ghoaill paart jeu toshiaght cur magh blaaghyn veih Jerrey Geuree yn vlein ry heet.
Cennin Pedr
Heddiw mi blannes i y bylbiau Cennin Pedr y brynes i rhyw fisoedd yn ôl. Mi blannes i fylbiau eraill (eirlysiau, crocysau, gellysg, ayyb) wythnos neu ddwy yn ôl. Gobeithio bydd rai ohonynt yn dechrau blodeuo ym mis Ionawr y blwyddyn nesaf.
Český
Bwriadau da a diogi
Yn ôl ym mis Medi roedd gen i bwriad sgwennu pethau ar y blog ‘ma yn amalach, ac yn sgwennu mewn iaith wahanol bob dydd. Mi wnes i hynny am wythnos, ac yna roedd fy mwriadau da yn eu llyncu gan fy niogi.
Beth bynnag r’on i wedi bod yn eitha brysur yn ddiweddar efo amryw gweithgareddau, yn gynnwys canu, mynd i gynerddau, i ddramau ac i weithgareddau diwylliannol eraill, gweithio ar fy wefan, ayyb. Pythefnos yn ôl mi ges i parti cynhesu tŷ yma o’r diwedd, ar ôl wedi bod yn fy nhŷ newydd ers tua pedwar mis. Daeth bymtheg o fy nghyfeillion ac mi wnaethon ni noson da.
Rîli cwtshy
I heard the expression rîli cwtchy [ri:lɪ kʊtʃɪ] on Radio Cymru this morning when they were talking about pyjamas. It’s on interesting example of Wenglish (Welsh and English mixed together) with cwtch = a cubby-hole; a hug or cuddle; to hug or cuddle, made into an adjective meaning ‘comfy’ by adding the English adjectival ending -y, and intensified with the rîli (really).
A more standard way of expressing the same concept is cyffyrddus / cysurus iawn.
Wfftio
wfftio [‘ʊftɪɔ] verb – to flout, dismiss, criticise
I’ve encountered the Welsh word wfftio quite a few times in things I’ve read and heard, but wasn’t quite sure what it meant. I heard it again this morning on Radio Cymru and decided to look it up.
Here are a few examples of wfftio in action:
Mae dadlau chwyrn wedi bod yn y cynulliad wrth i’r Prif Weinidog, Carwyn Jones, wfftio honiadau nad oedd safonau glendid bwyd wedi gwella yng Nghymru ers cyfres o achosion E.coli yn 2005.
There has been a fierce debate in the Assembly since the First Minister, Carwyn Jones, dismissed claims that food hygiene standards have not improved in Wales since the series of E. coli outbreaks in 2005.
[Source]Gweinidog Addysg yn wfftio arolwg.
Education Minister criticises survey
[Source]Mae Alun Pugh y Gweinidog Diwylliant wedi wfftio at y syniad o gyflwyno Deddf Iaith Newydd.
Culture Minister Alun Pugh has dismissed the idea of introducing a new Language Law.
[Source]
I think wfftio comes from the exclamation wfft [ʊft], which means ‘For shame!’ or ‘Fie!’ according to Y Geiriadur Mawr. Other Welsh exclamations include:
- Ew! – Yuck!
- Wb / Wbwb – Oh! Alas!
- Wel – Well!
- Wi – Oh! Alas!
- Ych-a-fi! – Yuck! Urgh!
Twndis
Twndis [‘tʊmdɪs] (nm, pl: twndisau) = funnel – also twnffat [‘tʊmfat]
I discovered the Welsh words twndis and twnffat last night. I’m not sure why the subject of funnels came up in conversation, but these words particularly appealed to me, especially the latter.
This morning I found out that the word tundish is used for funnel in Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and that it originally meant “a funnel made to fit into the bung of a tun”. A tun is a large cask, but I’m sure you knew that [source]. These days a tundish is sort of funnel used in metal casting, and also in plumbing [source].
Tundish appears to be related to the Welsh word twndis, and the word tun is possibly of Celtic origin: – from the Middle Irish tunna, and the Old Irish toun (hide, skin).
Words for funnel in the Modern Celtic languages come from the same root: as well as twndis in Welsh, there’s tunnadair (funnel, filler, tunning-dish, tunner) in Scottish Gaelic, tonnadóir in Irish, tunneyder in Manx and tum in Breton.
I’m not sure of the etymology of twmffat, but ffat on it’s own means slap or pat, and ffatio means to slap.