Category: Welsh (Cymraeg)

Lussyn ny cam-ching

By Simon

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.

Bwriadau da a diogi

By Simon

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

By Simon

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

By Simon

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

By Simon

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.

Jumpers and sea pigs

By Simon

Llamhidydd / Porpoise / Mereswine

Llamhidydd, (n/m) [pl. llamhidyddion] – porpoise, dancer, acrobat, jumper

Today’s word appears in a book I’m reading at the moment and is a new one to me. I’m not sure about the etymology of the hid part, but llam means jump, and the suffix -ydd indicates a person or agent.

As well as jump, llam also means fate, leap, bound, stride, step, and is found in such words as llamddelw – puppet (jump + image/idol); llamu and llamsach – to jump; llawsachus – capering, prancing, and llamwr – leaper. Llam most likely comes from the same root as the Irish léim, Scottish Gaelic leum, Manx lheim, Cornish lamma and Breton lam. More common Welsh words for jump and to jump are naid and neidio.

Other Welsh words for porpoise include môr-fochyn (sea pig) and morhwch (sea sow), which is also applied to dolphins. The Irish for porpose is muc mhara (sea pig).

The English word porpoise comes from the French pourpois, which is from Medieval Latin porcopiscus, which is a compound of porcus (pig) and piscus (fish).

Another English word for porpoise is apparently mereswine, the roots of which can be traced back to the Proto-Germanic *mariswīnaz (dolphin, porpoise), from *mari/*mariz (sea) and *swīnaz/*swīnan (swine, pig), via the Middle English mereswin and the Old English mereswīn.

Dadsothachu

By Simon

This morning I heard an interesting Welsh word on Radio Cymru that I hadn’t come across before – dadsothachu [dadsɔ’θaxɨ̬]. It means “to declutter” and combines a verbed form of the word sothach (bilge, garbage, junk, trash, trumpery) with the prefix dad-, which is the equivalent of the English prefixes de- and un-, and also serves as an intensifier. Another word they used for the same action was dadclytero (I think that’s how to spell it). Neither of these words appear in dictionaries I’ve checked.

I’ve been trying to declutter since I moved, and indeed before that. So far I’ve taken quite a lot books to local charity shops, but there’s plenty more filling my bookcases. At the same time I’ve acquired quite a lot more stuff. I also have more space in my new house, so the temptation is to fill it with even more stuff.

Tŷ newydd

By Simon

Dw i wedi bod yn fy nhŷ newydd ers tair wythnos, a dw i’n teimlo yn gartrefol erbyn hyn. Mae llawer o waith wedi i wneud ar y tŷ, yn gynnwys ailweirio; gosod carpedi, ffenestri ac ystafell ymolchi newydd; clirio’r ardd; amnewid y sied ardd; a pheintio.

Mae pobl eraill wedi gwneud y gwaith, ac yr unig pethau sy angen i mi gwneud oedd dod â phobl i wneud y gwaith, arolygu a threfnu’r gwaith, a thalu’r biliau, wrth gwrs. A dw i wedi gwario llawer iawn o pres hyd hynny – nid yn unig ar a gwaith, ac hefyd ar pethau ar gyfer y tŷ a’r ardd.

Mae’r gwaith ar y tŷ bron ar ben, heblaw rhyw beintio, a dw i’n meddwl am beth i wneud efo’r ardd. Mae’r lawnt yn llawn chwyn (dant y llew yn bennaf), ac mae’r coeden afal yn llawn afalau hefyd – bob dydd dw i’n casglu afalau cwympo ac mae gen i bocs mawr llawn ohonyn nhw. Dw i’n bwriadu gwneud jam a jeli efo’r afalau, ac hoffwn i plannu blodau, llysiau a llysiau blas yn yr ardd.

Gogs a Hwntws

By Simon

The other day I was talking to a native Welsh speaker from South Wales who has lived in North Wales for many years. I mentioned that people in shops here sometimes switch to English when I talk to them in Welsh, and she told me that the same thing happens to her sometimes.

Apparently the South Wales accent is associated with Welsh learners, and this applies not just to actual learners, but also to native Welsh speakers from South Wales like my friend, who speaks North Walian dialect with a South Walian accent and therefore sounds a bit like a learner. She also told me that she tries to speak North Walian dialect because people round here find South Walian dialects difficult to understand.

In colloquial spoken Welsh and informal written Welsh there are plenty of differences between northern and southern varieties. Some examples of grammatical differences include:

North Walian South Walian Formal Welsh English
Mae gen/gin i … Mae … ‘da fi Mae gynnyf … I have …
Sgin i … Sdim … ‘da fi Does gynnyf … I don’t have …
Mi (w)nes i dweud Mi/Fe ddwedes i Dwedais I said…
Ti isio …? Ti moyn …? Yr wyt ti eisiau …? Would you like …?

The auxiliary verb gwneud (to do) plus the main verb (in this example, dweud – to say) are used to form the past tense in North Wales. In South Wales and in formal Welsh the past tense endings are applied to the main verb, and the personal pronouns are not used in formal Welsh.

Differences in vocabulary include:

  • llefrith (NW) llaeth (SW) = milk
  • pres (NW) arian (SW) = money – [pres = brass & arian = silver]
  • agoriad (NW) allwedd (SW) = key
  • cenllysg (NW) cesair (SW) = hail
  • dodrefn (NW) celfi (SW) = furniture
  • crio / wylo (NW) llefain (SW) = to cry