Category: Welsh (Cymraeg)

More news from Lowender Peran

By Simon

Yesterday I learnt some Scottish step dancing with Joy Dunlop in the morning, which was a lot of fun and quite tiring, then in the afternoon there were performances from Cornish and Breton groups.

Cornish singing workshop

I also went to a Cornish shanty session with the Aggie Boys Choir, Tir Ha Tavas and Matt Blewett, and a Cornish tunes session hosted by Richard Trethewey of The Grenaways and The Rowan Tree. I didn’t know any of the tunes, but did my best to pick up bits of them. I also recorded some, and may try to learn them and introduce them to sessions in North Wales.

I even heard a few conversations in Cornish between fluent speakers, understood quite a bit of them, and even took part in a few conversations in Cornish myself. At the concert in the evening, which featured groups from Brittany, Cornwall and Wales, the introductions to the groups were in Cornish and English, and I found that I could follow quite a lot of the Cornish.

Towan Beach, Newquay

This morning I had another explore of Newquay and went down to Towan Beach, which seems to be very popular with surfers. Later today there will be more workshops in dancing and singing, readings of poetry and stories in Cornish, and more performances and dances.

Polyglot Conference – Day 1

By Simon

The Polyglot Conference officially started today. There were talks and workshops all day on all sorts of interesting topics. I went to talks on Slovenian, linguistic relavtivity, Romani, the Cathars, and audiolinguistics. They were all interesting, especially the linguistic ones.

There was plenty of time between the talks to talk to other participants, and I managed to make some recordings in quite a variety of languages for the next episode of my podcast. I hope to make more recordings tomorrow.

I had conversations in English, Welsh, French, Irish, German, Russian, Mandarin, Japanese, and tried to speak a few other languages.

They are preparing Ljubljana for the Ljubljana Marathon tomorrow, and quite a few streets are being lined with barriers. I hope I’ll be able to get to the conference venue tomorrow.

Polyglotting in Ljubljana

By Simon

After arriving in Ljubljana yesterday I found a bus into the city centre, then walked to the AirBnB I’m staying in, which is more or less in the centre of the old town. It doesn’t look like much from outside – the door is covered in graffiti, and the outside of the building is rather plain, but inside the flat I’m in is very nicely decorated.

Ljubljana

Last night I had dinner at a restaurant by the Ljubljanica, the river that flows through Ljubljana. I saw quite a few people I know from previous polyglot events going past, and met some of them afterwards in a tapas restaurant.

So far I’ve spoken a little Slovenian, quite a bit of German, French and Welsh, and odd bits of other languages.

We spent today talking about the best ways to learn languages. This was interesting and there was some useful advice that I might try.

I haven’t had a lot of time to explore the city yet. The centre is quite compact and mostly pedestranised, with lots of interesting and colourful buildings.

This evening there was a concert with songs in many languages, then I went for dinner with quite a few other polyglots.

Now now!

By Simon

Now Now!

I’ve noticed that there are several ways to say now in Russian. In some contexts you use сейчас (sejchas), and in others теперь (teper’), but I haven’t worked out when to use each one yet. So I thought I’d investigate.

Сейчас means now, just now or (only) just [source]. For example:

  • Он сейчас работает = He’s working just now
  • Сейчас приду = I’m just on my way
  • Сейчас же! = Right now!
  • прямо сейчас = right now
  • Я действительно хочу заняться чаем сейчас = I’d really like to get some of that tea now

Сейчас comes from сей (this) & час (hour, o’clock, time, time of day) [source].

Сей also appears in сегодня (sevódnja — today).

Часы (chasy) = watch or clock.

Теперь means now or nowadays [source]. For example:

  • Теперь обсудим следущий вопрос = Let us now move on to the next question
  • А теперь мне пора представить вам участников = And now it’s time for me to introduce to you our contestants
  • И теперь начнем нашу совместную жизнь = So, now we’re going to start a life together

From these examples, I’m guessing that сейчас is more immediate than теперь. Is that right?

There are other ways to say now in Russian it seems:

  • в настоящее время = now, currently, at present
  • к настоящему времени = by now
  • время от времени = now and then or again
  • впредь = from now on
  • до сих пор = until now
  • пока всё = that’s all for now

Теперь comes from the Old East Slavic топере (topere), and is apparently used in contrast with the past [source].

Welsh also has several words for now [source]:

  • nawr = now; shortly, presently (South Wales)
  • rŵan = now; shortly, presently (North Wales)
  • bellach = any more, henceforth, from now on, again; now, by this time, in the end; moreover
  • ar hyn o bryd = now, at this (point in) time, at the present moment, at this juncture
  • erbyn hyn = by this time, by now
  • yn awr = now, forthwith
  • awron = now, at present, at the present time, nowadays, by this time

Do other languages have several ways to express the idea of now?

Так, пока всё, пока пока (So that’s all for now, bye bye)

Tykki Duw

By Simon

Last week I learnt that a butterfly in Cornish is a tykki Duw [tɪkˑi’dyˑʊ / tɪkˑi’diˑʊ], or literally “God’s pretty thing”. A moth is a tykki Duw nos or “God’s pretty thing of the night”).

The word tykki comes from teg (pretty, attractive), and Duw comes from the Proto-Celtic *dēwos (god), from the Proto-Indo-European *deywós (god), from *dyew- (sky, heaven).

Butterfly

Names for butterflies are interesting in other languages as well:

  • Welsh: glöyn byw (glowing ember); iâr fach yr haf (little hen of the summer); pili-pala; plufyn bach yr haf (little feather of the summer), colomen fyw (lively pigeon); glöyn Duw (god’s ember/coal); eilir (spring).
  • Scottish Gaelic: féileagan; dealan-dé (god’s lightning); sglapaid; teine-dé (god’s fire); teillean-dé (god’s bee); tormachan-dé (god’s ptarmigan); dealman-dé; strainnsear (stranger); gogag
  • Manx: foillycan, follican
  • Irish: féileacán; guagóg; uallán
  • Breton: balafenn; barbellig; bobelan; aelig
  • Swedish: fjäril
  • Danish: sommerfugl (summer bird)
  • Spanish: mariposa
  • German: Schmetterling
  • French: papillon
  • Italian: farfalla
  • Russian: бабочка (babochka)

What about in other languages?

Sources: Gerlyver Kernewek, Wiktionary, Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru, Geiriadur yr Academi, Am Faclair Beag On-line Manx Dictionary, Dictionnaire Favereau, bab.la

Celtiadur

By Simon

As you may or may not be aware, I have another blog called Multilingual Musings, which was where I practised using languages I’m learning, and posted interesting words that come up in the French conversation group I go to.

Recently I transfered all the content from there to this blog, and renamed that blog Celtiadur. I am now building an etymological dictionary of Celtic languages there.

It will contain information about the six modern Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Manx, Welsh, Cornish and Breton, as well as their historical versions and ancestors.

The name Celtiadur is one I coined which combines the word celt and the Welsh suffix -adur, which appears in such words as geiriadur (dictionary), dyddiadur (diary), gwyddoniadur (encyclopedia) and ieithiadur (grammar, dictionary, vocabulary). It is also used in Breton.

There isn’t much there yet, but I will be transferring all the words in my Celtic Cognates section, and adding many more.

There’s posh!

By Simon

There's posh!

The word posh seems to be used mainly in the UK. According to the Oxford Dictionary, it can mean:

  • elegant or stylishly luxurious, as in “a posh hotel”
  • typical of or belonging to the upper class, as in “a posh accent”
  • in an upper-class way, as in “She talks posh”
  • the quality of being elegant, stylish, or upper class, as in “We bought a colour TV, which seemed the height of posh”

To posh(en) up means “to smarten someone or something up”, as in “we’ll be getting all poshed up for the summer ball”.

If you use posh(en) up, how do you use it in the past? Poshed up or poshened up?

Posh first appeared in writing in 1914, and maybe comes from the slang word posh (a dandy). The folk etymology is that posh come from the initials of port out starboard home, which refers to the cabins on ships between England and India that were out of the hot sun. There is no evidence for this, but it makes a good story [source].

According to the Urban Dictionary, posh can mean:

  • very classy or sophisticated
  • rich, aristocratic, wealthy, loaded, fancy, toff, toffee nosed, upper crust, well off, or well to do
  • snobby, snooty, nose in the air

Apparently posh derives from an old Romany slang word for pennies – if you have a lot of pennies, then you are well to do, rich, etc. and the word is often used in light hearted derision.

For someone like me who grew up in northern England, talking posh means talking with a southern English accent, particularly using RP (Received Pronunciation). For example, pronouncing bath as /bɑːθ/ rather than /baθ/. Calling someone a posh southerner or saying that they talk posh can be used as an insult by northerners.

Posh (Spice) is also the nickname of Victoria Beckham, former member of the Spice Girls.

In Welsh English “there’s posh!” is an exclamation often used in a sarcastic, mocking way. For example, “We had salmon for dinner last night – There’s posh!” It comes from the Welsh phrase “dyna grand!”.

Are there similar words in other varieties of English, and in other languages?

Buying and Selling

By Simon

買賣 - Buy and sell in Chinese

The words for to buy and to sell are very similar in Mandarin: 買 [买] (mǎi) [maɪ˦˩˧] = buy and 賣 [卖] (mài) [maɪ˥˩] = to sell. In Cantonese the characters are the same, but are pronounced maai5 [maːi˩˧] (buy) and maai6 [maːi˨] (sell) [source]. The only difference between them is in the tones, and they are easily confused by learners. Do native speakers ever mix them up?

The character 買 combines 网 (wǎng – net) and 貝 (bèi – shell, cowrie) [source], and 賣 combines those elements plus 出 (chū – go out), which became reduced to 士 (shì – soldier) over time [source].

If you put these two characters together: 買賣 [买卖] (mǎimài) it means business, shop, store or deal [source].

Do any other languages have words for buy and sell that are so similar?

Buying and selling both involve an exchange of goods or services. The only difference is in the direction of the exchange. I might sell something to you, or buy something from you, while you might sell something to me, or buy something from me.

The same is true of other pairs of words such as borrow and lend. The one you use depends on the direction of the exchange: I borrow from you, and you lend to me. Teach and learn are also similar: You teach me, and I learn from you, or I teach you, and you learn from me. Although in some varieties of English learn is used to mean learn and teach.

In Welsh the word dysgu means to learn and to teach, and benthyca means to borrow and to lend. The word addysgu, means to teach, but it isn’t used much in colloquial Welsh [source].

Are there any other languages that don’t make a distinctions like this?

Is there a linguistic term for word pairs like this?

Not seeing the wood for the trees

By Simon

Recently a friend asked if there is an idiom in English like I cannot see the wood for the trees, which refers to hearing. We couldn’t think of any, but maybe you can.

This expression means that you “cannot see, understand, or focus on a situation in its entirety due to being preoccupied with minor details” [source]. Apparently in North America the equivalent is “I cannot see the forest for the trees”. The wood refers to a small forest, rather than the material that comes from trees.

Here be trees!

There is an equivalent idiom in Esperanto: Li en arbaro sidas kaj arbojn ne vidas (He sits in the forest and doesn’t see trees).

The equvalent in Italian is avere gli occhi foderati di prociutto (to have one’s eyes lined with ham).

Are there similar idioms in other languages?

In Russian the word for tree is дерево (derevo), which came up in my Russian lessons today. It is comes from the Proto-Slavic *dervo (tree), from Proto-Indo-European *dóru (tree), which is also the root of the English word tree, and of the Welsh derw and the Cornish derow (oak trees) [source].

The photo is one I took of Ashley Jones Field in Bangor.

Famous outside words

By Simon

beseda (word in Slovenian)

In Slovenian beseda [bɛˈséːda] is the word for word or term.

Some expressions featuring beseda include:

– besedna igra = wordplay, pun, play on words
– brez besed = speechless (with shock etc.)
– častna beseda = word of honour
– dati častno besedo = to give one’s word
– držal te bom za besedo = I am going to take you at your word
– mož beseda = man of hono(u)r
– z besedo na dan! = spit it out! let the cat out (of the bag)!

This comes from the Proto-Slavic *besěda, which originally meant sitting outdoors (at night), then an outdoor gathering, or a conversation or speech at such a gathering.

*besěda comes from *bez (outside) and *sěděti (to sit).

In other Slavic languages the same root became:

– Belarusian: бяседа (bjasjeda) = banquet
– Russian: беседа (beséda) = conversation, talk, discussion
– Ukrainian: бесіда (besida) = talk, conversation, discussion
– Bulgarian: беседа (beséda) = talk, conversation
– Macedonian: беседа (beseda) = speech, oration, sermon
– Serbo-Croatian: бесједа / besjeda = speech, word (archaic)
– Czech: beseda = discussion
– Slovak: beseda = discussion
– Polish: biesiada = feast, banquet

Words for word in other Slavic languages include:

– Belarusian: слова (slova)
– Russian: слово (slovo)
– Ukrainian: слово (slovo)
– Bulgarian: дума (duma); слово (slovo)
– Macedonian: збор (zbor)
– Serbian: реч (reč)
– Croatian: rije
– Czech: slovo
– Slovak: slovo
– Polish: słowo

Slovo, and variations, comes from the Proto-Slavic *slovo (word), from the Proto-Indo-European *ḱléwos (fame), which is also the root of the Welsh clyw (hearing), the Irish clú (honour, praise, fame), the Latvian slava (rumor, reputation, fame), and the Greek κλέος (kléos – renown, fame, honour).

Sources: Wiktionary, PONS, dict.com