Depending on where you live in Wales, there are different names for grandparents in the Welsh language.
Those who live in the south of Wales tend to use mam-gu for nanny and tad-cu for grandad. There isn’t an official word for grandparents in Welsh, so most people will say mam-gu a thad-cu (or tad-cu a mam-gu if you want to avoid the aspirate mutation). That said, unofficial terms for grandparents do exist in some parts of the south such as hen rieni or rhieni-cu.
Mae’r fam-gu a thad-cu yn gwarchod eu hŵyr.
The grandparents are babysitting their grandson.
In the north, the word for nanny is nain and the word for grandad is taid. To talk about them as grandparents, you would simply say nain a thaid or taid a nain.
Mae nain a thaid Rhys yn siarad Cymraeg efo fo.
Rhys’ nanny and grandpa speak in Welsh with him.
If you want to refer to both sets of grandparents on your father’s and mother’s side, you can choose between the following:
- mamau-cu a thadau-cu (south)
- y ddau bâr o rieni-cu (south)
- neiniau a theidiau (north)
To say my nanny or my grandad, you must add the possessive pronoun fy in front which causes some mutations in the case of taid and tad-cu.
- fy nhad-cu = my grandad
- fy nhaid = my grandad
- fy mam-gu = my nanny
- fy nain = my nanny
