Welsh Word of the Day: Mymryn (a little bit)

Are you tired of using the phrase tipyn bach ad nauseam? Then it’s time to add some flair to your Welsh with this adorable word for the smallest amount of something: mymryn.

In English, mymryn can be translated in various ways – a little bit, a smidgen, an iota, a speck, or a particle, to name a few. Basically any word that describes a very small amount of something is a valid translation for mymryn!

Below are some examples of words that often appear with mymryn. As you can see, it is almost always followed by the preposition o (of), which causes the following noun to soft-mutate.

• mymryn o amser = a little bit of time
• mymryn o arian / bres = a little bit of money
• mymryn o waith = a little bit of work
• mymryn o gymorth = a little bit of support

Mymryn is a masculine noun whose plural form is mymrynnau. It derives from the Proto-Brythonic *mɨmr, which in turn owes its origin to the Latin membrum, meaning member, with the addition of the suffix -yn. The variant memryn also exists, but it isn’t nearly as common. There is only one mutation that occurs with mymryn – the soft mutation – which you can hear below.

Not only does mymryn precede nouns, but it also modifies adjectives, as seen in examples like mymryn yn hwyr (a little bit late) or mymryn yn fwy (a little bit bigger). And if you want to emphasise the smallness or briefness of what you’re describing, you can combine the adjective bach (small) with mymryn, creating the phrase mymryn bach.

The expression i’r mymryn is the equivalent of the English expressions to a T or exactly, while y mymryn lleiaf means the smallest particle of something.

In addition to meaning a little bit, mymryn can also denote short durations or distances, or a brief instant or moment.

In spoken Welsh in the north, you might also hear the term used in a derogatory context to describe someone, as in the phrase Cau dy geg, y mymryn! (Shut up, you little thing!).