Nia is an aspiring writer from Powys, Wales. She attended Welsh-medium primary and secondary school, and is passionate about preserving the beautiful Welsh language and culture. She speaks some French, and is currently learning Arabic.
Did you know that gwenu (smiling) is the first golwg (expression) that humans ever learn? Though babanod (babies) don’t begin to gwenu consciously and in recognition of others until they are about two months old, from the moment we’re born we’re able to produce automatic gwenau (smiles) in response to pleasurable teimladau (sensations). gwenu to …
One way to remember the Welsh word for to complain is that it sounds like a cross between the two most common words for a fox – cadno and llwynog. I don’t know if foxes are known for cwyno (complaining), but either way, it’s quite a fun mnemonic. cwyno to complain You won’t be surprised …
Carthu is an interesting Welsh word meaning to purge or to cleanse. It works well in descriptive language, particularly if you’re trying to be poetic. It also becomes useful in a couple of set phrases. Because carthu finishes with the mysterious Welsh letter u, its pronunciation differs between North and South Wales. In the latter, …
Are you able to explain how you’re teimlo (feeling) in Welsh? If not, it might be time to incorporate this very useful verb into your vocabulary. teimlo to feel Teimlo refers both to someone’s state of meddwl (thought / mind) and emotions, and to physically touching and feeling the byd (world) around us using our …
I only had one other friend from Wales at university, and she didn’t come from a Welsh-speaking family or go to Welsh-medium school. However, in Wales, all students do have to learn Welsh as a second-language, as you might learn French or German. I was quite intrigued to know what words and phrases she had …
Today’s Welsh word of the day is sglodion (chips). Most people know sglodion as the tasty salty treat made of tatws (potatoes). It can also refer to chips or shavings of wood, or of any material really – though a lot of people instead call these naddion, which comes from the same root as the …
Did you know that in Welsh, there is just one for word for marriage as a concept, a marriage, and a wedding? The word in question is priodas, and marriages or weddings is priodasau. priodas marriage / wedding priodasau marriages / weddings I don’t know of any common synonyms for priodas in either sense – …
The primary school I went to had two separate ‘streams’, one taught in English with supplementary Welsh lessons, and one taught in Welsh with supplementary English lessons. I remember that the English stream kids used to find the Welsh word moron absolutely hilarious – because it sounds like the English moron meaning idiot. Of course, …
Oh no – another one of those awful Welsh words with no vowels! Of course, this isn’t really the case; today’s word of the day gwydr (glass) features y, which is a vowel in Welsh, and w, which is usually a vowel in Welsh, although only a semi-vowel in the word gwydr. Gwydr is a …
One concept grammar nerds in English always wrestle with is the double negative. You know, when someone says something along the lines of I didn’t do nothing, actually meaning I didn’t do anything. In Welsh, double negatives are actually the way to go! This is because Welsh is one of many languages that have what …
