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.
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 …
From The Queen Vic in Eastenders to Y Deri in Pobol y Cwm, the prominence of tafarnau (pubs) in British TV is just one clue to how important they are to this little island’s culture. The Welsh word for a pub is tafarn. tafarn pub tafarnau pubs This is how tafarn mutates: Soft mutationdafarn Nasal …
One of the best anrhegion (presents) I’ve ever received was something I didn’t even know existed until I opened it! My rhieni yng nghyfraith (parents in law) gave me a hedgehog house – basically a little shelter to put in yr ardd (the garden) along with food, to help out hedgehogs in the cold gaeaf …
Of all the flaws, one that I’d definitely love to remove from myself is diogi! This noun means laziness or sloth, and it also works as a verb meaning roughly to laze about. diogi laziness / to laze about Both senses of diogi are derived from the adjective diog (lazy). The addition of the -i …
Food is something that brings us together across nations, cultures, and languages. You may not know the first thing about a country, but if you show appreciation and gratitude for the coginio (cooking / cuisine), you’re instantly much more likely to make yourself a popular guest. You could even say that food is something of …
There aren’t many things that evoke as much llawenydd (joy) as dawnsio (dancing), whether it’s at a clwb (club), a gwers (lesson / class), or just around your cegin (kitchen). I suppose that’s why we have the phrase dawnsio o lawenydd (to dance for joy) in both languages! One of my favourite Welsh-language canueon (songs) …
When learning a new language, one of the most useful types of vocabulary to get to grips with is the kind you’ll need for ysgrifennu (writing) things like llythyron (letters) and ebostiau (emails). And that’s where today’s word of the day comes in: annwyl – which means dear, but can also carry the meaning of …
The Welsh verb meaning to drink or drinking is yfed. It’s pronounced like this: yfed to drink But some people in the South say this instead: Yfed comes from the Old Welsh iben, and much, much, further back, from the proto-Indo-European root *pibeti. There’s no evolution in meaning, with the word having always referred to …
Llestri is the plural form of llestr, which has a range of definitions relating to different kinds of vessels. But on a day-to-day basis, it more often than not refers to dishes, or crockery generally. llestri dishes / vessels llestr a dish / a vessel As a singular noun, llestr is masculine. It comes from …
