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.
Advice often given to Welsh learners regarding mutations is simply not to worry about them. The idea is that by learning the language and thus continually interacting with it, you’ll naturally pick them up over time. This is probably true in the long-term. To begin with, though, it is really helpful to have a brief …
Today’s Welsh word of the day, cyw – a masculine noun with the plural cywion – is a multi-faceted one. Primarily, it means a chick from any species of aderyn (bird), but it’s also used in some dialects to refer specifically to ieir (chickens as a distinct species), plus it comes up in the term …
Do you have your clustiau wedi’u tyllu (ears pierced)? I had mine done ages ago when I was thirteen, but since then they’ve closed up several times when I’ve forgotten to wear clustlysau (earrings). I’ve always managed to force back a twll (hole) in the clusten (lower earlobe) with a clustlws (earring) though… not one …
Most people will associate the Welsh word aber primarily with place names. And you’d be quite right to do so – Aberystwyth, Aberdyfi, Abergavenny, they’re all over the place! But as with many Welsh place names, these Aber- towns and villages are based on a real word that is still used in everyday conversation. Aber …
Whether your aim in learning Welsh is complete fluency, professional ability, or simply to impress friends and show courtesy, some of the most useful words to know are those that appear in greetings and set phrases. Today’s isn’t one you’ll use every day of the year – but when you do need to use it, …
Today’s Welsh word of the day is ffidil. If you hadn’t already guessed, it means a violin or a fiddle. It’s generally pluralised as ffidlau but you may also see ffidils, mimicking the English plural. Which is of course because it’s originally an English borrowing – one which has been used in Welsh since the …
Some words in Welsh have existed in the language since it developed from proto-Brittonic. Some are recognisable borrowings, recent or centuries-old, from English, Latin, or even further afield. But there’s one kind of Welsh word that feels like neither native or loan – words that were technically borrowed, but no longer exist in the original …
Today’s Welsh word of the day is chwantu (to desire, want, long for, or lust for), a word which may be hard to pronounce, but which shouldn’t be hard to use. chwantu to desire Chwantu – and the synonymous alternative chwantio – are verbal forms of chwant, a noun meaning a desire, a lust or …
Inspired by the cyri (curry) that I’m very excited to eat later, our Welsh word of the day today is swper (supper). This is a noun with the plural swperau (suppers). It’s occasionally spelt and pronounced swpar. swper supper swperau suppers Swper was borrowed from Middle English a very long time ago; there are records …
One of the best things about being bilingual is being able to slip between ieithoedd (languages) to best convey whatever you’re feeling or saying in the moment. There are some words and phrases I pretty much always say in English, no matter who I’m talking to, and some that I always say in Welsh. A …
