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.
Do you often find yourself getting tripped up by false friends in Welsh? If so, one to get familiar with so you can make sure this doesn’t happen is ffynnon. At first glance, it doesn’t look like an English word, but when being said quickly in conversation it often sounds like funnel. But that’s not …
The most common Welsh word for shelf is silff. This is a feminine noun with the plural silffoedd (though some people say silffiau instead). silff shelf silffoedd shelves Although silff is a loan word from English, it doesn’t actually come directly from shelf. Interestingly, it was borrowed from an obsolete Cornish dialectical variant of it, …
One of the most amusing quirks of growing up in Wales is that many students who stay in Welsh-language education throughout high-school won’t know the English words for certain scientific and technical vocabulary. While, as a general rule, all Welsh speakers today also speak English fluently, there are often certain blind spots for words you’d …
Today’s Welsh word of the day is ceisio, a verb which has a few usages, but which more often than not means to try. Read and on we’ll discuss how you can ceisio – and hopefully llwyddo (succeed) – to incorporate this word into your vocabulary. ceisio to try Ceisio is the verbal form of …
Now, I’ll be the first to argue that the joke that ‘Welsh has no vowels’ isn’t really true, but occasionally a word comes up where even I have to admit that an extra vowel or too wouldn’t go amiss. Abl (able or able-bodied) is one such word, which is probably why many speakers, especially in …
What’s your favourite diod (drink) to order at a caffi (café) or bwyty (restaurant)? There’s not many as danteithiol (delicious / indulgent) as an ysgytlaeth (milkshake). Multiple milkshakes are ysgytlaethau, though remember that we don’t use the plural when counting nouns in Welsh. So to order two milkshakes for yourself and your date, you’d simply …
Struggling to memorise the parts of the corff (body) in Welsh? Never fear – today’s Welsh word of the day is ysgwydd, which means shoulder. The word for shoulders is ysgwyddau. ysgwydd shoulder ysgwyddau shoulders Ysgwydd comes from the proto-Celtic *skeida, which also means shoulder. It’s been a very influential root in both the Brittonic …
Have you ever heard a Welsh person talking about giving something i Dad (to Dad), saying they couldn’t have done something heb Dad (without dad), or asking after dy dad (your dad)? If so, you’d be forgiven for thinking Welsh uses the same word as English, dad. In actual fact, dad is a soft mutation …
Our Welsh word of the day today is rheoli, which has a whole range of different meanings. To rule, to manage, to govern, to direct, to control, to regulate – they can all be expressed in some way or another through the one simple word rheoli. rheoli to rule / to manage Rheoli is the …
Today’s Welsh word of the day is unig. It’s a fun one because it actually has two meanings: only and lonely. You may think this would lead to a lot of confusion, but there’s actually a simple trick to tell them apart which we’ll get to in a moment. unig only / lonely Unig probably …
