The genitive or y genidol is the term for words and grammatical structures that denote possession.
In Welsh, possession works quite differently from in English. For instance, take a look at these two English phrases:
- the day’s end
- the end of the day
How would you translate these into Welsh?
In my experience, most learners have an easier time translating the first phrase into Welsh: diwedd y dydd. However, when it comes to the second phrase, many fall into the trap of trying to translate the end of the day word for word, often saying something along the lines of y diwedd o’r dydd. In fact, both the end of the day and the day’s end are translated as diwedd y dydd – in Welsh, there is only one way to denote possession.
To translate a genitive construction into Welsh, follow these steps:
- If the phrase does not already use of the, change it into of the form instead of using ‘s.
- Get rid of all instances of the apart from the one in front of the last word (if there is one).
- Get rid of any instances of the word of.
- Translate what you have left!
Let’s apply the process to the phrase the farmer’s daughter.
- the daughter of the farmer
- daughter of the farmer
- daughter the farmer
- merch y ffermwr
merch y ffermwr
the farmer’s daughter
How about a more complicated phrase? Let’s translate the teacher’s aunt’s daughter.
- the daughter of the aunt of the teacher
- daughter of aunt of the teacher
- daughter aunt the teacher
- merch modryb yr athro/athrawes
merch modryb yr athro / athrawes
the teacher’s aunt’s daughter
And how about the top of the Queen of England’s crown?
- the top of the crown of the Queen of England
- top of crown of Queen of England
- top crown Queen England
- pen coron Brenhines Lloegr
pen coron Brenhines Lloegr
the top of the Queen of England’s crown
In this last example, there is no the before the last word, so we remove every instance of the.
The genitive construction appears in many important Welsh texts, perhaps most notably in the title and first lines of our national anthem, Hen Wlad fy Nhadau (which translates to The Old Land of my Fathers):
Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl i mi
Gwlad beirdd a chantorion, enwogion o fri.
The old land of my fathers is dear to me
A land of poets and singers, famous people of prestige.
Another example appears in in Cân y Cadeirio (The Chairing Song). This song is sung during the Chairing Ceremony of the Eisteddfod, where the winner of the national poetry contest is announced. There are two versions of this song: the older one, which reads:
Hwn ydyw brenin beirdd yr Ŵyl i gyd
This man is the king of all the festival’s poets
…and the newer version, used since 2007, which recognises poets of all genders:
Ti ydyw seren beirdd yr Ŵyl i gyd
You are the star of all the festival’s poets
Finally, let’s look at some commonly used genitive constructions for everyday life:
- Pobl y Cwm = People of the Valley (popular Welsh soap opera)
- gweddill yr amser = the rest of the time
- diwedd y blwyddyn = the end of the year
- cestyll Cymru = the castles of Wales
- copa’r mynydd= the peak of the mountain
Can you spot the genitive in any of your favourite Welsh songs, shows or books?
