When October 31st arrives, much of the world celebrates Halloween these days. But in Wales, the night and day that follows are steeped in traditions much older than pumpkins and trick-or-treating. These are Noson Galan Gaeaf (“the night before the first day of winter”) and Calan Gaeaf (“the first day of winter”), marking the transition …
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 …
In this article, we’ll be taking a closer look at one of the most common Welsh words: mae. You probably know by now that mae can mean is as in Mae cinio’n barod! (Dinner is ready!) or are as in Mae Elen a Gwilym yn gadael (Elen and Gwilym are leaving). But did you know …
One of the most compelling reasons to learn a foreign language is that languages differ not only in the words they use, but in what those words represent. The concepts and experiences that are given form through language – sometimes with a single word, sometimes with many – vary from one tongue to another. These …
Content clauses (previously called noun clauses) are a special type of dependent clause. In Welsh, they are called cymalau enwol. Content clauses often function as the object of a verb. This is usually a verb of communication or mental state such as know, think, say, believe, understand, acknowledge. In English, such clauses are optionally linked …
What would you say is the most distinctive feature of the Welsh language? I suspect everyone has their own answer, but one that I think comes up often is treiglo (mutation, as a phenomenon). Treiglo is not completely unique to Welsh – but it’s pretty close. This morphological phenomenon, by which the first letter of …
It’s completely natural for different regions within a country to develop their own accents and unique pronunciations of the same word. For example, the word “but” is spoken differently in the North and South of England – and Wales is no exception to this linguistic diversity. But if you’re learning Welsh, you may have noticed …
Sydd can be a tricky concept to explain, and it takes a bit of practice to get really skilled at using it. The key facts are: The present tense nature of sydd is important to remember. In other tenses, rather than sydd, we simply use the appropriate form of ‘bod’ in the required tense. So …
Everyone knows that modern Welsh is full of English loan words. This is definitely expected given that Wales and England sit next to each other, and it’s almost inescapable when you consider the history of the Welsh language’s endangerment under English linguistic dominance. For better or for worse, English loanwords are part of the fabric …
Since the dawn of time, the moon has always been a point of interest for people andcivilisations all over the world. From tales about werewolves, stories about cheese and old wives tales relating to health issues, us humans have always been fascinated with the connection we have with the moon, and the role it plays …