There are plenty of Welsh words that have more than one form. Sometimes, the form you’ll hear used is based on region, sometimes formality, and sometimes there doesn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason to it beyond family tradition and personal preference. One example of this is the word wyneb or gwyneb, meaning face. …
Pedol is a Welsh noun meaning horseshoe. The plural is pedolau. pedol horseshoe Given the ubiquity today of ceir (cars) over ceffylau (horses), you may not think memorising this simple feminine noun is that necessary for modern life. You’d be mistaken – it also has an interesting usage in the description of Welsh phonology, which …
Today’s word of the day is one of my favourites, and I hope by the end of this article you’ll love it too! I’m talking about daioni, an abstract noun meaning goodness. daioni goodness Daioni of course comes from da, the beautifully simple Welsh adjective meaning good. It has been used since the 1300s, although …
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 …