Gwyrdd (green) is one of the colours most associated with Cymru (Wales), due to its prominence on our national baner (flag). Y ddraig goch (the red dragon) stands proud on a background of gwyrdd and gwyn (white). While the draig (dragon) brings to mind bravery, passion, and patriotism, the symbolism of the tir (land) beneath …
One of the top attractions of Cymru (Wales) as a holiday destination, or a place to build a home, has got to be all the amazing cerdded (walking) that you can do! Whether it’s the awe-inspiring peaks of Eryri (Snowdonia) and y Bannau Brycheiniog (the Brecon Beacons), or the picturesque clifftops of Wales’ 1,700 miles …
Hardd is a common Welsh word meaning beautiful. It can be used to describe all kinds of people and things, and it shows up often in barddoniaeth (poetry), cerddoriaeth (music), and llên grefyddol (religious writings). hardd beautiful This word likely comes from the word ardd meaning a high place, which is ultimately derived from the …
For today’s word of the day, I want to sôn about the word sôn. This is a really useful Welsh word that in various contexts could be translated as to tell, to talk, to say, or to mention. It’s included in loads of common colloquial phrases. sôn to tell Sôn actually used to be spelt …
When you’re learning a new iaith (language), it’s tempting to focus on memorising lots of nouns and adjectives. They’re easier to relate to everyday life, and much less likely to present confusing grammatical challenges. But adverbs, prepositions and conjunctions are just as important. They’re key if you ever want to be able to use Welsh …
There are two words you could use to translate the word season into Welsh. One of these is adeg, which refers more generally to either a period of time or a specific of time. The other word, which is the subject of this article, is tymor. Its plural is tymhorau (seasons). tymor season / term …
Ever since I can remember, fy hoff liw (my favourite colour) has been melyn (yellow). My earliest memory is of my childhood bedroom, which had yellow wallpaper decorated with blue and red teddies. melyn yellow Melyn is only susceptible to the soft mutation: Soft mutationfelyn Nasal mutationN/A Aspirate mutationN/A Melyn comes from the same Proto-Celtic …
Living in the UK, I know I’m very lwcus (lucky) to have access to free healthcare through y Gwasanaeth Iechyd Gwladol (the National Health Service). But did you know that the NHS was actually founded by a Cymro (Welshman)? Aneurin Bevan was health minister of the UK’s post-World War Two llywodraeth (government). He spearheaded the …
Cymru (Wales) isn’t exactly known for extreme tywydd (weather), unless you count an inordinate amount of days of glaw (rain). That’s probably why many of our words for extreme weather phenomena are actually loan words from English or further afield. One example is tswnami, sometimes spelt swnami… our version of tsunami, if you hadn’t guessed! …
Perhaps the first Welsh word I ever taught fy ngwraig (my wife) was just that – gwraig (wife or woman), the subject of this article. She had a lot of fun trying to pronounce it; it can be difficult condensing the first part, gwr, into one syllable. Here’s my rendition below, along with the plural, …