One of the first words a new speaker learns in Welsh is mae, which is all-important as it basically functions as an equivalent of the English is. It’s easy to confuse with the almost completely phonetically identical Mai, which is our word of the day today. Mai May There’s a reason that the Welsh Mai …
Today’s Welsh word of the day is melys, an adjective meaning sweet. melys sweet Melys describes something that is sweet in taste. Conversely, it’s less often used to mean a sweet smell, sound, or personality than it is in English – although it’s not completely impossible to hear it used in this sense. It’s also …
At some point in almost everyone’s life, they’ll suffer a briw (injury) or contract a salwch (illness), and will need to get a meddyg (doctor) to trin (treat) them. In English, this word treat has a variety of meanings, though, beside the most obvious medical one. And in Welsh it’s just the same! Read on, …
The Welsh word for a garden, whether it’s a public park full of rare and beautiful flowers, or your own backyard which you use to grow vegetables in, is gardd. The plural form is gerddi – though you may less commonly encounter garddau or geirdd. gardd garden Gardd was a borrowing from the Old Nose …
Did you know that Welsh has two, very different forms? These are literary and colloquial Welsh – the Welsh you’ll find in poetry and historical documents is very different to the Welsh spoken in even the most formal contexts. And some Welsh words are these days mostly used only in the former context. One of …
Mis Ebrill (the month of April) is my favourite time to visit my grandparents’ fferm (farm) in Cwm Elan (the Elan Valley). This is because it’s the height of tymor ŵyna (lambing season), which usually means I get to cuddle and bottle feed a lot of ŵyn (lambs) and mynnan (goat kids). Ebrill April The English …
Did you know that there are two separate words meaning to know in Welsh? One is gwybod, which refers to knowing facts or information, and the other is adnabod / nabod, which refers to knowing or recognising a person or place. In literary Welsh, adnabod is the form of this word used. However, in colloquial …
Wyt ti’n barod (are you ready) to learn about the word parod (ready)? If your answer is something like, “Hold on a second, those are two different words!”, don’t worry! This is just one of the many confusing consequences of the use of treigladau (mutations) in Welsh, but all will become clear in time! parod …
From the height of the glorious Cadair Idris (Idris’ Chair) mountain in Gwynedd, to the ceremony of cadeirio’r bardd (chairing the bard) that is the crowning glory of the Eisteddfod, cadeiriau (chairs) occupy a perhaps unexpectedly significant position in Wales’ culture, geography, and history. So, get yourself settled in a comfortable cadair freichiau (armchair), and …
Pasg (Easter) is a gŵyl (holiday) that’s important to many people. You might celebrate Pasg because you are a Cristion (Christian), commemorating the resurrection of Christ, to honour even older cultural and spiritual traditions surrounding the advent of gwanwyn (spring), or simply as an excuse to see family and eat some siocled (chocolate)! And all …