In some of our previous articles on Welsh adjectives, we’ve included what’s called the equative form of the word. For example, the equative form of tlws (pretty) is tlysed. There’s no direct translation of these kinds of words in English – but imagine that in addition to prettier and prettiest, there were another form of …
I only had one other friend from Wales at university, and she didn’t come from a Welsh-speaking family or go to Welsh-medium school. However, in Wales, all students do have to learn Welsh as a second-language, as you might learn French or German. I was quite intrigued to know what words and phrases she had …
We’re almost at the end of another November, so what better time to talk about this common word? The Welsh word for November is ‘Tachwedd’, which is the eleventh month of the Gregorian calendar. Gweiadur states that the original definition of ‘Tachwedd’ was probably ‘Tynnu tua’r diwedd’, which means the end is near, i.e. the …
Today’s Welsh word of the day is sglodion (chips). Most people know sglodion as the tasty salty treat made of tatws (potatoes). It can also refer to chips or shavings of wood, or of any material really – though a lot of people instead call these naddion, which comes from the same root as the …
Did you know that in Welsh, there is just one for word for marriage as a concept, a marriage, and a wedding? The word in question is priodas, and marriages or weddings is priodasau. priodas marriage / wedding priodasau marriages / weddings I don’t know of any common synonyms for priodas in either sense – …
The primary school I went to had two separate ‘streams’, one taught in English with supplementary Welsh lessons, and one taught in Welsh with supplementary English lessons. I remember that the English stream kids used to find the Welsh word moron absolutely hilarious – because it sounds like the English moron meaning idiot. Of course, …
Oh no – another one of those awful Welsh words with no vowels! Of course, this isn’t really the case; today’s word of the day gwydr (glass) features y, which is a vowel in Welsh, and w, which is usually a vowel in Welsh, although only a semi-vowel in the word gwydr. Gwydr is a …
One concept grammar nerds in English always wrestle with is the double negative. You know, when someone says something along the lines of I didn’t do nothing, actually meaning I didn’t do anything. In Welsh, double negatives are actually the way to go! This is because Welsh is one of many languages that have what …
From The Queen Vic in Eastenders to Y Deri in Pobol y Cwm, the prominence of tafarnau (pubs) in British TV is just one clue to how important they are to this little island’s culture. The Welsh word for a pub is tafarn. tafarn pub tafarnau pubs This is how tafarn mutates: Soft mutationdafarn Nasal …
One of the best anrhegion (presents) I’ve ever received was something I didn’t even know existed until I opened it! My rhieni yng nghyfraith (parents in law) gave me a hedgehog house – basically a little shelter to put in yr ardd (the garden) along with food, to help out hedgehogs in the cold gaeaf …