If you’ve been learning Welsh for a while, you may have done a double-take at the title of this article – “What? Royalty isn’t breindal!”
In fact, it is, but only in a specific context. A breindal is a royalty as in a tâl (payment) made to someone, like an awdur (author) or dyfeisydd (inventor), in order to reproduce or to use their work. This is a slightly more advanced piece of geirfa (vocabulary) but still one that comes in handy for everyday sgwrsio (conversation), darllen (reading) books and articles, and understanding y newyddion (the news).
Breindal is a masculine noun. The plural is breindaliadau (royalties).
breindal
a royalty payment
breindaliadau
royalties
The word is made up of two parts. The latter is a soft mutation of tâl, and as you can see it’s also lost its accent.
The first part, brein, is a form of braint. This is mostly used today just to mean privilege but is a bit broader in context and meaning when we look at its usage historically. In this word, it’s best understood as meaning right; we are talu (paying) someone who holds the rights to something so that we can have the right to use it.
Soft mutation
freindal
Nasal mutation
mreindal
Aspirate mutation
N/A
Breindaliadau are paid in a variety of contexts. In the world of y celfyddydau (the arts), the creators of llenyddiaeth (literature), cerddoriaeth (music), celfyddydweithiau (artwork), and works of sinema (cinema) and teledu (television) are likely to be due them when someone uses what they created.
They have recently been particularly controversial in the world of cerddoriaeth as many artistiaid (artists) are not paid sufficient breindaliadau from ffrydio (streaming) to make a living off their work, with platfformau ffrydio (streaming platforms) only giving small pay-outs compared to what artistiaid would be able to receive if they sold more of their work directly.
They are also paid to developers of meddalwedd (software), those who hold breinlythyrau / patentau (patents) for various kinds of technoleg (technology) and dyfeisiau (inventions), and those who have rights over adnoddau naturiol (natural resources).
Mae’r cwmni yn adnabyddus am dalu breindaliadau teg.
The company is known for paying a fair rate of royalties.
One thing that could be helpful for remembering this word is that it actually looks a lot like brenin (king). This can remind you of how the word is said in English, royalty.
Now, in Welsh, royalty as in monarchy has a few different translations. The system of monarchy is brenhiniaeth, and royalty as in the people themselves are simply y teulu brenhinol (the royal family). The visual similarity between these words and breindal is a complete coincidence because they’re from separate roots that just happen to look alike. Whether you find this useful or confusing as a learner is up to you to decide!
