One way to remember the Welsh word for to complain is that it sounds like a cross between the two most common words for a fox – cadno and llwynog. I don’t know if foxes are known for cwyno (complaining), but either way, it’s quite a fun mnemonic.
cwyno
to complain
You won’t be surprised to learn that this is not, in fact, the origin of the word cwyno. In actual fact cwyno is just the verb form of cwyn (complaint), which is ultimately from the proto-Indo-European root *gwey– (to lament or complain).
Cwyno isn’t the only way to say complain although it is the most common. There are some dialectical alternatives you may be familiar with if you hail from certain parts of the South, such as conan and ceintach, which probably come from the same root.
The alternative forms achwyn and cwynfan also exist but are very literary – I wouldn’t recommend trying to slip them into conversations! Historically, achwyn has been more common than cwyno in the South when talking specifically about complaining of illness, but this is not necessarily the case today, given increasing standardisation and the erosion of idiosyncratic regional forms.
This isn’t to say that achwyn has lost all relevance. It lives on in that it has fathered the word achwyniad which means complaint in a legal sense, and, similarly, achwynydd / achwynwr which mean complainant or plaintiff.
Cwyno – and cwyn – are subject to all three Welsh mutations:
Soft mutation
gwyno
Nasal mutation
nghwyno
Aspirate mutation
chwyno
You might hear them in phrases like rhaid iddi gwyno (she has to complain), fy nghwyn yw (my complaint is), or ni chwynais i (I didn’t complain).
The last example is a bit controversial as sometimes the traditionally correct aspirate mutation is replaced by the soft mutation in this phrasing, or different, more casual phrasings are used altogether. Ni chwynais i, ni gwynais i, cwynais i ddim, and just wnes i’m cwyno are all perfectly acceptable translations of I didn’t complain, which you’ll hear from native speakers. Ni chwynais i may be most appropriate in a formal situation.
Nid oes gennyf achos cwyno.
I have no cause for complaint.
Now, technically, cwyno is an ambitransitive verb, meaning that it can be used with or without a direct object.
In the former case, it would be acting as a transitive verb, paired directly to an object. This is different to the English verb complain which is always intransitive – so when used this way, it’s perhaps more intuitive to translate cwyno as to complain of or even to bemoan. You could say cwyno’i farwolaeth (complaining of his death, bemoaning his death) or cwyno fy pechodau (complaining of my sins, bemoaning my sins).
Hopefully you’ll get the sense even from these examples and their translations into English that this usage of cwyno, although grammatically correct, is old-fashioned and sounds very formal and literary.
In the latter case, it is acting as an intransitive verb, and is used pretty much identically to the English word complain. It would require a preposition to be linked to an object, or may be used without an object at all. For example, you could say cwyno amdanaf i (complaining about me), which uses an object but links it with a preposition, or just mae hi’n cwyno (she’s complaining), without an object at all.
In the phrase cwyno amdanaf i we can see an inflected form amdanaf of the preposition am (about). This is very useful because when people cwyno we’re often cwyno am something specific!
Other common constructions are cwyno wrth (complaining to), cwyno o achos (complaining because of, complaining about), and cwyno ynghylch (also complaining about).
Dw i’n mynd i gwyno wrth yr athro amdanat ti.
I’m going to complain to the teacher about you.
Before we finish, let’s run through a few similar words and near-synonyms that you can use alongside and instead of cwyno:
- grwgnach (to groan, to complain)
- galarnadu / galaru (to lament)
- tuchan (to grumble)
- rhincian (to grumble, to nag)
- snachu (to grouse)
- ochneidio (mostly to sigh, but can also be to moan or to lament)
My favourite ‘swap’ for cwyno is a really simple one that you can use in almost any sgwrs (chat or conversation) you have. Alla i ddim cwyno (I can’t complain) is a great way to respond to sut dych chi / sut wyt ti (how are you) in Welsh, but it’s not the only option!
Dal i gredu is a really fun idiomatic alternative that conveys a similar spirit. It literally means still believing, and is also the name of a couple of Welsh songs – including a tongue in cheek version of Frank Sinatra’s My Way!
