Mis Gorffennaf (July) has to be one of the loveliest misoedd (months) of the blwyddyn (year), and I promise I’m not just biased because it’s my penblwydd (birthday).
Gorffennaf
July
Theoretically, mis Gorffennaf is heulog (sunny), cynnes (warm) and braf (fine). Prime time, then, for gwyliau (holidays), teithio (travel), partis (parties), and spending time in natur (natur). Of course, in Wales sometimes the glaw (rain) gets in the way of such lofty aspirations…
Technically, Gorffennaf can be affected by the soft and by the nasal mutation:
Soft mutation
Orffennaf
Nasal mutation
Ngorffennaf
Aspirate mutation
N/A
But they are not always seen because it is often prefixed with mis (month), meaning mis blocks the mutation in phrases like o fis Gorffennaf (of July) or ym mis Gorffennaf (in July), which would otherwise be o Orffennaf (of July) and yng Ngorffennaf (in July).
Why mis comes before each month’s name is a matter of debate. Some suggest that the reason could be clarity, since some of the months in Welsh have dual meanings. Just hydref, for example, means autumn, but mis Hydref means October. Others argue it’s just a different style to other languages and doesn’t require justification.
We see a similar thing with the wythnos (week). Dydd (day) appears before each one as a separate word, as in dydd Llun (Monday), dydd Mawrth (Tuesday), and so on.
There are three exceptions to this rule of inserting mis before the name of the month. Firstly, some people don’t use it consistently in casual colloquial speech. Secondly, it is dropped occasionally in very old-fashioned literary Welsh to make a poem or proverb fit a certain rhythm. Thirdly, it is not needed when mentioning a specific date in shorthand, e.g. 15fed Gorffennaf (July 15th).
But if you want to err on the side of caution, retain the mis as it is never incorrect to do so, plus it can make mutations easier. You also should never drop the dydd in days of the week.
Mi fuon ni’n ymweld â dinas newydd ym mis Gorffennaf.
We visited a new city in July.
Altogether, the twelve misoedd of the blwyddyn are:
- mis Ionawr = January
- mis Chwefror = February
- mis Mawrth = March
- mis Ebrill = April
- mis Mai = May
- mis Mehefin = June
- mis Gorffennaf = July
- mis Awst = August
- mis Medi = September
- mis Hydref = October
- mis Tachwedd = November
- mis Rhagfyr = December
You can read more about them, about the word, and about how to count the days of the mis, in our article on the word.
Mis Gorffennaf is the year’s seithfed mis (seventh month) – notice that seithfed (seventh) is spelt differently to saith (seven) – and in most countries of Hemisffer y Gogledd (the Northern Hemisphere), also the poethaf (hottest). A few old Welsh agricultural proverbs make note of this, such as tes Gorffennaf, ydau brasaf (July’s heat, biggest grains).
The mis has tri deg un diwrnod (thirty-one days) and it covers the astrological signs of y Cranc (Cancer, literally the Crab) and y Llew (Leo, literally the Lion).
Gorffennaf itself is a masculine proper noun. It literally comes from gorffen (an end or to end) and haf (summer), so it means the end of the summer.
This may not feel intuitive since most people today consider mis Awst (August) to be part of the haf too. However, in pre-Roman Celtic cultures, mis Mai (May) was considered the start of the haf – and celebrated as such through Calan Mai (May Day)! – and by mis Awst things were slowing down and people were preparing for the cynhaeaf (harvest).
So Gorffennaf was considered the gorffen of the haf. The Cornish have followed the same etymological process to name this time of year, resulting in their word Gortheren. On the other hand in English, July isn’t a native word at all; it comes from Latin and is named after the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar.
Ei ddiwrnod olaf yn y gwaith yw’r degfed o Orffennaf.
His last day at work is the tenth of July.
Gorffennaf looks identical spelling-wise to gorffennaf, the present-tense / future tense first person version of its parent-word gorffen. The editors of Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru (the Welsh University Dictionary) even mention the possibility that this conjugation of gorffennaf could be where the proper noun Gorffennaf comes from, although the gorffen + haf theory is much more widely accepted.
Despite their being spelt the same way you can always tell gorffennaf and Gorffennaf apart because the latter is capitalised. Plus, as we know, it will usually be prefixed with mis (month).
So, what’s mis Gorffennaf like in Wales? Still often glawog (rainy) – I should know, it rained on my diwrnod priodas (wedding day) and we had to move venue! – but generally much better tywydd (weather) than any other time in the year.
Although they can be busy due to gwyliau ysgolion (school holidays) this is also a great time to visit some of Wales’ countless lovely traethau (beaches) – have a look at our sister website We Travel Wales for some recommendations. With 1680 miles of arfordir (coast) surrounding our tiny gwlad (country), you are really spoilt for choice.
