One of the most annoying things for someone trying to learn a new language is when two words sound very similar. Even worse when those two words actually translate back to the same thing in your native language, but can’t be confused in your target language!
An example of this for English speakers learning Welsh is the pair meddygaeth and meddyginiaeth. Though they both mean medicine – and come from the same ultimate route, the Latin medicus (healing) – they’re not interchangeable. The latter is medication and the former, our word of the day, is the practice of medicine.
meddygaeth
medicine
This is a feminine noun. It does technically have a plural, meddygaethau, though it is almost never necessary. Only one mutation applies:
Soft mutation
feddygaeth
Nasal mutation
N/A
Aspirate mutation
N/A
So how do you actually use it? Here are some example phrases.
- astudio meddygaeth = to study medicine
- arbenigedd mewn meddygaeth = expertise in medicine
- meddygaeth a nyrsio = medicine and nursing
- ym myd meddygaeth = in the medical world
- datblygiadau ym maes meddygaeth = advances in medicine
- meddygaeth fodern = modern medicine
- meddygaeth amgen = alternative medicine
- meddygaeth ataliol = preventative medicine
There are also a lot of cases where we would use medical in English, but we don’t necessarily use the literal equivalent meddygol in Welsh. For example, a myfyriwr meddygaeth (medical student) studies at ysgol feddygaeth (a medical school), after which they may go on to work in ymchwil meddygaeth (medical research).
In all of these terms meddygaeth, not meddygol, is showing up. In the case of ysgol feddygaeth, it’s behaving like an adjective itself by soft mutating after the feminine noun ysgol (a school).
Meddygaeth may also be used to identify medical specialities, like meddygaeth deulu (general practice, literally family medicine), meddygaeth anadlol (respiratory medicine), meddygaeth argyfwng (emergency medicine), for example.
Mae Rhodri yn astudio meddygaeth chwaraeon.
Rhodri’s studying sports medicine.
What kinds of people work in meddygaeth? There’s a broad range of swyddi in the field:
- nyrs = nurse
- fferyllydd = pharmacist
- anesthetydd = anaesthetist
- (ffisio)therapydd = (physio)therapist
- meddyg = doctor
- cynorthwyydd meddyg = physician assistant
- llawfeddyg = surgeon, literally hand-doctor
- parameddyg = paramedic
I’m sure you can guess that meddyg comes from the same root as meddygaeth and meddyginiaeth. A consequence of this is that you can’t use meddyg to refer to a person with a doethuriaeth (doctorate), like doctor in English. Such a person is a doethur.
But for both meddygon (doctors) and doethurion (doctors), the simple doctor is also heard and accepted in speech, and is most people’s go-to when addressing someone by title: think of a sentence like meddyg yw Doctor Jones (Dr Jones is a doctor).
Do you know anyone who works in the field of meddygaeth? What do they do?
