Wouldn’t it be nice if the English word for Cymru, Wales, had something to do with whales?
In fact, it comes from an old German word meaning foreigner, and Cymru means just the opposite – compatriot. Neither has anything to do with the large marine mammals that in Cymraeg (Welsh) we call morfilod (whales).
morfil
whale
Morfil comes from a combination of the words môr (sea) and mil, an old-fashioned and often derogatory word for animal that today only shows up in compound words, like cnofil (rodent), and anghenfil (monster).
As you can see, both of these elements have altered by being put together. Mil has taken a soft mutation to become fil, which is normal for root words when they become the second part of a compound word, and môr has lost its acen (accent). This means we pronounce the first syllable of morfil as a short o sound, as in the adverb mor.
There are two places in the world called Morfil. One of them, often spelt in its anglicised form Morvil, is a parish in Pembrokeshire. It seems likely that it gets its name from the Welsh word – likely, but not definite, as interestingly, morfil was also an old French word meaning ivory, which gave its name to Morfil Island in Senegal. The etymology behind this strange coincidence is unclear.
Like both of its component parts, morfil is a masculine noun. It does actually have a feminine form, morfiles, but you’d be hard pressed to find anyone using this word. It mutates as below:
Soft mutation
forfil
Nasal mutation
N/A
Aspirate mutation
N/A
This word is also used, albeit rarely, to mean sea monster – which is interesting since whales and their cousins dolffiniaid (dolphins) and llamidyddion (porpoises) aren’t generally portrayed as angenfilaidd (monstrous) in popular culture. We tend to imagine them as gentle, playful and almost dynffurfiol (anthropomorphic), with siarcod (sharks) much more likely to be represented as evil.
But the fact that the Welsh translate whale and sea monster with the same word says more about the Welsh language than it does about sea creatures.
In general, words for plants and animals in Welsh often don’t have clear cut definitions. The same word may be used for multiple species if they seem to share similar qualities – for example, morflaidd refers to various different kinds of fish, including sharks but also catfish and sea-bass.
Anifail mwyaf y byd yw’r morfil glas.
The world’s biggest animal is the blue whale.
And the same species is often described with a wide range of terminology, reflecting dialectical variations and the evaluation of the language over time. One really famous example of this is jellyfish. The most widely accepted translation is sglefren fôr, but across the country you may well come across cap glas, the very rude cont y môr, and the playful slang term pysgodyn wibli-wobli.
The upshot of this is to try not to be too offended, if you’re a whale lover, by their being conflated with sea monsters! And indeed, of the huge variety of morfilod that exist, some are quite scary.
- morfil danheddog / morfil ffyrnig = orca / killer whale
- morfil pengrwn = pilot whale
- morfil ungorn / môr-ungorn = narwhal
- morfil glas = blue whale
- morfil sberm / casialot = sperm whale
- morfil cefngrwm = humpback whale
- morfil walbon / morfil balin = baleen whale
- morfil llwyd = grey whale
- morfil gwyn / belwga = beluga whale
But, as I mentioned, Welsh vocabulary for sea-life isn’t always consistent. If you ever do get into an in-depth discussion about morfilod in Welsh, don’t be surprised if you have to use the English word to make it clear which sub-species you’re talking about.
Morfilod, despite living their entire lives in the water, are mamaliaid (mammals). Although there’s a lot of variation in size between the different species, they’re generally huge animals. They’ve been hunted for their braster (blubber), cig (meat), walbon (baleen), and cwyr morfil (spermaceti) throughout history, but today they’re protected from morfilo (whaling) under international law.
Mae sawl rhywogaeth o forfilod mewn perygl.
Many species of whales are endangered.
Although the Welsh coast is more famous for its dolffiniaid, it isn’t impossible to occasionally see morfilod when holidaying ar lan y môr (by the seaside). Your best bet is likely up North – in the waters of Ynys Môn (Anglesey), a morfil pigfain (minke whale) or two has been known to be spotted.
Or if you’re based in South Wales, why not take a wildlife boat trip out from one of Pembrokeshire’s many lovely seaside towns into what’s known as Y Dyfnfor Celtaidd (The Celtic Deep)? You can be on the look out for morloi (seals) as well as dolffiniaid and llamidyddion.
On most days, you would have to be pretty lwcus (lucky) to catch a glimpse of a morfil – but why shouldn’t you be lwcus? Someone’s got to be! 😉
