Did you know that there are two separate words meaning to know in Welsh? One is gwybod, which refers to knowing facts or information, and the other is adnabod / nabod, which refers to knowing or recognising a person or place.
In literary Welsh, adnabod is the form of this word used. However, in colloquial Welsh, you will much more often hear nabod, whilst adnabod is used only to mean specifically recognising.
nabod
to know (a person or place)
As you have probably guessed, nabod and adnabod are etymologically related, with the former simply being a shortening of the latter that has evolved to become a word in its own right. For this reason, you’ll sometimes see nabod spelt ‘nabod.
Adnabod seems to have come from a proto-Brythonic word along the lines of *ate-gegn, itself from the proto-Indo-European root *gneh (to know). Somewhere down the etymological tree, the verb bod (to be) was fused into both of the Welsh words for knowing, adnabod and gwybod, hence their endings.
If you speak French, you will know that this difference between the two types of knowing isn’t unique to Welsh – it’s the same as savoir (gwybod) and connaître (nabod / adnabod). Personally, I think it makes a lot more sense to separate the two meanings this way. Knowing a person and knowing a fact are two quite different things!
Dwi ‘di nabod hi ers talwm.
I’ve known her for ages.
Although nabod is overall the more common word in colloquial Welsh, it is worth getting to nabod the word adnabod, as well. Not only is it the correct word for recognise, but it also comes up in terms such as cerdyn adnabod (ID card), adnabod llais (voice recognition) and adnabyddus (of a person, well-known).
Another form of this word is cydnabod, which means to recognise as in to recognise a fact – it’s something like to acknowledge. So, cydnabod is to gwybod, as nabod is to adnabod. From cydnabod we also get the noun cydnabyddiaeth (acknowledgement / recognition).
Since the letter n does not mutate, there’s no need to learn any mutations for nabod. Phew!
For adnabod, the same is true, but you will sometimes need to use the h-prosthesised form hadnabod. This occurs after the possessive pronouns eu (their), ein (our), and ei (her / his) when it is used to mean her.
Rwy’n ei hadnabod.
I recognise her.
Nabod is one of those Welsh words that rarely shows up in conjugated form. It’s a word that’s unique to the colloquial register of the language anyway, and most conjugations occur mainly in formal literary Welsh.
Instead, to use nabod in various tenses, you should use periphrastic conjugation. This just means that nabod stays the same, and is paired with a conjugated form of bod (to be). For example, roeddwn i’n nabod Aberhonddu’n dda is I knew Brecon well, but in English literally it would translate to I was knowing Brecon well.
Here are some useful expressions that make use of nabod:
- dod i nabod [rhywun/rhywle] = to get to know [someone/somewhere]
- ei nabod o ran ei weld = to know something by seeing it
- wyt ti’n nabod Elin? = do you know Elin?
- adnabod ar / adnabod wrth = to recognise [someone/something] by
- colli nabod rhywun = to fall out of touch with someone
- byddwn i’n ei nabod yn mhig y frân = I’d know him anywhere
This last phrase comes from Anglesey, and it literally means I’d know him in the crow’s beak. If anyone knows how this expression evolved, I’d love to be enlightened!
