There was once a time when we all relied on pencils for jotting down notes and lists. However, with the rise of smartphones and computers, pencils have shifted from being essential writing tools to more of a go-to for sketching and drawing. In Welsh, the word for this stalwart tool is pensel.
pensel
pencil
There is little mystery about the origin of pensel – it derives directly from the English pencil, which in turn comes from the Old French pincel, a diminutive of the Latin peniculus (“brush”). It is a feminine noun, so it mutates to bensel after the definite article y (the).
According to Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru, it has multiple plural forms: pensiliau, pensilion, penseli, penselau, and penselydd. The most common is considered pensiliau, however. Here is how it mutates:
Soft mutation
bensel
Nasal mutation
mhensel
Aspirate mutation
phensel
Sharpening a pencil with a hogwr (sharpener) allows you to create a fine min (point), but you’ll also produce lots of naddion (shavings)—something I used to collect in my blwch penseli (pencil case) and desg (desk) as a child, much to the chagrin of my teachers!
Making a camgymeriad (mistake) with a pencil isn’t a problem so long as you have a rwber (eraser), but if you happen to be using its permanent sibling—y pen (the pen)—that’s a completely different story!
Lle mae fy mhensel i?
Where is my pencil?
Here are a few verbs you’ll often see used with pensel:
- hogi / miniogi pensel = to sharpen a pencil
- rhoi/gwneud blaen/min ar bensel = to sharpen a pencil
- ysgrifennu rhywbeth mewn pensel = to write something with a pencil
- rhoi rhywbeth i mewn â phensel = to pencil something in
- torri pensel = to break a pencil
- tynnu llun gyda phensel = to draw a picture with a pencil
- marcio rhywbeth â phensel = to mark with a pencil
If you want to say that you are writing something in pencil or with a pencil, you can use a number of different expressions: â phensel, mewn pensel, gyda phensel, or efo pensel.
Dw i’n ysgrifennu gyda phensel.
I write with a pencil.
A coloured pencil or pencil crayon is known, quite simply, as a pensel lliw.
My preferred type of pencil is the pensel droi, a mechanical pencil whose plwm (lead) can be replaced.
The word pensel in Welsh has another, less commonly known meaning as well. While it may typically refer to a pencil, pensel can also mean a small flag or standard according to Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru, or even figuratively represent a chief, prince, or ruler. Despite being a homonym, these two meanings share no connection in origin or definition whatsoever.
