When I was little, my parents would give us siocled Pasg (Easter chocolate) in the shape of cwningod (rabbits) or defaid (sheep). I was quite a sappy child and couldn’t bear to eat anything that looked like an animal, so mine often got passed onto my siblings.
As an adult, I’d never dream of letting siocled go to waste! I think most people are probably more like adult me than child me – so let’s delve into this much-loved moethyn (treat) in Welsh.
siocled
chocolate
You might have already guessed that this word is borrowed directly from the English, which itself comes from Spanish, all the way from the Nahuatl chocolatl. In Welsh, you might also sometimes hear the alternative forms tsiocled/tsioclet, siocoled, or, in the North, the pronunciation sioclad.
Siocled is usually an uncountable noun. If you want to say a chocolate, you would use the version siocledyn, and the plural chocolates is siocledi. Like in English, siocled can also be used as an adjective to describe something that is made of chocolate.
This noun is masculine, and it doesn’t normally undergo any mutations. However! In modern Welsh, with more and more words borrowed from English, some Welsh speakers have begun to introduce a new mutation, of the ts noise often used to start words that begin with ch in English, morphing to j when affected by the soft mutation.
Therefore, since siocled is sometimes rendered tsiocled, the phrase bar of chocolate, for example,could become bar o jocled. But for most speakers, a bar of chocolate is quite simply a bar o siocled.
Dw i angen bar o siocled!
I need a bar of chocolate!
In English, chocolate is often used as an adjective to describe something being dark brown coloured. You can do the same in Welsh, but you have to specifically say lliw siocled (chocolate colour), or you’re best sticking with brown tywyll (dark brown).
Interestingly, the English colour chestnut, often used to describe a horse’s coat, can be translated into Welsh as melyn siocled (literally: chocolate yellow).
One of the most iconic images of siocled in popular culture is one of the many incredible melysion / losin (sweets) that the protagonist, Charlie, gets to try in Roald Dahl’s classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Like many of Dahl’s books, Charlie has been translated into many languages, and you can even buy it in Welsh as Charlie a’r Ffatri Siocled. Did you know that although Roald Dahl’s first language was Norwegian, he was actually born in Wales?
Ydych chi eisiau saws siocled ar eich hufen iâ?
Do you want chocolate sauce on your ice cream?
Siocled is made of ffa coco (cocoa beans), siwgr (sugar) and llaeth / llefrith (milk). Although it was discovered by Europeans during the colonial period, it was initially consumed mainly as a moddion (medicine), and only became widespread in the UK in the 1700s.
It was certainly considered a drink of the upper classes – whereas today there is chocolate to be had in every archfarchnad (supermarket) you pass! And our love of this danteithfwyd (delicacy) makes scientific sense, as many research studies have suggested that it actually makes us feel hapusach (happier).
Verbs commonly paired with siocled include:
- bwyta siocled = to eat chocolate
- yfed siocled = to drink chocolate
- toddi siocled = to melt chocolate
- blasu siocled = to taste chocolate
- hoffi siocled = to like chocolate
- mwynhau siocled = to enjoy chocolate
But aside from hoffi and mwynhau, there are plenty of other ways specifically to express that you are a chocolate lover! My favourite of these is the Southern dwli/dwlu ar (to dote on, a bit like the English to love when applied to objects). The Northern version of this is gwirioni ar.
You can also say that you are hoff o siocled, which would be the equivalent of saying you are fond of chocolate, or bod yn gaeth i siocled, which means to be addicted to chocolate.
Toddais y siocled i wneud teisen.
I melted the chocolate to make a cake.
As well as referring to the substance itself, siocled is, like in English, an adjective referring to something made of chocolate (whereas something chocolatey is siocledaidd). Here are some examples of pethau siocled (chocolate things).
- bisged siocled = chocolate biscuit
- teisen siocled / cacen siocled = chocolate cake
- llaeth siocled = chocolate milk
- hufen iâ siocled = chocolate ice-cream
- pwdin siocled = chocolate pudding
- pâst siocled = chocolate spread
Most people have a firm favourite out of siocled llaeth (milk chocolate), siocled gwyn (white chocolate), and siocled tywyll (dark chocolate), and will be prepared to defend it!
It’s also common to mix siocled with other blasau such as cnau (nuts), orennau (oranges), mint (mint) or caramel / siwgr llosg (caramel). So it’s best to figure out what someone’s ffefryn (favourite) is before buying them a blwch siocledi (chocolate box) as a gift.
Mae’r siocledi ‘ma’n rhy felys i mi.
These chocolates are too sweet for me.
Personally, my favourite way to enjoy siocled is toddedig (melted) as a sauce for mefus (strawberries), or best of all as a cup of siocled poeth (hot chocolate). What’s your favourite type of siocled – or are you one of those rare chocolate haters? Either way, drop a comment and let us know.
