As much as we might try to escape it, feeling sad is an unavoidable part of life. The Welsh word for sad is trist.
trist
sad
Trist is a borrowing into Welsh from the Latin tristis, also meaning sad. It’s remained the same all the way from Old Welsh into modern Welsh. The Latin root of the word is the reason it looks and sounds so similar to the French word for sad, triste.
There are actually more similarities between Welsh and French than you might expect. Some other examples include the Welsh eglwys and French église, both meaning church, and the Welsh ffenestr and French fenêtre, both meaning window.
There are a couple of synonyms for trist, although they’re both more likely to be used in literary writing than everyday speech.
The most common of these is digalon, which comes from the word calon (heart), and the negative prefix di-, making it similar to the English word disheartened.
Another option is prudd, which generally means wise or sensible, but can also be used to mean sad. However, there’s little dialectical variation in the use of trist, and it’s definitely the most common word for sad all over Wales. Sadness in Welsh is tristwch, and to sadden is tristáu or digalonni.
Let’s move on to the mutations of trist.
Soft mutation
drist
Nasal mutation
nhrist
Aspirate mutation
thrist
Because trist is an adjective, the soft mutation, drist, is used very often – whenever the word follows a feminine singular noun. So, we would say y dyn trist (the sad man), but y fenyw drist (the sad woman).
Technically, adjectives in Welsh should also change to match the number of the noun they are describing, so y dyn trist becomes dynion tristion (sad men). However, in modern spoken Welsh, this rule is almost always ignored.
If you want to tell someone that you’re not feeling great, you can say Dw i’n drist (I’m sad) or Dw i’n teimlo’n drist (I’m feeling sad). Notice that the soft mutation is used here, after the word yn. Checking in on a friend, you might want to say Wyt ti’n teimlo’n drist? (Are you feeling sad?) or Pam wyt ti’n drist? (Why are you sad?)
Roedd ‘na olwg drist arno.
He had a sad look about him.
You may want to elaborate a bit more on what’s getting you down. Here are some more ways of describing negative feelings in Welsh:
- poenus = anxious or worried
- wedi siomi = disappointed
- gofidus = upset
- trymaidd = somber or gloomy (North-West Wales)
- blin = tired, frustrated or angry
- torri calon = heartbroken
Still, let’s hope you’ll have plenty of chances to say Dw i’n hapus (I’m happy), Dw i’n teimlo’n llawen (I’m feeling joyful), or even Dw i wrth fy modd (I’m absolutely delighted)!
Dyna newyddion trist iawn.
That’s very sad news.
Someone who’s feeling very sad might withdraw from others to be ar ben ei hun (on their own), or they might start to seem tawel (quiet) and blinedig (fatigued). Crio (crying) is also a common way to deal with sadness.
Of course, tristwch is a normal emotion, and it wouldn’t be healthy to only feel happy all the time. It’s important to process teimladau anodd (difficult emotions) properly in order to maintain good iechyd meddal (mental health). Some good ways to deal with sadness include being creadigol (creative), spending time in natur (nature), and most importantly, connecting with teulu a ffrindiau (family and friends).
