The Welsh word for the number one is the straightforward un, but tracing all the words and expressions that have evolved from it is anything but simple.
un
one
Un comes from the proto-Celtic *oinos, and probably, before that, from the Old Latin oinos. This would explain why the word for one is similar in so many European languages, from the Scottish Gaelic aons, to the Italian uno, to the Icelandic einn. And of course, the French un is spelt exactly the same as un in Welsh.
As a noun, un is masculine, and its plural is unau, or occasionally unoedd. As in English, it can also be used as an adjective, meaning only, sole, or same. For example, yr un llyfr means the same book.
There are no other words for un, because it doesn’t have a separate masculine and feminine form (unlike many other Welsh numbers), and the only dialectical difference is in pronunciation. Above, I’ve given the Southern pronunciation. It’s very subtle, but the u sound is slightly longer and deeper in North Wales, as below:
There are a few common terms based around un with which you’ll have to familiarise yourself if you want to speak natural-sounding Welsh. Most importantly, dim un means none, and pob un means each or all. For example, pob un ohononynt means each one of them or all of them. However, for each as in the phrase two pounds each, you would use yr un, so dwy bunt yr un instead.
Another very important usage is sut un, which literally means what kind of one. It’s used to ask about someone’s character or personality. So, Sut un yw hi? essentially means What is she like?
Because un begins with a vowel, it should technically undergo h-prosthesis—a process in Welsh where an h is added to the beginning of a word. This usually happens after eu (their), ein (our), or ei (his/her), but only when ei means her.
However, in Modern Welsh, this doesn’t actually happen with un because the h-prosthesised form, hun, has evolved to mean self. As a result, h-prosthesis is no longer relevant in this case, and instead, ei hun means himself / herself, while ei un means his / her one.
Mae o ar ei ben ei hun.
He’s by himself.
Un does not undergo any form of mutation either. However, it does cause mutations itself! When un is used as an adjective to mean the same it triggers a treiglad meddal (soft mutation) in feminine nouns, but not masculine nouns.
So, yr un gerdd means the same poem, and yr un ci means the same dog. The initial c in cerdd has shifted to g, but in ci, it has remained the same, because ci is a masculine noun. It doesn’t mutate plural nouns either.
Many important Welsh words originate from un, just as numerous English words stem from one. Here are some of the most useful vocabulary terms derived from un:
- uno / cyfuno = to unite / unify
- unrhyw = any
- rhywun = someone
- unrhywun = anyone
- unig = lonely or singular
- yn unig = only
- yn union = exactly
- ymuno = to join
- unwaith = once
Unwaith can also be used to mean at once, as in English.
Versions of un are sometimes used to form the singular version of plural nouns. In Welsh, plurals are highly irregular, and some singular nouns have even been ‘back-formed’ from their plurals by adding the suffix –yn or -en, which have both evolved from un. For example, plant (children) has the singular form plentyn (child), and coed (trees) has the singular form coeden (tree). The –yn suffix is always masculine and –en is always feminine.
Gadewch i bob un ohonon ni ymuno dwylo.
Let’s each one of us join hands.
The Welsh word for ten is deg, but once you start counting past deg, un becomes important again, as it’s affixed onto the start of every number between ten and twenty: so un deg un is eleven, un deg dau is twelve, and so on. After ugain (twenty), the traditional way to say twenty one is un ar hugain, but it’s becoming more and more common to say dau ddeg un.
Another common numerical phrase is un neu ddau (one or two), which means the same as it does in English and can also be translated as ambell un (a few ones).
Now, one word that does not actually derive from un is the word for first. It’s a common mistake amongst Welsh learners to try to use unaf for first, applying the Welsh suffix –af to un, but it’s a mistake you shouldn’t make! Welsh speakers tend to be easy-going in terms of mistakes and often use ‘Wenglish’, but this is one that sounds awkward and incorrect. The actual Welsh word for first is cyntaf. It has many idiomatic uses, most famously cyntaf ag y gellych, which means as soon as possible.
Dw i eisiau’r un gyntaf.
I want the first one.
Many of the most common terms that use un derive from its use as an adjective meaning same. For example, yr un fath means the same kind, yr un donnen means the spitting image, ar yr un pryd means at the same time.
You might notice that pryd is used here to mean time instead of amser, which is the most commonly given direct translation of time. The concept of time in Welsh is nuanced, with different words used depending on the context. However, the phrase ar un amser is also used, carrying a different meaning—it directly translates to at one time in English. Another way to express this is ar un adeg. Additionally, there’s ar un tro, which means at a time.
There must be cant ac un (a hundred and one) Welsh phrases derived from the word un – I’m sure to have missed a few!
