Wy is the Welsh word for egg, and it’s our word of the day today.
wy
egg
The evolution of the word wy is uncertain, but it’s hypothesised that it (and similar words in other Celtic languages) come from a proto-Celtic root word that was something like *auio or *awyom. Catchy!
Wy first appeared in Welsh as oui as early as the eighth century, becoming standardly spelt as wy by the 1300s. You may even see wy spelt as ŵy, which is a more recent orthographic innovation, meant to reflect the fact that the ‘oo’ sound in this word is longer than in words like mwy (more).
Some people consider ŵy a misspelling, but you’ll see both spellings in published books and both are fine to use. Other sources differentiate between wy (egg as in ovum), and ŵy (egg that we eat), but this isn’t really accurate.
In South Wales, it’s often pronounced like this:
Wy is a masculine noun, and the plural form is wyau. Since its first letter is w, which in Welsh acts as a vowel, there’s no need to worry about mutation. That being said, you do need to remember that it can undergo h-prosthesis!
H-prosthesis is when words in Welsh adopt an ‘h’ at the beginning. It happens after ein (our), eu (their), and ei (his / her), but h-prosthesis only occurs when it’s used as her. So you can safely say ei wy (his egg), but you’d need to change it for ein hwy (our egg), eu hwy (their egg), or ei hwy (her egg).
Wyau (eggs) are what anifeiliad (animals) use to reproduce. Wyau in mamaliaid (mammals) are celloedd (cells) that carry only half of the DNA to produce a milrith (embryo). They’re produced by the ovaries, known as wyfaoedd (singular: wyfa), wygelloedd (singular: wygell) and ofarïau (singular: ofari), all of which are valid options.
But in most other kinds of anifeiliad, they are a vessel which protects the milrith as it develops. It will eventually deori (hatch) into a new anifail (animal) – unless it’s eaten first!
Sut wyt ti’n hoffi dy wyau yn y bore?
How do you like your eggs in the morning?
Wyau are a common source of bwyd (food) for many anifeiliad, including humans, who have been farming ieir (chickens) for their meat and wyau for around 3,000 years. We also bwyta (eat) the wyau of other adar (birds), like hwyaid (ducks), soflieir (quail), and even estrysod (ostriches). Fish eggs are a delicacy known as gronell (roe) or cafiâr (caviar).
Now, there are plenty of different ways to coginio (cook) an wy…
- wyau wedi’u ffrio = fried eggs
- wyau wedi’u sgramblo = scrambled eggs
- omled = omelette
- wy berw = a boiled egg
- wy pots = a poached egg
- wy meddal / wy llaith = soft-shelled egg
- wy heb blisgyn / wy heb fasgl = shell-less egg
- wyau wedi’u ffrio ‘run ochr = sunny-side up eggs
- wy picl = a pickled egg
- wyau dipio = dipping eggs
As a child, for brecwast (breakfast) on Sul y Pasg (Easter Sunday) I always had wyau dipio in a cwpan wy (egg-cup). Ideally, with bysedd tost (toast fingers / dipping soldiers) on the side – and plenty of menyn (butter) please!
The produce that we get from our ieir can be either wyau caetsh (battery eggs) or wyau maes / wyau buarth (free-range eggs) – pressure is growing on governments to continue improving legislation to favour the latter, in order to improve quality of life for the humble iâr (chicken). Since they’re the ones that dodwy (lay) the eggs, it seems only fair!
Wyau maes are said to be better quality too, with a bright orange melynwy (yolk).
Rwy’n hoffi’r melynwy’n well na’r gwynnwy.
I like the yolk better than the white.
The other parts of an egg are its gwynnwy (white) and its shell. The latter has many different translations in Welsh. In most of the country, it’s a plisgyn, but in parts of the South you might hear masgl. It’s also not unheard of to use cibyn or cogwrn. If you’re unsure, stick with plisgyn.
There’s a few interesting proverbs that relate to wyau in Welsh. Some of these are similar to English phrases, whereas some are a bit more unique.
- dodi’ch wyau i gyd yn yr un fasged = to put all your eggs in one basked
- gwell wy heddiw na iâr yfory = a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush (literally: better an egg today than a hen tomorrow)
- lladd yr iâr a cholli’r cywion = to kill the golden goose (literally: to kill the hen and lose the chicks)
- lladd yr aderyn yn yr wy / lladd y sarff yn yr wy = to nip in the bud (literally: to kill the bird in the egg / to kill the serpent in the egg)
- a ddwg wy, a ddwg fwy = once a thief, always a thief (literally: one who stole an egg, one who stole more)
Amser Pasg (at Easter-time), wyau are associated with imagery of cute cywion (chicks), and of course, with wyau siocled (chocolate eggs)! But in Wales, there’s one particularly interesting wy-related Pasg (Easter) tradition.
Maen nhw’n mynd i glapio wyau.
They’re going egg clapping.
Historically, the children of Ynys Môn (Anglesey) used to celebrate Pasg by visiting local farms asking for wyau, clapping and singing songs – a bit like a Pasg version of trick-or-treating. They might even be given off a morning from school to do this!
One example given by Elen Parry, to the National Museum of Wales in 1965, was that as a little girl, she used to recite the rhyme Clap, clap, os gwelwch chi’n dda ga’i wy / Geneth fychan ar y plwy (Clap, clap, please may I have an egg / A little girl on the parish). The home-owner would reply A phlant bach pwy ‘dach chi? (And whose little children are you?) and give out an egg after being answered.
In recent years, the Welsh youth program Menter Iaith Môn (Anglesey Language Venture) have been attempting to revive this tradition with some success – although today’s children have been asking for wyau siocled instead!
