Disgwyl

I am currently on Level 2, Ch.3. I supplement my SSiW with Duo Lingo. Can i ask what disgwyl actually means? In the southern course it is used in a sentence saying ‘your children look like a real handful’ and in Duo Lingo, it is used in a sentence for expecting a baby. Can someone clarify please? Thanks,

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It kind of means both to look and to expect. A similar pattern was once used in English, and is occasionally found in Shakespeare.

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I tend to use edrych in the first sense “maen nhw’n edrych fel llond llaw go iawn” and use disgwyl for expecting. I did the Northen version of the course. Either way, as @hectorgrey has said, it can mean both :slight_smile:

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I think disgwyl=look is a southern thing, it’s used a lot in PyC. I, like @AnthonyCusack, have done the northern course and it’s always to expect, and edrych is always to look.

(Another PyC/southern thing that confused me was gwynt=smell.)

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Yes disgwyl (pronounced more like “dishgwl” or “dishcwl”) is used to mean “look” in place of “edrych” in parts of south Wales. It is also used as it’s more standard meaning of “expect” in the south although some southern dialects use “erfin” for this (as does Carwyn Jones who speaks a type of Welsh with it’s roots in Brynaman)

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Got it! Thanks all.:slight_smile:

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As it happens, a couple of days ago, I asked a friend of mine how to say “looking forward”. He used “disgwyl ymlaen”. He’s from the Swansea Valley (S.Wales).

Meanwhile in English, I noticed that my dictionary has “expecting (to)” as a typical meaning of “looking”.

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So if he was looking forward to a cup of tea, he might say “dw i’n disgwyl ymlaen at disgled o de” :slight_smile:

(Gweiadur.com gives “dished” as an alternative to disgled. disgled is sometimes pronounced “dishgled” isn’t it? But I’m not sure if it’s ever spelt like that). GPC gives “dished” and 3 others, but not “disgled”! :slight_smile: ).

Yes, I think that’s correct. @Iestyn will confirm, but we have the “si (sh)” sound and also a hardened “g” which is heading towards a “c”.

This and some of the other South Wales sounds are handy for me as they fit in with how my wife pronounces place names. She is a native Wenglish (Welsh English) speaker, if you get my drift.