Hi all, can’t seem to find to answer to this, what is the rule that decides whether you use “d” or “dd” in the short form of “come”. Thanks for any help. Cheers, Doug
The d will mutate to dd when it’s a question, a negative, or a positive statement following the particles ‘fe’ or ‘mi’ (although you’ll also hear it in a positive statement where the particle before it has been left out but the mutation remains).
Ddoi di fory?
Ddaw e/o ddim.
Daw y trên yn fuan / (Fe/Mi) ddaw y trên yn fuan
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So helpful, thanks so much, Siaron
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@siaronjames these ‘fe’ and ‘mi’ particles at the beginning of sentences appear to the uninitiated (i.e. me!) to be rather arbitrary - why are they sometimes used, and sometimes not? Does it matter? Or is it just a question of knowing they CAN be used so you can understand what the speaker is saying if they start a sentence with one of them?
What confuses me more is that you can apparently leave out the opening particle but still mutate the first letter of the sentence in a positive statement as if it was there. I don’t get that.
Also if you do use them, what is the difference between ‘fe’ and ‘mi’ - or is it simply a regional variation?
They are optional - you don’t need them, and many never use them, but some speakers do, and you may see them in writing, so it’s good to be able to recognise them even if you don’t use them.
There are lots of places where bits are left out in speech but their effect remains - for instance, we say “ac mae” even though it looks like we’re breaking the “ac-before a vowel” rule, but this happens because the ‘y’ that used to come before ‘mae’ has disappeared but left the effect of ‘a’ becoming ‘ac’. It certainly is confusing when you’re learning and these are the kind of things you tend to pick up the reasons for over time.
Where they are used, ‘fe’ is used more commonly in Southern Welsh, and ‘mi’ more commonly in Northern Welsh.
