Hiraeth. A beautiful word in the English language!

Without the Romans, we would not have gwyliau :slight_smile:

So is this turning into ĀØWhat have the Romans ever given us?ĀØ

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Yes, Eisteddfod is used internationally. Hiraeth has come up in discussions on a Tyneside FB group that I am a member of. I checked out the Merriam Webster (American) Dictionary for others. As well as Eisteddfod, I quickly found cwm, clogwyn and garth (although garth seems to be of scandinavian origin).

Correct, but thereā€™s only one p in Epynt :wink:

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Due to a spelling reform around the turn of the 19th century. As set out in Orgraff yr Iaith Gymraeg. The p is or was double in origin and sound, but because almost all non-initial p, t, c are double in Welsh at the end of an accented syllable, it was decided to write them single, to save ink I suppose.

Yng nghyntefin 1888 ā€¦ Erchid ynddynt ddyblu pob p, t, c, m, s ar Ć“l yr acen; ond gan fod y rhain yn ddwbl wrth natur yn Gymraeg, awgrymodd Rhys yn 1889 y gellid hepgor dyblu ond y llythrennau petrus n ac r, ac wedi profiad pellach cytunwyd ar hynny. [O. yr I. G. pp vii-viii]

We are all descendants of one woman from East Africa - at least our mitochondria are! So we truly are sisters under the skin!
On the original subject, march - stallion leads to march- meaning mounted, marchoglu = cavalry, marchog - knight. I presume The Marches come from these roots. I am no linguist, but I donā€™t think any of this is Germanic, Norman or Latin. Do correct if wrong!

March, etymology:

Edit to add: The Welsh term for the borders/march is gororau.

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So, from old English ā€˜borderā€™ rather than riders on stallions defending it!

I was born near Wrexham but moved to Aberystwyth when I was 19. I knew the word ā€˜hiraethā€™ but did not truly understand itā€™s meaning until I left Wales and moved to the West Midlands to be with someone. My homesickness affected the relationship and we parted. I now live in South Staffordshire. I cannot afford to move back home but visit occasionally as funds will allow. The hiraeth I feel is very real but it has spurred me on to learn the language of home.

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on the subject of English words derived from Welsh, Iā€™ve just read that BIN, BROCK and HOG are Celtic words.

Bin (a container) is the most obvious as itā€™s the same in modern Welsh and English,

Brock is in the concise Oxford dictionary as a badger (especially in rural use) and Broch is one of the names used in Welsh (an alternative to mochyn daer),

Hog (pig) is a bit more confusing but it can apparently be used for a young sheep before its first shearing (called a hog or a hogget) so maybe a Celtic word used to describe a young animal (hogyn - boy) became a word for the animal itself when transferred into English? (just a guess)

Here in Sir y Fflint i know of lots of non welsh speakers who say nain and taid. And also i have heard cariad, sws and of course cach as in iā€™m in the cach.

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