Firstly to say how much I am enjoying one of my presents, the Modern Welsh Dictionary, edited by Gareth King. I can really recommend this book, and a big thank you to @garethrking for bringing the dictionary alive with snippets of real Welsh, as you do also do on this forum
OK, so I stumbled on the entry âGweudâ as an option for Dweud (Say) in S Wales. I found this really interesting as I had just noticed elsewhere (The Online Etymology) that CwĂŚĂ° and then Quoth were archaic English for Said. It also seemed to have equivalents in many other old European languages.
My guess is that this is yet another example of the Proto Indo-European language splitting into its many branches.
I had one of those âhow did I not notice this beforeâ moments and realise meddwl and meditate share a sound and meaning. Turns out âmedâ is the IPC route for âto take measureâ and is the same med in medical, mediate, and gives us accommodate, commodeâŚall sorts! Plus appears in Greek, Latin, Germanic, SanskritâŚ
I never thought Iâd get this excited about words!! Diolch SSiW!
Interesting what you said about âquothâ. I first came across this word when I was a kid (probably from some slightly fake archaic English in a book about King Arthur or similar) and it always stuck in my mind. Later I probably saw that it might be related to âto quoteâ.
Well anyway, I donât know if you are reading Welsh yet, but when you do, you will come across the verb âmeddaiâ, meaning âhe saidâ or âshe saidâ. It does have some other forms, but this form is only (I think) used in writing (at least nowadays), and I tend to think of it as a sort of Welsh version of âquoth heâ or âquoth sheâ, except that in Welsh, it doesnât sound archaic, whereas âquothâ definitely does.
I only mean that the meaning is similar, not that the words are related etymologically, as they are quite dissimilar. However (especially looking at Anthonyâs comment), I wonder if it could be related to âmeddwlâ.
And yes, that dictionary edited by Gareth King is absolutely perfect for learners.
And whereas quoth is archaic, there is nothing old fashioned about quoting or quotation. Interestingly, we ask a builder for a quote and mean a price for a job! Words slowly change their meaning⌠I would never, now, describe a manâs shirt as âgayâ⌠but the words themselves tend to last!
Yes I received this as a gift too and would also say to @garethrking that I have found that it is both fascinating (itâs hard to put it down once youâve started looking something up - and this a dictionary weâre talking about!) and extremely useful - with the examples of usage and verb endings with variants for past, future and conditionalâŚitâs a huge time-saver versus finding this information which tends to be covered in different sections of books or different books. Itâs great.
[ The family are threatening to buy me an anorak for my birthday but I can take it. Ha. Ha. ]
Itâs no good, I give in. I am going to have to order one, if only to satisfy my curiosity!!! I have never met a dictionary that I cannot put down, so am now looking forward, as I say too often, with bated breath!
I also recently got that same dictionary, and I love it! The great thing about printed dictionaries is that you can just open it at any random page, and you will find something interesting and new. With all those âusage boxesâ, this is even more true than with other dictionaries I am using. Diolch yn fawr am wedi sgwennu hyn, @garethrking!
It has come! I love the bold print, perfect for aged dragons with bad eyes! I looked up a word with which iâve had trouble since being told i must never say it because it was shocking. Having female dogs made this awkward, but i could not find gast or ast in your geiriadur!
If youâre weird, then so am IâŚIâve been know to go look up a word, and realize half an hour later that Iâve been lost exploring in the dictionary! Agree that itâs a super resource, and I think it definitely deserves a fan club! Diolch @garethrking
