Just out of curiosity and because I’m interested in languages and how they change… I’ve noticed quite a few words popping up that seem to come from English (helpu, stopo etc.). Have these replaced the original words in Cymraeg? Or are they more a feature of Southern speech?
I was also wondering if there is any kind of campaign - formal or informal - to try and prevent this happening, as there is for French?
And last question… is there such a word as Wenglish?!
Yes, there are lots of words that probably do come from the English, but it’s not a recent thing. ‘Helpu’ has been used since the 15th century and ‘stopio’ has been around since the 14th century (although it has lost its ‘y’ - it was ystopio back then!). They haven’t replaced alternative words like cynorthwyo or atal, they are just that - alternative words, and are used throughout Wales.
There was an attempt to standardize Welsh being taught, but all it did was produce a language that no first-language speaker actually used. There are a minority of people who would like to prevent loan words being used, but living languages don’t stand still, they do adapt and they do borrow words from other languages.
I have no idea if ‘Wenglish’ is an ‘official dictionary word’, but it certainly exists - both as a word and a dialect.
That is fascinating, thanks Siaron. I completely agree about trying to standardise languages.
Thanks John, will have a look at that.