Ooh now there’s a question! It’s a matter of great debate what the ‘correct’ spelling is. I see ‘cwtch’ more than ‘cwtsh’, but of course the ‘ch’ doesn’t make a ‘sh’ sound, so I can see why people object to it. Interestingly (to me!) the Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru has ‘cwtsh’ as a variant of ‘cwt’, meaning cubby-hole or kennel, but not the southern ‘cuddle’ meaning.
The ‘cwtsh dan stâr’ is a lovely term - in this house we often use ‘sbensh’, which is a word from the Bala region (not that either of us come from there … we just really like the word
No wonder I get confused what with Northern Welsh and Southern Welsh and cwtsh and cwtch!!! I think I will use cwtsh to mean a cubby hole etc and cwtch to mean a cuddle.
I just used ‘cwtsh’ for cuddle in a posting to you on another thread!! I didn’t mean a cupboard. It really should be ‘cwtsi’ because, English ‘sh’ is ‘si’ in Cymraeg. e.g. siop for shop!
However, cwtsi looks a bit odd to eyes raised with English spellings
p.s. I remember being a bit confused as a kid. I kind of thought people with a ‘cwtsi/cwtsh/cwtch’ under the stairs had cuddled up there due to lack of a proper shelter during the war!! I did learn eventually learn it was a word for a small, cosy cupboard!! But I am still a bit pulled by the explanation that it was where people cwtsid up in wartime!
