The Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru suggests an element côr meaning ‘plaiting’ or ‘binding’, so maybe it’s a ‘plaiting wind’ 
1 Like
It could mean small or diminutive too, as in “corach”. You know that “corgimwch” (prawn) is a small “cimwch” (lobster), “corblanhigyn” is a dwarf plant, “corbenfras” is a haddock (small cod or “penfras” maybe) and “corgi” is a small dog. 
4 Likes
yes, it can, but a hurricane is no ‘small wind’!
1 Like
The implication is a certain habit of sarcastic wit!
2 Likes
Yeah, I gathered that. 
Your theory of cordd is the most likely for corwynt I would say. My smiley didn’t cover the sarcasm.
1 Like
I think a sarcastic smiley would be a useful addition - the smirk one and the stick-out-tongue are probably the closest, but neither are quite there! 
2 Likes
Maybe 
would be good, as you’d be saying the opposite of what you meant…
Now I need an emoji for brain ache!
1 Like
Hello!
So I’m quite new to Welsh, but slowly coming along.
I’m a phonetic and auditory learner (I had to learn parts of the IPA in university), which is, for the most part, actually really helping me with Welsh when I get stuck. But I’m having trouble, both with listening and speaking, with dd/th. I understand that one is voiced and one is unvoiced, but I’m having a lot of trouble hearing for them and speaking them. I’ve tried working with some English word pairs where the sound is distinct in my dialect, and then I can hear and speak the difference, but something about those two sounds in Welsh just isn’t sticking in my head.
I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions, and thank you!
1 Like
Welcome to the forum, Sarah!
I’d suggest you double-check new words in the vocab list on the download page for each lesson, and then just give yourself time to start to hear them, without worrying about rushing it…
1 Like
… and, just because you didn’t state that you knew which was which …
Dd is voiced (as in bathe)
Th is unvoiced (as in bath)
Sorry if I’m stating the obvious.
3 Likes
Personally, I wouldn’t worry too much. It is unlikely that anyone will notice the difference, which is possibly why we are struggling to hear the difference in the audio to start with.
It could be my accent, but I don’t seem to differentiate widely between the two sounds (in English or Welsh).
1 Like
I believe they used to be a single sound in English and only later split up. There aren’t many minimal pairs where the pronunciation makes a difference between two words – I can think of two and googling brought up another, but most of the words involved are not particularly common (thigh, thy; wreath, wreathe; sheath, sheathe – in bath, bathe and breath, breathe the vowel is different as well as the consonant).
Today, a family walk took us past a rather grand place called Caer Urfa. I’m tired, and damp, but mostly annoyed that I can’t work out what Urfa means! Anyone got any ideas?
This was a barn conversion in the middle of a quaint English village, so a bit of a surprise to see a Welsh name there (although it does happen in this neck of the woods now and then)!
2 Likes
A quick google search brought up this …
“It was John Leland in the 16th century who first suggested the town had been known as ‘Caer Urfa.’ The Brythonic word ‘Caer’ meaning a fortified place or seat of royal power, ‘Urfa’ is suggested to be a simple corruption of ‘Vide Infra’ the Aramaic name for the Roman stronghold.”
2 Likes
Also this …
“This goes back to the earliest, ancient British name for Shields, Caer Urfa, or Caer-ur-far, meaning the town on the rock, the rock being the headland of what is now the Lawe.”
Read more at: http://www.shieldsgazette.com/lifestyle/nostalgia/tackling-origins-of-westoe-s-name-1-1281072
2 Likes
Oh, thank you @gruntius - it’s a bit of a way from South Shields mind - Berrick Salome in Oxfordshire! I wouldn’t naturally put the two places together but hey, who knows why people name things. Perhaps the owner of the house has strong connections to somewhere up there. 
1 Like
Or Turkey? My Google search kept coming up with Urfa or Sanhrfa, previously Edessa, city of Abraham. Maybe someone went lookieng for Biblical locations? c/f Bethlehem, Bethel, etc…
1 Like
After checking, I concede that I do differentiate slightly between the sounds, by moving my tongue from the front to the back of my upper teeth. There’s one: teeth/teeth(e). So. I’ll make mire of an effort in my Cymreag.
Oh, don’t worry, it occurred to me after I’d typed that I didn’t mention that! So, yes, I know which is which when I look at the spelling of a word in Welsh. But I can’t hear the difference when spoken (in Welsh). I can barely tell the difference in English – only if I’m paying very close attention.
I think that deliberately trying to get it wrong in English might make you more aware of it than the (very few) pairs we can come up with. If I’m allowed to barbarously misspell my English - try seeing how hard/weird it is to force yourself to say “this ddin dding or that ddick dding?” (‘th’ as in Welsh!)
3 Likes