Tiny questions with quick answers - continuing thread

My understanding is that it’ll be because there’s an implied question here, whereas using pan would give you a sentence meaning something like: I didn’t have any idea at the time the train was arriving

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Thank you - in particular for the example. That’s made things quite a bit clearer in my mind. : )

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I think I’ve heard “Enw fi yw” for “My name is”.
Is it possible that I heard (and remember) it right? :laughing:

Yup, the whole thing is “fy enw i yw…”, but you get “enw fi yw…” when you apply speech-shrinkage :wink:

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Oh one of the things I like best of Welsh language is its amazing speech-shrinkage potential! :grin:
I think I’m going to remember this one. :wink:

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A or B
I seem to recall "Neu A neu B’. from the 90s. Now, Um reading “naill ai A n eu B”. Which should I use in actual speech please? Or should I just use emphasis with the single neu?

Hello! I have a couple of questions if you don’t mind. :slightly_smiling_face:

  1. Is ‘cwyno’ used in the north and ‘achwyn’ in the south as a general rule?
  2. Can the response ‘rêl boi’ to the question “sut wyt ti” be used by both men and women?
    Diolch yn fawr iawn!
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Naill ai A neu B.
A 'ta B? (Short for yntau I think)

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My guess is yes, boi is ok for either sex in the right context. A bit like “guys”. A market stall holder called my wife and me, bois.

Not sure abou “complain”. I thougjt that cwyno was OK in the south.

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Diolch, John. I’m less certain about the south since most of what I hear is northern, so you may well be right.

Another from me when anyone gets time next week. -
Approx. numbers, ages, dates etc. In N Wales seem to just be 1, 2,3 without the neu. (Welsh for 1, 2 or 3). What about other areas of Wales please? Do we need a “neu”?

Edited - As co-incidence would have it: I heard one of my S Walian colleagues using that exact pattern in English today - “perhaps 5, 6, 7 days”. So there we have it. Strange, I’ve never noticed that before.

My experience is limited, but I can tell that I happen to remember achwyn from a song (written by an author from the South but in songs he might use just the one that sounds or rhymes better!).
When I used it in Wales, someone (who lives in the South) said it’s not very common, while cwyno is.
Then someone else said achwyn is common, and it’s normally used in Pobol y Cwm.
So I’m kinda getting used not to worry too much and use the one that comes to my mind more easily! :smiley:

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Hi Heather, I live in the South and I’m familiar with ‘cwyno.’
Also, I’ve never heard of ‘rel boi’ in response to ‘sut wyt ti’ but am familiar with ‘fel y boi.’
Ali.

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Thanks @gisella-albertini and @aliC. That’s very helpful! I think “rel boi” is used a lot in the north.

P.S. I see you’re from Torino, Gisella! My husband is Torinese and I lived there for six years. :slight_smile:

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Really? :slight_smile:well if you happen to come over here to visit and want to chat in Welsh, English and Italian while drinking a glass of wine …write me!

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Bore da bawb :slight_smile:

Is there a difference in meaning or usage between Lloer and Lleuad?

Nope, no difference - they are the same thing although lleuad is, I would say, by far the most commonly heard.

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Lloer is very definitely rather poetic, quaint and antiquated - unlike its derivative lloeren, which means satellite!

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How and when do I use ‘diwrnod’ as opposed to ‘dydd’? Have asked lots of Welsh speaking friends and they struggle to explain a clear difference. I understand that special days are diwrnod, eg Diwrnod Santes Dwynwen but other than that…help!!

This is my understanding:

Diwrnod is the more solid 24 hours in cases like “first day of the holiday”
“second day of the week”

Dydd is more used in phrases like the names of the days of the week, or “everyday” etc
“pob dydd”

You can also say “dydd Gŵyl Dewi” so the special days are just…special

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