yes John, efo is fine there - as Gareth pointed out with Mei Mac’s tweet, it’s not technically correct but fine colloquially, and as Jenny said, dwlu needs an ar.
Am I right in translating ganwas fach as “brat”? Or is there a more accurate translation? (I’ve read this in a novel I’m reading, I’ve not got anyone in mind with this one I promise )
I think the official spelling is “cenawes”, which the dictionary says is a female cub or puppy. Obviously the translation would depend on the context and the level of affection or otherwise with which it was said but brat or rascal is probably somewhere in the right area with the “fach” following.
Hi I’m a newbie. I’m a bit confused about the “WY” pronunciation - I’ve heard the word ofnadwy pronounced with the “wy” sounding like “oy” in English “boy” and I’ve also heard ofnadwy with wy pronounced like English “wee”. Is there a “correct” way of saying this. Are there any rules for when wy = “oy” and when it = “wee”?
Thanks!
This is one comes with a good deal of freedom. Both are said and accepted. Sometimes you’ll find that people who say ofnad-oy with say wee elsewhere.
For example, St Asaph is Llanelwy, i tend to hear that as closer to Llanelway than Llaneloy.
So, both are heard and it’s a bit of personal preference. You’ll find the way that suits you depending on the accent you hear the most, and then just roll with the variation.
Thanks Anthony - that’s very helpful! Is there a resource where I can check pronunciations? The Cymraeg voice synth. on google translate is awful - sounds like a robot! (I couldnt decipher how it was rendering “ofnadwy”!)
Thanks!
I’m not sure about resources. I was very fortunate to have a very patient and willing Welsh speaker who was happy to practice pronunciation with me. Then it was a case of trial and error.
Getting to grips with the vowel pronunciations really helps with Welsh. If you can stomach children’s songs, Cyw from S4C have some great alphabet songs.
Thanks Anthony - I will check out S4C - I have watched some kids cartoons on there before (I quite enjoy them!). I’m ok with most pronunciation, but the variation in the wy pronunciation has confused me recently. Now that I know ofnadwy is variable I can live with that. Awyr is another one that got me recently - I now pronounce it as “a-wir”, which I think is ok.
Thanks Deborah - I’ll listen out for that version! Funnily enough I turned on Radio Cymru earlier (I try to have it on in the background even though I understand very little) and one of the first sentences I heard had the word ofnadwy (pronounced as “oy”)
When I first learned rhywbeth I was surprised how often I heard it on Radio Cymru! The Radio definitely helps my vocab - if I hear words I dont recognise (most of them!) but they turn up a lot then I make sure to look them up.
Heard gwasyneidr (dragonfly) mentioned today - I knew neidr (thanks to Duolingo) so looked it up - great to find out dragonfly translated literally is “servant of the snake” - wont forget that!
I cant state how much Radio Cymru has helped (and still does help) me learn Welsh; I have listened to it pretty much constantly for three years and it’s an amazing resource. I hear stuff on there a lot and wonder what it is and one day you just kind of ‘get’ what they are saying without having to learn it actively. It’s surprising how much repetition there is in a language and how much your brain wants to work it out - I guess like I learned english off my parents!! If I don’t get something I usually ask my friend who explains/confirms that it is what I think it is. They sometimes laugh at some of the things I come out with cos it’s “radio Cymru/S4C Welsh”!
Thanks Martin - I’m glad to hear Im on the right track with this. When I first started listening to R. Cymru it was pretty much untintelligible but it is becoming clearer the more I’m listening - my vocabulary is growing but it’s more than that, it’s almost like my brain is getting used to distinguishing individual words when listening to Welsh speech, even if I dont yet know the meaning of all the words. I guess its the new neural pathways being formed as mentioned in the SSIW challenges!
You have hit the nail on the head there. I found that it really helped build the skill of separating sentences that sound like one long word into individual words. Plus the shows after 6.30 are brilliant for new music and great interviews etc.
Hi all. Quick question on mutations. My 2yo has had Aderyn Melyn on repeat recently and for anyone not familiar, the lyrics begin:
“Aderyn melyn, i fyny yn y goeden banana”
I’m getting there instinctively with which mutations should crop up and where, but I was surprised to see it after “y” - is this a blanket rule? Is it to do with the context of the sentence?