Shwmae bawb,
I wanted to say the following the other day:
“I just wanted to let you know that I won’t be able to join you later on as I have too much work to do”
I went with
“O’n i ond yn moyn rhoi gwybod i ti na alla i ddim ymuno â ti nes ymlaen achos bod gyda fi ormod o waith i’w wneud”
as I didn’t know what as was or the equivalent in Welsh in this context. Anybody that can help with this please?
Diolch!
Using achos there is fine, since in context the as could be replaced with because with no loss of meaning. However, there is a way to say as in the sense of giving a reason, and that is with gan fod, so in your example that would be “…gan fod gyda fi ormod o waith i’w wneud”
Ah brilliant, that’s going on my ever growing list of flashcards :). Diolch yn fawr Siaron!
Is that from the new book? If so, where did you get your crystal ball from? 
It is! Spooky, aren’t I?
Manuscript is with the publishers, and we’re just finalising the cover now.
In Level 3, it says “wnaeth hi anghofio fe” (she forgot it) - could you also say “oedd hi anghofio fe”? Is there a difference between the two?
Diolch!
There is a difference, so they’re not entirely interchangeable. The preterite/short form (wnaeth hi anghofio fe) is used for something over and done - she forgot it - whereas the bod form (oedd hi’n anghofio fe) is used for a more continuous occurence - she was forgetting it
@brynle ’co’ is widely used in Ceredigion - here/there
co fe - here it is
co ti - here you are ( when passing somthing to someone)
co fe fan’na - there he/it is there
co’r lle o’n i’n siarad amdano - here/ there’s the place I was talking about
‘co’ comes from dacw
Yw’r dyn
I’m working on a short video which will review the new Gêm Owain Glyndŵr and I’m going to show how you can use the camera in the Google translate app on Android phones to translate the Ffawd cards (which are Welsh only, not bilingual). I see that the iPhone also has a translate app, but is Welsh supported? Anyone know?
According to the lists I can find online, the iPhone only supports 11 languages and Welsh isn’t included. There is an Welsh translation app you can get from the Apple app store, but the reviews are poor and it doesn’t seem to do what the Google translate app does, i.e. instantly translate text if you hold the phone over it. I don’t want to say the iPhone can’t do it if it can, but googling doesn’t look hopeful.
I’m going to answer my own question, in case anyone is interested. I’ve discovered that iTranslate for iPhone does what I was talking about, i.e. you can hold your phone over some text, take a photo and it translates it into English. It does have Welsh on the list of languages it can handle. However, unlike Google Translate it’s not free and seems to need a subscription.
A quick pronunciation question, please.
I know that (in the North, at least), nouns and verbs ending in -au are commonly pronounced as -a in casual speech. (tridegau → tridega, maddau → madda etc)
But in the 6 levels of SSIW, I’ve never once heard them pronounce mwynhau as mwynha. (I’d guess this was because the imperative singular is mwynha which would be confusing. Not that being confusing has ever stopped a language…)
Does this pronunciation (-hau not -ha) also apply to all verbs ending in -hau, such as cadarnhau and sicrhau?
Diolch yn fawr!
Yes, it does. I’m not 100% certain, but I think it maybe because in these words the stress is on the final syllable (rather than the usual penultimate syllable), and therefore is not as ‘throw-away’ as the au > a in a final unstressed syllable.
How to pronounce the word ‘dow’ ?
I know that this handy Welsh word ‘Dow’ is used to convey “oh come on” … or “oh come now” (not necessarily in a negative tone always - but also in a loving persuasive manner)
but I am unsure of pronunciation as I cant tell if I hear it different in north vs south?
I assume its not like the English word “ow” (said in pain) but more like ‘dough’ in English (or doh if you are Homer simpson!).
Can anyone correct? Diolch ymlaen llaw
Diolch yn dalpiau…
I hear ‘co ni off’ often south of Aberystwyth in Ceredigion- “Lets go/ We are off”
On this same theme…
Ive realised that “gad inni fynd” may sound a bit stilted now… and perhaps ‘Dewch i ni fynd/Dere ni fynd’…may be more natural
What are your thoughts @nia.llywelyn Diolch eto
Just a heads up … in North East Wales … away from the North Wales coast…and east of say Cerrigydrudion on the A5 … you are much more likely to hear the ‘au’ ending softening to ‘e’ … same as mid Wales proper.
Its not important to use the right one because a lot of recent welsh speaking migration comes from Gwynedd around me. -a endings are increasingly common. NE Welsh dialect is disappearing tbh
I even try to use some older dialect but many look at me confused.
Mywion = ants / Sbens = cwtsh dan risiau / Syrcyn = A vest / llidiart I heard for ‘gate’ (garden gates etc) as a boy
Cog = boy originally in the deep east … but bachgen is basically the NE word… hogyn/hogia is increasing in use
All this discussion about pronunciation details brings to mind a question I have begun thinking about.
I recently memorized the Welsh alphabet (for fun) but realize that I am not at all sure how the letters (including the diagraphs) would be pronounced if you are just trying to rattle off the alphabet. I recently overheard someone doing that, but I wasn’t near enough to catch it. So I’m curious. Any takers?
(I should probably mention that I live in the middle of the US and rarely have opportunities to hear Welsh at all…)
