I was going to try to explain all of this last night, but I’d just got back from Welsh evening at the pub (Arfon Ales, Llandrindod, every Wednesday from 8:00pm, Radnorshire and Builth Hundred folks), so I thought I’d best not. Luckily the professionals appear to have stepped in.
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I don’t normally do typos, Siaron, as you know - but I’ve not long got back from Welsh all-nighter at the pub (Arfon Ales, Llandrindod, every Wednesday from 11:00pm through till dawn, Radnorshire and Builth Hundred), so I should have known better really, shouldn’t I?
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Just learned na, 'sgynnon ni ddim, and I’m wondering if the slangy way of saying it extends to, for instance, na, 'sgen i ddim to say no, I don’t have
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yup. 'sgen i ddim / 'sgen ti ddim / 'sganddo fo ddim / 'sganddi hi ddim / 'sgynnoch chi ddim / 'sgynnyn nhw ddim… all good.
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'Sgeni’m if you’re feeling particularly efficient.
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it might be just a case of witnessing language evolution in progress 
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A very cogent observation, Deborah, that is certainly not without merit.
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Hyd yn hyn neu eto - beth mae’r gwahaniaeth?
I know eto can be used for both yet and again, I’ve only encountered hyd yn hyn to mean yet. When meaning yet, is it just a matter of preference or would you use one in certain instances over the other?
There’s not really a difference and they are fairly interchangeable to mean ‘yet’, so yes, it’s a matter of preference - personally I tend to use eto for ‘yet’ and hyd yn hyn more as “so far”/ “up to now”
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Just home from a brief holiday in Llandudno, visited Caernarfon and Blaenau Ffestiniog and had some conversations while buying stuff (books, mugs, sewing kit, cups of coffee etc) and I’m sure I heard “sti” at the end of some sentences. Is this a shortening of wnest ti? I have been learning southern welsh but I found that I really liked the accent and rhythm of the welsh in those places.
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I’m not certain, but I think its short for Gwybodst ti (ti’n gwybod) “You know”
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That makes more sense, thanks John
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(G)wydd - plus ending: -is a more formal version of gwybod. Still used in speech. Wyddwn i ddim: I wouldn’t know.
GPC dictionary:
gwŷdd3, gŵydd5
[gair a luniwyd o fôn gwydd- (gwyddom, gwyddoch, gwyddant) y f. gwn: gwybod]
eg. ll. -ion.
Gwybodaeth, gwyddor:
knowledge, science.
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There’s this lovely poem that Aneurin Karadog and local students have recently written
Dewi Sant
Mae rhai am adael ol ar y byd
drwy gyflawni pethau mawr
heb weld taw’r pethau bychain
sy’n wyrthiol godi’r llawr
Mae rhai eisiau mwy a mwy
a’r mwy o bethau byth yn ddigon
heb ddeall fod genym bopeth
o gael daioni yn y galon
Which translates as…
Saint David
Some want to leave a mark on the world
by achieving great things
without seeing the little things
which miraculously raises the floor
Some want more and more
and the more things are never enough
without understanding that we have everything
of having goodness in the heart
But the last couple of lines feel very clumsy. Can anyone interpret it for me? It’s very beautiful.
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Quick question:
Just learned “gad i me” for “let me,” and I’m curious if “gad i ni” works like “let’s,” for instance can I say “gad i ni fynd” for let’s go? When serving dinner, could I say “gad i ni fwyta”
Yes, it works just as in English. Although technically, you have to use the plural form gadewch when adressing more than one person.
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Diolch! And the emphasis would be on the “de,” like “gaDEwch” then?
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