I can’t remember if there are any threads dedicated solely to mutations (but you can always use the search function to check), but perhaps the BBC Bitesize guides will be a good starting place.
The problem with when they change is that it is a fairly big list and there are always exceptions! Some will be easy to pick up because they are very common, others (because they might be rarer or more specialised) won’t, but as I said, don’t get too wrapped up in the whens and whys to begin with - you can always delve deeper into the grammar at a later stage.
A couple of little thoughts from me, in addition to all the useful advice above:
You’ll find that SSiW teaches mutations, without teaching mutations. That is, you’ll get used to what sounds right (which is exactly how most first-language Welsh speakers learn them - most people don’t know the rules, they just do them instinctively!)
There are all sorts of great Welsh dictionaries available, but I find the Bangor Uni one really good, because it recognises a mutated word and takes you to the root word and its definition: https://geiriadur.bangor.ac.uk/ (also available as an app on your phone)
I’ve come across “ddigon i yfed/fwyta” before in the courses and never gave it much thought… however, I’ve only just noticed that it should be “ddigon i’w fwyta” (but not “ddigon i’w yfed”)? Could anyone please enlighten me why the w is suddenly there in one case and not the other? Diolch
In both cases, the full version would be “[Mae gen i] ddigon i’w yfed” and “[Mae gen i] ddigon i’w fwyta”. The Welsh way of expressing this is “[I have] enough to eat/drink it”. (There is a grammatical reason/explanation, but I’ve never really bothered to learn about it in great detail - I’ve just learned the “this is how you say it” reason…)
But often the w is missed out in speech (and that would be considered a perfectly natural thing to do). If it is, though, the mutation remains to show that it was once there. (Perhaps not relevant in this case because of the i but useful to know for other similar structures.)
Perhaps the reason you’re hearing it dropped next to “yfed” is to do with the confluence of vowels, whereas the consonant at the beginning of “fwyta” makes it more audible or more likely to be voiced?
My understanding of @sara-peacock-1’s point was not that she thought that you’d misheard, but that it was more likely to be dropped by the speaker. The text shows that you’ve heard correctly, but Sara’s suggestion is a possible explanation as to why that’s what you hear.
Maybe I should have made it cleaner that the source of this material was automagic. At first, I thought I just misheard, then I thought the two might be equivalent versions that may be swapped around, but now I’m pretty sure it’s always used as “i yfed” and “i’w fwyta”. However, at the stage I’m in, an i’w construction has not yet been introduced so I’m trying to put the pieces together myself at the moment, without much success
I’ve a feeling that you’re absolutely right, and that it was the same on the older challenges - and that it perhaps leads people trying to make sense of it into thinking that it’s some essential difference between eating and drinking. But it isn’t. What it is, is that the full, formal structure is rhywbeth i’w yfed/fwyta (“something, for the drinking/eating of it”), which can turn into the slightly simpler rhywbeth i yfed/fwyta. The things that might affect this are that the first might sound more formal (“better”, or “posher”, or more learnt, less natural - “better” isn’t always better), but it’s also a bit harder to actually say; the second is easier, maybe more natural (possibly influenced by sounding more like the English construction, so maybe a bit lazy and less Welsh - “easier” isn’t always better, either). Both are possible, with both verbs; in terms of communication, it really doesn’t matter which you choose; if you find yourself speaking more Welsh with native speakers, don’t worry, because you’ll probably wind up slotting into whatever they say anyway.
There’s a post making its way around social media at the moment saying that the Welsh say “Dod yn ôl at fy nghoed,” to mean returning to a balanced state of mind.
Is that true? Is it something commonly heard, or only in a very specific context?
This is a common saying, although the usually stated meaning is “to come (back) to one’s senses”. The thing with the balanced state of mind can be read into this, but this is taking the saying a bit too narrowly, in my opinion. (And of course, with “fy” you have the saying in 1st person singular.)
Diolch, Hendrik. Yes, there was a literal translation too - “return to my trees”.
I like the saying, but I know how easily people can latch onto a thing, misunderstand or barely understand it, and enthusiastically spread confusion around the interwebs before anyone has time to correct them.
Maybe that’s just my cynicism talking, but I wasn’t going to take as Gospel truth without checking.
Ai and its southern cousin ife are used at the beginning of a question when the word order is changed (like in this case, for emphasis), and the question itself doesn’t start with a verb.
If I understand this correctly, would the “unstressed” version be “Ydy rheina eich plant (chi) yn y dafarn”? I.e. if you asked the prompt question with a neutral intonation?
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