I am really confused about when to shorten ‘eu’ (their) to 'w and when to shorten to 'u.
If I want to say “and their” it’s “a’u”, but if it’s “to their” it’s “i’w”. Why does the “eu” shorten to “'w” instead of “'u”? And how do I know which to use? Do all prepositions take 'w or is it more complicated than that?
When reading up on prefixes in Welsh (recommended reading, it’s great) I noticed “cydweld” for “to agree”. Having learnt, heard and used “cytuno” I wondered when each would be used. I tried looking it up and instead came across “cydsynio”, also “to agree”.
So, my question is:
Are all three used, and if so is it purely a matter of personal preference or are they used in different contexts?
They are all used, but in slightly different contexts. cytuno has the broadest meaning, for example if you agree on a place or time for a meeting, or any short-term decisions. cydweld is more along the lines of agreeing on matters of politics and so on. cydsynio is mostly used in matters of consent, such as accepting terms of service. (oed cydsynio = age of consent)
The oeddet came up with no word of warning! I was unprepared, this is why I’m here . If someone could just confirm that this is a real thing, I’ll try to adjust.
I expect in this case it’s just a synonym, but I’ve seen both “egni” and “ynni” for “energy”. Sometimes in the same article or on the same Web page. Which is more frequent and are they the same?
As far as I understand it, egni is more for the energy that you have, that you put into doing something, whereas ynni is the energy that is supplied, like electricity etc
the i’w appears when an i is followed by ei or eu (his/her/it or their) - the ei/eu becomes 'w.
The ei/eu doesn’t seem to make sense in English, but in Welsh in this example, we’d say “Did you have enough for it’s eating”, so the “for it’s” = i+ei = i’w
Perhaps I should take a look at the old course, I don’t understand the technicalities of English. It sounds like an excuse but during my time at secondary school such things weren’t concentrated on.
Two of my children went on to do linguistics at university, they try their best with me!
I was flicking through a dictionary for fun, and I came across a truly lovely word: chweugain. It’s apparently a name for a 50p coin, and the layers contained within its meaning just fill me with joy. (Yes, I’m a nerd.)
Can someone please confirm for me that people still use it? It is too good to be lost.
No idea if anyone uses it but, I would imagine it comes from the pre decimalisation days when we had 20 shillings to the pound and 12 pennies to the shilling. Chweugain looks very much like a contraction of Chwech (six) Ugain (twenty), six twenties, or 120, being ten shillings, which became 50p once metrication came in. I’m old enough to remember the 10 shilling note (and the sixpence and thruppence, but not the farthing!).