I just came across “wylies i bach o deledu” in automagic which threw me off a little as I expected it to be “wylies i fach o deledu” with a soft mutation after ‘wylies i’.
Is it only verbs and objects that mutate after the short form of a verb (Bwytais i fara, Gwnes i yrru etc.)?
I don’t bother wondering why! With other things I have managed to link or imagine a link between things, it’s hard to explain. I’ll keep going.
@ChrisPrice I think it’s more because it’s a set phrase bach o ‘something’, so it just tends to be kept as bach o no matter where it occurs. You do occasionally come across words or phrases that “resist mutation” and I suspect this is one of them.
It’s worth noting that the more common a word or phrase is, the more likely it is to be irregular. That’s true no matter the language, it’s not just a Welsh thing.
In English, for example, the tendency is for irregular pasts such as leant or dreamt to regularise to the -ed form, ie leaned or dreamed, because they aren’t used often enough for the irregular to persist.
As another example, go > went* and do > did, amongst others, will persist because they are used so frequently. It’s unthinkable that went would turn into goed, or did into doed.
It’s just linguistics and, as Deborah says, sometimes, things just are what they are.
*Went is actually not the past of go at all, it’s the past of wend, which survives in the phrase ‘to wend one’s way’. Which shows you just how stupidly irregular English can be, and we don’t even notice!
I rather like goed and doed!
What’s the Cymraeg equivalent of “baby brother/sister” as in an affectionate term for a younger sibling, not a sibling that’s actually an infant?
I’ve heard brawd bach / chwaer fach to refer to younger siblings, but that doesn’t seem to be particularly affectionate.
So does mawr / fawr also work for older siblings?
Somehow it still catches me by surprise how similar many terms like this are between English and Welsh.
Funny, I hadn’t much thought before but the plain speaking / affectionate versions are a bit lopsided.
“Big” sibling is more casual and feels to me to suggest a closer relationship than just “older” sibling, just like “little” sibling is that bit nicer than “younger” sibling, but “baby” sibling is cutest and definitely the most affectionate version, and the older ones just don’t get anything to match it in English.
Oh well.
“Bach” does have a range of meanings, some of them more “dear” than “little”, so I think it might have some of those affectionate connotations:
Pryd Vs pan.
I thought I knew this. “Pryd” for a question like “when did you start learning”?
Then I got this to translate
“I want to remember when you started”
It gave “Dw i’n moyn cofio pryd wnest ti ddechrau”
Should this be “pan”?
I think I’ve missed something early on!
We would like, Bydden ni’n licio, but other times it’s fydden ni’n.
Im nearly there.
Diolch
Grammatically, a positive statement would use either bydden, mi fydden or fe fydden, and a question or a negative statement would use fydden. BUT!! Some people will use fydden for a positive statement because in speech the mi/fe has dropped out but left the mutation it caused.
Thank you
Thank you.
@verity-davey @siaronjames My apologies for the very late reply. I have been out of touch with the SSiW Forum for a while (largely due to a new, time-consuming and very tiring job that I am leaving at the end of March).
So, Psalm 23 Verse 2: Yes, I’m quite familiar with the verse in question. The original Hebrew here is similar to that used in Israel today. The language is very simple, and there are two clear phrases that are not linked: “The Lord is my shepherd”; “I shall not lack”. Obviously other translations are possible, but the Hebrew wording is quite clear that the second phrase follows on from the first with no linking by words or other grammatical means.
Hope that helps a bit!
Bore da…
May I check a quick passive construction please? I want to say “I’m really happy the books won’t be thrown away”:
Dw i wrth fy modd na fydd y llyfrau’n cael eu daflu i ffordd.
Is that ok / not idiomatic / sothach llwyr? I’m still not very confident with how the passive is used in such circumstances…
Diolch yn fawr!
Yes, that’s spot on David 
…and that’s exactly how correct constructions worm their way into your subconcsious brain despite your conscious brain telling you to doubt yourself 
Thanks, @siaronjames.
It felt both right and wrong… You’re right, once you get past the stage where you’re happy to have written something which looks vaguely Welsh, you start second guessing yourself – and then there’s the whole issue of ‘it’s grammatically correct but nobody would ever say it’…
I really appreciate your help – thanks again!
“-heit” is similar to English “-ness”. “Gesundheit” is still “health” - roughly, “wellness”.
The Federal Ministry of Health is “Bundesministerium für Gesundheit”.
