Thanks, @Deborah-SSi – it sounded right to me too (which made me check it as I don’t trust my instincts yet…)
I did know the correct spelling of eraill too but forgot to check that part before sending…
Diolch!
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May i please check something?
I have just been introduced to ydy hwnnw, in one sentence it meant is that one, another does he, another is he. Have i understood correctly, are there any more waiting to trip me up?
Diolch.
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That all sounds about right. The feminine version of hwnnw is honna, and again it can mean “that one” both as a thing or a person, so could sometimes be translated as “she” or “her”. Insofar as neuter gender exists in Cymraeg, there’s also hynny, which I’m pretty sure never refers to people and is just considered to be “that” or “that one”.
If you have a person or thing a little closer, he/she/it can be referred to with hwn/hon/hyn. Basically “this/this one”.
Though I don’t think people really like hwn/hon etc used about themselves while they’re present, a bit like how in English people often get annoyed if others speak about them while they are present, using just pronouns.
“She?! Who’s ‘she’ then, the cat’s mother?” is a sarcastic remark I’ve heard. This being a more colourful version of “Please stop talking about ‘her’ as though I’m not here! Use my name, and speak to me!”
I wonder whether there are equally amusing ways to protest in Cymraeg?
The ydy part of the sentence I’m sure you know if you’re this far into the course, means “is…” and sometimes “is he doing…” just isn’t natural phrasing English, especially when context suggests the action is habitual rather than a one off. So we get “does he?”
If I’m wrong about any of this I hope someone will chime in quickly.
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Doomscrolling on Facebook, I’ve come across a couple of Eisteddfod clips. One particularly keeps showing up, of a sweet and rather tearful competition winner called Guto. Comments beneath the video are largely of the “Aw! Bless him!” variety, and in Welsh… “Washi!” Or sometimes “ngwashi”. I can’t find this word on Gweiadur, Ap Gweiaduron, or GPC.
I’m assuming it is something colloquial, and has the same sort of tone as the English comments, but what, precisely, does it mean?
It comes from “fy ngwas i” and in this context is used as an endearment - in English we’d probably more likely say, as you noted, “Aw, bless him”. If you put “gwas” into GPC it’ll give you more info.
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Huh, I never would have thought “servant” could also be an endearment!
Diolch. 
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Thank you.
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Well, “boy” in English has rather varied connotations, including ‘servant’, depending on whether it’s as in “That’s my boy!” or “He’s a nice old boy,” vs “pool boy” or addressed to an African American man (of any age) by a white racist…
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Very true.
I’ve noticed with subtitles on Pobol y Cwm, sometimes instead wyt ti characters are saying y’t ti. This seems like rather a weird placement for the apostrophe. So far as I can tell, nothing is missing between the y and the t.
My question is simply, why? I would think ŷt ti would make more sense, since that’s what it sounds like to me. I’m now questioning my memory but I don’t think any circumflexes have been missing or replaced with apostrophes in other words so it’s unlikely to be that the subtitles can’t render “special characters” properly. Or have I just never noticed except with this one word?
Without a full sentence it’s difficult to be 100% certain, but I think what you’re getting here is probably a contraction of yndwyt ti (are you).
e.g. Ti’n mynd i’r sinema heno, yndwyt ti > Ti’n mynd i’r sinema heno, y’t ti
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Diolch, Siaron! I haven’t noted down the full sentences anywhere, but I’m sure you’re right.
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Is it worth trying to watch Pobol y Cwm as a Gog learner?
I would say that it is absolutely worth watching Pobol y Cwm as a learner, regardless of your target dialect. Even if you want to speak “Gog”, it’s more than likely that you will encounter people speaking different accents/dialects, so this will prepare you to use Welsh “in the wild”.
That said, Gog speakers are in the minority on Pobol y Cwm, but there are a few regulars (Jinx, Gaynor and Ffion come to mind immediately), so you will have at least some amount of “gog-speak” in most episodes.
My advice would be to try it out for a bit, to see if you like it.
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I chose it just because years ago I did the free taster with Aran and Catrin (Dw i isio dysgu siarad Cymraeg, achos) and when I decided to go for it properly I stuck with them rather than Iestyn. I’m more concerned that I’ll end up confusing myself if I dive into TV that’s heavily Southern based, given my level isn’t particularly high yet, that’s all I’m worried about.
Well, in the beginning you may have trouble understanding the southern idioms, but as long as you continue with the Northern course, I doubt that you’ll switch that easily into suddenly speaking hwntw. And even if you did use the odd southern word in a majority of northern speech, that really isn’t a big deal.
(I assume you know about “Rownd a Rownd”? If you don’t, it’s a soap opera with the inverse ratio – more gogs than hwntws)
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How did you forget Tom? He’s all anyone watching the show seems to talk about right now! 
Sure, Greg. Dive right in. Practically half the cast is Gog, and I’m sure you’ll cope with the rest.
I want it to be known that I did in fact not forget about Tom – I deliberately left him out, as I am hoping he won’t be on the show for much longer 
(After a bit of thinking I did however realize that I forgot about Cassie and Lleucu there, and probably a whole bunch of “smaller” recurring roles)
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Well, the signs are all there that he’ll be gone soon. It’s just a question of how much damage he causes first.
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I’ve just seen a sign that says, in English, “please call our helpline…” and in the Welsh is says “byddwch cystal â ffonio ein llinell gymorth…”
I wasn’t familiar with “cystal â” so I looked it up and apparently it means “may as well”. Is this a normal and professional turn of phrase in Welsh? “You may as well phone our helpline” certainly sounds weird in English!