Well, just because it is from the Latin does not mean it isn’t related to other Indo-European languages meaning the same thing. (That would take a whole swathe of Welsh words out from connections with other languages!) But yes, eisiau does seem to be thought of as from the Latin (eg exiguus - small, inadequate, ie ‘wanting’!) which seems to be from a different Indo-European root to the eg Germanic words given above. (Which Indo-European root “wen” or something for desire seems to give the Latin “Venus”.)
Of course, there is a lot of guesswork in this, whether educated or not.
And none of it matters, of course, apart from to a few of us harmless drudges!
well i read the hypothesised PIE route for want as eus. Thats really is a case of extrapolation backwatds from various sources, but trying to define exact origins and routes fot most words is pretty much impossible most of the time and very subjective. I don’t need to have any cues to help me remembed eisiau, it just is, but I like it when i see familiarities betseen different language families and in many cases it could just be coincidental innovations.
I didn’t read what you said as a theory about it’s origins (I certainly wouldn’t think you thought it was derived from the Proto German!) and what I said was in no way meant to be against your observations. Hope it didn’t come across that way.
To lack, to need, to want, to desire are all interconnected.
The word “want” in English still has a double meaning to a certain extent. “Found wanting”. “In want of”, “for want of”, showing it’s earlier meaning of lacking, needing.
Words like “eisiau” don’t map onto the English perfectly, which is (amongst other dialect reasons) why there is sometimes some confusion from English speakers (mind you, and Welsh speakers!) about how to use them to say what you would use “need” or “want” for in English.
Certainly nothing to worry about though! Just an interesting little difference which causes no problems because of context.
no i didn’t take it like that way at all. I wasn’t reallly theorising, just remarking on the similarity.
I came across the use of evo in an Alsace Lorraine dialect recently which ia used in place of avec and I know that the origin of r that evo and the welah efo ate almost certainly not related, but still remarkable in a strange way
Can someone help me understand why there is a difference between these forms of sentences:
ma eisiau i fi
dw i’n moyn
I can see that the verbs are being used differently to English, I just don’t really understand when they’re used on one way than another. Is it just that eisau i fi is a special case or will I be coming across other verbs which don’t work with dw i’n?
Also can I use ddim with eisau i fi? ma ddim esiau i fi? Or is the negative something else altogether?
I’m just curious how it is working, sorry if that’s too complex to explain or stupid question.
(It’s because it developed from being a noun, rather than a verb, but this very rarely happens. )
(You will also come across the form “ti eisiau …” if you haven’t come across that. Slight differences in use and meaning from place to place and person to person. But nothing to worry about!)
This is in Level 1, challenge 24, no’th: “Too much to eat” = “gormod i’w fwyta” (and there were some similar constructions in a few earlier challenges).
Is the 'w really there or do I need my hearing checked? If it’s there, what’s it doing? It sounds like a possessive/object pronoun, so literally something like “too much to eat it” but I can’t find anything in my handy-dandy Gareth King “Modern Welsh” about this. And does it have to be masculine (why not “gormod i’w bwyta)?”
And - how would you say “too much to think about”? Something like “gormod i’w feddwl amdano”?
I heard the same thing and just sort of passed over it - but now I am thinking the same thing with ‘rheina’ in the first few lessons of level 2 (southern)… rheina is described as ‘those’ (I think, but now I am doubting myself), but in the sentence it becomes yw rheina (from the course notes), and I was definitely expecting y rheina (can’t say why that was, but it was just what I expected to hear).
So @HowlsedhesServices is this for the same reason? Or is it the difference between is and are?
Am a bit confused because lots of little unexplained differences in the connecting words are popping up now. I am doing my best to just go with the flow of the unexpected, but sometimes I remember more if I know why
You’re welcome! Just for your info, in areas where “moyn” is used, it always means “want”. “Eisiau” can be used for “want” or “need”, depending on things!
(Just going by my experience of speaking to people in this area.)
Nice to know, not to worry about!
It’s in a lot of the lessons and I’m no expert but yw makes sense to me:
Ife eich plant chi yw rheina - maybe it’s yw’r rheina thinking about it, will have to listen again a bit harder. It might be ai eich plant chi ydy('r) rheina on the northern course?
for desire seems to give the Latin “Venus”.)
