Tiny questions with quick answers - continuing thread

they never replaced the Cymraeg on that ATM ochnaid sigh

Mae 'na” is heard mainly in the north (although some Welsh medium schools run by gogs in the South can teach kids northern dialects)

HOWEVER … I must stick up for the quiet North East in which - Mae 'ne can be still seen written/heard especially towards the border.(and definitely around Wrecsam!)

Mae 'na is a shorterning of ‘Mae yna’

Yna = there
Yno - there
Fan 'na = there (fan = place/spot)

(South: You also hear fan 'co and fan’cw - which stems from ‘yonder’ I think originally (- yn y fan acw)

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Can I ask about “o lawer” as in things like “yn fwy ysgafn o lawer” . Is the “o lawer” the equivalent of saying “much” as in "much
lighter "? or does it mean something else altogether?

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yes, it’s the equivalent of by far / by much / by a long way/ by a lot

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diolch - it felt like that from the context, but couldn’t find it written down anywhere.

The link I posted in the ‘oddi wrth’ thread ( www.geiriadur.net ) is very handy in cases like this - you can put in the phrase, then make sure you choose ‘Everything’, ‘Welsh into English’ and ‘part of a word or phrase’ in the relevant boxes. (screen grab below for example)
Untitled

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Another way to say ‘by a long way’ is: ‘o bell ffordd

I see this in local newspapers, but is it good Welsh?

Lesson 3 of 6 months, north wales.

Bore da!
Dwi wedi yn cwestiwn (??)
Pam (??) fedra I ddim canfod (??) “liciwn”…

Ok, that’s where my welsh runs out.

Good morning all!
I have a question.
Why can’t I find “liciwn” as a word that’s translateable anywhere on the internet?
Is it another ‘slang’ term?
Is it a break down of another verb?

Please help, thanks :slight_smile:

Also, I’ve been frowned at for using “Sut mae?” apparently that’s too informal and too southwales, what other way is there to ask someone how they are doing? (The frowner did tell me, but I forgot it and didn’t write the two phrases down)

S’mae @genna, liciwn is the “I would like” form of the verb licio (to like). You won’t find it in its conjugated form in dictionaries, but Geiriadur yr Academi for one does list licio. There are Welsh speakers who consider it a slang form (a corruption of the English), but actually it’s been around for a long time and is perfectly acceptable.

I’m not sure how sut mae is too South - you’re more likely to hear sut mae in the North and shwmae in the South! Anyway, they are both basically ‘hi’, so for something a little more formal, you could say sut wyt ti or shwd wyt ti (or even more formally, or when saying it to more than one person - sut dach chi or shwd dach chi).

Don’t pay too much attention to frowners - most Welsh speakers would not even have commented, would have accepted it without question and be overjoyed that you are learning, but unfortunately it’s the odd few frowners who can dent your confidence that you always remember - don’t let them put you off, you’re doing fine!

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Sure… :slight_smile:

I’d recommend avoiding the frowner rather than changing your language use here… :slight_smile:

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Saw this regarding “Y Fari lwyd” tradition in winter … how is “cennad” best used? (gennad in picture)

image

Nah, she’s usually very helpful with my Welsh attempts. But thanks, it’s good to know that I’m going the right way

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Thanks!!!
I was paranoid about using it in public just in case a little old lady threw scorn on me for it.

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There’s a very good dictionary that lists it :slight_smile:

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And adding to @siaronjames 's excellent answer, you sometimes see it listed as leicio rather than licio, though the latter is closer to most people’s normal pronunciation of it.

And as Siaron implied, only the fanatics frown on this perfectly acceptable and accepted loanword - it actually makes you sound more like a native if you use it rather than hoffi, I always think! Hoffi is dangerously close to learner-Welsh really. Can I say that? :confused: Well I just did, anyway! :slight_smile:

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http://geiriadur.bangor.ac.uk would have given you “licio” from “liciwn”.

http://www.gweiadur.com is even better in that respect, as it offers the full conjugation listing for all verbs. Unfortunately, you have to register (free), and for the time being, they are not accepting new registrations. (Worth keeping an eye on though, in case they open them up again. It has some other nice features - such as playing the sound of many (not all) words, and spoken by a human, not a computer).

…wps…however, when I searched it for “liciwn”, it didn’t find “licio”. It doesn’t even respond to “licio”, but it does have “leicio” (but it doesn’t respond to “leiciwn”, although it does respond to “hoffwn” and points you to “hoffi”. hmm…curious.

Edit: it also doesn’t have the conjugated forms for “leicio”. Curioser. Perhaps they too are a bit snobbish about it being an “English” loan word (although Geiradur Prifysgol Cymru shows examples of it from around the 1600s).

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Oh and I have that Great Dictionary - I’ll know where to look next time.

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I was asked a little while ago “Lle bues ti?” And I realised I’d only ever heard this form and never read it. How do spell Bues for each person?

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Bues i, buest ti, buodd e/o/hi, buon ni, buoch chi, buon nhw

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Diolch :grinning: