Tiny questions with quick answers - continuing thread

Am i actually succeeding to get on here?

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Helo @anne-rees! Yes, you have. I’m just typing a reply to your email and I was scrolling down to the end of this thread to send you the direct link, but I see you made it by yourself!

Now you can ask all the questions you like :slight_smile:

I’ve sent you an invitation to the Welsh Speaking Practice too, so you can join that and enjoy chatting in Welsh.

You should also be aware, Gisella, that Y Fro is commonly used (short for y Fro Gymraeg) to mean ‘the Welsh-speaking heartlands’, particularly NW Wales.

Gafodd ei eni yng Nghaerdydd, ond mae’n byw yn y Fro bellach.
He was born in Cardiff, but now he lives in the Welsh heartlands. (probably Abergwyngregyn or Llangristiolus, or somewhere similar)

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Having come across “Y Fro” a few times, I was curious to understand all the possible meanings - which @rich, @margaretnock, @siaronjames and @JohnYoung helped me figure out:
a valley, one specific valley (of Glamorgan), a Welsh speaking area, and particularly the one going from Carmarthenshire up to Gwynedd.

However from a few more hints I’ve been searching in the meantime, it looks like this is what the word I’m supposed to translate was meant to mean: the Welsh-speaking NW Wales.

Now I still don’t know how to make it work in Italian, but I’m glad I feel I have a pretty clear idea of the whole thing now! :slight_smile:

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My English teacher had the words:

Dog                             and                               bone

written on the wall, with the sentence underneath:

There is too much space between dog and and and and and bone.

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Is there one too many ands there? :thinking:

I think there is an extra and between “dog and and and and” and “and bone” :slight_smile:
(Any minute now Huw is going to move this to a new thread, so I’ll shut up…)

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Unrelated tiny question: I was discussing something on Twitter with a very fluent seeming (?mamiaith) person I came across, who Tweeted the following - o’dd na cyn gymaint o bobol yn cymryd ffocws oddi wrth y pwynt gwreiddiol “there were so many people taking the focus away from the original point” (emphasis mine).

So - is cyn gymaint = “so, so many”, or just a slip (partially regularising cymaint by mistake)?

It’s by analogy with things like cyn gynted as soon as and cynlleied so few/little - cyn is a (fossilised) equivalent of mor. Cymaint was, then, originally cyn maint, so (as you suggest) the cyn now not recognisable in any case to modern speakers, and then added redundantly onto cymaint.

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Yes, you’re right. And funnily enough, when I originally wrote it I had the right number of “ands”, read it back to myself, decided I’d missed one and added an extra one!

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I often come across the ‘ mi fuaswn’ construct in written Welsh but not so much in spoken Welsh. Does it pop up colloquially? Should I get out more?
Thanks,
Shak

Wel it is there, but it tends to get shortened in speech. Whilst it’s usually written out fully (in formal writing at least - not so much in informal social media posts!) , it’s often said as “faswn i” or " 'swn i", though someone speaking formally (perhaps giving a news interview or making a speech) would perhaps use the full phrase.

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Thanks, that makes loads of sense. For some reason I thought it differed from faswn which I usually hear as swn.

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I’m interested in the idea of ‘Y Pethe’. I know it comes from the title of Lloyd Robert’s autobiography which ‘came to stand for the values and traditions that are associated with Welsh life at its best’ (according to the Dictionary of Welsh Biography). Further Googling, though, seems to suggest that the phrase sometimes have a less positive connotation in contemporary usage.

Basically, I’m interested in this phrase/concept and wondered if anyone could give me more information please?

Diolch yn fawr!

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Hi pawb,
Is there any extra vocab or grammar for the Deep End course. If not can anyone recommend a grammar book.
Diolch Amanda

Modern Welsh: A Comprehensive Grammar By: Gareth King, Publisher: Routledge is the one to go for, although he has a new one coming out very soon titled 'Working Welsh which promises to be every bit as good, doesn’t it @garethrking :wink:

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Diolch John,
That’s really helpful. I’ll get right in to buying a copy.
I really appreciate your help, thank you.
:blush:

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Hi pawb
I’ve looked at the Modern Welsh Grammar that John recommended. It’s £70, but Routledge, the publisher has 25% off for any two books in June. That would save £17.50 per book if anyone is interested in buying with me.
Thanks
Amanda

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Sorry I should have mentioned the price :frowning: - there are often secondhand copies available though, which can save a fair bit

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Diolch John. I’ll start hunting for a secondhand copy.
Amanda :slightly_smiling_face:

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