0922e
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1273e “An Elementary Welsh Grammar” by John Morris-Jones (1864-1929),
professor of Welsh at Coleg y Brifysgol (University College), Bangor. Published
in 1921 (when he was aged 56 / 57). “This grammar deals
with Modern Literary Welsh only. It follows the lines of my Welsh Grammar
Historical and Compararive, 1913, so far as that treats of the modern language;
but the matter has been largely re-written, and is in some respects more
detailed.”
ADJECTIVES: gender
1 Most adjectives have only one form which is used with both masculine and
feminine nouns
mawr big
bach small
hir long
newÿdd new
coch red
2 Certain adjectives have a feminine form.
There are three groups of feminine adjectives.
a) adjectives with -e-
The vowel -y- in the masculine form is replaced by -e- in the feminine form
crÿf / cref (= strong)
b) adjectives with -o-
The vowel -w- in the masculine form is replaced by -o- in the feminine form
llwm / llom (= barren)
c) adjectives with -ai-
The vowel -i- in the masculine form is relaced by -ai- in the feminine form
brith / braith (= speckled)
MORE EXAMPLES:
a) masculine / feminine ( radical and with soft muatation) / meaning)
The feminine nouns are maybe more familiar with soft mutation because they are
seen or heard after a feminine noun, for example. For this reason we've added
the soft-mutated feminine form after the radical form.
GROUP A
brwnt, bront / front, (1) (North Wales) cruel, (2) (South Wales) dirty
crwm, crom / grom, stooped, bent
crwn, cron / gron, round
cwta, cota / gota, (1) short, (2) (animal) bob-tailed
dwfn, dofn / ddofn, deep
llwÿfr, llofr / lofr, cowardly
llwm, llom / lom, desolate,barren
mwll, moll / foll, close,sultry
pendwll, pendoll / bendoll, withaholeinthetop
pengrwm, pengrom / bengrom, roundheaded
tlws, tlos / dlos, pretty
trwm, trom / drom, heavy
trwsgl, trosgl / drosgl, clumsy
swrth, sorth / sorth, surly
GROUP B
brÿch, brech / frech, speckled
bychan, bechan / fechan, small
bÿr, ber / fer, short
crÿch, crech / grech, curly
crÿf, cref / gref, strong
crÿg, creg / greg, hoarse
gwlÿb, gwleb / wleb, wet
gwÿn, gwen / wen, white
gwÿrdd, gwerdd / werdd, green
hÿsb, hesb / hesb, dry
hÿll, hell / hell, ugly
llÿm, llem / lem, severe
sÿch, sech / sech, dry
sÿth, seth / seth, straight
melÿn, melen / felen, yellow
bronwÿn, bronwen / fronwen, whitechested
claerwÿn, claerwen / glaerwen, bright
sÿml, seml / seml, simple
GROUP C
This group consists of only one adjective
brith, braith / fraith, speckled
EXERCISE:
Give the Welsh for
1 the white bridge (pont)
2 the dry river (afon)
3 the green meadow (dôl)
4 the rippling torrent (ffrwd)
5 the pretty girl (merch)
6 the wet moorland (gwaun)
7 the short story (stori)
8 the speckled pool (llÿn)
9 the round moorland / the round pasture (on moorland) (gwaun)
10 the yellow slope (rhiw)
11 a barren landscape (tirwedd) (barren = sterile = llwm)
12 a dry cow (buwch) (dry = not producing milk = hÿsb)
ANSWERS:
1 the white bridge - y bont wen
2 the dry river - yr afon sech
3 the green meadow - y ddôl werdd (though y ddôl las would be more usual - glas
is more usually used for 'green' of vegetation. However, Ddôl-werdd / Dôl-werdd
exists as an occasional place name)
4 the rippling torrent - y ffrwd grech. Name of a stream near Aberhonddu
5 the pretty girl - y ferch dlos
6 the wet moorland - y waun wleb
7 the short story (stori) - y stori fer
8 the speckled pool (llÿn) - y llÿn brith would be the standard form. In the
south, llÿn is feminine. Hence y llan fraith - name of a pool in the river Taf
at Caer-dÿdd, and also in the river Sirhywi, hence the place name Pont-llÿn-fraith
- pont y llÿn fraith = (the) bridge (of) the speckled pool, a village in
Caerffili county, nowadays mistakenly called Pont-llan-fraith (of the speckled
church - llan has taken the place of llÿn).
9 the round moorland / the round pasture - y waun gron. Common field name.
District name in west Caer-dÿdd (Waun-gron)
10 the yellow slope - y rhiw felen
11 a barren landscape - tirwedd lom
12 a dry cow - buwch hesb
The tendency in modern Welsh is for these feminine forms to be avoided
in colloquial speech, at least in spontaneous combinations of noun + adjective;
they survive in fixed expressions and place names.
In the literary language they are held to be the correct forms.
In popular literature (newspapers, magazines) there is more tolerance of
colloquial forms, though the literary forms predominate.
EXAMPLES:
heol frwnt = dirty street (rather than heol front)
afon ddwfn = deep river (rather than afon ddofn) (though in the
North dyfn is used for dwfn - hence afon ddyfn)
Some of these
feminine adjectives are used as nouns
bechan = little girl ('mechan i - my little one, form of address)
·····
Adolygiadau
diweddaraf / Latest update: 20 01 2000
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