0926e Gwefan Cymru-
http://www.theuniversityofjoandeserrallonga.com/kimro/amryw/1_gwenhwyseg/gwenhwyseg_nodweddion_y_wenhwyseg_0926e.htm
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..........1864e Y Fynedfa yn Saesneg / The
Gateway in English
....................0010e Y Gwegynllun / Siteplan
............................0223e Y Gymraeg / The Welsh
Language
.......................................1004e Y Wenhwyseg - Y Tudalen Mynegeiol / The Gwentian
Dialect - Index Page
..............................................Y Tudalen Hwn / This Page
····
|
|
Gwefan Cymru-Catalonia Y Wenwhyseg (tafodiaith y de-ddwyrain)
Dim ond tudalen
Saesneg sydd gennym ar hÿn o brÿd |
Adolygiad diweddaraf -
latest update 27 10 2000 |
Some
features of the Gwentian dialect compared to standard Welsh. Many can be regarded as further
developments of features found in south-western Welsh.
_______________________________________
01) Long a
[aa] becomes [ää] (similar to the standard English of England ‘fair, hare,
wear’)
In dialect
writings, as there is no symbol for this, it is written ê, as it resemble a
long ‘e’.
Also
written as ash (that is, the digraph æ, that is, a and e combined)
In this
website we prefer the spelling
ä when it replaces [aa] spelt as single a in
standard Welsh (tad, bach),
when it replaces [aa] spelt as â (tân, glân)
ää when it replaces aa, southern form of ae [a·i]
in monosyllables (traad < traed, maas < maes)
|
Standard
Welsh |
Translation |
Gwentian |
|
bach |
small, little |
bäch |
|
tân |
fire |
t |
|
traed |
feet |
trääd |
|
glân |
clean, pure, holy |
gl |
|
i maes |
outside (motion to, position) |
määs |
|
tad |
father |
täd |
|
cae |
field |
cää |
|
llaeth |
milk |
llääth |
|
gwaed |
blood |
gwääd |
PLACE
NAMES:
|
Aber-dare (confluence of the Dâr stream and
the Cynon river) |
Aber-d (the ‘English’ form of the name - “Aberdare”
- preserves the local pronunciation) |
|
Tre-gaer (a village in the |
Tre-gäär (the ‘English’ form of the name -
“Tregare” - preserves the local pronunciation) |
|
Nyth-brân (nyth y brân - [the] nest
[of] the crow). Farm in Llanwynno parish. |
Nyth-br |
_______________________________________
02) in a penult syllable, reduction of wÿ [ui] > w [u].
wÿbod [GUI-bod] = know, gwbod [GU-bod]
cwÿmpo [KUIM-po] = fall, cwmpo [KUM-po]
_______________________________________
03) reduction of intial consonant cluster chw [khw] > hw [hw]
(South-west) > w [w] (South-east)
chwech [khweekh] = sis > (South-west) hwech [hweekh]
> (South-east) wech [weekh]
chwarae [KHWA-rai] = to play > (South-west) hware [HWA-re]
> (South-east) wara [WA-ra]
_______________________________________
04) reduction of the cluster dl > ddl > l
(final
position)
anadl [A-nadl] = breath, >
anaddl > anal [A-nal]
banadl [BA-nadl] = broom bushes > banaddl > banal [BA-nal]
_______________________________________
05) Simplification of aea [ei + a]
aea [ei + a] > ae
[aai] > a [a]
haearn [HEI-arn] = iron > hae’rn > harn [harn], or
more usually ‘arn [arn] (with the loss of the ‘h’)
aea [ei + a] > ae [aai] > aa [aa]
> ää [ää]
daear [DEI-ar] = fox’s earth > dae’r > daar [daar]
> däär [däär]
traean [TREI-an] = third > trae’n > traan [traan]
> trään [trään] (in place names in Tonyrefail)
related
changes:
gaeaf [GEI-av] = winter > gae’f, in the place name Gaefdÿ
[GEIV-di] winter house
cynhaeaf [kø-NHEI-av] = autumn; Cynheidre = autumn farm, Lalnelli,
Sir Gaernarfon
maerdÿ > ma’rdi = various place names in the south-east
Llanilltud Faerdre > Llanilltud Fa’rdre
_______________________________________
06) many disyllabic forms lose the first syllable (a feature common to all
dialects of Welsh)
yma [Ø-ma] = here > ’ma [ma]
_______________________________________
07) loss of an initial vowel (especially initial y-) or an initial
syllable (a feature common to all dialects of Welsh)
ymenÿn [ø-ME-nin] = mantega > ’menÿn [ME-nin]
afalau [a-VA-lai] = pomes > (South-west) ‘fale [VA-le]
> (South-east) ’fala [VA-la]
_______________________________________
08) reduction of the diphtnong in the accented syllable ei [øi] > i
[ii]
gweithio [GWØITH-yo] = treballar > gwiitho [GWII-tho]
_______________________________________
09) in monosyllables, reduction of oe [ôi] > oo [oo]
coed [kôid] = wood > cood [kood]. "
PLACE
NAMES:
|
Pen-coed < pen y coed (“(the) end / side (of)
the wood”) A
village by Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr. |
Pen-cood |
|
Nant-y-moel (“(the) valley (of) the bald man / the
tonsured man / the monk”) A
village by Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr. |
Nant-y-mool |
_______________________________________
10) metathesis, or transposition of sounds - in some words, this is common to
the whole of Wales; in others, restricted to the south-east, such as - l-dd
> dd-l)
cywilÿdd [kø-WI-lidh] = shame > c’wilÿdd [KWI-lidh] >
c’widdÿl [KWI-dhil]
gilÿdd [GI-lidh] = companion > giddÿl [GI-dhil]
(in the expression ‘i gilÿdd / i giddÿl - each other)
PLACE NAME: Llanhiledd [lhan-HI-ledh]> Llanhiddel
[lhan-HI-dhel]
casglu [KA-skli] = collect > clasgu
[KLA-ski]
_______________________________________
11) in monosyllables in the South-west and South-east, retention of the
diphthong ou [oi] from Middle Welsh, which in other parts of Wales has
become eu [ei] > au [ai]
clou [kloi] = quick > (Standard Welsh) clau [klai]
dou [doi] = twos > (Standard Welsh) dau [dai]
_______________________________________
12) In monosyllables, aa [aa] > ää [long open ‘e’, rather
as in English ‘face’]
haf [haav] = summer, ’äf [ääv]
_______________________________________
13) Also in monosyllables, which in the south are reductions of ae [âi]
> aa [aa] > ää [ää]
i maes [i MÂIS] = outside, maas [maas] (South-west) >
määs [määs]
_______________________________________
14) loss
of intial h [h]
hen [heen] = old, ’en [een]
chwech [khweekh] = six > (South-west) hwech [hweekh] > (South-east)
wech [weekh]
Typical of the English of this part of Wales - on the ‘ill, in the ‘
_______________________________________
15) Unvoicing of the initial consonant of a final syllable if it is g,
d, b
g [g] > c [k],
d [d] > t [t],
b [b] > p [p]
eglwÿs [E-gluis] = church > (South-west) eglws [E-glus]
> (South-east) eclws [E-klus]
cadair [KA-dair] = chair > (South-west) cader [KA-der]
> (South-east) catar [KA-tar]
PLACE
NAMES:
|
b > p |
Llanfable a village in the parish of
Llan-arth Fawr, Sir Fynwÿ |
This would have been *Llanfapla (as suggested by the ‘English’
form of the name - Llanvapley) |
Final e would have become a (Llanfaple
> Llanfapla) |
|
t > d |
Llangadog (as in the Sir
Gaerfyrddin village name). “the church of Cadog” |
Llangatwg - name of five villages in the south-east, |
Final o has become w [u] |
|
b > p |
Yr Aber - the local name of Abertyleri |
Yr Rapar > Rapar |
Final e has become a |
_______________________________________
16) Any final e [e] > e [a]. (this happens too in the North-west)
mesen [ME-sen] = acorn, mesan [ME-san]
_______________________________________
17) (South-west Wales) In polysyllables, in the final syllable, ae [aai] ,
ai [ai] , au [ai] > e [e]. In the south-east
there is a further change of e > a
chwarae [KHWA-rai] = play, hware [HWA-ra] > hwara
[HWA-ra]
cadair [KA-dair] = chair, cader [KA-der] - in the South-east
> catar [KA-tar]
pedair [PE-dair] = four (feminine form), peder [PE-der] - in
the South-east > petar [PE-tar]
pethau [PE-thai] = thing, pethe [PE-the] > (South-east) petha
[PE-tha]
parthau [PAR-thai] = places, area > partha [PAR-tha]
_______________________________________
19) loss of the final f [v] in polysyllables (a feature common to all
dialects of Welsh)
cyntaf [KØN-tav] = first > cynta [KØN-tav]
_______________________________________
20) loss of final r [r] or final l [l] in polysyllables after a
consonant (t, b, g) (a feature common to all dialects of Welsh)
ffenestr [FEN-nestr] = window > (South-west) ffenest
[fe-nest] > (South-east) ffenast [fe-nast]
posibl [PO-sibl] = possible > posib [PO-sib]
_______________________________________
21) in a pretonic suyllable, loss of a vowel between some combinations of
consonants, espellay the loss of y [ø] (a feature common to all dialects
of Welsh)
cywilÿdd [kø-WI-lidh] = shame > c’wilÿdd [kwi-lidh]
Caradog [ka-RA-dog] = (man’s name; surname) > C’radog
[KRA-dog]
_______________________________________
22) palatalisation; s [s] > sh [sh] before and after
the vowel i
eistedd [ØI-stedh] = sit down > ishte [I-shte]
(South-west) > ishta (South-east)
llais [lhais] = voice > llaish [lhaish]
mis [miis] = month > mish [miish]
Lleision formerly [LHØIS-yon] = man’s name > Lleishon /
Lliishon [LHII-shon] (Leyshon is the Englished form)
_______________________________________
23) loss of consonantal i at the beginning of a final syllable,
especially noticeable in the plural -iau [ye], and the verbal
ternmination -io [yo]
Typical of
all southern Welsh
bryniau
[BRØN-ye] > brynne
[BRØ-ne] (South-west) > brynna [BRØ-na] (South-east)
As in the village name (Y) Brynna
stopio [STOP-yo] = parar > stopo [STO-po]
Einion [EIN-yon] > Einon [EI-non] (man’s name)
This is
probably also the reason for English Brecknock for the county of Brycheiniog,
via Brychein’og
_______________________________________
24) in a
final syllable, reduction of wÿ [ui] > w [u].
ofnadwÿ [ov-NA-dui] = terrible, > (South-west) ofnadw
[ov-NA-du] > (South-east) ofnatw [ov-NA-tu]
Ebwÿ > Ebw [E-bu] (river name)
Mynwÿ > Mynw [MØ-nu] (river name, origin of the English form Monnow)
(as yet incomplete; to be continued)
Sumbolau
arbennig: ŷ ŵ
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