Welsh Dialects (North vs. South)
I have been learning Cymraeg (South) for a couple of years and have come across several differences is word usage and some structural differences between Northern and Southern Welsh. There may be some differences, that I am not aware of, between East and West Welsh . Much like the differences that exist between American and British English. I have listed below some of the differences I have noticed. Please share differences in Welsh Dialects that you are aware of.
South North
Like hoffi licio
Finish cwpla gorffen
With me gyda fi geni i
Can (able to) gallu medru
Want moyn eisiau
Milk llaeth llefrith
Need eisiau angen
Pub Tafarn pyb
Fall cwympo disgyn
Out mas allan
Wake (up) dihuno deffro
Away bant ffwrdd
Concern (worried)becso poeni
Return mynd nol dychwelyd
Go home gytre adre
Now nawr rwan
Grandmother mam-gu nain
Know gwbod gwybod
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Iona Wyn Hall on
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Here's another 2 for you Brett
boyfriend in south = sboner in north = cariad
girlfriend in south = wejen in north = cariad
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Permalink Reply by Swansea Jack on
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Not too discerning in the North are they? What do they call sheep up there? Cariad?
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Permalink Reply by Gaynor Madoc Leonard on -
I don't know anyone in Carmarthen who uses "hoffi"; everyone says "licio". "Becso" and "poeni": if I'm worried about something then "becso" but if someone is bothering/annoying me it's "poeni".
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Permalink Reply by John Gwynfor Jones on -
I come from Machynlleth where we mix words from north & south. I would not agree 100% with Brett's finding but hey! Well done for trying.A good talking point over a peint in a tafarn!!!
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Permalink Reply by Brett Hull on -
John,
Thanks for responding. While it seems that many Welsh Courses are taught as "Northern" or "Southern," I would expect that there would places where a a mixture of words are used. With Machynlleth being on the Southern end of Snowdonia, it would make sense that there is a mix of words used between North & South. Talking about it over a pint at the pyb sounds like a fantastic idea.
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Permalink Reply by John Gwynfor Jones on
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Here's good one for you. A potato is called a TATEN in the south, TWTEN in Machynlleth and TYSEN in the north
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Permalink Reply by David Llewelyn Williams on -
Well, I left North Wales in 1957, so my list might be out of date. But my mother came from Abergynolwyn, in Merioneth, where I briefly attended elementary school, so I have some familiarity with mid-Wales dialects.
So: hoffi (never licio)
gyda fi is more literary than geni i ( maybe gennyf fi?)
gallu and medru both acceptable but gallu as a noun is ability with a hint of knowledge whereas medru contains a hint of practical abillity - but what do I know!
llaeth and llefrith are interchangeable
Pub is definitely Tafarn in the north! as a Calfinistic Methodist I should know!
Cwympo is to fall - disgyn is to descend (down the pit or to hell as the case might be)
The others are correct - many of the words of the South are strange to me but I do notice that nawr which is a contraction of yn awr is rwan spelled backwards - I hesitate to comment!
So which words are outside my limited vocabulary?
licio which sounds sexuall
cwpla which sounds similarly
moyn. mas and bant (Local dialect - did it come from the Irish?)
becso, gytre and gwbod (just bad spelling?)
I should comment that when I read current fiction - Atyniad, a brilliant novel on the Welsh condition by Fflur Dafydd - I do realise that the language has evolved - often by contraction.
So my comments may be out of date.
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Permalink Reply by Brett Hull on
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David,
Thank you for your comments.
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Llew, I'm trying hard not to say licio but it's so difficult! I should go back to school as the children are speaking better Cymraeg than me!
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Kissing in the North = cusanu & in the South = lapswchan!
mwa!
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Don't know what a sloppy kiss is in the north? How about lapswshian? lol
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