Blogs

Welsh loan words in English


By Judith Jones, 2013-01-01

There are over 100 Celtic loan words in English beginning with "car" and everything associated with it. According to one linguist, "penguin" hooded head, is a Welsh word given by the Welsh crew men on the first European ship to see a penguin. The reason the Celtic loan words did not show up until Edward III is because they only literate people were the court and the church. The church used Latin. The court used Saxon, then Norman French and after Edward got into a fight with the French king, it became English and that's when all the Celtic words suddenly appeared. Diolch Judith Jones

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Welsh Word of the Da y - Gair Cymraeg y Dydd

Welcome to the "Welsh Word of the Day" blog. I have been learning Welsh for several years now, and feel that I have made great strides forward in regards to sentence structure, tense(s), mutations, etc. While I do not claim to be an expert in the Welsh Language, I would like to help other learners who feel a need to expand their vocabulary base. "Welsh Word of the Day" is not a course in the Welsh language, but a supplement to those who have some knowledge of the language, or to those who just have an interest in learning a few Welsh words.

My goal is to provide a new Welsh word Monday-Friday (as my work schedule permits). I will give the word, definition, and how to pronounce it. My hope is that readers will reply and use the word in a Welsh sentence. This would be beneficial to us all. If you have suggestions feel free to send me a message via AmeriCymru.

In addition to this blog, a complete list of the Welsh Word(s) Of The Day can be found at http://americymru.net/page/welsh-word-of-the-day and http://americymru.net/page/welsh-word-of-the-day-2014

Our inaugural word of the day is Eisteddfod . Eisteddfod is one of the few Welsh words that have entered the English language. Eisteddfod is also the Welsh word that is most familiar to those in the United States.

Eisteddfod [eye-STETH-vod.] - Sitting, a session (Welsh), Welsh competitive festival of the arts especially in poetry and singing (USA English Translation).

**Remember that the dd is like the "th" used in the word "the."

Dwi' n mynd i'r Eisteddfod (I am going to the Eisteddfod ).

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Cysgodion - Swnami


By Ceri Shaw, 2013-01-01

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From Dolgellau North Wales

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SWNAMI ON SOUNDCLOUD

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Looking for Carmartheshire People


By Fiona Hobden, 2012-12-31

Hi,I volunteer for the Carmartheshire Life magazine and we are always looking for interesting articles and photographs, if you have anything you would like to contribute please let me know. Carmarthenshire Life is a not for profit magazine and is run by volunteers with an interest in Carmarthenshire.

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Happy New Year/Blwyddyn Newydd Dda


By Ceri Shaw, 2012-12-31

Happy New Year/Blwyddyn Newydd Dda 2013 to all our members and readers

Check out our new Calendar feature on AC

WELSH HISTORY CALENDAR - JANUARY/IONAWR

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We Was Brung Up Proper


By philip stephen rowlands, 2012-12-31

WE WAS BRUNG UP PROPER !!

"And we never had a whole Mars bar until 1993"!!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL MY FRIENDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE

1930-39 & 1940's to 1950's
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank sherry while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos...
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, bread and dripping, raw egg products, loads of bacon and processed meat, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer.

Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints.


We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets or shoes, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops, McDonalds , KFC, Subway or Nandos.
Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn't open on a Sunday, somehow we didn't starve to death!
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store and buy Toffees, Gobstoppers and Bubble Gum.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter,milk from the cow,and drank soft drinks with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because......
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O..K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of old prams and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. We built tree houses and dens and played in river beds with matchbox cars.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo Wii , X-boxes, no video games at all, no 999 channels on SKY ,
no video/dvd films, or colour TV
no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!


We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no
Lawsuits from these accidents.

Only girls had pierced ears!

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns at Easter time....

We were given air guns and catapults for our 10th birthdays,

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!

Mum didn't have to go to work to help dad make ends meet because we didn't need to keep up with the Jones's!

Not everyone made the rugby/football/cricket/netball team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! Getting into the team was based on
MERIT


Our teachers used to hit us with canes and gym shoes and throw the blackboard rubber at us if they thought we weren't concentrating ...
We can string sentences together and spell and have proper conversations because of a good, solid three R's education.
Our parents would tell us to ask a stranger to help us cross the road.
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!


Our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids like 'Kiora' and 'Blade' and 'Ridge' and 'Vanilla'

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO
DEAL WITH IT ALL !



And YOU are one of them!
CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good.
And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.

PS -The big type is because your eyes are not too good at your age anymore

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The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has agreed to become an Honorary Vice President of the Dylan Thomas Society as it heads towards the centenary of the writers birth in 2014.

The invitation was accepted during an meeting between Archbishop Rowan and the vice chairman of the Society Geoff Haden in which they recorded an interview on Dylan Thomas to feature in an archive at the poets birthplace at 5 Cwmdonkin Drive in Swansea.

The interview, which took place at Lambeth Palace, covered the influence that Dylan Thomas had on Archbishop Rowan who, like Dylan, was born and brought up in Swansea and is a published poet observed I think all of us who were interested in literature at school in Swansea of that generation fancied ourselves as the Dylan Thomas of the next generation and were very much influenced by the superficial style and tried to copy it.

Geoff Haden found that Like Dylan Rowan Williams has a deep affinity with Swansea as it is a place that draws one back.

The interview was part of a project, 100 Voices, to produce one hundred interviews of people who met or were influenced by Dylan over the past one hundred years.

The project is well on its way and meeting people of all walks of life has been fascinating and range from the maid who worked for the Thomas family when Dylan was a teenager to President Jimmy Carter who has been a lifelong fan.

Said Society chairman Jeff Towns We already have Dylans granddaughter Hannah Ellis as our active President and I am delighted that the Archbishop has accepted our invitation as we approach 2014.

The Archbishop saw the centenary as an important milestone and said The best way of celebrating is to encourage young writers and I hope that whatever is done for the centenary thee will be a lasting memorial that will help young people writing poetry and prose perhaps by spending some time with a senior writer or poet.

The edited interview will be showing for house tour visitors at the Dylan Thomas Birthplace at the start of 2013.

Video clip approx 45 seconds starting with quote in last paragraph

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/75221900/Rowan%20Williams%20Dylan%20Memorial.mp4

Audio clip as above in wav and aif

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/75221900/Rowan%20Williams%20Dylan%20Memorial.wav

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/75221900/Rowan%20Williams%20Dylan%20Memorial.aif

The Dylan Thomas Society of GB was founded in 1977 and has been at the forefront of promoting the life and work of Dylan Thomas ever since. The membership is from all over the world including Australia, Japan and USA. It was one of the leading champions of a memorial stone to the poet in Westminster Abbeys Poets Corner and holds a memorial service each year around the time of his birth on 27 th October 1914 at Westminster Abbey. The society holds regular meetings and membership entitles free entry to the Dylan Thomas Birthplace house tours http://www.thedylanthomassocietyofgb.co.uk

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Last painting of 2012


By Alexandra Bruce, 2012-12-30

Just finished this painting of Cors Caron - best wishes to everyone for 2013!

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The Werewolf Orchestra Of North Wales


By Ceri Shaw, 2012-12-30

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From Llanfairfechan 'Where The Werewolves Live'
'Fascinating noise, furry noise' - Adam Walton

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THE WEREWOLF ORCHESTRA OF NORTH WALES

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Beard Of Wales from Deeside

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BEARD OF WALES

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