Trafod Plant I / Discussing Children I
One topic that crops up in many
conversations is y teulu ("the family"). Yn y wers
'ma ("in this lesson"), we are going to have a look at
discussing children. And in order to do this, we
need a few new words.
plentyn
plant
- a child,
- children,
mab
meibion
- son,
- sons,
merch
merched
- daughter,
- daughters.
Y plant - merch a mab!
To Have? No Hope!
Yn Saesneg (“in English”), we say that we "have" children (e.e., “I have a son and a
daughter”). Unfortunately, Cymraeg (“Welsh”) does not have a verb meaning "to have".
Instead, we say that “there are children with us”. We do this using the prepositions “gyda” (SW)
or “gan” (NW). The general syntax that we want is:
Mae gen i ...
Mae ... gyda fi
- I have a ... (NW)
- I have a ... (SW)
Mae gynnon ni ...
Mae ... gyda ni
- We have a ... (NW)
- We have a ... (SW)
Notice how we use the preposition to say who has something “with them”. For example,
“gen i” and “gyda fi” both mean “with me”. Similarly, “gynnon ni” and “gyda ni” both mean
“with us”. There are just a couple things we should note about this syntax:
1.
“Gyda” often becomes just “‘da” in speech. So we might hear “mae ... ‘da fi” or
“mae ... ‘da ni”.
2.
“Gan”, like many prepositions in Welsh, declines. This means that there is a
different form for each person. That’s why we say “gen i” for “with me” but
“gynnon ni” for “with us”.
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3.
“Gan”, like many prepositions in Welsh, causes a “mutation” in the word
following it. This is the fancy name when the first letter of a word changes. For
this lesson, we are only going to worry about two changes. Any “P” at the start of
the following word will become a “B” (e.e., “plant” ==> “blant”), and any “M”
will become an “F” (e.e., “merch” ==> “ferch” or “mab” ==> “fab”).
Ein Plant Ni / Our Children
Now that we have a general idea how to use “gan” or “gyda” to express what we have,
let’s talk about our children. Here is what we want to say:
Saesneg
English
Cymraeg Y Gogledd
North Welsh
Cymraeg Y De
South Welsh
I have a son
Mae gen i fab
Mae mab ‘da fi
I have a daughter
Mae gen i ferch
Mae merch ‘da fi
I have children
Mae gen i blant
Mae plant ‘da fi
We have a son
Mae gynnon ni fab
Mae mab ‘da ni
We have a daughter
Mae gynnon ni ferch
Mae merch ‘da ni
We have children
Mae gynnon ni blant
Mae plant ‘da ni.
Mae gen i ferch.
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Notice that mutation after “gan”. It caused “mab” to become “fab”, “merch” to become
“ferch” and “plant” to become “blant”. Don’t worry too much about this type of letter change.
We’ll be looking at mutations a little bit down the line.
Tasg:
Cyfieithwch y brawddegau a ganlyn / Translate the following sentences:
1. I have children.
4. I have a child.
7. I have sons.
2. We have a son.
5. We have a daughter.
8. We have daughters.
3. I have a daughter.
6. We have children.
9. We have a child.
Gofyn Am Enwau - Asking For Names
Once we have determined that someone has children, we might want to ask for names.
The word for “name” in Welsh is “enw”. The plural is “enwau”. So to ask for a name or names,
we use a variation on the "what's your name" question that we learned long ago.
Beth yw enwau'ch plant chi?
Be 'dy enwau'ch plant chi?
- What are your children's names? (SW)
- What are your children's names? (NW)
Beth yw enw'ch mab chi?
Be 'dy enw'ch mab chi?
- What is the name of your son? (SW)
- What is the name of your son? (NW)
Beth yw enw'ch merch chi?
Be 'dy enw'ch merch chi?
- What is the name of your daughter? (SW)
- What is the name of your daughter? (NW)
When asked this question, the simplest answer is to give the name of the
child or children in question. Here is some examples:
Tasg:
Be 'dy enw'ch mab chi?
Ieuan.
- What is your son's name?
- Ieuan.
Beth yw enw'ch merch chi?
Blodwen.
- What is your daughter's name?
- Blodwen.
Be 'dy enwau'ch plant chi?
Aled, Tom a Myfanwy.
- What are your children's names?
- Aled, Tom and Myfanwy.
Be ‘dy enw’ch plant chi? or Beth yw enw’ch plant chi?
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Taflen Waith
Cyfieithwch (translate) the following sentences. To make things simple, choose one
particular dialect (either North or South) and stick to it.
1.
We have a son.
2.
I have a daughter.
3.
We have children.
4.
I have a son.
5.
We have a daughter
6.
I have a child.
7.
We have sons.
8.
I have daughters.
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