4.2 The link will very often be Latin. During the Roman occupation about six hundred Latin words found their way into prehistoric Welsh, and some of these Welsh derivatives are listed here. But other Welsh words have a similarity to Latin just because they both come from a common ancestor -- they are not derivatives, but cognates. When Latin words are quoted here as memory-aids, no distinction is made between derivatives and cognates.
4.3 Feminine nouns are marked 'f.'. All other nouns are masculine. There are no neuter nouns in Welsh.
| achaws, achos | cause | L occasio, E occasion | |
| afon f. | river | E Avon, L amnis (So 'the River Avon' means 'the River River', just as 'Rio Grande River' means 'Big River River'. The habit is old-established. In England we find Pennhill ['hill-hill' -- Celtic+English] and Torpenhow ['hill-hill-hill' -- English+Celtic+Scandinavian].) | |
| angeu | death | Gk ananke ('inevitability'), L neca- 'kill' | |
| arddurn | ornament | L adorn- | |
| arfeu | weapons, arms | L arma | |
| ariant | silver | L argentum, E argent | |
| awr | hour | L hora | |
| barf | beard | L barba, E barber | |
| bedydd | baptism | Gk -L baptizatio | |
| braich | arm | L bracchium, F bras, E brassard | |
| bwrdd | table | E board | |
| carchar | bonds, prison | L carcar, E incarcerate | |
| cariad | love | L carus, F cher 'love', E charity | |
| carw | stag, deer | L cervus, F cerf | |
| ci (pl. cwn) | dog, hound | Gk kun-, L canis, E canine, hound | |
| colofn | column | L columna | |
| corff | body | L corpus, E corpse, corpora | |
| coron | crown | L corona | |
| corn | horn | L cornu, E horn | |
| cleddyf | sword | L gladius, E gladiator, Scots clay(more) -- 'big sword' | |
| cyffes f. | confession | L confessio | |
| dant | tooth | L dent-, E dentist | |
| dewredd | hardiness, courage | L durus 'hard', E endure, durable | |
| drych | appearance, look | Gk drakon 'snake, dragon' (the "staring animal"), E dragon | |
| drws | door | E door | |
| dwfr | water | E Dover | |
| duw | god | L divus, E divine | |
| dyblig | fold(s) | L duplica-, E double, duplicate | |
| dydd | day | L dies, | |
| enw | name | Gk -onym (E anonymous, patronym) | |
| eur, aur | gold | L aurum, E aureate, AU | |
| eurwisg f. | gold cloth | (see gwisg) | |
| ffenestr f. | window | L fenestra | |
| ffurf | form, shape | L forma | |
| gwas | fellow, servant, lad, groom | E vassal | |
| gwerth | worth, value | E worth | |
| gwisg f. | clothes, garment | L vestis, E vestment, investiture | |
| gwr | man | L vir, E virile | |
| gwrda | 'goodman', retainer | ||
| gwrogaeth | homage | ||
| haearn | iron | Gc eisern | |
| hebawg, hebog | falcon | E hawk | |
| hun f. | sleep | Gk hypnos 'sleep', L *suepnos, somnus | |
| hynt f. | path, way | L sentis, F sentier | |
| iarll | steward | Norse jarl, E earl | |
| ieuanc | young man | L iuvenis, E young | |
| ieuenctid | youth (abstract) | ||
| llawr | floor, ground | E floor | |
| llong f. | ship | L navis longa, 'long ship' | |
| llythr | letter | L litterae | |
| march | horse, charger | E mare, marshal | |
| marchawg | horseman | ||
| marchoges f. | horsewoman | ||
| milwr | soldier | L miles 'soldier', E military | |
| milwraeth f. | valour | ||
| moes f. | custom, usage | L mos, E mores, morals | |
| mor | sea | L mare, E mere | |
| mynydd | mountain | L mont-, E mount | |
| neges f. | business, errand | L necesse 'necessary' | |
| nos f. | night | L nox | |
| pali | brocade | F paile, palis | |
| parabl | speech, conversational gambit | Gk, L parabola, E parley, parliament | |
| parth | part, direction | L part- | |
| dosbarth | administration, government | ||
| pedestrig | walking-pace | L pedestris 'pedestrian' | |
| pebyll | pavilion | L papilio | |
| penn | head | E Penn, and other geographic names | |
| perfedd | middle | L per-medium 'precise centre' | |
| pluf | feathers | L pluma, E plumage | |
| poen f. | punishment | L poena, E penal, penalty | |
| pont f. | bridge | L pons, E pontoon | |
| post | post | L postis | |
| profedigaeth f. | testing, proof | L probare 'test', E probation | |
| rhyd | ford | Gk rhe- 'flow', E rheostat, diarrhoea | |
| swydd f. | office | L sedes 'seat', E see (of a bishop) | |
| swyddawg | officer | ||
| swyddwr | officer | ||
| syberwyd | pride | L superbus | |
| ansyberwyd | boorishness | ||
| tarian | shield | E targe, target | |
| tir | land | L terra, E territory | |
| twrf | noise | L turba, E turbulent, disturb | |
| ynifer, nifer | retinue, host | L numerus 'number' | |
| ynys | island | Gk nes- (Polynesia), Irish (Innisfree and many other placenames) | |
| ystafell | room | L stabellum, E stable | |
| ystlys | side | L *stlatus>latus, E lateral, latitude |
4.4 Welsh does not have an indefinite article. The definite article ('the') is
4.5 For practice, put the article before all the masculine nouns in our list. Then use the words in the list to form prepositional phrases of the pattern preposition + article + noun, e.g. trwy'r tarian 'through the shield', o'r afon 'from the river'. A dozen or so should give you the idea.
4.6 When one noun follows another, the second is in a "genitival" position. (The main function of the "genitive case" is "possessive", so that it is equivalent to the English patterns with of, or 's. But the genitive can also have other non-possessive functions.)
| gwisg milwr | a soldier's clothes | |
| march swyddawg | an officer's horse | |
| cwn Annwfn | hounds of Annwfn |
| enw y marchawg | the name of the knight | |
| moes y tir | a custom of the land, the custom of the land |
4.7
4.8 Read the Welsh phrase for 'the value of the ____', supplying the words for 'ornament', 'deer', 'confession', 'gold cloth', 'hawk', 'horse', 'custom', 'office', 'shield'; and the Welsh phrase for 'the middle of the ____', supplying 'table', 'body', 'day', 'path', 'night', 'ford', 'shield'.
4.9 Verbs are usually named by two forms: the first person singular of the present (verb base + -af) and the verbal noun.
4.10 Again, in our initial list of common verbs, we lay out three columns: the verb, its meaning in English, and some analogy in another language or in the Welsh you have already met, that may be some help in remembering.
| archaf, erchi | look, seek, ask | IE p-r-k, L preco (Note: The Indo-European /p/ disappears in Celtic. So, if you see P in a Welsh word, it either comes from Indo-European /kw/, or it is a loan word from some other language.) | |
| canaf, canu | sing | L cano, E cantata, chant | |
| datganaf, datganu | reveal, announce | ||
| caraf, caru | love | L carus, E charity | |
| cerddaf, cerdded | go, walk | ||
| cymmellaf, cymmell | compel, force | L compello | |
| cysgaf, cysgu | sleep | Lquiesco, E quiet | |
| diffygaf, diffygiaw | vanish, cease, tire | L deficio | |
| dihunaf, dihunaw | wake | W hun | |
| dygaf, dwyn | take, lead | L duco, E tug | |
| dywedaf, dywedud | say | ||
| edrychaf, edrych | look | W drych | |
| eisteddaf, eistedd | sit | IE sta-, WE eisteddfod | |
| gwelaf, gweled | see | L vultus | |
| mynnaf, mynnu | want | ||
| prynaf, prynu | buy | Gk porn- | |
| rhoddaf, rhoddi | give | L, Gk pro-do | |
| talaf, talu | pay | G zahl, E toll |
4.11 The verbal noun (sometimes called the "gerund") has an English form in '-ing'. It works like any other noun -- consider pairs of sentences like:
4.12 The present tense covers the meanings of the English present and future. There is no separate future form. So, the word edrychaf can mean 'I look' or 'I shall look'. Like other Welsh verb forms it does not need a separate pronoun subject, but often has one, following the verb.
| edrychaf i | I look | edrychwn ni | we look | |
| edrychy ti | you (s.) look | edrychwch chwi | you (pl.) look | |
| edrych ef | he looks | edrychant wy, wynt | they look (two alternative forms -- they are not masculine and feminine.) | |
| edrych hi | she looks |
Note how the verb base appears in the third person singular.
4.13 Practise by "conjugating" (i.e. saying or writing the complete pattern) the present tense of edrychaf, and then of these verbs, which work in exactly the same way:
| cyrchaf, cyrchu | approach | |
| disgynnaf, disgynnu | descend | |
| prynaf, prynu | buy | |
| mynnaf, mynnu | want | |
| dylyaf, dyly | be entitled, have a right |
4.14