Here is the setext version of this lesson.

Lesson 4. The Soft Mutation

Note: This lesson refers to the soft mutation and limited soft mutation that are presented in Appendix A. For those who do not have Appendix A in front of them, I review the changes of the limited soft mutation here:

Original	Mutated	Example
c p t g b d m	g b d (disappears) f dd f	"cath" (cat) becomes "gath" "porth" (port) becomes "borth" "teg" (fair) becomes "deg" "gardd" (garden) becomes "ardd" "bore" (morning) becomes "fore" "do+l" (meadow) becomes "ddo+l" "merch" (girl) becomes "ferch"

In addition to these changes, the (full) soft mutation adds:

ll rh

l r

"llyn" (lake) becomes "lyn" "rhestr" (list) becomes "restr"

4.1. Gender of Nouns

Welsh falls within the majority of the Indo-European languages (of which English is an exception in this regard) in assigning an often arbitrary gender to every noun. Welsh has only two genders: masculine and feminine. You can always tell feminine nouns, because they're the ones that wear fingernail polish.

More seriously, those nouns for which the gender is obviously intrinsic to the noun (e.g., girl, son) have the obvious gender (unlike in German, which considers girls, for example, to be neuter), but there remain many nouns for which assignment of gender is simply a linguistic convention. The long and short of is that you need to learn the gender for nouns at the time you learn the noun itself. Consider it part of knowing the word itself.

4.2. Plurals

Welsh nouns can be either singular or plural. (This is a marked simplification over Homeric Greek, which has a dual number to indicate two of something [1], or even over Russian, which puts two, three, and four into a special class when counting.) There are a number of different ways that nouns in Welsh form plurals:

1. Addition of -(i)au to the stem. For example: "mamau" (mothers), "tadau" (fathers), "pethau" (things), "hetiau" (hats).

2. Addition of -oedd to the stem. For example: "lleoedd" (places), "niferoedd" (numbers).

3. Addition of -i to the stem. For example: "bisgedi" (biscuits), "basgedi" (baskets).

4. Dropping a final -yn or -en. That's right: these nouns actually get shorter when you make the plural. These nouns seem to be generally the names of plants (or plant parts) and animals that are normally encountered collectively rather than individually. For example, "rhosyn" (rose) becomes "rhos" (roses); "malwoden" (snail) becomes "malwod" (snails).
   Note: Nouns in this category that end in "-yn" are masculine and those that end in "-en" are feminine.

Occasionally, the formation of the plural causes a modification of the vowels. For example: "mab" (son) becomes "meibion" (sons); "aderyn" (bird) becomes "adar" (birds).

And, of course, there are nouns with irregular plurals like "brawd" (brother) becoming "brodyr" (brothers).

Since there have been nouns presented in previous lessons, all of those nouns are repeated in this lesson, along with their genders and how to form their plurals (where applicable).

Note on pronunciation

When a plural is formed by adding -(i)au, the "au" part is pronounced as a short "e" in S. Wales and as "a" in N. Wales. (It is sometimes even spelled that way informally: there is a shop in Aberystwyth with the word "pethe" in its name.) It can, of course, be pronounced the normal way.

4.3. Agreement of Pronouns

When a pronoun refers back to a noun, it must agree in gender and number with that noun. Thus, we have:

Ble mae'r gwely? Ble mae'r stafell? Ble mae'r tai?

Mae e yn y stafell. Mae hi yn y ty+. Maen nhw yn y dre.

"Nhw" is used for any plural noun, regardless of gender.

4.4. Mutation of Feminine Nouns after "y"

The definite article "y" causes a limited soft mutation in feminine nouns. Thus, we have the following:

basged (basket) mam (mother) gardd (garden) llen (sheet)

y fasged (the basket) y fam (the mother) yr ardd (the garden) y llen (the sheet)

Masculine nouns do not suffer mutation after "y":

mab (son)

y mab (the son)

Plural nouns are also not mutated (even if they are feminine):

basgedi (baskets) tadau (fathers)

y basgedi (the baskets) y tadau (the fathers)

Note

The word "pobl" (people) is a feminine singular noun with a collective meaning, so it does mutate: "y bobl".

Exception

The plural of "pobl" also mutates after "y": "y bobloedd".

4.5. The Number "One"

The Welsh word for the number "one" is "un" (if you'll pardon my French [2]), pronounced (roughly) "een". It precedes the noun it modifies, and causes a limited soft mutation in exactly the same places that "y" does, i.e., for feminine, singular nouns:

un fasged un mab

one basket one son

Of course, it is not used with plural nouns!

4.6. Adjectives with Feminine Nouns

Feminine nouns are not only mutated by "y" and "un", but they also spell trouble for adjectives that modify them. Specifically, they cause a full (not limited!) soft mutation of any following adjectives:

y ferch fach y llen resog

the little girl the striped sheet

Exception

The adjective "braf" (fine) is never mutated:

y mab braf y ferch braf

the fine son the fine daughter

4.7. How to Say "I want"

One of the major uses for any language is to get what you want, so you need to know how to say it. (Of course, being polite also helps.) The word used to express wanting in Welsh is "eisiau". However, it is not treated like a normal verb in that it is not preceded by "yn" when combined with "bod" [3]:

Mae Tom yn dysgu. Mae Tom eisiau coffi.

Tom is learning. Tom wants coffee.

You can put a verb right after the "eisiau":

Mae Tom eisiau mynd i'r dre.

Tom wants to go to the town.

Note on pronunciation

The "ei" is pronounced like Welsh "i", the "si" like English "sh" and the "au" like Welsh "o" (in the North) or "e" (in the South). It is common to see the word spelled "isio" by authors from N. Wales.

Ymarfer 4

1. Masculine nouns. "The big x and the little y."

y llew y plentyn y llyfr yr achos

mawr a'r

ty+ ci drws gwely

bach .

2. Feminine nouns. "The big x and the little y."

yr anrheg y ferch y stafell y ddawns

fawr a'r

fam sgwrs dre ardd

fach .

3. Make sentences by choosing one item from each column.

Rydw i'n Ydy Sia+n yn Dydyn nhw ddim yn Rydyn ni'n Mae e'n

mynd i'r osgoi'r dod i'r aros yn y

ty+ dre ddawns stafell gwely

. ?

4. Make sentences by choosing one item from each column.

Mae Tom Rydych chi Dydw i ddim Ydyn ni

eisiau

mynd i'r gwely dod gyda fi darllen llyfr aros gartre

. ?

Sgwrs 4

[A translation of this conversation can be found in a different file.]

Elwyn

Bore da, Alun.

Alun

Bore da, Elwyn. Rydw i'n meddwl mynd i'r dre heddiw. Ydych chi eisiau mynd gyda fi?

Elwyn

Pam rwyt ti'n mynd?

Alun

Rydw i eisiau prynu un peth bach.

Elwyn

Ydy Nerys yn mynd, hefyd?

Alun

Dydw i ddim yn gwybod. (i Mrs. Hughes) Mam, ble mae Nerys?

Mrs. Hughes

Mae hi yn y gwely o hyd ar o+l y ddawns fawr neithiwr.

Alun (i Elwyn)

Dydw i ddim eisiau aros. Ydych chi'n dod gyda fi?

Elwyn

Ydw. Rydw i eisiau prynu anrheg fach i Nerys.

Geirfa 4

achos [-ion, m.] - cause
allan - (adv.) outside
anrheg [-ion, f.] - present, gift
ar o+l - (prep.) after
aros - (v.) wait, stay
basged [-i, f.] - basket
bore [-au, m.] - morning
braf - (adj.) fine
ci [cw+n, m.] - dog
dawns [-iau, f.] - dance
dod - (v.) come [4]
drws [drysau, m.] - door
dysgu - (v.) learn
eisiau - (n.) want
gardd [gerddi, f.] - garden
gwely [-au, m.] - bed
gwybod - (v.) know
gyda - (prep.) with
haf [-au, m.] - summer
heddiw - (adv.) today
hefyd - (adv.) also, too
i - (prep.) to, in order to, for
llew [-od, m.] - lion
llyfr [-au, m.] - book
mam [-au, f.] - mother
merch [-ed, f.] - girl, daughter, woman
neithiwr - (adv.) last night
o hyd - (adv.) still
peth [-au, m.] - thing
plentyn [plant, m.] - child
pobl [-oedd, f.] - people
prynu - (v.) buy
rhesog - (adj.) striped
sgwrs [sgyrsiau, f.] - talk, chat, conversation
stafell [-oedd, f.] - room
tre [-fi, f.] - town [5]
ty+ [tai, m.] - house
un - one

Note on pronunciation

The word "gwybod" goes against the normal rule for "y" sounds in that the "y" is clear rather than obscure.

Exercises 4

[The answers can be found in a separate file.]

1. Make the singular of each of the following plurals.

a. b. c. d. e. f.

Tai mawr Stafelloedd bach Gerddi braf Llewod rhesog Boreau da Anrhegion bach

2. Answer the following questions as indicated.

a. b. c. d. e.

Ble mae'r llew? (in Africa) Mae e ______________. Ble mae'r ardd? (outside) Mae ______________. Ble mae'r stafell? (in the house) Mae ______________. Ble mae'r llyfr? (in the room) Mae ______________. Ble mae'r ty+? (in the town) Mae ______________.

3. Say "one ___" for each of the following.

a. b. c. d. e. f.

Basged Haf Llyfr Tre Gwely Dawns

4. Fill in the phrase below in the pattern "______ eisiau mynd heddiw."

a. b. c. d. e.

They Tom and Mari don't Do you (informal) We do I don't

5. Translate the following sentences into Welsh.

a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j.

The girl buys a book for the mother. Where is it? I am going to town today. Are you (formal) coming with me? To where are we going this fine morning? Outside. Is the lion still in the garden? Yes! It is going after the dog. Those people want good things. I want good things, too. They are waiting in the little room. One good basket is in this house. She wants to see the very large garden. The dog stays at home in the morning. Why are you still in bed? Because I don't want to leave.

Footnotes 4 (for the terminally curious)

[1]

Early Welsh did in fact have a dual number. However, you will probably never need to worry about it. I know I never did.

[2]

The French word for "one" is also spelled "un", but is pronounced completely differently.

[3]

The reason "eisiau" is not treated as a normal verb is that it is not a verb; it's actually a noun. The form given is a colloquialism.

[4]

The N. Wales version of this word is "dw+ad". The literary version is "dyfod".

[5]

The actual singular of this word is "tref", so that it has the rather normal pattern of forming the plural by adding "-i". However, as mentioned in Section 1.6, a final "f" is often dropped in spoken Welsh.