Contractions in Welsh

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JPerry
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Contractions in Welsh

Postby JPerry » 2016-04-08, 13:39

Hey everyone,

It is my understanding that "dw i" is the accepted spoken form of "I am", "'dach chi" for "you are". How do the contractions work for this verb with other pronouns?

Thanks,
JPerry

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linguoboy
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Re: Contractions in Welsh

Postby linguoboy » 2016-04-09, 3:52

JPerry wrote:It is my understanding that "dw i" is the accepted spoken form of "I am", "'dach chi" for "you are". How do the contractions work for this verb with other pronouns?

Dw i is an accepted form of the 1S present tense form of bod. Other accepted forms include rw i, rwy, and w i. (All more common in the South.) Similarly, the 2P may also appear as ych chi and (in writing but rarely in speech) dych chi. (Again, these forms are more common in the South.)

The listing in the Wiktionary entry for bod is pretty comprehensive. You can find a more compact list of common alternatives here. But if you're serious about studying contemporary Welsh, I strongly suggest you pick up a copy of Gareth King's Modern Welsh, which contains discussion of the usage of the different forms.
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

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JPerry
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Re: Contractions in Welsh

Postby JPerry » 2016-04-09, 15:42

linguoboy wrote:
JPerry wrote:It is my understanding that "dw i" is the accepted spoken form of "I am", "'dach chi" for "you are". How do the contractions work for this verb with other pronouns?

Dw i is an accepted form of the 1S present tense form of bod. Other accepted forms include rw i, rwy, and w i. (All more common in the South.) Similarly, the 2P may also appear as ych chi and (in writing but rarely in speech) dych chi. (Again, these forms are more common in the South.)

The listing in the Wiktionary entry for bod is pretty comprehensive. You can find a more compact list of common alternatives here. But if you're serious about studying contemporary Welsh, I strongly suggest you pick up a copy of Gareth King's Modern Welsh, which contains discussion of the usage of the different forms.



Thank you for your links, they were very useful! Where you say the other forms are more common in the south, are dw i and 'dach chi more common in the north? I will certainly try and get a copy of the book you recommended!

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Re: Contractions in Welsh

Postby linguoboy » 2016-04-10, 4:37

JPerry wrote:Thank you for your links, they were very useful! Where you say the other forms are more common in the south, are dw i and 'dach chi more common in the north? I will certainly try and get a copy of the book you recommended!

Based on my limited experience, I would say that dach chi is pretty much exclusive to the North. Dw i seems to see some use everywhere (though is some Southern varieties only as a negative form) whereas w i and rw i/rwy are exclusively Southern.
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons


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