Welsh edit

Etymology edit

From Middle Welsh gwybot, from Proto-Brythonic *gwɨbod. Originally a compound of bod (to be) with an adjective derived from Proto-Celtic *wid-, from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (to know).[1][2]

Pronunciation edit

Verb edit

gwybod (first-person singular present gwn)

  1. to know (be certain or sure about (something); have knowledge of; be informed about)

Usage notes edit

  • In the colloquial language, this verb does not form an inflected preterite; instead the imperfect and the periphrastic preterite are used.
  • This verb is not used in the sense of knowing a person or a place, only facts. To know a person/place is adnabod/nabod.

Conjugation edit

  • In northern colloquial language, gwn may be prefixed with d- in the phrase dwn i ddim (I don't know), where dwn is a contraction of literary nid wn.

Derived terms edit

Mutation edit

Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
gwybod wybod ngwybod unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References edit

  1. ^ Morris Jones, John (1913) A Welsh Grammar, Historical and Comparative, Oxford: Clarendon Press, § 191 iii
  2. ^ R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “gwybod”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies