gwael
Welsh edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Celtic *wailos. Cognate with Breton gail, Gaulish Vailo.
Pronunciation edit
- (North Wales) IPA(key): /ɡwaːɨ̯l/
- (South Wales) IPA(key): /ɡwai̯l/
- Rhymes: -aːɨ̯l
Adjective edit
gwael (feminine singular gwael, plural gwaelion, equative gwaeled, comparative gwaelach, superlative gwaelaf)
- miserable, wretched, contemptible, despised, abject, vile
- unwell, unhealthy, sick, ill, poorly
- humble, lowly
- baseborn, plebeian, ignoble, mean, poor
Derived terms edit
- gwaeledd m (“sickness, illness; poorness; weakness, frailness, wretchedness, abjectness, misery, vileness; baseness of birth, meanness; the common people”)
- gwaelu (“to become ill, sicken, grow faint, ail; to become worse, weaken, decay; to debase, lower (oneself, etc.), become wretched”)
Mutation edit
| Welsh mutation | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| radical | soft | nasal | aspirate |
| gwael | wael | ngwael | unchanged |
| Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. | |||
References edit
- R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “gwael”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies