Dydd amlieithog

Dydd eitha nodweddiadol oedd ddoe efo tipyn bach o waith yn bore, ac yn y prynhawn mi wnes i ymarfer y piano, y gitár ac offerynnau eraill, ac mi wnes i dysgu tipyn bach mwy o Lydaweg. Gyda’r nos mi wnes i darllen, a gwilio rhaglen teledu arlein. Heno roedd tri ohonon ni yn yr grŵp sgwrsio amlieithog, ac mi wnaethon ni siarad yn y Gymraeg ac yn Ffrangeg yn bennaf. Ar ôl hynny mi es i i Global Café, grŵp ar gyfer myfyrwyr rhyngwladol a lleol, a phobl eraill, a mi wnes i cwrdd a llawer o bobl gwahanol, a ges i gyfleoedd i siarad sawl ieithoedd, yn cynnwys Mandarineg, Cantoneg, Ffrangeg, Eidaleg, Sbaeneg ac Almaeneg.

Yesterday was a fairly typical day with a bit of work in the morning, and I practised the piano, guitar and other instruments in the afternoon, and learnt a bit more Breton. In the evening I read and watched a television programme online. This evening there were three of us in the polyglot group and we talked mainly in Welsh and French. After that I went to Global Café, a group for international students and locals students, and others, and I met lots of different people and had opportunities to speak many languages, including Mandarin, Cantonese, French, Italian, Spanish and German.

Which language next?

As today is the 1st October it’s time to change my focus to a different language on my Multilngual Musings blog – but which one? During the past three months I’ve focused on Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx – a different one each month – and have found the exercise of writing something and recording it every day very useful for my proficiency in them. While my knowledge of each of these languages has improved, there is still plenty more to learn.

As for the next language to focus on – I could continue the Celtic theme and choose Welsh or Breton, or go for one of the other languages I want to brush up, such as German, Chinese, Japanese, Esperanto, French or Spanish. I feel confident writing in Welsh, and fairly confident in French, but the it would be a struggle with the others, which is one reason why I’m doing this as I need the practice.

Have you undertaken any language-related project like this? If so, how successful have they been?

Glances, glimpses and peeks

This week I discovered that the French equivalent of a glance or a peek is un coup d’œil (‘a blow/stroke of the eye’), and to glance/peek is jeter un coup d’œil (‘to thow a stroke of the eye’) which I thought was an interesting way of saying it. Other ways of looking in French include voir (to look/see), un aperçu (a glimpse) and entrevoir / apercevoir (to glimpse)

Welsh equivalents of a glance or glimpse are cipolwg, cipdrem and cipedrych which is made up of cip (a snatching), golwg (sight, appearance, view), trem (look, sight) and edrych (to look/see).

Are there interesting equivalents of glance, glimpse, peek or related words in other languages?

Do other languages making a distinction between looking and seeing?

Les mots de la semaine

français English Cymraeg Brezhoneg
les mains vide; bredouille empty-handed gwaglaw; llaw-wag beleg, glapez
(priser) le tabac à priser (to take) snuff (cymryd) snisin (prizenniñ) butun
moucher (une bougie/chandelle) to snuff out (a candle) diffodd (cannwyll) mouchañ (bouji(d)enn)
(donner/jeter) un coup d’œil (to) glance (taflu/bwrw) cipolwg (taoler) ur sell
un regard de côté/oblique a sideways glance cipolwg i’r ochr
au premier abord at first glance ar yr olwg gyntaf da gentañ penn
d’un (simple) coup d’œil at a glance ar gip/gipolwg; mewn amrantiad
couvert overcast (sky) cymylog; tywyll koumoulek
l’infirmière-chef (f) matron (in hospital) metron; penaethes penn klañvdiourez (?)
le sundae; la coupe glacée ice cream sundae hufen iâ a ffrwythau; syndi dienn-skorn gant frouezh
locataire (m/f) lodger (renter of room) lletwyr; lojar feurmour; lokitour
pensionnaire (m/f) lodger (with room and meals) lletwyr; lojar pañsioner

Les mots de la semaine

français English Cymraeg Brezhoneg
baver; tomber goutte à goutte to dribble diferu; dafnio babouzat
dribbler to dribble (football) treiglo; driblo; driblan dribiliañ
le plombage filling (in tooth) llenwad plomadenn
le porche; la véranda porch porth; cyntedd; portsh porched; chambarleg; heolienn
la porte d’entrée (maison); la portière avant (voiture) front door drws ffrynt dor-dal
la porte de derrière back door drws cefn dor a-dreñv
le château; le manoir mansion plas; plasty castell; maner
le commerce équitable fair trade masnach deg kenwerzh reizh
la pleine lune harvest moon lleuad fedi; lleuad y nawnos olau; lleuad gynhaeaf loargann
la bouilloire kettle tecell; tegell kitell, pod-berver
c’est une autre paire de manches that’s another kettle of fish peth arall yw hynny ur c’hoari all eo an dra-se
la colonne vertébrale spine (of person/animal) asgwrn cefn livenn-gein

Les mots de la semaine

français English Cymraeg Brezhoneg
l’allée (f) aisle (in a church or theatre) ystlys; eil ale
le couloir aisle (on plane, train or bus); corridor eil; coridor trepas
le moteur à réaction jet engine peiriant/motor jet
la fatigue due au décalage horaire jet lag jetludded skuizh dale-eur (?)
souffrir du décalage horaire to be jet-lagged bod yn jetludded gouzañv skuizh dale-eur (?)
la vérité finit toujours par se savoir the truth will out fe ddaw’r gwir i’r golau; taer yw’r gwir am y golau
s’en sortir très bien to come up smelling of roses
à fourrure furry (covered with fur) blewog blevenneg
poilu(e) furry (tail, body) blewog blevenneg
en peluche furry (toy) ffyrraidd grognonet
se retirer son permis de conduire to be disqualified from driving gwahardd rhywun rhag gyrru
être casse-pieds / emmerdant to be a pain in the neck bod yn bigyn yn dy glust di bezañ torr-penn
vitalité vitality bywiogrwydd; sioncrwydd buhezegezh
la veuve widow gweddw intañvez
le veuf widower gwr gweddw intañv
le boudin noir black pudding pwdin gwaed gwadegenn

La gueule enfarinée

I discovered an interesting French expression yesterday while ferreting around in the dictionary – la gueule enfarinée, which literally means ‘the floured mouth’, but actually refers to someone who is ‘wet behind the ears’, i.e. new, untrained, inexperienced, immature, innocent, callow or naive (synonyms from The Chambers Thesaurus).

The word gueule usually refers to the mouth of an animal, and is also a slang word for the human mouth, which is normally bouche. Equivalent words in English include gob, mug, snout, cakehole, kisser, trap, etc – do you have any others? It comes from the Old French gole, from the Latin gula (gullet, throat, gluttony, palate), which is also the root of the English word gullet.

Why having a floury mouth is a sign of being inexperienced is a mystery to me. Does anyone know the origins of this expression?

Les mots de la semaine

français English Cymraeg Brezhoneg
le campus; le cité universitaire campus campws kampus
les vents wind (flatulence) gwynt avel
le casse-croûte snack byrbryd; tamaid torr-naon; adlein
casser la croûte / la graine to have a bite/something to eat cael tamaid debriñ ur begad
grignoter to snack cael tamaid; cael pryd ysgafn krignat
l’amuse-gueule (m) appetizer; nibble mymryn; briwsionyn lipaj
le moucheron midge gwybedyn mân c’hwibu
gardien(ne); concierge caretaker gofalwr gourner; porzhier
la dialyse dialysis dialysis dializ
la gravité; le pesanteur gravity disgyrchiant graviter
en propriété libre freehold rhydd-ddaliadol; rhyddfreiniol
loué/donné à bail leasehold prydles
la douve moat ffos douvez; tuv
le cambriolage burglary lladrad laerezh en tiez
pratique handy (object) hwylus; hylaw boazmant; pleustr

Back in Bangor

I’m now back in Bangor after a very enjoyable and interesting week at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. We learnt 15 songs during the week, so the course wasn’t as intensive as the one I did last year when we learnt twice as many songs, and we learnt about the background of the songs, and even saw some of the places about which they were written, or which are mentioned in them.

There wasn’t much Gaelic spoken in the class, which was mainly in English, but I spoke Gaelic with various other people and feel more confident about speaking it now. As well as Gaelic, I also got to speak some Japanese, French, German, Irish and Manx, which was fun. When I’m speaking Scottish Gaelic and I can’t think of words I often use Irish ones, which are usually very similar as the two languages are very close. I even had one conversation in a mixture of Irish and Scottish Gaelic with an Irish man who speaks both, which was a little confusing.

Les mots de la semaine

français English Cymraeg Brezhoneg
le bassin pond (small) pwll poull
l’étang (m) pond (larger) llyn stank; lenn; loc’h
la mare aux canards; la canardière duck pond pwll hwyaden poull houad
le nymphéa
le nénuphar
water lily lili’r dwr; alaw loar-zour; skudell-zour
la grotte
la caverne
cave ogof mougev; megin; kavarn
la peinture rupestre cave painting paentiad mewn ogof liverezh-reier
l’homme des cavernes
le troglodyte
cave dweller preswylydd ogof tud ar mougevioù
la periode glaciaire the Ice Age Oes yr Iâ; Oes y Rhew marevezh ar Skorn-bras
le guerrier warrior gwron; rhyfelwr; milwr brezeler
enchanté; ravi delighted balch; llawen; wrth dy fodd plijet bras
en service on duty ar ddyletswydd; ar wasanaeth; ar alwad o vont
le grimace
le froncement de sourcils
frown gwg; cuwch; cilwg ard; grim
froncer les sourcils to frown gwgu; cuchio; crychu talcen; cilygu ardaouiñ
le sous-traitant sub-contractor isgontractwr; isgytundebwr eilkevratour
sous-traiter to subcontract isgontractio; isgytundebu eilkevratiñ; eil tretañ; eil feuriañ