0825e Gwefan Cymru-Catalonia (Wales-Catalonia
Webste). Welsh Course. Vocatives in
Welsh - as in English there are forms which are used to address people which
may be names (Siôn / John) or titles of respect (syr / sir; madam / madam), as
well as insults (y lembo / you fool). A number of vocative forms in Welsh have
soft mutation - plant > blant = children, foneddigion a boneddigesau =
ladies and gentlemen (literally:
gentlemen and ladies) of
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1273e “An Elementary Welsh Grammar” by John
Morris-Jones (1864-1929), professor of Welsh at Coleg y Brifysgol (
These are words or phrases used in
addressing people - in English they can be the person's name (Mary, John); the
name with a title (Mr Green); a title (doctor); an endearment (darling); an
insult (you fool), and so on. Vocatives are rather like adverbs; since they are
optional elements, they do not have a fixed postion within a sentence, and can
be moved about fairly freely, the position depending on whether we want to
attract attention, show respect, and so on
In Welsh, vocatives are used in the
same way. Here are some examples with names. They can be placed at the head of
a sentence, at the end, or within the sentence.
Siôn
Mr Jones (Mister Jones)
At the head of a sentence, they
have the function of attracting attention:
Siôn, ble mae'r allweddau?
Siôn (= John), where are the keys?
Mae'n hyfrÿd eich
gweld chi eto, Mr Jones
It's nice to see you again, Mr Jones
Ti, Mair, sÿdd ar fai
You, Mair, are the one who's to blame;
it's you who's to blame, Mair
Here we'll look in more detail at
types of vocatives:
···
(1) A name. It may be used with a
title
Siôn. Mrs Williams. Doctor Morgan. [shoon,
mi-siz wil-yams, dok-tor mor-gan]
···
(2) A personal pronoun.
ti (= you). chi (= you; plural, or non-intimate singular).
···
(3) An indefinite pronoun. Used
with soft mutation of the initial
rÿwun (= someone; mutated form of
rhÿwun) [riu-in]
bawb (= everybody, everyone; mutated
form of pawb) [baub]
···
(4) title of respect
syr (= sir) [sør]
madam (= madam) [ma-dam]
(archaic or literary) meistres (=
mistress) [meis-tres]
gaffer / giaffer (= boss) (North-east
Wales) [ga-fer, gya-fer]
gaffar / giaffar (= boss) (North-west
Wales) [ga-far, gya-far]
(obsolete) meistar (= boss)
(North-west Wales) [meis-tar]
(obsolete) mishtir (= boss) (South
Wales) [mish-tir]
(sarcastic) meileidi (= my lady) [mei-lei-di]
Mister Cadeirÿdd (= Mister Chairman) [mis-ter
ka-dei-ridh]
Also with the possessive determiner
eich
(literary or jocular) Eich Mawrhydi (=
Your Majesty) [eikh maur-hø-di]
(obsolete or jocular) Eich Parchedigaeth (=
Your Reverence) [eikh par-khe-di-gaith]
In the following examples, a number
of vocatives are preceded by fy (= my)
(colloquially 'y and 'yn)
They cause the nasal mutation which affects six initial consonants
c/ngh, p/mh, t/nh, g/ng, b/m, d/n
Usually fy / 'y / 'yn is dropped,
though the mutation remains. In some cases there is a pronoun tag i (= of me)
···
(5) General.
Often indicate family relationships
(mother, father, son, daughter) or equality or inequality of age
tad > fy Nhad (= my father) > Nhad =
father [nhaad]
mam > fy Mam (= my mother) > Mam =
mother [mam]
bachgen (= boy) > fy machgen i > machgen i
(used by an adult to address a boy) [makh-gen i]
mab (= son) > fy mab i > mab i
(used by a parent to address a son or an adult to address a boy) [maab i]
merch (= daughter) > fy merch i > merch i
(used by a parent to address a daughter or an adult to address a girl) [merkh
i]
(South-west Wales) croten (= young girl) > fy nghroten i > nghroten i (used by a parent to address a
daughter or an adult to address a girl) [nghro ten i]
gwas [gwaas] (= servant) > fy ngwas i > ngwas i (used by a male to address another male) [ngwas i]
also gwas > wàs [was]
bachan (= boy) > bachan, 'achan, 'chan, machan
i = mate, my friend [ba khan, a khan, khan, ma khan
i]
endearments:
cariad
= darling [kar yad]
also fy
nghariad, 'y nghariad = my darling [vø nghar yad, ø nghar yad]
f'annwÿl, 'n annwÿl =
my dearest [va nuil, na nuil]
f'anwÿlÿd, 'n anwÿlÿd =
my dearest [va nui lid, va nui lid]
·····
(6) There are some forms of address
which belong in the categories above which we will list seperately because they
have soft mutation of the initial consonant (there are nine consonants which
are affected)
(c/g, p/b, t/d, g/-, b/f, d/dd, m/f, ll/l, rh/r )
plant > blant = children [blant]
merched > ferched = girls, women [ver khed]
bechgÿn > fechgÿn = boys [vekh gin]
merch > ferch = girl, woman [verkh]
dynion > ddynion = men [dhøn yon]
gwr > wr
= man (in
brodÿr a chwiorÿdd > frodÿr a chwiorÿdd = brothers and sisters [bro
dir a khwi o ridh] (addressing fellow worshippers in a religious
service)
boneddigion a boneddigesau > foneddigion a boneddigesau = ladiesand
gentlemen (lit: gentlemen and ladies) [vo ne dhig yon a vo ne dhi ge sai]
cyfeillion > gyfeillion = friends [gø veilh yon]
ci > gi
= dog [gii] - equivalent to English 'good dog'
'Carlo, dere ma, gi,' ebe Dewi'n
gyffrous. 'Carlo, come here, good dog,' said Dewi excitedly
Helÿnt y Maen Gwÿn / W.J. Jones / Gwasg Gee / Dinbÿch / dim dyddiad - no date/
t53
···
(7) Addressing a deity
Duw (God, Lord) is used with soft
mutataion
O Dduw!
= Oh God! [dhiu]
Dduw,
trugarhá wrthÿm = Lord, have mercy upon us
Pechaduried
y^m ni, O! Dduw, yn dod ger dy fron mewn cywilÿdd
We are sinner, O Lord, shamefully coming into your presence
Eluned Caer Madog / Gwasg Gomer / Llandysul / 1976 / t78
···
(8) Some vocatives are used with a
preceding definite article; sometime it is equivalent to English 'you' (you
fool, you idiot, you lucky devil, etc)
y dÿn
= man [ø diin]
y lembo =
you idiot [ø lem bo]
Pam naethost ti hynnÿ,
y lembo? = why did
you do that, you idiot?
···
(9) Some vocatives are noun clauses
Pwÿ bynnag sÿdd yn
credu hynnÿ
[pui bø nag siidh øn kre di
hø ni]
Whoever believes
that... (raise your hand, etc)
···
Yr hwn sÿdd ddibechod
ohonoch, tafled yn gyntaf garreg ati hi (Ioan
8.7)
[ør hun siidh dhi be khod
o ho nokh tav led øn gøn tav ga reg a ti hi]
He that is without sin
among you, let him first cast a stone at her (John 8.7)
···
Most vocative nouns
can take adjectives:
01 Siôn bach -
(bach is not translated - it suggests endearment)
02 ti draw yn y
cornel; chi'ch dwÿ - you over there in the corner; you two
03 rÿwun crÿf -
somebody strong
04 machgen bach i -
my little lad; merch bert i - my pretty girl
05 cariad bach -
little darling
06 gyfeillion dewr -
brave friends
07 hollalluog Dduw -
almighty God
08 y ferch dwp -
you stupid girl!
09 y gwalch bach -
you scoundrel! (lit: the little hawk)
10 yr ellÿll bach -
you little scamp! you little rascal! (lit: the little goblin / elf)
11 gwd gel fach
- darling (
···
EXAMPLES
Dafÿdd, dyna ddigon, dim rhagor
David, that's enough. No more
Dim Tom Jones y canwr, y llyffant. Tom Jones Groser.
Not Tom Jones the singer, you idiot ('the
frog / the toad') . Tom Jones the grocer
Ble 'ÿch chi'n mÿnd,
ddynon? (= ddynion)
Where are you going, men?
Y ferch ddrwg, beth
sÿ'n bod arnat ti?
You bad girl, what's up with you?
Adolygiadau diweddaraf: 20 01 2000
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