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Gwefan Cymru-Catalonia
La Web de Gal
·les i Catalunya
The Wales-Catalonia Website
 

GEIRIADUR ENWAU LLEOEDD CYMRU
WELSH PLACE NAMES DICTIONARY
 

map o gymru a'r gwledydd catalaneg (map_cymru_pc_drenewydd_050112)

Adolygiad diweddaraf - latest update 16 01 2001, 2005-09-02


  

 ·····

Note:
(1) The letter 'y' is not standard - 'y' can be pronounced as [ø] (the schwa, or obscure vowel), or [i] or [ii]. The 'y' with an umlaut is used here to indicate this 'y' pronounced as [i] or [ii].
(2) Only the Welsh names are listed here. To find the Welsh name for a place for which the English use a different name, see
0300 (Welsh place names - English forms and native forms - Swansea > Abertawe, etc)
(3) In the explanations, a raised circle before an initial consonant indicates that the consonant is a mutated form - y ffordd ºlas (from glas = green)
(4) Cross references are marked (qv) - quod vide, = which (word) see

_____________________________________________________

PROGRESS REPORT:
200 entries 16 01 2001
170 entries 29 07 2000
156 entries 27 07 2000
135 entries 26 07 2000
122 entries 22 07 2000
109 entries 21 07 2000


aa [aa]
(1) this spelling we use here to indicate the long 'a' of
South Wales (as in English car, bark, etc), generally in words of one syllable, which correponds to the diphthong 'ae' in standard Welsh. In most of south-east Wales it becomes ää (as in English air, care, bear, etc)
cae (field) > caa / cää
caer (fortress) > caar / cäär
dae'r (from daear = fox's earth) > daar / däär
maen (stone) > maan / mään
trae'n (from traean = a third) > traan / trään

ää [aa]
(1) this spelling we use here to indicate the long 'a' of South-east Wales (as in English air, care, bear, etc) which correponds to the simplification aa elsewhere in South Wales, and the diphthong 'ae' in standard Welsh.
Certain English spellings of Welsh place names in south-east Wales indicate this pronunciation - Aberdare, representing Aber-däär (standard Aber-dâr); Lisvane = Llys-fään (standard Llys-faen = stone court; in Caer-dydd county), Y Gäär (local pronunciation of places called Y Gaer = the fort)

Aberystwyth
[a ber Ø stuith]
A town (SN 5881) in the
county of Ceredigion.
aber Ystwyth - (the) mouth (of) (the) (river) Ystwyth
In modern Welsh, ystwyth means 'flexible'. In the case of the river, it means 'winding, having many bends'. The present town is not in fact at the original estuary of the Ystwyth. This was 2 km outside the town to the south. Here a Norman castle was built in 1110. A century later, in 1211, it was rebuilt on a new site at the mouth of the river Rheidol, but the name was preserved, and the town grew up around the
new castle.

Aberdaugleddau [a ber dai GLE dhe]
aber dau ºGleddau - {the} mouth {of} {the} two {rivers called} Cleddau. English name:
Milford Haven.
Welsh cleddyf = sword. In Sir Benfro (English: Pembrokeshire) there are two rivers - Cleddy Wen (white Cleddy, or white sword) and Cleddy Ddu (black). In colloquial Welsh since the 1200s the final [v] sound in words of two or more syllables has been dropped, hence cleddyf > cleddy. The use of 'sword' is explained either because the river glints in the sunlight, or it cuts through the land like a sword - probably the latter. The word cleddy(f) is a masculine noun, but river names are feminine nouns - so we have Cleddy Wen (instead of Cleddy Gwyn; the feminine form of the adjective is used - gwen, with the soft mutation of the initial gwen > wen) and Cleddy Ddu (instead of Cleddy Du; there is soft mutation of the initial du > ddu)
A variant of cleddyf is cleddau, which is used for the name of the estuary - dau Gleddau - {the} two {rivers called} Cleddau or Cleddyf. Compare the river name Gele (gele is an obsolete word for sword, sword-blade, spear).

Afon Fach [A von VAAKH]
yr afon fach = the little river
Name of a river in Cwm Hyfryd (Patagonia)

Afon-fach [A von VAAKH]
yr afon fach = the little river
street name in Y Pîl (county of Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr)

Afon Lerpwl [A von LER pul]
Vegeu Lerpwl

Awst [aust] (pronounced as the English word 'oust')
(1) August
(2) Calan Awst = Lammas, (Webster's Dictionary: A former festival held in England on August 1, in which bread from the first harvest of corn was blessed)
Heol Awst = (the) street (of) (the) Lammas (festival)
"The older names of the streets have their Welsh equivalents; as, Heol y Prior (the prior's street), Heol y Brenin, Heol Spilman, Heol y Bont, Heol y Cai, Heol Dwr, Heol Awst (Calan Awst being the Welsh term for Lammas-day), while the newer streets are spoken of in Welsh under their English names; indicating a greater prevalence of Welsh in the town in former years. William Spurrell,
Carmarthen and its Neighbourhood, 1879, page 11"

Bae Caerdydd
[bai KAIR diidh] = {the} bay {of} Caerdydd, "
Cardiff Bay". An example of a place name which has come into recent use as a result of the redevelopment of the former docks, and is taking on a secondary significance - just as 'Westminster' in London can mean 'the Houses of Parliament at Westminster', 'Bae Caerdydd' is 'the Welsh Assembly in Bae Caerdydd'.

banad
[BA nad] A form of banadl = broom bushes. The loss of a final -l after another consonant in polysyllabes is typical of colloquial Welsh - other examples are (1) perygl (danger) > peryg, (2) posibl (possible) > posib.

banadl [BA na døl] (plural noun)
(1) broom bushes; plural of banhadlen = broom bnush. Variants are banad (qv), banal (qv)

banal [BA nal] southern form of banadl. The 'd' becomes 'dd' and is then lost (banadl > banaddl > bana'l). The change of d > dd before certain consonants is usual in the south - (1) bodlon (content) > boddlon > bo'lon, (2) gwadn (= sole of the foot) > gwaddn > gwaddan, (3) chwedl (= tale) > chweddl > chweddel > weddal, (4) cenedl (nation) > ceneddl > cenel (used as a disrespectful term for a person)

banalog [ba NA log]
(1) adjective = broom-covered, abundant in broom bushes
(2) noun = place of broom bushes.
This is a southern form of banhadlog. In the south one form of banadl is banal (qv). The 'h' is generally absent in the Welsh of South-east Wales, so banhalog > banalog.
Example: Teras Banalog, a street name in Markham (Caerffili)

Ban-gor [BANG gor]
This spelling (Ban-gor) was used by Emrys ap Iwan for
Bangor (city in north-west Wales)

barics [BA riks] (m)
(1) barracks (for soldiers)
(2) lodgings for mine workers (eg lead miners in Ceredigion in the 1800s)

Basaleg [ba SA leg] (feminine noun) '{the} church'.
This is a village (ST 2787) in the
county of Casnewydd, 4km west of the centre of the town of Casnewydd. The English form is a misspelling with 'ss' - "Bassaleg". The word was taken into British from Latin basilica = rectangular early Christian church; previously it referred to a rectangular administrative building; < Greek basilikê = hall < baisilikê oikia = royal house < basileus = king.
Gwernyclepa, a mansion in Basaleg, was the court of Ifor Hael ("generous Ifor"), a by-name of Ifor ap Llywelyn, who lived in the 1300s and was chief patron of Dafydd ap Gwilym,
Wales' foremost medieval poet. The epithet hael was given to him by Dafydd ap Gwilym in imitation of the name Rhydderch Hael, proverbially one of the 'Three Generous Men' and who was a great benefactor of the poets.
In Ty-du (
county of Casnewydd), just over the river Ebwy from Basaleg, there is a street called Heol Ifor Hael.

Beilïau Fawr [bei LI e VAUR]
(1) name of a farm (SO4211) in the
county of Mynwy.
(y) beiliau = (the) forecourts. ºFawr = greater, used to distinguish farms of the same name

Beili-glas [beil li GLAAS]
(y) beili glas = (the) green forecourt
(1) a street name in Casllwchwr (Abertawe) (SS 5798);
(2) Heol Beili-glas (= heol y beili glas) : street name in Tre-lyn (Caerffili) ("Beili-glas road")

bellaf [BE lhav, BE lha]
Soft-mutated form of pellaf, the most distant, the furthest (from a parish church). Used in farm names. Superlative form of pell = distant.
In Abertawe there is Heol Goetre Bellaf (heol y goetref bellaf, the road of Goetref Bellaf farm, 'the furthest 'Goetref'. Coetref is 'house in the wood'.)

betws [BE tus] (m) chapel of ease; a church within a parish which is secondary to the parish church, often in a remote part of a parish.i From Middle English bed-hus 'prayer house', a combination of <beed> (bead) and <huus> (house). Modern English 'bead' was originally 'one of the small balls making up a rosary and representing a prayer'; and before this, the prayer itself (as in modern German das Gebiet = prayer).

BG - abbrevation used here for the county of Blaenau Gwent

bid [biid] (feminine noun)
(1) (South Wales) quickset hedge; in the south, 'to plash a hedge' is 'bido clawdd' or 'bido perth'
The plural form is bidiau [BID ye]
After a definite article a feminine noun has a soft-mutated initial - y ºfid = the hedge.
Occurs in many farm names - Glyn-y-fid (the valley of the hedge), Pant-y-fid (the hollow of the hedge), Twyn y Fid Ffawydd (the hill of the beech hedge), y Fid-las (the green hedge)

BM - abbrevation used here for the county of Bro Morgannwg

Y Bont-ddu [ø bont DHII]
(1) village near Dolgellau
(y) ºbont ºddu = {the} black bridge; (pont = bridge, du = black)

Y Bont-faen [ø bont VAIN] (as in English 'grapevine')
(1) town in Bro Morgannwg, South-east Wales.
(y) ºbont ºfaen = {the} stone bridge; (pont = bridge, maen = stone)
It is spelt as one word because it is a settlement name; as the name of a bridge the elements are spelt separately (Y Bont Faen). Called by the English "Cowbridge". In
South Wales, (maen / faen) is pronounced (maan / faan), which locally (most of south-east Wales) is (mään / fään).

Y Bontnewydd [ø bont NEU idh]
(1) village near Caernarfon
(y) ºbont newydd = {the} new bridge; (pont = bridge)

Y Bontuchel [ø bont I khel]
(1) village near Rhuthun
(y) ºbont uchel = {the} high bridge; (pont = bridge)

Bro Wenog [broo WE nog]
(1) lower part of the parish of Llanwenog (Ceredigion)
bro ºWenog = {the} lowland {of} Gwenog (with the use of the saint's name - Gwenog - instead the parish name - Llanwenog, (the) church (of) Wenog).
The nickname for the inhabitants of this district is (or was) Gwyddelod Bro Wenog ("Llysenwau", Cymru 1892). The author of the article explains it thus: "[mae] yn dod i lawr, efallai, o'r amser pan oedd dwy genedl yn y plwyf amryddawn hwnnw" - it comes down, maybe, from the time when there were two nations in that multi-talanted parish." Many centuries back there were Irish colonies along the west coast of
Wales.

Bron-y-de [bron ø DEE]
(1) district of Bangor (Gwynedd)
bron y de = {the} hill {of} the south, south hill

bryn dioddef [brin di O dhe]
gallow's hill,'tyburn'; literally 'hill {of} suffering'

Bryndioddef [brin di O dhe]
(the) gallow's hill; place in Llanbedr Pont Steffan (county of Ceredigion)

Bryneglwys [brin E gluis]
hill (of the) church. A village (SJ 1447) by Corwen in Sir Ddinbych (county in the north-east)

Bryngolau [brin GO le]
y bryn golau - the light / sunny hill.
Street name in various places (1) Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr (county of same name), (2) Casllwchwr (county of Abertawe), (3) Tonypandy (county of Rhondda Cynon Taf), (4) Yr Allt-wen (county of Abertawe), etc

Bryn-gwyn [brin GWIN]
y bryn gwyn - {the} white hill
(1) (SO 1489) hamlet in the southern part of the county of Powys (north of Y Gelligandryll / English: Hay-on-Wye),
(2) locality in Dyffryn Camwy ('valley of the river Camwy'), Patagonia (translated into Castilian as Loma Blanca)

Brynsyfi [brin SØ vi]
bryn y syfi - {the} hill {of} {the} strawberries, strawberry hill. Syfien is the southern word for strawberry, with equivalents in Cornish sevienn and Breton sivienn. The northern word (which is also the standard Welsh word) is mefusen, plural mefus
A street name in the county of Abertawe

Bryn-teg [brin TEEG]
(1) a village in Gwynedd
(1) a village by Wrecsam
(y) bryn teg - {the} fair hill; bryn = hill, teg = fair
It is spelt as one word because it is a settlement name; as the name of a hill the elements are spelt separately (Bryn Teg)

Buellt [BI elht]
Buellt was one of the commote (subdivisions) of Brycheiniog. It means 'cow pasture' (it is composed of two elements which in modern Welsh would be 'bu-' = cow, and 'gellt' = grass).
In today's Welsh the root 'bu-' is found in the modern word for 'cow' - 'buwch' - and in the compound form 'buarth' - farmyard, literally 'cow enclosure' (bu + soft mutation + garth).
'Gellt' has become 'gwellt' in modern Welsh (probably in imitation of the initial gw- in the word 'gwair' = 'hay'in Cambro-British or early Welsh). In Cornish too it has a 'w' - 'gwels' - probably for the same reason ('hay' is 'goera', originally also with 'w'). In Breton it is 'geot' without a 'w'. Nowadays 'gwellt' means straw rather than grass.
The corresponding forms in modern Irish are = cow, geilt (a literary word) = grazing
The town of
Llanfair is called in modern Welsh Llanfair ym Muallt. The change Buellt > Buallt is probably from the influence of the word 'allt' = hill, or (in South Wales) wood. The earliest form is Buelt, c. 800 (Nennius)
It is called by the English "Builth" [bilth] - this is a centuries-old distortion in English of Buellt. "Wells" [welz] was added in the 1800s to attract tourists to its chalybeate springs.
The Polden Hills in
Somerset were known as 'Bouelt' in the early 1200s, and to this was added English {duun} meaning a hill. (In modern Welsh this form would have given
beuellt [BEI elht], but it has the same meaning - cow pasture).

Y Bwrtwe [BURT we]
The name of the section of road from Caer-dydd to Y Bont-faen (Cowbridge) (in fact, this is part of the Roman road from Glevum, present-day
Gloucester (Caerloyw in Welsh) to Nidum (Castell-nedd, or ‘Neath’ in English.)
y ºbwrtwe = adaptation of English 'portway' = 'main road, road between market towns'. As most nouns indicating roads are feminine in Welsh, 'pwrtwe' too is treated as feminine in Welsh. In 'Cardiff Records' (1889-1911) (John Hobson Mathews, Mab Cernyw) notes a barn in Sain Nicolas called Ysgubor y Bwrtwe “(the) barn (of) the portway”), in 1763 recorded as "Skybbor y Bwrtway".

Cae-go [kai GOO] (oo = a long 'o' sound, as in 'door', or Northern English 'stone')
(1) village by Wrecsam
cae (y) gof = {the} field {of} the smith. In
North Wales the final [v] in many monosyllables is not pronounced - so gof [goov] becomes go [goo]. Other examples are haf > ha (summer), cof > co (memory), llif > lli (saw).

Caer-dydd [kair DIIDH]
A city (ST 2175) in
South-east Wales; the capital of Wales. Since 1996 also the name of a county.
MEANING: Originally it was Caer-dyf [kair DIIV], caer ºdyf, (the) (Roman) fort (by) (the river) Taf, caer = fort, Taf = a river name. The English name Cardiff is based on Caer-dyf - caer in the south is pronounced as caar (as in English 'car'), and in the south-east it later (?1700s) became 'cäär' (as in English care), which explains why the first element is 'Car-' and probably why in the local English dialect of Caer-dydd the city is called 'Kerdiff', and other 'aa' words are 'ää', as in the traditional Welsh dialect here, now all but lost.
When the name was Englished [KAA-dif], the stress was moved to the first syllable, which is the usual place for the stressed accent in English; the vowel of [diiv] became short; and the [v] became [f]. The same happens with the river name - Taf [taav] is called by the English Taff. The 'r' sound is lost in the English pronunciation used locally, in common with standard southern English pronunciation. In the neighbouring English counties, the 'r' is generally pronounced before a consonant, as in American English, and people from here say [KAAR dif].
The reason forTyf rather than Taf in the name is because it represents an old British form, where the genitive was expressed by a case ending -i, as in Latin. So (simplifying the explanation)
*tavi became *tiv- / *tiiv- in Welsh because the final i changed the quality of the preceding 'a'.
Soft mutation is general after caer - though it probably results from the changeover of a compound name from British to Welsh, rather than a structure in Welsh (caer + soft mutation + qualifying noun). Other caer names with mutation are Caerfyrddin (caer ºfyrddin, < Myrddin) ("Carmarthen"), Caer-went (caer ºWent, < Gwent), Caerliwelydd (caer ºLiwelydd, < Lliwelydd) ("Carlisle"), etc
The standard spelling is "Caerdydd", though more correctly, as the final monosyllable bears the accent, it should be preceded by a hyphen, but it is one of a number of exceptions to the rule (which thus makes the rule unserviceable!) permitted by the Bwrdd Gwybodau Celtaidd / Board of Celtic Studies in its list of recommended spellings for Welsh-language place names. See also Cayr Dyf.

Caledfryn [ka LED vrin]
'hard hill'. (caled + soft mutation + bryn). Caledfryn was the pen name of William Williams (1801-69) who was born in Brynyffynnon, Sir Ddinbych. After studying at
Rotherham in England he was ordained aged 28 as an Independent minister and for the next forty years until his death was minister at Groes-wen (Caerffili). He was a prominent writerand poet, and an eisteddfod adjudicator, and active politically as a radical and pacifist. There is a street named after him in Caerffili.


Cayr Dyf [kair DIIV]
Cayr Dyf - spelling used by Emrys ap Iwan for Caerdydd (city in south-east Wales)

Cayrnarfon [kair NAR von]
Cayrnarfon - spelling used by Emrys ap Iwan for Caernarfon (town in north-west Wales)

Cefn Gweunllwg [KE ven GWEIN lhug]
cefn Gweunllwg - (the) ridge (of) Gweunllwg. English name: Wenlock Edge. A ridge in Swydd Amwythig running from south-west to north-east from Craven Arms to Much Wenlock

ceubren [KEI bren]
ceu ºbren - hollow tree (ceu- is the penult form of cau = hollow; pren = tree. The adjective before the noun causes the soft mutation). See Rhyd y Ceubren

clafdy [KLAV di] (m)
infirmary (from claf = sick person, ty = house). There is a Cwrtyclafdy {the} court {of} the infirmary in Sgiwen. In some place names though it is a remodelling of clafrdy (qv) = pest house, lazaretto

clafrdy [KLAVR di] (m)
pest house, lazaretto - an isolation hospital for people with infectious diseases or leprosy (clafr = leprosy). In place names though it has become clafdy, as in Rhydyclafdy, of which there are two examples - one (SH 3234) by Pwllheli, and another by Cemais in Môn, both of which were originally Rhydyclafrdy

CNA - abbrevation used here for the county of Castell-nedd ac Aberafan

Cnafron
[KNAV ron]
a local form of Caernarfon

Cobol [KO bol]
Welsh spelling and pronunciation for the acronym COBOL [KOU bol], defined in the Collin's Dictionary as: "a high-level computer programming language designed for general commercial use". From the first syllables or initals of the words in the expression Common Business Oriented Language.
See Heol Cobol

coch [kookh] (adjective)
(1) red.
After a feminine noun it has a soft-mutated initial - (y) ºbont ºgoch = {the} red bridge; (pont = bridge)
See Ty-coch

Coed-ffranc
coed y Ffranc - (the) wood (of) the Norman
(1) name of a parish in Castell-nedd, named after the Norman founder of
the abbey at Mynachlog-nedd
(2) John Hobson Mathews (Mab Cernyw) in 'Cardiff Records' (1889-1911), notes a place of the same name 'north-east of Pen-y-lan' (in Caer-dydd) which he translates as 'the Frenchman's wood'.

Coed Morgannwg [koid mor GA nug]
{the} wood / forest {of} Morgannwg - name given to an extensive softwood forestry plantation in south-east Wales

croes [krois] (feminine noun)
(1) cross
The plural form is croesau [KROI se]
After a definite article a feminine noun has a soft-mutated initial - y ºgroes = the cross. In South Wales the diphthong oe becomes a long vowel oo in monosyllables: croes > croos

Costa Jeriátrica [KO stø je ri A tri ka]
Nickname for the North Wales coast where many elderly people, mostly from Northern England, have come to live after retirement (in imitation of names on the Mediterranean coast, such as Catalan Costa Brava (wild coast), Castilian Costa del Sol (coast of the sun)

crwn [krun] (adjective)
Round. The feminine form is cron, hence Waun-gron = round meadow

cryw [kriu] (masculine noun)
(1) stepping stones
See Rhyd-cryw

Cwmderi [kum DE ri]
Name of a fictional village in which the long-running Welsh TV soap opera Pobl y Cwm - (the) people (of) the valley - is set. The name is cwm y deri - (the) valley (of) the oak trees - deri is a typical southern form. A map of the mythical village in "Blas ar Iaith Pobol Y Cwm" (a taste of the language of Pobol y Cwm) by Robyn Lewis (Robyn Llyn) , (publisher:) Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, 1993, has it located between Caerfyrddin ("
Carmarthen") and Abertawe ("Swansea") and Llanelli - which is where the villages of Cwm Gwendraeth are situated; and indeed, exterior scenes for the series are filmed in Cwm Gwendraeth.

cwter [KU ter] (feminine noun)
(1) gutter, channel, stream, ditch, drain
After a definite article a feminine noun has a soft-mutated initial - y ºgwter = the gutter
From English gutter, Old French goutière (modern French gouttière = gutter, drainpipe) < goute = drop of liquid < Latin gutta = a drop). The word for river (afon) is feminine, as too is the word for stream in modern Welsh (nant), and names of rivers and streams (Taf Fawr = greater Taf, Rhondda Fach = lesser Rhondda, etc). So it was assumed when this word was taken into Welsh that the inital g- was a soft-mutation on c after the definite article, and that the base form was cwter.
See Y Gwter, Y Gwter-fawr.

ddu [dhii] (adjective)
Soft-mutated form of du = black

De
[dee] (masculine noun)
south
See Bron-y-de, Traeth y De

derlwyn [DER luin] (masculine noun)
(1) oak grove, oak wood
derlwyn < der'lwyn <derwlwyn, which is (derw = oak trees) + soft mutation + (llwyn = wood, grove). In pre-modern Welsh, the 'w' was a consonant; now it is a vowel in the word 'derw' (and so this is a two-syllable word); put in compound words the 'w' is still a consonant, and 'derw' is a monosyllable; in nouns of this type, the 'w' is lost.

dew [deu] (adjective)
soft-mutated form of tew = fat, lush.

dre [dree] (feminine noun)
Soft-mutated form of tre = 'trêv', farmstead
y ºdre ºfach = the little farmstead

Y Drenewydd [ø dree NEU idh]
(1) y ºdref newydd = the new 'trêv'. Sometimes a translation of the English name
Newton based on 'tuun' = farmstead. In spoken Welsh tref is tre, with the loss of the final [v], a form which is many centuries old.
(a) Y Drenewydd - a district in the old cantrev of Gwynllw^g, now part of the county of Caer-dydd; 2km south-east of Tredelerch, Caer-dydd
(b) See Y Drenewydd yn Notais

Y Drenewydd yn Notais [ø dree NEU idh]
the 'drenewydd' in Notais; y ºdref newydd = the new 'trêv', and Notais is a neighbouring village; both Y Drenewydd and Notais are now part of the seaside town of Porth-cawl. The English name is 'Newton Nottage'. The short name is simply 'Y Drenewydd'. The village is mentioned in a triban (a popular verse form at one time common in part of south-east
Wales).
Tri pheth wi'n garu beunydd / yw digon o lawenydd / mynych dramwy yn ddi-ble / a ienctyd y Drenewydd
(There are) three things I like daily, are enough merriment, wandering often without any destination, and the young people of Drenewydd)

du [dii] (adjective)
(1) black.
After a feminine noun it has a soft-mutated initial - (y) ºbont ºddu = {the} black bridge; (pont = bridge)

Eglwyswynllyw
Place
in Casnewydd (English name: St. Woolos).
eglwys ºWynllyw - (the) church (of) Gwynllyw. Gwynllyw was a local ruler, son of Glywys.
The English name is a translation (= St. Woolo's church), with the name peculiarly corrupted - the form with the soft mutation after 'eglwys' has been understood as the base form in English, instead of the correct base form Gwynllyw.

faen [vain] (as in English 'grapevine')
The noun maen = stone is sometimes used as an adjective; after a feminine noun it has a soft-mutated initial - (y) ºbont ºfaen = {the} stone bridge (pont = bridge); (y) llys ºfaen = {the} stone court (llys = court)

felen [VE len] (adjective)
Soft-mutated form of melen, the feminine form of the adjective melyn = yellow

ffawydd [FAU idh] (plural noun)
beech trees, beeches
See Twyn y Fid Ffawydd

Ffordd Las [fordh LAAS]
(1) the name of a street in Abertawe
(2) a street name in Radur (Caerdydd);
(y) ffordd ºlas - {the} green road; glas = green
As it is a non-settlement name the elements are spelt separately (Ffordd Las). When it is a settlement name it is spelt as one word (Ffordd-las)

Ffortran
[FOR tran]
Welsh spelling for the acronym FORTRAN, defined in the Collin's Dictionary as: "a high-speed computer programming language for mathematical and scientific purposes, designed to facilitate and speed up the solving of complex problems". From the first syllables of the words in the expression FORMula TRANslation.
See Heol Ffortran

Ffordd-las [fordh LAAS]
(1) a village (SJ 3059) 1 km north-west of Yr Hob (Sir y Fflint)
(y) ffordd ºlas - {the} green road; glas = green.
It is spelt as one word because it is a settlement name (Ffordd-las); as a road name the elements are spelt separately (Ffordd Las)

ffranc [frangk]
Norman
Originally Frank = member of a Germanic nation which in the sixth century conquered Gaul, a Romanized Celtic province,
In Welsh France is Ffrainc, literally 'Francs' (i.e. the plural form of Franc)
A Frenchman is Francwr (franc + -wr = man). The plural form is Ffrancwyr (-wyr = men), although at times Ffrancod is also used (also, literally: Frank)
See Coed-ffranc

Ffynnongroyw [FØ non GRO iu]
y ffynnon ºgroyw - {the} sweet-water spring or well. Croyw = fresh, non-saline (of water)
Name of a village (SJ 1382) in Sir y Fflint


Ffynnon y Gog [FØ non ø GOOG]
ffynnon y ºgog = cuckoo well, {the} well {of} the cuckoo. (cog is a feminine noun, = cuckoo).
This is the name of various wells in the south. In fact, the meaning is really 'dry well'. Coeg is 'blind' or when applied to a well or spring, 'dry'. Colloquially in the South oe in monosyllables becomes oo. So coeg becomes coog, giving Ffynnon Goog. (Ffynnon is a feminine noun, so a following adjective has a soft-mutated initial). It is common in Welsh for a linking definite article to be dropped, so it was assumed that Ffynnon Goog was in fact Ffynnon y Gog. (Gog and goog are pronounced the same).
As it is a non-settlement name the elements are spelt separately (Ffynnon y Gog). When it is a settlement name it is spelt as one word (Ffynnon-y-gog)

Ffynnon-y-gog [FØ non ø GOOG]
(1) the name of a farm in Aberpennar (RCT)
See the explanation in the preceding entry.
It is spelt as one word because it is a settlement name; as the name of a well name the elements are spelt separately (Ffynnon y Gog)

fid [viid] (feminine noun)
Soft-mutated form of bid = quickset hedge, hawthorn hedge

Fishwel [VISH wel]
See Heol Fishwel

Fronhafren [vron HAV ren]
(1) the name of a street in Y Drenewydd (Powys)
ºfron Hafren - hill (overlooking) (the) (river) Hafren. In English, this is known as the
Severn. The form Bronhafren would be expected, but with some place-name elements which are feminine nouns the soft-mutated form is used as the radical form. So ºfron instead of bron.
This is probably because it occurs as ºfron after the definite article in so many place names (Y Fronheulog, etc), and in the spoken language it would be used most often with the definite article, that ºfron has come to be regarded as the radical form.
As it is a street name imitating a settlement name it is spelt as one word. If it were a hill name it would be Fron Hafren.

-fryn [vrin]
Soft-mutated form of bryn = hill
(1) in a compound word after a qualifying element: Glasfryn = green hill, Awelfryn = wind + hill ('windy hill')

Y Ganolfan [ø ga NOL van]
(1) The name of the shopping centre in Dowlais (MT). In other places in the south-east the English name "The Precinct" has been used - (i) Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr (PBO), (ii) Llanilltud Fawr (BM), (iii) Porth (RCT)
y ºganolfan - the centre; canolfan = centre

Gibwn [GI bun]
Cymricisation of the English surname Gibbon. In 'Cardiff Records' (1889-1911) (John Hobson Mathews, Mab Cernyw) notes a place called Tir Gruffudd Gibwn - "Tir-Gruffydd-Gibwn (Griffith Gibbon's land). A tenement in the parish of Saint Fagan {Sain Ffagan} and lordship of Miscyn {Meisgyn}, named after a member of the ancient Norman-Welsh family which formerly possessed Saint Fagan's Castle".

Glanmorlais [glan MOR les]
'(the) bank (of) (the) Morlais (stream)' (Morlais = 'big stream'; mawr = big, glais = stream).
Place name in Merthyrtudful

Glan-môr [glan MOOR]
Common house name and street name
glan y môr = {the} edge {of} the sea; seaside. The linking definite article is omitted in many place names.

Glanmorfa [glan MOR va]
(1) Street name in Tre-gwyr (Abertawe)
glan y morfa = {the} edge {of} the sea fen. The linking definite article has been lost, which happens in many place names.

glas [glaas] (adjective)
(1) (vegetation) green.
(2) otherwise: blue.
After a feminine noun it has a soft-mutated initial - (y) ffordd ºlas = {the} green road

Glyndyfrdwy [glin DØ vør dui]
Village (SJ 1542) near Corwen
{the} valley {of} {the river} Dyfrdwy. (The English call this river 'the
Dee').

go [goo] (masculine noun)
Northern form of gof = smith
See Cae-go

goch [gookh] (adjective)
Soft-mutated form of coch = red

-goed [gôid]
Soft-mutated form of coed = wood
(1) in a compound word after a qualifying element: Glasgoed = green wood, Llwytgoed = grey wood, Trawsgoed = cross wood (wood across a valley, etc), Hirgoed = long wood
(2) as a qualifying element, after a feminine noun: Tre-goed = the trêv (homestead) of the wood, Llangoed (originally Llan-goed) = the church of the wood

gof [goov] (masculine noun)
Smith, blacksmith, shoesmith. In the north the form without a final [v] is used - go.
See Cae-go

gogof [GO gov] (femenine noun)
Plural form: gogofau [go GO ve]
Cave. This is the historical form. In modern Welsh ogof (the soft-mutated form has become the radical form). In Cornish it is gogo, which is the origin of the word gug = cave in the English dialect of
Cornwall

Gogofau [go GO ve]
Caves. A district (SN 6640) in Sir Gaerfyrddin

golau [GO le]
1 light

2 sunlit, sunny 

Ychydig gyda milltir o bentref Llangynan ar un o lechweddau prydferthaf y plwyf, yng nghysgod y mynyddoedd, y safai hen amaethdy mawr a elwid Hafod Oleu, ac ni fu un anneddle erioed yn fwy cydweddol a'i enw, Hafod Oleu oedd mewn gwirionedd. O godiad haul hyd ei fachludiad mwynhai yr Hafod ei wres a'i belydrau. Wynebai y ty^ tua'r gorllewin, a throai ei gefn at y dwyrain, ac er gwaethaf yr helaethrwydd o goed ffrwythau yn y berllan yr ochr ddeheuol i'r Hafod, a'r derw a'r ffawydd cyd-rhyngddo a gwynt y gogledd, , mynnai yr haul dywynnu ar ryw ran o hono trwy gydol y dydd. Tudalennau 12-13 PLANT Y GORTHRWM

About a mile from the village of Llangynan on one of the most beautiful slopes of the parish, in the shelter of the mountains, stood the old farm called Hafod Oleu (= Hafodolau, sunny / sunlit summer farm), and there was never a dwelling which better suited it name, it was indeed a sunlit summer farm. From the rising of the sun to its setting the summer farm enjoyed its heat and its rays. The house faced west, and its back was turned towards the east, and in spite of teh abundance of fruit trees in the orchard on the southern side of the Hafod, and the oaks and the beech trees between it and the north wind, the sun insistently shone on some part of it throughout the day. 

Plant y Gorthrwm (= the children of the oppression) / Gwyneth Vaughan, 1908 (= Anne Harriet Hughes 1852-1910)  


groes [grois] (feminine noun)
Soft-mutated form of croes = cross

gron [krun] (adjective)
Soft-mutated form of crwn = round

Y Gweithiau [ø GWEITH ye]
In colloquial southern Welsh it is Y Gweithe [GWEI the, GWII the], or in the south-east Y Gweitha / Y Gwiitha [GWEI tha, GWII tha] - literally 'the works', that is, the ironworks which were opened in the late 1700s at the heads of the south-eastern valleys. The name later referred to the industrial valleys of the south-east in general after iron working at the valley tops gave way to coal mining in the valleys themselves. (One term for a coal mine is 'gwaith glo', the coal works).

gwen [gwen] (feminine adjective)
White. See gwyn

gwerdd [gwerdh] (feminine adjective)
Green. See gwyrdd

Gweunllwg [GWEIN lhug]
Wenlock - village in Swydd Amwythig (
Shropshire).
Derivation - ?
See Cefn Gweunllwg

Gwrecsam [GWREK sam]
An archaic Welsh form of the place name Wrecsam. The name Wrecsam is from English, and English loans with an initial w- usually acquired a g- in Welsh. In the 1970s there was a debate about what the correct Welsh name for the city was. Nowadays it is always Wrecsam in Welsh, though sometimes in writing in the 1800s and 1900s Gwrecsam was preferred as it made the name seem less strange in Welsh.

gwter [gu ter] (feminine noun)
Soft-mutated form of cwter = stream, drain;

Y Gwter [ø GU ter]
Street name in central Caerdydd (English name: Golate). It originally went down from Heol Eglwys Fair (
St. Mary Street) to the bank of the river Taf, until the course of the river was shifted further west.
y ºgwter - the stream, the drain; cwter = stream, drain

Y Gwter-fawr [ø GU ter VAUR]
the big stream / gutter
y ºgwter
ºfawr - (cwter = stream, drain; mawr = big)
The old name for Brynaman

gwyn [gwin] (adjective)
(1) white.
There is a feminine form gwen. After a feminine noun it has a soft-mutated initial - (y) ºbont ºwen = {the} white bridge; (pont = bridge)

Gwynllw^g
[gwøn LHUUG]
Defined in 'Cardiff Records' (1889-1911) (John Hobson Mathews, Mab Cernyw) as: A hundred and lordship in south-west Monmouthshire, lying along the
Severn {Hafren} shore from the Usk {Wysg} westward to the Rhymny {Rhymni} . Anciently it was sometimes considered as extending to the Taff {Taf}
According to Melville Richards (Enwau Tir a Gwlad, 1998 - a compendium of short articles on place names written between 1967 and 1970) Gwynllyw was son of the king Glywys, whose territory was called Glywysing (-ing is a suffix denoting territory). Gwynllyw inherited part of this territory, which became known as Gwynllywiog (-iog is also a suffix denoting territory) and later became Gwynllw^g. The English name Wentloog is apparently from the soft-mutated form Wynllwg; or else the initial Gw- was considered Welsh, but initial W- was considered English (since many English words and names with initial w- taken into Welsh were altered to gw- : widow > gwidw, etc. The English name also shows interference from the name Gwent.
Gwynllyw founded a church in what is today Casnewydd - Eglwyswynllyw - called by the English "St. Woolos" (= St. Woolo's church").

Gwynllyw
South-eastern ruler - see Gwynllw^g

gwyrdd [gwirdh] (adjective)
(1) green
There is a feminine form gwerdd. After a feminine noun it has a soft-mutated initial - (y) ºddôl ºwerdd = {the} green meadow; (dôl = meadow)

Heol Awst [heul AUST] - see Awst

Heol Beili-glas [heul beil li GLAAS] - see Beili-glas

Heol Cobol [heul KO bol]
In fact, officially 'Cobol Road', at Parc Busnes Llaneirwg ("St. Mellon's Business Park") in Caer-dydd. See Cobol in this list (= a computer language)

Heol Ffortran [heul FOR tran]
In fact, officially '
Fortran Road', at Parc Busnes Llaneirwg ("St. Mellon's Business Park") in Caer-dydd. See Ffotran in this list (= FORTRAN, a computer language)


Heol Fishwel [heul VISH wel]
(1) the name of street in Gwenfô ("Vishwell Street")
From a farm name 'fish well' - the English spoken in this part was the same as in south-western England, where initial [f] was pronounced [v]

Heol y Bont [heul ø BONT]
heol y ºbont - (the) street (of) the bridge. (pont = bridge). Common street name - e.g. Aberystwyth

Heol y Fid-las [heul ø viid LAAS]
The name of a street in Caer-dydd
heol y ºfid ºlas - {the} road {of} the (?the house / farm called) Fid-las. This is 'green hedge' - bid = hedge, glas = green

Heol y Fro [heul ø VROO]
heol y ºfro - {the} street {of} the vale - that is, Bro Morgannwg, the Vale of Glamorgan.
(1) Street name in Llanilltud Fawr (BM),
(2) Street name in Gartholwg (RCT)

Heol y Gamlas [heul ø GAM las]
heol y ºgamlas - {the} road / street {of} the canal. Camlas = canal
(1) a street name in Pont-ty-pridd

hir [hiir] (adjective)
(1) long
Usually after a noun -
Y Bont Hir (name of a bridge) (y) ºbont hir = {the} long bridge; (pont = bridge);
Sometimes before a noun (hir + gwaun) = hirwaun. See below

Hirwaun [HIR wain] (hi- as in English hit, him, his, etc; wain as in English 'wine, whine')
(1) village by Aber-dâr
{yr} hir ºwaun = {the} long moor. Gwaun [gwain] is moor, mountain pasture. An adjective placed before a noun causes the soft mutation of the consonant in the following noun - so (hir + gwaun) = (hir waun). A standard colloquial form would be "Hirwen" [HIR wen]. In the final syllable 'au' is pronounced 'e' in general colloquial Welsh, though in this particular area 'i' is also possible - to give 'Hirwin'. The 'h' is generally lost in traditional south-eastern Welsh > 'Irwin. And sometimes the stressed syllable is reduced to an obscure vowel, so Yrwin is a possible local form - which is in fact how English-speakers here generally pronounce it.

hyfryd
[HØ vrid] (adjective)
(1) pleasant
Normally follows a noun
Maeshyfryd (house name, district name) (y) maes hyfryd = {the} pleasant field; (maes = field)

Iorath [YO rath]
South-eastern form of the forename Iorwerth. Often in anglicised or half anglicised forms of place names it is written erroniously with a 'Y' - Yorath. It is also a surname with this spelling in the south-east.

iorwg [YÔ rug] (
South Wales) ivy. There is a Lôn Iorwg in Abertawe - lôn yr iorwg - (the) lane {of} the ivy, ivy lane. (In the North, the word is eiddew).

las [laas] (adjective)
Soft-mutated form of glas = green / blue

lefel [lLE vel] (f) coal level - excavation made by driving horizontally into a coal seam in a hillside; Tai-lefel-lo, Rhymni - {the} houses {of} the coal level (from English level, from Old French (1300s) livel, from a supposed Vulgar Latin *lîbellum = a plummet, a weight; a diminutive of lîbra = a balance, scales

Lerpwl [LER pul]
Liverpool. The Welsh name is in fact an older English name for the city: Lerpool. The city is jocularly known as 'Prifddinas Gogledd Cymru' (the capital of
North Wales) from the massive immigration by northerners in the 1800s and 1900s, and its importance as a commercial centre for North Wales. The river Mersey here was known by Welsh sailors as Afon Lerpwl - (the) river (of) Liverpool

Llannach-medd [lhan akh MEEDH]
The local pronunciaiton of Llannerch-y-medd in the county of Môn

Llandre [LHAN dre]
See Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn

Llanfair Muallt [LHAN vair MI alht]
A colloquial form of Llanfair ym Muallt

Llanfair ym Muallt [LHAN vair øm MI alht]
A town (S0 0450) in the county of Powys.
MEANING: (the) Llanfair (in) (the commote of) Buellt.
llan ºFair is the 'church (of) Mary' (llan = church, Mair = the Virgin Mary)
As Mair was a frequent dedication, it was usual to differentiate places called Llanfair by means of a tag. Here the commote (cwmwd) name is used. See Buellt.
A colloquial form is Llanfair Muallt -
Yn Llanfairmuallt y mae rhai hen weddiwyr hyawdl yn dal i gyfarch gorsedd gras yn Gymraeg, ond
nis gwyr y plant beth y maent y ddweyd. "I Godi'r Hen Iaith yn ei Hol", Cymru, Cyfrol 38, Mai 1910, tudalen 245.
{TRANSLATION: In Llanfair ym Muallt some eloquent old worshippers still use Welsh in the chapel services (literally: greet the throne of grace in Welsh), but the children don't know what they are saying. 'To restore the native language', an article in "Cymru", Volume 38, May 1910,}

Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn [lhan vi HA ngel GE ner GLIN]
A village in the
county of Ceredigion.
MEANING: (the) Llanfihangel (in) (the commote of) Genau'r Glyn
Llanfihangel = (the) church (of) Michael the (arch)angel, Genau'r Glyn = (the) mouth (of (the) valley


News item in "Y Cymro"
13-11-1999 about the restoration of this name:


 Brwydro dros hen enw

 Fighting for an old name


 Mae brwydr un dyn, dros ddegawd i ddiogelu hen enw un o bentrefi gogledd Ceredigion wedi ei hennill.
 One man's fight over a decade to safeguard the old name o one of the villages of north Ceredigion has been won


 Mae'r pentref sydd bum milltir i'r gogledd o Aberystwyth wedi ei enwi yn Llandre ers dechrau'r ganrif ond yr wythnos hon codwyd arwydd newydd ar ffinaiu'r pentref sy'n cydnabod yr hen enw ar y lle - Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn.
 The village, which is five miles north of Aberystwyth has been called Llandre since the beginning of the century but this week a new sign was erected on the boundaries of the village which recognises the place's old name - Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn {The Llanfihangel in the cwmwd of Genau'r Glyn. Llanfihangel is (the) church (of) Michael (arch)angel; Genau'r Glyn is (the) mouth (of) the valley)


 "Mae hyn yn newyddion ardderchog gan fod yr enw Llandre yn gwbl ddiystyr," medd Wynne Melville Jones sydd wedi byw yn y gymuned ers 25 mlynedd ac sydd wedi arwain ymgyrch dros ddeng mlynedd i adfer yr hen enw ar y pentref.
 "This is splendid news because the name Llandre is quite without meaning," says Wynne Melville Jones who has lived in the community for 25 years and has led a campaign for over ten years to restore the old name of the village


 Mae'n un o enwau tlysaf yr Iaith Gymraeg ac mae Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn wedi ysbrydoli beirdd a chantorion gan gynnwys J. J. Williams, Idwal Jones a Chôr Telyn Teilo. Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn yw enw'r eglwys lleol, ac mae'r Cyngor Cymuned a changhennau lleol Merched y Wawr yn arddel yr enw.
It's one of the most attractive names in the Welsh language and Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn has inspired poets and singers including J. J. Williams, Idwal Jones and Côr Telyn Teilo {literally: the choir of harps of Teilo}. Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn is the name of the local church, and the Community Council and local branches of Merched y Wawr {women of the dawn - a women's society} bear the name


 Mae nifer o gartrefi'r pentref hefyd wedi eu hysbrydoli gan yr hen enw - Garth y Glyn, Maes y Glyn, Pant y Glyn a Bron Genau.
Roedd felly yn gwneud synnwyr i adfer yr enw ar y pentref", meddai.
 A number of homes in the village have also been inspired by the name - Garth y Glyn - (the) hill (by) the valley, Maes y Glyn - (the) field (of) the valley, Pant y Glyn - (the) hollow (of) the valley and Bron Genau - (the) hill (of) (the) valley-mouth.


 Credir i'r enw Llandre gael ei hybu pan agorwyd y rheilffordd sy'n cysylltu Yr Amwythig ag Aberystwyth er mwyn hwyluso'r di-Gymraeg i ynganu'r enw lle. Mae Mr. Jones ar hyd yr amser wedi defnyddio Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn ar arwydd ei gartref, mewn gohebiaeth ac yn y cyfeirlyfr ffôn. "Rwyf wrth fy modd bod hyn bellach yn swyddogol," meddai.
It is believed that the name Llandre was promoted by the railway which connects
Shrewsbury and Aberystwyth to make it easier for people who didn't speak Welsh to say the place name. Mr. Jones has always used Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn on his house sign, i correspondence and in the phone directory. "I'm very pleased that this is now official," he said.


 "Llwyddwyd i gyflawni hyn gyda chydweithrediad Cyngor Bro Sir Ceredigion. Mae'n wych o beth bod enw mor delynegol nawr wedi ei ddiogelu wrth i ni symud i fileniwm newydd", meddai Mr. Jones.
 It was possible to achieve this with the cooperation of the Ceredigion county council. It's wonderful that a name which is so poetic has now been safeguarded as we move into the new millenium

Llangatwg [lhan GA tug]
Llangatwg < Llangadog < llan ºGadog - the
church of Cadog.
The change to Catwg shows alternation between o and w (unusual, but not unkown in other words); and the south-eastern feature of d > t at the beginning of the final syllable
(1) "A farm in the parish of Llanedern {Caer-dydd}; doubtless the site of a dismantled church"
'Cardiff Records' (1889-1911) (John Hobson Mathews, Mab Cernyw)
(2) A village (SO 2117) and parish in Powys
(3) A village (SS 7498) in Castell-nedd (the English name is Cadoxton, or Cadoxton juxta Neath, to distnguish it from Tregatwg in Bro Morgannwg, which the English also call Cadoxton)
In Welsh it is sometimes distinguished from the other places called Llangatwg with a tag (though the simple form is the official form) - Llangatwg Glyn Nedd or Llangatwg Nedd (= in the cwmwd of Glyn Nedd or the cwmwd of Nedd)
(4) = Llangatwg Dyffryn Wysg (Sir Fynwy)
(5) = Llangatwg Feibion Avel (Sir Fynwy)
(6) = Llangatwg Lingoed (Sir Fynwy)

Llangatwg Glyn Nedd [lhan GA tug glin NEEDH]
See Llangatwg

Llangatwg Nedd [lhan GA tug NEEDH]
See Llangatwg

Llanwenog [lhan WE nog]
See Bro Wenog.

Llareggub [lha RE gib]
A Welsh-looking place name devised by the writer Dylan Thomas for the village in 'Under Milk Wood'.
It accurately stated the extent of his interest in the language and culture which his Welsh-speaking parents had failed to pass on to him!
When it was realised after his death that it was not in fact a Welsh name but the English expression BUGGER ALL written backwards, text editors gave it a more Welsh spelling - Llaregyb - to disguise its unfortunate origin.
(The fact that he knew no Welsh was for him a matter of pride and explains the arrogance he showed towards Welsh-speakers. There is an interesting novel in Welsh published by Y Lolfa about how Dylan Thomas was seen by Welsh-speakers - Diawl y Gwenallt, by Marcel Williams. Dylan Thomas's 'Under Milk Wood' was translated into Welsh as 'Dan y Wenallt' (under the white wood), and the title of the novel more or less conveys 'the bugger of Milk Wood').

Llaregyb
See Llareggub

Lloygr [LHOI ger]
Lloygr - spelling used by Emrys ap Iwan for Lloegr (= "England")

llwyd [lhuid] (adjective)
(1) grey
After a feminine noun it has a soft-mutated initial - (y) ºbont ºlwyd = {the} grey bridge; (pont = bridge)

Llyn Tegid [lhin TE gid]
A lake (SH 9032) in Gwynedd on which the town of Bala is situated (bala = outlet of a lake).
llyn Tegid - (the) lake (of) Tegid. The name Tegid is either Latin Tacitus, or a native form based on 'teg' = fair. The English name is "
Bala Lake"

lwyd [luid] (adjective)
soft-mutated form of llwyd = grey.

maen [main] (masculine noun) (pronounced as in English 'mine')
(1) stone
In South Wales it is maan, which in much of South-east Wales becomes mään (similar in pronunciation to English 'horse's mane'). In some names maen it is used adejectivally - Y Bont-faen (the stone bridge)

maendy [MEIN di] (m)
stone house (maen = stone + soft mutation + ty = house)

Y Maendy
[ø MEIN di]
see derivation above
(1) name of a district in Caerdydd
(2) names of a district in Casnewydd. On English maps it has the atrocious English spelling Maindee, though this more or less reflects the Welsh pronunciation

maen hir [main HIIR] (m)
menhir, longstone, standing stone (maen = stone, hir = long, tall).
The English word menhir is the same, but is in fact from French, from Breton mên-hir, a local form of Breton maen-hir

Maeshyfryd [mais HØ vrid]
(y) maes hyfryd - {the} pleasant field; maes = field, hyfryd = pleasant
It is spelt as one word because it is a settlement name; as the name of a field the elements would be spelt separately (Maes Hyfryd), but in fact it is not a genuine field name
(1) name of a local government ward in Caergybi ("Holyhead"), Ynys Môn

Maes-teg [mais TEEG]
(1) a town in PBO
(y) maes teg - {the} fair field; maes = field, teg = fair
It is spelt as one word because it is a settlement name; as the name of a field the elements would be spelt separately (Maes Teg)

melen [ME len] (feminine adjective)
Yellow. See melyn

Melin-ifan-ddu [MElin i van DHII]
A village (SS 9386 ) in the county of Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr.
melin Ifan Ddu = (the) mill (of) Ifan Ddu. Ifan Ddu means 'black(-haired) Ifan. The name Ifan is a reduced form of Ieuan and is equivalent to English John. Ieuan came from British < Latin Johann- < Greek). This older form Ieuan has been revived in the 1800s and 1900s as a forename.
The local form is Melin-ddu, with the loss of Ifan.
The English name 'Blackmill' is a translation of this local form - probably through not knowing the original form. Whatever the reason, the English form is misleading, since it was not the mill that was black.

melyn [ME lin] (adjective)
(1) yellow.
There is a feminine form melen. After a feminine noun it has a soft-mutated initial - Bancffosfelen = banc y ffos felen - {the} flat land {of} the yellow ditch

Mera [ME ra]
A district of Castell-nedd.
Meaning: ?
The people here had a reputation for roughness.
See
1003 - Gitto Gelli Deg yn yr Wythnos Gadw, from Seren Gomer, Year 1820
Mynd lawr gydag e i'r Crown - hen gownt gan hen Rhees yno - yfed gwerth saith swllt - gwraig hen Rees yn dod iw fofyn am ddeg o'r gloch - un o wyr y Mera yw hi - hi yn towlu cwart llawn i wyneb hen Rhees
{Go down with him to the Crown - Rhees has credit there - drink seven shillings' worth - old Rees's wife comes to fetch him at ten o' clock - she's one of the Mera people (a district of Castell-nedd / Neath) - throws a full quart into old Rees's face - }
See also
0997.
"Yr Abi Jacs a'r Mera brid
Do's dim o'u bäth nhw yn y byd."

I'r gorllewin o'r ffin yma y mae gwyr Castell Nedd, neu fel yr adwaenid hwy ar lafar gwlad "Gwyr y Mera." Ni fynnai gwyr y Fro gael un cyfathrach â hwynt, oblegid
"Yr Abbey Jacs a'r Mera breed
'Dos dim o'u bäth nhw yn y byd."
{To the west of this boundary are the people of Castell-nedd ("Neath"), or as they are known col·loquially Gwyr y Mera ("The people of the Mera"). The people of Bro Morgannwg ("the Vale of Glamorgan") wanted nothing to do with them}, because "The Jacs from Neath Abbey and the Mera breed, there's nothing like them (literally: 'nothing of their sort') in the world" }

Mihangel [mi HA ngel]
(1) Michael the
Archangel (Italian Michelangelo, Catalan Miquel Àngel, Castilian Miguel Ángel). Book of Daniel 10 (10-13) Ac wele, llaw a gyffyrddodd â mi, ac a'm gosododd ar fy ngliniau, ac ar gledr fyn wylo,,, wele Michael, un o'r tywysogion pennaf, a ddaeth i'm cynorthwyo; a mi a arhosiais yno gyda brenhinoedd Persia. And behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands... lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
A favourite dedication of the
Normans. There are many Llanfihangel churches in Wales = church (of) Mich(ael) (the) Angel.

Morfa Henddol [MOR va HEN dhol]
The old name of Y Frïog ("Fairbourne") in Gwynedd.
"the seamarsh of Henddol". (Henddol could be a farm name)
morfa = seamarsh, henddol = old meadow, hen = old, dôl = bend in a river; meadow in a river bend; meadow

Morlais [MOR les]
'big stream' (mawr = big, glais = stream).
See: Glanmorlais

mynachdy [mø NAKH di] (m)
(1) monastery (2) grange, farm belonging to a monastery (mynach + ty)

Mynachdy
y mynachdy - {the} grange, the monastery farm. Name of a district of Caer-dydd

Mynydd yr Orsedd [MØ nidh ør OR sedh]
{the} mountain {of} the seat;
mountain name in
Patagonia (Castilian name: Cerro Situación)

Nant y Fedw
[nant ø VE du]
(1) (the) stream (of) the birch grove. Name of a stream by Bedlinog, south-east
Wales.

newydd [NEU idh] (adjective)
(1) new
See for example: Bontnewydd

ogof [O gov] (f)
Cave. The original form in Welsh had an initial g-. See gogof.

oo [oo]
(1) this spelling we use here to indicate the long 'o' of South Wales (as in English door, store, etc), generally in words of one syllable, which corresponds to the diphthong 'oe' in standard Welsh.
coed (wood) > cood
croes (= cross) > croos
oer (= cold) > oor

pabell [PA belh] (feminine noun)
The plural form is pebyll.
(1) In modern Welsh, a tent
(2) in place names, a cabin, a herder's hut, an upland summer pasture, a shieling.
(3) In chapel names = tabernacle.
(Marc 9:5 - A Phedr a atebodd ac a ddywedodd wrth yr Iesu, Rabbi, da yw i ni fod yma: a gwnawn dair pabell; i ti un, ac i Moses un, ac i Eleias un
Mark 9:5 - And Peter answered, and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee and one for Moses, and one for Elias).
The Welsh word is from < British < Latin pâpil-iô = butterfly, tent, which is also the origin of French papillon = butterfly, Catalan papallona = butterfly. The Latin form became pebyll in Welsh (the 'i' caused the preceding 'a' to become 'e' - a process called vowel affection.) The resulting sequence e-y is a characteristic of plurals in other words in Welsh - padell (a frying pan), plural pedyll; (from Latin "patella"); castell = castle, plural cestyll (from Latin "castellum"); and so pebyll cam to be regarded as a plural, and a new singular form pabell resulted as it adapted to the pattern of these other words. The Scottish place name Peebles in
Scotland is equivalent to pebyll = huts, with the addition of the Scots plural suffix -s (or an earlier equivalent) to retain the plural sense in Scots.

Paen
Welsh version of the English surname Payn, Payne (originally pronounced [pain], as in modern English pine; this is the pronunciation which has been preserved in Welsh). From Old French (Paien) < Latin Pâgânus (pâgus = outlying village; hence (1) country person > (2) civilian, person who is not a soldier > (3) heathen (person not in the army of Christ)
Found in Pentre-baen (qv), Caer-dydd

Pantycelyn [pant ø KE lin]
pant y celyn - {the} hollow {of} the holly bushes - pant = valley, y = definite article, the, celyn = holly bushes.
(1) (SN 8235) farm in Sir Gaerfyrddin, home of William Williams (1717-91), a noted Methodist hymnwriter, as well as a prose writer and poet. He is nowadays regarded as an important contributor to Welsh literature - in his lifetime he produced over ninety books and pamphlets. He is known as William Williams, Pantycelyn, or simply as Pantycelyn. The farm Pantycelyn was in fact the property of his wife and here they set up home after their marriage in 1748. 'Pantycelyn' in the names of streets and buildings usually commemorate William Williams, rather than referring to a 'hollow of the holly bushes'
(2) street in Casllwchwr (Abertawe)
(3) Neuadd Pantycelyn - hall of residence for Welsh-speaking students at the University of Wales in Aberystwyth, named after the hymnwriter

PBO - abbrevation used here for the county of Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr

Pentre-baen [PEN tre BAIN]
District in Caer-dydd. Pentre is village, but the name as it stands is somewhat meaningless. In 'Cardiff Records' (1889-1911) (John Hobson Mathews, Mab Cernyw) notes: 'Cefn-tre-baen (the ridge of the habitation of Payn). "Keven Tree Paynes lands." A freehold messuage {dwelling with attached land} with meadows and woods in the parishes of Saint Fagan {Sain Ffagan} and Pentyrch {Pen-tyrch}, in the lordship of Miscyn {Meisgyn}, 1595, 1666.


This shows the origin to be cefn tre ºBaen. There is the expected soft mutation of a name after tre. Colloquially cefn in an unstressed syllable can be reduced to Ce'n. The first part of the name Ce'n-tre-baen has been changed to pentre = village

Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr [pen ø BONT ar O gur]
A town (SS 9079) in south-east
Wales, since 1996 the main town of a county of the same name.
The name means (the) Pen-y-bont (on) (the) Ogwr (river), to distinguish it from other places also called Pen-y-bont.
Pen-y-bont = (the) (house) (at) (the) end (of) the bridge.
The English name is Bridgend (a translation of the Welsh name). Local forms in Welsh are Pen-bont (loss of the linking definite article), and from this Pem-bont (n > m before the consonant b). The river name locally is Ôcwr, so one full local form is Pen-bont ar Ôcwr

Pen-y-cae [pen ø KÂI]
{the} end {of} the field;
a) This is the former name of the town of
Glynebwy in the county if Blaenau Gwent. The name was still in use locally to the west in Rhymni in the early 1980s by elderly speakers of Welsh (70+), who used a soft-mutated form without the linking definite article - Ben-cää (ää is as in English 'care' without the 'r')
b) There are streets called Pen-y-cae in (1) Gelli-gaer (county of Caerffili), (2) Caerffili town.

Pen-y-clawdd [pen ø KLAUDH]
{the} end {of} the ditch;
Name of a hamlet (SO 4507) in Sir Fynwy, South-east Wales

Prifddinas Gogledd Cymru
= the capital city of North Wales, a title jocularly given to Liverpool in England, since so many Welsh emigrated here from North Wales in the 1800s.

prys [priis] (masculine noun)
Copse, thicket, brushwood
From a Celtic word related to a Germanic root which has given English "
hurst" = wood, grove

pwll tro [pulh TROO] (masculine noun)
(1) whirlpool, literally pool (of) turning. This is the southern form of the word; in the north, the usual word is trobwll - that is, a compound noun of the type "qualifer + qualified noun"

Y Pwll Tro [ø pulh TROO]
the whirlpool
(1) "A deep place in the river Rhymny {Rhymni}, below Bedwas bridge, in the hamlet of the Van {Y Fan} in the parish of Bedwas - 1755.") 'Cardiff Records' (1889-1911) (John Hobson Mathews, Mab Cernyw)

pwrtwe [PURT we] (feminine noun)
See Bwrtwe

r - initial 'r' before a vowel is sometimes a remnant of the article 'yr' which has become attached to a name. See Rallt.

Rallt [ralht]
yr ºallt = the wood - district in Y Crwys ("Three Crosses"), Abertawe

RCT - abbrevation used here for the county of Rhondda Cynon Taf

Rhondda Cynon Taf [HRON dha KØ non TAAV]
Name of a county established in 1996 - from the names of three main rivers within its boundaries.
Inexplicably the 'Welsh form' of the name is secondary to the official 'English' name - which differs only in misspelling Taf as Taff (Rhondda Cynon Taff).
Here we use the abbreviation RCT for Rhondda Cynon Taf.

Rhyd-cryw [hriid KRIU]
rhyd (y) cryw - {the} ford {of} the steeping stones
Locality in Llanegryn, Gwynedd

Rhyd y Ceubren [hriid ø KEI bren]
rhyd y ceubren - {the} ford {of} the hollow tree
A ford above Aberpennar (RCT)

shiriff [SHI rif] (m)
sheriff
In south-west Wales a bullfinch is gwas y shiriff - the sheriff's messenger (lit: servant)

Soffeia [so FEI a]
English forename Sophia
Gerddi Soffeia (Sophia Gardens) - a park in Caer-dydd.
'Cardiff Records' (1889-1911) (John Hobson Mathews, Mab Cernyw) {our comments are in brackets} That portion of the grounds of Cardiff Castle lying on the west bank of the river Taff {= Taf}, north-west of Cardiff Bridge {= Pont Caer-dydd}. In 1875 they were thrown open to the public, at the desire of Sophia, late Marchioness of Bute. The fields lying to the north of these gardens are known as the Sophia Gardens Fields {= Meusydd Gerddi Soffeia}, and are used for such public displays as the Horse Show.

Swnyreos [suun ør E os]
sw^n (yr) eos - {the} sound {of} the nightingale
(1) street name in Ystalyfera

Tawelfan [tau EL van]
(y) tawel ºfan = {the} quiet place : (tawel = quiet) + soft mutation + (man = place). The adjective before a noun causes soft mutation of the initial consonant of the noun.
(1) place by Pen-tyrch;
(2) street name in Ystradgynlais (Powys-Brycheiniog)
(3) street name in Ffosygerddinen (Caerffili)

teg
[teeg] (adjective)
(1) fair.
See Bryn-teg, Maes-teg.

Telynog [te LØ nog]
Name of a poet (1840-1865).
Letter in the Western Mail,
04 April 1984, commenting on a plaque "Er Mwyn Cymru. Gosodwyd i fyny gan Gymrodorion Aberteifi i gofio Telynog 1840-1865, Ossian Dyfed 1852-1916" {For the sake of Wales. Put up by the Cymrodorion ('the earliest inhabitants (of Britain)' = name of a literary society) of Aberteifi ("Cardigan") to commemorate Telynog, Ossian Dyfed}
"(Telynog) came to Aberdare from Cardigan during the last century and he resided at Cwmbach, near Aberdare. He composed during his short life a poem:-
Blodeuyn bach wyf fi mewn gardd
Yn araf, araf wywo
(I am a little flower in a little garden, slowly, slowly wilting).
He little thought he was dying and, at 25, he was dead. He has a housing estate named after him, and Tre Telynog keeps his name alive, although the residents do not know it. G. DAVIES.
Gadlys Street, Aberdare."

tew [teu] (adjective)
(1) fat
(2) (meadow) lush, rich. See Waun Dew

Tonna Uchaf [TO na I kha]
tonna uchaf - upper Tonna. The upper part of the village of Tonna (if not upper Tonna farm)
A street name in Tonna (Castell-nedd ac Aberafan)

Traethmelyn [traith ME lin]
y traeth melyn - {the} yellow beach / {the} golden sands
A street name in Aberafan (CNA)

Traeth y De [traith ø DEE]
traeth y de - {the} beach {of} the south, south beach
name of a beach in Aberystwyth (Ceredigion)

Tretelynog [tree te LØ nog]
tre Telynog = (the) estate (of) Telynog
The name of a housing estate in Aber-dâr
.See Telynog

Twyn y Fid Ffawydd [tuin ø viid FAU idh]
twyn y ºfid ffawydd = {the} hill {of} the hedge {of} beech - (twyn = hill; found especially in the south-east) + y + soft mutation + (bid = quickset hedge, beech hedge) + (ffawydd = beech trees).
Hence Twynyfidffawydd - the name of a farm above Bedlinog (RCT)

Ty-coch [tii KOOKH]
(y) ty coch - {the} red house.
(1) "A farm between Ely {Trelái} and Caerau" 'Cardiff Records' (1889-1911) (John Hobson Mathews, Mab Cernyw)
(2) "An ancient building opposite Cardiff Castle {Castell Caer-dydd}, later the Cardiff Arms Inn." 'Cardiff Records' (1889-1911) (John Hobson Mathews, Mab Cernyw)

Ty-fry [tii VRII]
(y) ty ºfry - {the} high house, house in a high place. Fry is an adverb (= above, in a high place) and is a soft-mutated form of an obsolete word bry, from bre = hill.
It occurs as a house name or farm name in south-east
Wales, and also in street names in
(1) Aber-dâr - (Ty-fry)
(2) Cefncribwr - (Heol Ty-fry), heol = street
(3) Caerdydd - (Gerddi Ty-fry), gerddi = gardens

Tyisaf [tii I sav]
y ty^ isaf - {the} lower house.
(1) A street name in Caerffili.
The usual pronunciation of this name in the south is Tyisha [tii I sha].
Sometimes it is written according to this colloquial pronunciaiton. See Tyisha)

Tyisha [tii I sha]
y ty^ isaf - {the} lower house
In colloquial Welsh in general, a final f [v] is lost - so isaf becomes isa. In the south, there is palatalisation of the s in contact with i, and so s becomes sh.
(1) name of a district of Llanelli (Sir Gaerfyrddin),
(2) Teras Tyisha (Tyisha terrace) - a street name Pengam (Caerffili)

Tysegur [tii SE gir]
(y) ty segur - {the} empty house. Segur usually means unoccupied = having no work; in the south also unoccupied = having no inhabitiants.
Street name, Castell-nedd

Uwch Conwy [yuikh KON ui]
(district) above (the river) Conwy (uwch = higher; above)
Name of a local government ward in the county of Conwy

v
(1) The letter v is not used in the spelling of modern Welsh words, although it was used in medieval Welsh.
(2) In the last century there was an attempt by some writers to change Welsh spelling and use 'v' instead of 'f', and to replace 'ff' with 'f'. The idea found little favour in
Wales. It came to be regarded as a 'Patagonian' spelling, since the Welsh settlers in South America (1865) adopted this new system (though nowadays standard Welsh spelling is in use in Patagonia). The settlement is now 'Y Wladfa' but the earlier settlers spelt it 'Y Wladva'. A village in the Camwy valley (the Chubut valley) is called Dolavon (dôl = meadow, afon = river; river meadow, meadow by the river), instead of Dolafon.
(3) The use of the 'v' in Welsh names is nowadays an unpardonable Englishism - Vron, Varteg, the Van, Velindre, etc - although it removes the temptation on the part of non-Welsh-speakers to pronounce them as if they began with the sound [f], Welsh place names should be spelt in the current Welsh orthography.
(4) In the South-west of England words beginning with an original 'f' had 'v'. This dialect feature was present in the English spoken by the English settlers in
South Wales too, who had come from these areas. Examples of the vestiges of this phenomenon in modern English are
.....(1) vixen - the English name for a female fox ought to be, and used to be, fixen (as in German Füchsin), but the standard form vixen is from these v dialects.
.....(2) vane - a weathervane should be a weatherfane (as in German Fahne = flag).
There are examples in English place names in the areas where the south-western English had occupied - for example, in Gwenfô (ST 1272) there is a farm with the English name Vishwell (= fish well, fish stream).
Some words with intial v- were borrowed into southern Welsh -
.....(1) broga [BRO ga] = frog. This was borrowed as froga, but in Welsh, the [v] in froga was assumed to be the soft mutation of [b], and so a new radical form broga emerged.
.....(2) In this part of
Wales a ferry was feri [VE ri], and an example survives in the place name Glanyferi (the bank of the ferry, the river bank where the ferryboat was moored)
.....(3) In some place names the element fer occurs. The word for 'short' is byr, with a feminine form 'ber', which after a feminine noun in 'fer'. But the 'fer' in
South Wales place names is in fact fer = fir trees, from south-eastern English dialect vir.

Waun Dew [wain DEU]
(y) ºwaun ºdew - {the} rich meadow. (gwaun = meadow, tew = fat; lush, rich)
(1) name of a meadow in Caerfyrddin. "Richmond-terrace has no connection with the Earl of Richmond: it has been substituted by mistake for Richmead-terrace, a name suggested by Waendew, {older spelling for Waun Dew}, an adjacent meadow." William Spurrell, Carmarthen and its Neighbourhood, 1879, page 11

Waun-gron [wain GRON]
y waun gron - {the} round moorland meadow
(1) The name of a district in the county of Abertawe

Waun-wen [wain WEN]
y waun wen - {the} white moor
A street name in (1) Y Porth (county of Rhondda Cynon Taf), (2) Cwmafan (county of Castell-nedd ac Aberafan)

wen [wen] (adjective)
Soft-mutated form of gwen, the feminine form of the adjective gwyn = white

werdd [werdh] (adjective)
Soft-mutated form of gwerdd, the feminine form of the adjective gwyrdd = green

Wern-fawr [wern VAUR]
y ºwern ºfawr - {the} big bog / swamp
(1) street name in Llanedern (Caerdydd)
As it is a street name imitating a settlement name (or possibly a farm name?) it is spelt as one word. If it were a field name it would be Wern Fawr.

Wern-fraith [wern VRAITH]
y ºwern ºfraith - {the} speckled swampland, the wet land with soil of patchy quality;
(1) street name, Bryn-coch (CN)
As it is a street name imitating a settlement name (or possibly a farm name?) it is spelt as one word. If it were a field name it would be Wern-fraith

Werntarw [wern TA ru]
gwern y tarw - {the} swamp {of} the bull. The mutateed form ºwern has replaced the expected radical form gwern
(1) village (SS 9684) by Pen-coed (Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr)
It is spelt as one word because it is a settlement name; as the name of field the elements are spelt separately (Gwern y Tarw).

y [ø]
(1) the definite article (the)
(2) sometimes, what appears to be a definite article in a name is in fact the letter 'i' in a badly-written form of the name.
For example, the farm name Perthygleision by Aber-fan, RCT; not
perth y gleision (which if it is to mean anything would be '(the) hedges (of) the blue ones'), but perthi gleision (Perthigleision) - green hedges / bushes.

ymyl [Ø mil] (feminine noun)
side

Ymylyrafon [Ø mil ør A vonl]
ymyl yr afon = {the} side {of} the river
This is the name of a riverside street (by Afon Nedd - "Neath") in Bryn-coch (CN)

ysgyfarnog [ø skø VAR nog] (feminine noun)
(1) hare
In spoken Welsh it is usually reduced to sgyfarnog. Like most -og words it was originally an adjective, from a word lost in modern Welsh (ysgyfarn = ear), with the suffix -og for forming an adjective. Literally, (long) eared (animal). Ysgyfarn is to be found in modern Cornish (skovarn = ear) and in Breton (skovarn = ear). In north
Wales the [v] becomes a [w] - sgyfarnog > sgywarnog > sg'warnog.
·····

 

0964e
rhestr o enwau lleoedd Cymraeg wedi eu hesbonio (yn Saesneg / yn Gatalaneg)
Understanding Welsh-language place names - a grammar of place names
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