Well, as Chairperson, I've collated my examples for tonight's meeting, and I thought it would be a good idea to let you, the poor wretches struggling to learn Welsh, see them in advance. Some of them will have been selected because they could contribute towards the collapse and eventual death of the Welsh language from sheer ridicule... which would be a shame, if not particularly drastic or unfair.
Anyway, see what you think, readers dear .....
'so
'mlingo
be 'dio i chdi
ond o'n i isio 'i ga'l o'n iawn
meddwl 'sach chi
'nwrn i
'nde
mae 'ne laryme ymhobman yno
mi a' i i'w lenwi o.
'ta i
A be 'di'r diolch dwi'n 'i ga'l ...
Be 'sa'r lle 'ma 'di 'neud
A 'ngyrfa i
'swn i 'di licio ca'l rhybudd
Those will, I imagine, take up about about 40 minutes to judge, and then there will be all the other contributions to consider. With some of them, we will just wonder why ... why would anyone bother to write 'run or 'dach chi , or g'neud or w'thnos ? With others, we might judge them to be too obscure .... writing 'nawon for cenawon, or 'niog for ..well, for what?
In the meantime, maybe you would like to have a go at unravelling some or all of those examples up there ... and then you could listen to this for a change ... 'ma 'r Ods 'an "ân", 'ae 'og, 'yd, 'ig' , 'ar .....
Yes readers, the Frontal Apostrophe is the curse of the Welsh Language ! Probably.
Here's one I met early in my so-called Welsh Learning Experience .... or welly for short.
'co ..... yes , that's right ....... 'co
so, er, what does that mean then ? Well, it's hard to tell isn't it! The usual response of running to the dictionary will probably not work because, you see, you don't know how the blasted thing starts !
Here's some words you might try ...
Llawco
Fregyrco
Prawddco
Herco
Ygrymco
Aco
Eco
Ico
Oco
Uco
Wco
Yco
Llanco
Llagrymyffrgregysco
Well, we could go on all night with that couldn't we!
Now in this particular, almost unique case, I was a jammy dodger, because I had Gareth King's invaluable Modern Welsh Dictionary ... and stap me vitals, 'co is in it !
'co adverb, (South)
= there ; over there
'co fe ! = there it is.
He also helpfully lists 'na .
But the truth is, readers, that the vast majority of these "frontal apostrophe" jobs are just a route to insanity !
Here's a little list of some that I have come across ...
'y
'w as in i'w
'tha
'sgwn as in 'sgwn i
'te
'ch
'da
'nôl
'di
'u
'run
'to
'set
'se
'chan
'dd as in o'dd
'ny
'nala
'mwyta
'tebol
'ngwas as in 'ngwas i
'nal
'lly
'micini
'runig
'guddiad
'rwsnos
'cw
'nghefn
'rar
'raeth
'mhlant
'amsar as in f'amsar
'raeth
'laen
'does
'so
'mlingo
'nwrn as in 'nwrn i
'ngŵr
'mod
'nghnocio
'rioed
'chwaith
...and so it goes on, on and on and on... I know what quite a few of them mean, some of them are moderately obvious, but come on folks, why? Why why why?
Here's how The Waste Land would go, using the Welsh method...
'ril is 'he 'llest 'th
'ding 'ilacs out 'f 'he dead 'd,
'xing 'mory 'd 'ire, 'ring 'll 'ots 'th 'ng 'in.
... and a bit further along, we will be regaled with ...
'hat 're the 'ots 'hat 'utch, 'hat 'ranches 'ow out 'f 'his 'tony 'bish ?
Yes, it's a great read isn't it. And who is Tony Bish anyway, with his
hat ranches?