There have been a handful of Welsh words in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) for some time. These include ‘cromlech’, ‘corgi’ (literally ‘dwarf dog’), ‘penguin’ – from pen gwyn, ‘white head’, a name originally used for the now-extinct but similar-looking great auk but subsequently shifted to the penguin – and the untranslatable ‘cwtch’. However, the latest update to the OED, published this month, contains a whopping 10 new words and phrases taken from Welsh.
According to the OED editors, this is part of a new effort to include different “varieties of English” spoken around the world. They say that these 10 words and phrases have now entered British English, having been “borrowed” from Welsh. Their criteria for including new items in the dictionary is that they must have been used in an array of sources of written English over “a reasonable period of time”. Words from the Caribbean, various African nations, and New Zealand have also been added.
Cheers!
‘Iechyd da!’, literally meaning ‘Good health!’, is a toast used when drinking in the same way as the English ‘Cheers!’. I’m sure that English people living in close proximity to or visiting Wales have been hearing this phrase for many years. It’s certainly widely known, and it’s good to see it finally appear in the OED.
On the other hand, if you’re a teetotaller, you might respond ‘Ych a fi!’. This has also been added to the OED and is an expression of disgust, similar to and similar-sounding to the English ‘Yuck!’.
And if you think this is a silly disagreement, you might use another newly-added word, to say these people are being ‘twp’ (‘daft’, with a daft person being a ‘twpsyn’).
Ordering out
I have found that, when giving directions to taxi drivers in Cardiff, they are much more likely to know the word ‘Senedd’ than ‘Welsh Parliament’ or even ‘Senate’. “It’s near the Senedd” gets an instant response, even from those with limited English. So it’s good that this word has been added to the OED.
When you get to a restaurant, you might order a plate of ‘sglods’. This newly-added word is actually slang or Wenglish for ‘sglodion’ meaning ‘chips’. It was originally used for wood chips.
To go with your sglods, I have seen many restaurants offering a bowl of cawl. In Welsh, ‘cawl’ originally meant a traditional thick winter soup made with lamb or beef, leeks, potatoes, carrots, and swedes. Modern-day Welsh speakers may use the word to refer to any kind of soup or broth.
According to the OED, the newly-added word ‘cawl’ carries the traditional meaning. Welsh soup or ‘cawl Cymreig’ is regarded as one of the national dishes of Wales.
Welsh relations
I was a bit surprised to see the words ‘mamgu’ and ‘tadcu’ – ‘grandmother’ and ‘grandfather’ in South Walian – added, because I have not experienced these words being used very much in English. ‘Taid’, North Walian for ‘grandfather’, has also been added.
‘Nain’, which is North Walian for ‘grandmother’ and, to my ears, sounds very like the English ‘nan’, was already in the OED. I remember some years ago being introduced to an American lady called Nancy. “But you can call me ‘Nan’, like yer grandmother,” she drawled.
Seasons greetings
The final OED addition is ‘calennig’ and is worthy of a little more description. It’s a derivative of the word ‘Calan’, meaning New Year’s Day, or the first day of a month, or of a festival such as ‘Calan Gaeaf’ – the Welsh Halloween.
Calennig is a tradition in which children go from door to door on the morning of New Year’s Day and sing New Year’s greetings to bring good luck to the householders. In return, the children are given small gifts of money or sweets, and the gift itself can also be called a calennig. The children usually carry an apple or orange pierced with three sticks, and decorated with a sprig of evergreen foliage such as holly, and with nuts or raisins. The word calennig can also refer to this apple or orange.
I remember that, as a child, my parents always used to put an orange and some nuts in my Christmas stocking. At the time I never understood why, but it may have had some connection with calennig.
The more people who know and can use Welsh the better, even if it’s a tiny bit. It shows respect, and could be a gateway to more. So let’s raise a glass to the new Welsh-derived words in the OED. Iechyd da!
