Tuesday 28 June 2011

The Rest: Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau



Right so,

Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl i mi.
The old land of my fathers is dear to me.

Next,

Gwlad beirdd a chantorion, enwogion o fri.

Gwlad = Land/ Country - remember?

Beirdd = Poets / Bards - Plural

Bardd = Poet / Bard - Singular (see the resemblance with bards?) 

a = and

Chantorion = musicians (cantor - musician)

After "a" meaning "and," C changes to CH 


Cantorion --> Chantorion

CH as in LOCH (Scottish lake)


So,
Gwlad beirdd a chantorion 
Land of bards/poets and musicians


Sounds about right!


Remember last time when I said... "Bag Gareth" "Gareth's Bag" i.e. we don't need anything for "OF" meaning "belongs to"


... next


...Enwogion o fri.

Enwog = Famous

Enwogion = Famous people (plural)

"O fri"
O - Of, in the sense, "of esteem" - NOT "OF"  - MEANING POSSESSION (BAG GARETH) 


Fri - esteem, regard, thought of well, admired etc... that idea (greatness)

O fri - Of esteem (great)

Gwlad beirdd a chantorion, enwogion o fri.
Land of bards and musicians, famous people of esteem.

Next,

Ei gwrol ryfelwyr, gwladgarwyr tra mâd

Ei = His/Her - in this case... "Her" - referring to Wales, a country (gwlad) which is a feminine word!

Gwrol - courageous/brave/gallant

Rhyfelwyr - Warriors  (plural)... (rhyfel = war) (rhyfelwr = warrrior)

Gwlad - Land/Country

Garrwyr - Lovers... Plural.... (caru - to love) (carwr - lover)

Note, Garrwyr not Carrwyr!
Remember I said, Gwlad was a feminine word? 
After a singular feminine word i.e. gwlad or merch (girl) the following word mutates.
C - G - because it softens - C is harder sounding


Tra - Highly/Very

Mâd - good, splendid, great etc. (used often in the past for "Da" "Good")
the roof (cirumflex- to be posh) on the "a" extends the sound!:D

Ei gwrol ryfelwyr, gwlad garwyr tra mâd
Her brave warriors, highly splendid country lovers (i.e. compatriots)


Next...

Dros ryddid collasant eu gwaed


Dros = Over (you mutate after this word, a preposition, you soften, like c-g, rh-r) - just remember!

But, it isn't the end of the world if you don't mutate at the start... when you get more advanced you can worry more.

Rhyddid = Freedom

Collasant = They did loose/ (They lost - Said a lot in speech)  (Colli - to lose)... this is is pluperfect tense, it was done a long time ago and was completed in simple terms! - the "-ant" ending shows it's "they."

Eu - Their - Remember Ei? Meaning her/his... Eu is the plural... so Their, they own it! It's theirs!


Gwaed - Blood


Dros ryddid collasant eu gwaed
Over freedom they did loose (they lost) their blood. 


And that's the end of the first verse. 


Chorus next!!!  

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