GWERS 63

CYFLWYNYDD:     BASIL DAVIES

NOD:	        Gradd eithaf yr ansoddair. (The superlative degree of the adjective  - 
                    ‘tallest’, ‘shortest’, ‘most populated’ etc)

	Geirfa

		tal	-	tall	byr	-	short
		ifanc	-	young	hen	-	old
		tew	-	fat	tenau	-	thin
		hir				-	long		dwfn 		-	deep 
		uchel			-	high 		doniol	-	funny
		diwydiannol	-	industrial 	mynyddig	-	mountainous 
		amaethyddol	-	agricultural	gwledig	-	rural	
		poblogaidd	-	popular		golygus	-	handsome
		pert		-	pretty		enwog	-	famous
		gwlyb		-	wet			sych	-	dry
		rhad		-	cheap 		talentog	-	talented
		drud		-	expensive

		mis		-		month		digrifwr	-	comedian
		actor		-		actor		actores  f	-	actress
		Cymro	-		Welshman	Cymraes  f	-	Welsh woman
		Y Cymry	-	The Welsh 

		ardal	 f	-	area	gwlad  f	-	country
		afon  f	-		river	llyn	-	lake
		mynydd	-	mountain	byd	-	world
		mab	-	son	brawd	-	brother
		chwaer  f	-	sister	dyn	-	man
		teulu	-	family

		de-ddwyrain	-	south-east	de-orllewin	-	south-west

		afon Tywi	-	river Tywi	afon Hafren	-	river Severn
		Eryri	-	Snowdonia	yr Yswistir	-	Switzerland 
		Yr Wyddfa	-	Snowdon	

		erioed	-	ever

		Pwy?	-		Who?		P’un?	-	Which one?

RHAN 1

	1.	In English we form the superlative degree of short adjectives by adding 			the ending  -est to the adjective

		In Welsh, we add the ending  -af  (often abbreviated in ordinary speech 	to  -a')

			tal		-	tala(f) 			(tallest)
			byr		-	byrra(f) 		(shortest)
			ifanc		-	ifanca(f) 		(youngest)
			hen		-	hena(f)	/ hyna(f) 	(oldest / eldest)
			tew		-	tewa(f) 		(fattest)
			tenau	-	teneua(f) 		(thinnest)

		You'll notice a change of spelling in

			byrraf		  hynaf		teneuaf

	Don't let this worry you.  The same kind of thing happens in English - 

			fattest			thinnest	 eldest

	2.	You'll remember these patterns I'm sure

		Mae Tom yn dal.
		- Tom is tall.

		Mae Bob mor dal ‰ Tom.
		- Bob is as tall as Tom.	
		
		Mae Bill yn dalach na Tom.
		- Bill is taller than Tom.

	Notice how we use the superlative degree

		John ydy'r tala(f).
		- John is the tallest.

	3.	The emphatic pattern is always used - placing the subject to be emphasized 			at the beginning of the sentence  -  followed, in the Present Tense, by ‘ydy’. 
    		(A simple ‘mae’ sentence is never used)

		Fi ydy'r tala'.				
		- I'm the tallest.

		Gareth ydy'r byrra'.		
		- Gareth is the shortest.

		Fy mab ydy'r ifanca'.		
		- My son is the youngest.

		Fy nhad ydy'r hyna' (hena').
		- My father is the oldest.

		Fy mrawd ydy'r tewa’.
		- My brother is the fattest.
	
		Fi ydy'r teneua’.			
		- I'm the thinnest.

	4.	Of course it's possible to place a noun in front of these superlative adjectives

		John ydy'r mab ifanca’.		
		- John is the youngest son.

		Bill ydy fy mrawd hyna’.		
		- Bill is my eldest brother.

		Fi ydy'r person teneua’ yn y teulu.		
		- I'm the thinnest person in the family.

		James ydy'r dyn tewa' yn y teulu.	
		- James is the fattest man in the family.

	6.	When we want to refer to a feminine noun, the adjective, as always, undergoes a Soft Mutation

		Jane ydy'r ferch deneua’ / fyrra’ / dewa’.
		- Jane is the thinnest / shortest / fattest girl.

	The mutation is used even without the preceding noun  -  if that adjective refers to something feminine 

		Jane ydy'r deneua’ / fyrra’ / dewa’.

	7.	Let's describe some natural features

		Afon Tywi ydy'r afon hira’ yng Nghymru.
		- River Tywi is the longest river in Wales.

		Afon Hafren ydy'r afon hira’ yng Nghymru a Lloegr.
		- River Severn is the longest river in Wales and England.

		Yr Wyddfa ydy'r mynydd ucha' yng Nghymru.
		- Snowdon is the highest mountain in Wales.

		Everest ydy'r mynydd ucha' yn y byd.
		- Everest is the highest mountain in the world.

		Pen y Fan ydy'r mynydd ucha' yn Ne Cymru.
		- Pen y Fan is the highest mountain in South Wales.

	8.	In English, it is grammatically incorrect to use the superlative degree of the adjective when talking of only two objects. But in Welsh, no such rule applies.

		Mae Llyn Celyn a Llyn Tegid yn ddwfn ond Llyn Tegid ydy'r dyfna’.
		- Llyn Celyn and Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake) are deep but Llyn Tegid is        	the deepest. (i.e. deeper).

RHAN 2

		1.	You know from past lessons that long adjectives cannot accommodate an 
			extra syllable  -  neither in Welsh nor in English

	In the comparative degree we placed ‘yn fwy’ (‘more)’ in front of our 	long adjectives

			diwydiannol	-	yn fwy diwydiannol
			gwledig			-	yn fwy gwledig

			industrial		-	more industrial
			beautiful			-	more beautiful

		In the superlative degree, we place ‘y mwya(f)’ (‘most’) in front of the adjective (‘y fwyaf’ if the adjective is feminine)

			y f/mwyaf diwydiannol		-	the most industrial
			y f/mwya' gwledig			-	the most rural

		Mae Cymru a'r Alban yn fynyddig ond yr Alban ydy'r fwya' mynyddig.
		- Wales and Scotland are mountainous but Scotland is the most    
	           mountainous.

	2.	We can of course add a noun  -  in front of these adjectives in Welsh, of course

		De-ddwyrain Cymru ydy'r ardal fwya' diwydiannol yng Nghymru.
		- South-east Wales is the most industrial area in Wales.

		De-ddwyrain Cymru ydy'r ardal fwya' poblog yng Nghymru.
		- South-east Wales is the most populated area in Wales.

		De-orllewin Cymru ydy'r ardal fwya' amaethyddol yng Nghymru.
		- South-west Wales is the most agricultural area in Wales.

		Eryri ydy'r ardal fwya' mynyddig yng Nghymru.
		- Snowdonia is the most mountainous area in Wales.

		Yr Yswistir ydy'r wlad fwya' mynyddig yn Ewrop.
		- Switzerland is the most mountainous country in Europe.
	3.	Do you remember how some consonants hardened at the end of the
		adjective when an ending was added?

			gwlyb		-	yn wlypach na		-	y gwlypa’
			rhad		-	yn rhatach na		-	y rhata’
			drud		-	yn ddrutach na 	-	y druta’
			enwog		-	yn enwocach na 	-	yr enwoca’

				y car rhata’		-	the cheapest car
				y gwyliau druta’	-	the most expensive holiday
				yr actor enwoca’	-	the most famous actor
				y mis gwylypa’	-	the wettest month

		Pwy ydy'r digrifiwr mwya’ doniol?
		- Who is the funniest comedian?

		Pwy ydy'r actor mwya’ golygus?
		- Who is the most handsome actor?

		Pwy ydy'r actores fwya’ talentog?
		- Who is the most talented actress?

		Pwy ydy'r Cymro enwoca’ erioed?
		- Who is the most famous Welshman ever?

		P'un ydy'r mis gwlypa’?
		- Which (one) is the wettest month?

		P'un ydy'r rhaglen fwya’ doniol?
	- Which (one) is the funniest programme?

	4.	Learn to be a Quizmaster and ask

		Which one is . . .?	-	P'un ydy . . .?

		P'un ydy'r ardal fwya' poblog yng Nghymru?
		P'un ydy'r ardal fwya' diwydiannol yng Nghymru?
		P'un ydy'r ardal fwya' amaethyddol yng Nghymru?
		P'un ydy'r afon hira’ yng Nghymru?
		P'un ydy'r mynydd ucha' yng Nghymru?
		P'un ydy'r mynydd ucha' yn y byd?