A grammar of the Welsh language, based on the most approved systems, with copious examples from some of the most correct Welsh writers

328 Pages·1876·14.817 MB·English

by  Thomas Rowland

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BECOMMENDATIONS.
"Mr.Rowland's Grammaris not only based on tlie most approveil
systems,but,asamanual,isthemostimportant,useful,andsatisfactoiy
workthathasbeenpennedupon the snh]ect.'"—CarnarvonandDeiMtjIi.
Herald.
"Theauthormaysafelybecomplimentedashavingproducedavolume
wellworthyof theagewe live in,andofthe estimationinwliichheis
heldbyhiscountrymengenerally. . . . Wehavelittledoubtbutthatit
willsoon bereckoned amongstthebestrecognisedauthoritiesofWel.sh
Literature." North WalesChronicle.
ver"yDegcriedaetJlcryedtihteubjeisotnGtrhaemlmeaarrnoefdmoandderjnudCiycimoruasegauetxhtoarn.t",—anA'dtvr.efJloechtns
WilliamsAbIthel.
"The best "Welsh Grammar, arranged afterthe modelofthe Greelc
andLatinGrammarsthathavemorerecentlyappearedinGermany,and
thereforemuchmorecompleteandpreciseinthedoctrineofwordsthan
the earlier AVelsh Grammars."—/'. J. Mone, Director des Archivs zn
Carlsruhe.
"Mr. Rowland's "Welsh Grammar is always one of my travelling
companions. Ithinkitoneofthemostvaluable modern contributions
to"W^elshLiterature."—^.J.Johnes,Esq.,JudgeoftheCountyCourt.
"I wish also to construct an Elementary Grammar in Breton. I
intendtowriteonthissubjecttoMr.Rowland,toaskhispermissionto
translatehis excellent Grammar, oratleast agreat portion of it."
CharlesdeGaulle(BarzBroC'hall),SecretarytotheBreuriezBreiz.
"There was no Grammar worthyofthenameoroftheBritishLan-
guageuntilMr.RowlandbroughtforthMs."—Z>?-.RudolfSiegfried.
"Y mae Mr. Rowland wedi cychwyn yn yr lawn gyfeiriad. Nid
Crammadego'riaithSeisnigwedieigyfieithua'idraws-gymmhwysoaty
Gymraegyweilyfr; ondGrammadego'riaitliGymraegyneiholldeithi
a"iduUiau priodol ei hun, er eifodwedieiysgrifenu ynSeisneg. Ceir
yinahollesgyrnyriaith,nidyn uuigar wahan,ondhefydyneuperth-
yynraaseâl'oudaguilây'dudg;ilaytdhde.f"lirgYolTeruaneitharodyycddy.mmalaubychainsyddyncyssylltu
"Osnadydymyn camsyniedynfawr,mae tyngedfen y Grammadeg
Cymreig hwn i ddyfod yn safon grammudf^ol yv iaith Gymraeg."—
YrHaul.
—
Î5g tíjE same íîiitljar.
PriceAs. GcZ.,
"WELSH EXEBCISES,
ADAPTEDTO THE •
THIRD AND FOURTH EDITIONS OP ROWLAND'SGRAMMAR,
WITHCOPIOUSEXPLANATORYNOTES.
"WehavenodoubttliatthisExercise-Bookwillsoontakeitsplaceas
astandardText-bookonthesubjectinquestion,astheAuthor'sGrammar
hasalreadydone." OsicestryAdvertiser.
""\Vearepleasedtofindthatthis"Work,whichisthefirstofthekind
intheWelsh Language, isa worthysequeltothe Grammar; andMr.
Krowland can be safelycongratulateduponhavingbrought a thorough
knowledge of therules of oneofthemostancientandmostinteresting
branchesoftheCelticwithinthereachandpowersofanordinary'English
scholar."—iVoriAWalesChronicle.
WKEXHAM: HUGHES >tSON.
Bala: E. A. Sauxdersox. T'Osdo-^-. D. Nutt, 270 Strand.
;
A GRAMMAR
OF
THE AVELSH LANGUAGE,
BASED ON THE MOST APPROVED SYSTEMS,
^ítlj Copious CEiampIcs
FROMSOMEOF THEMOSTCORRECT WELSH WRITERS.
BY
THOMAS ROWLAND,
RECTOROFPENNANT-MELANGELL(VIAOSWESTRY),MONTGOMERYSHIRE.
JToiirtfj (Piiitt'on, ©rratlg CFnlargrîi anö ímprobrìi.
Wr.EXHAM:
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY HUGHES & SON.
LONDON: SIMPiaN, MARSHALL, & CO.
D. NUTT, 270 STRAND, W.C.
;Y
K 1550
—
PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDmON.
Great care and labour liave been bestowed on the present
edition.
The verbs have been rewritten, and the tenses conjugated
much more fully and with greater precision than in previous
editions.
Manj-ruleshavebeenaddedindiflferent parts of theWork
some new, and others taken out of the Author's Welsh
Exercises.
Some hundreds of the Examples have been translated into
English,whichwill be ofgreat assistanceinunderstanding the
rulesunderwhichtheExamplesareplaced.
Under the Syntax of Prepositionsacopious alphabetical liÿt
hasbeen addedof verbsandotherpartsofspeechwhicharefol-
lowedbyparticular prepositions,withexamplesandtranslations
intoEnglish.
Instead of reprinting the"Questions giventothe Candidates
for the Powis Exhibition,"itwas thoxiglit propertoframe new
questions and adapt themtothe Grammar,sothat the Student
may examine himself,and find answers in the Grammartoall
thequestionsgiven.
AttheendanIndexhasbeenadded,which,thoughsomewhat
ctohpeioTuhsi,ridsnEodtitsioonfulbleiansgwecocmopulledtehlayveouwtisofhepdr,infto,rtwhaenPtubolfitsihmeers:
were desirous that the newedition should appearwithaslittle
delayaspossible.
The whole Work has been carefully revised, and there arc
not many pages which have not been added to, or otherwise
iedmiptrioovneidsm;uscohtlheastsiwmpeerhfeescittattheannotthettohirsda.y that the present
In case any persons,inwriting on this branch ofliterature,
shouldbeinducedtocopyfromthepagesof thisWork,itisbut
just to hope they will acknowledge whence they have taken
theirquotations.
Pennant-Melakgell,June23,187G.
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
This Work was undertaken with tlie view of facilitating the
Btudy of the Welsh Language, and of lessening the difficulties
that have been wholly passed over in silence by preceding
grammarians. It is sometimes asked,whetherit is possible to
laydownrulesthatwouldguideastrangerin acquiringagram-
matical and accurate knowledge of the Welsh Language; and
someare inclined to answerin the negative. But surelythose
whohave studied the language carefullywillfeelnohesitation
instatingthatitispossibletogainasperfectaknowledgeofthe
Welsh as of any other tongue. It is admitted that its idioms
and peculiarities are many; but still they are capable of ex-
planation,andarereducibletoveryplainanddefiniterules.
This Grammar,orratherthis attempt to laydown a founda-
tion of a Grammar of the Welsh Language, was commenced
aboutthree years ago; andit has been continued,as otherem-
ploymentsafforded opportunities,from that timeuptothepre-
sent. Butthosewhoareacquaintedwiththestateand contents
of ourexistingGrammarswill,Idoubt not,atonceconfessthat
a longer period of uninterrupted study is necessary to bring
outaworkthatcould pretendtotheaccuracyand completeness
oftheLatinandGreekGrammars.
In its preparation, suchWelsh Grammars were consulted as
were likely to render the greatest aid, as those of Dr. Davies
and Dr. W. 0. Purjlic; but in "Syntax," the greatest amount
ofassistance was obtained from the very learned and accurate
EssayoftheMev. T.J.Hughes,who,atthe AherffrcmEisteddfod,
obtainedtheprizeofferedbytheLordBishopofSt.David's,and
theRev. Charles IVilliams, ofHolyhead. This Essay,independ-
entlyofitsintrinsicworth,meritsgreatpraise, asbeingthefirst