Modern Welsh: A Comprehensive Grammar (Comprehensive Grammars)

416 Pages·2003·1.16 MB·English

by  Gareth King

11 MODERN WELSH:
A COMPREHENSIVE GRAMMAR
SECOND EDITION
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11 MODERN WELSH:
A COMPREHENSIVE
GRAMMAR
1111
011 SECOND EDITION
311
Gareth King
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First published 2003 by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by
Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
Reprinted with corrections 1996
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
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© 2003 Gareth King
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
King, Gareth, 1955–
Modern Welsh : a comprehensive grammar / Gareth King– 2nd ed.
p. cm –(Comprehensive grammars)
Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index.
1. Welsh language–Grammar. I. Title. II Series.
PB2123 .K56 2002
491.6′682421–dc21
2002031771
ISBN 0-203-98706-3 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0–415–09268–X (hbk)
ISBN 0–415–28270–5 (pbk)
11 CONTENTS
1111 Preface to the New Edition ix
Acknowledgements xi
011 The Linguistic Relationship of Welsh 1
Types of Welsh – Colloquial, Literary and Cymraeg Byw 2
Glossary of Technical Terms 6
311 Abbreviations 9
GRAMMAR SECTION
Sounds and Spelling 1–2 10
Mutations in Welsh 3–12 13
Word Order and Sentence Structure 13–21 20
Focused Sentences 17–21 24
011 Articles 22–33 28
Nouns 34–92 35
Gender 42–53 40
Determination of Gender by Meaning 46–49 42
Determination of Gender by Form 50–51 44
Noun Number 54–92 47
Singular/Plural Nouns 56–89 49
Collective/Unit Nouns 90–92 66
Adjectives 93–118 69
Possessive Adjectives 109–114 80
011 Pronouns 119–159 90
Numerals and Quantifiers 160–197 111
Verbs 198–398 131
The Tense System of the Welsh Verb 210–217 136
Bod – ‘to be’ 218–259 142
Periphrastic Tenses 262–289 168
Inflected Tenses 290–347 183
The Preterite Tense 292–303 184
The Future Tense 304–313 191
The Conditional Tense 314–320 196
011 Modals 326–360 202
Non-Verbal Modals 348–360 214
Passive 361–376 220
Imperative 377–387 228
1111 Adverbs and Adverbials 399–442 242
vi Contents
Prepositions 443–476 273
Compound Prepositions 475–476 300
Complex Sentences 477–497 303
Relative Complex Sentences 479–485 305
Indirect Complex Sentences 486–497 309
Conjunctions 498–513 318
Co-ordinating Conjunctions 510–513 324
FUNCTIONS AND SITUATIONS 327
I General Greetings 327
II Leavetaking 327
III Attracting Attention 328
IV Seasonal Greetings 328
V Personal Greetings and Congratulations 329
VI Good Wishes 330
VII Introductions 331
VIII Eating and Drinking 332
IX Giving and Receiving Compliments 333
X Commiserations 334
XI Giving and Receiving Thanks 335
XII Apologies 337
XIII Asking for and Giving Help 339
XIV Asking and GivingAdvice 340
XV Asking for Something to be Done 341
XVI Expressing Needs, Wishes and Desires 342
XVII Expressing Objections and Complaints 344
XVIII Giving and Seeking Promises and Assurances 346
XIX Issuing, Accepting and Declining Invitations and Offers 347
XX Seeking, Granting and Denying Permission 349
XXI Making, Accepting and Declining Suggestions 351
XXII Issuing and Responding to Warnings 353
XXIII Asserting and Denying the Truth of Something 355
XXIV Remembering and Forgetting 356
XXV Expressing Future Intentions 357
XXVI Expressing Likes and Dislikes 358
XXVII Indicating and Asking about Preferences 359
XXVIII Expressing Indifference 360
XXIX Voicing Opinion 361
XXX Expressing Agreement and Disagreement 363
XXXI Expressing Happiness, Fear and Sadness 364
XXXII Expressing Hopes and Disappointment 366
XXXIII Expressing Surprise 367
XXXIV Expressing Enjoyment and Pleasure 368
XXXV Asking for and Giving Directions 368
Contents vii
11 XXXVI Dealing with Money 371
XXXVII Talking about Health and Illness 372
English words Causing Particular Translation Problems 375
XXXVIII Translation of have 375
XXXIX Translation of take 377
XL Translation of other Miscellaneous Problem Words 378
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Affirmative and Negative Responses 380
011 XLI Yesand No 380
XLII Do/Naddo 381
XLIII Ie/Nage 381
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XLIV Words Differing in North and South Wales 382
Communication Strategies 382
XLV Using Fillers 382
XLVI Keeping the Channel Open 384
XLVII Asking for Spoken Linguistic Cues 385
011 XLVIII Shaping the Course of the Conversation 387
Further Reading 389
Index 391
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11 PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION
1111 With this new edition of Modern Welsh I have taken the opportunity to
make some changes and improvements. Chief among these are: the exten-
011 sion of typographic marking of initial consonant mutations to cover the
entire text of the new edition – I hope that this provision will enhance the
user-friendliness of the grammar by making more transparent the distrib-
311 ution and syntactic patterns of this difficult aspect of the language; and the
addition of an entire new section dealing with the practical aspects of func-
tion and situation, by which I have aimed to set the language even more
firmly in a context that reflects its status as a living and flourishing medium
of modern everyday communication. The order and numbering of the
grammar sections remains unchanged from the original edition, except that
the concluding sections 514–530 of the original have now been incorporated
011 in the new ‘Function’ part of the book, and have been accordingly re-
designated. References for original and new material have been conflated
into a revised and somewhat expanded Index. I have also taken the oppor-
tunity to correct a small number of typographical errors that slipped
through in previous reprints. The text of the grammar section of the book
remains otherwise essentially the same.
The bibliography has been slightly amended to record the happy fact
that Fynes-Clinton’s work referred to in the acknowledgements of the orig-
inal edition has indeed now achieved its reprinting.
I am glad that this grammar has found so many friends among those for
011 whom it was written, and I hope that in its new and expanded incarnation
it will win many more.
G.K.
East Sussex
February 2002
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