The Death of Imagination

When it came out in the course of conversation last night at Tupper's party that I had recently translated the first line of Die Verwandlung into Irish, he demanded to know what it would be in Welsh. Herewith my first approximation:

Pan ddihunodd Gregor Samsa o freuddwydion anesmwyth un bore, cafodd ei hun wedi ei drawsffurfio yn ei wely ym mhryf anferth.

I'm more confident about the choice of pryf to gloss Kafka's Ungeziefer than I am of míolra in the Irish version. After all, míolra is derived from míol, which in contrast to Ungeziefer could be applied to animals which were not unclean. But pryfed are unambiguously vermin. As for the overall register, it's not full-on literary by any means, but it's more formal than I would use in speech (notably in the use of cafodd instead of fe gaeth e, the general lack of circumfixed pronouns, and nasal mutation after yn).

(I should probably write more about the party at some point, but right now I'm still feeling a bit raw about what I feel was a certain lack of recognition of my contribution. A couple of guests asked me--as well one might--why "the guy on crutches is getting up and answering the door" and I had to find some polite lie to cover up the fact that some aspects of the evening the host had simply not thought through.)

Ran into my hot bear coworker at Bear Night and my eyes were immediately drawn to his chest. And not just because of his eye-popping pecs this time either. No, it was the dragon-shaped logo, which combined with the dark red background sent the words "CYMRU AM BYTH!" coursing through my brain. I immediately surmised that it wasn't the jersey of the Welsh National Team due to the conspicuous lack of "BRAINS", but that didn't tell me whose jersey it was. He couldn't tell me either; seems a buddy from his days with the Gotham Knights had sent him a passel of old shirts when he cleaned up his apartment, and this was one of them.

Don't mock me, Cymrophiles, but when I saw the "DYFED STEELS" logo on the back, I thought I'd found the name of the team. Sleuthing the next day, however, determined that this was a merely a sponsor and the ruggers in question were the Llanelli Scarlets. (They dropped the "Llanelli" from their name to broaden their appeal when Wales was reorganised into four rugby regions a few years back.) Later I told another coworker about this and he asked me, "What are they called in Welsh?" I couldn't answer authoritatively, but I thought maybe "y Cochion". Wrong; sad to say but Welsh Wikipedia sez "y Sgarlets". At least the Cardiff Blues are the Gleision Caerdydd instead of "y Bliws". Rounding out the big four are the Ospreys/Gweilch and the Newport Gwent Dragons/Dreigiau Casnewydd Gwent, and apparently plans are afoot for a fifth major team based in Colwyn Bay.

Forgive my insufferable ignorance, but I'd never realised what a major sport rugby was in Wales. In England, at any rate, it's associated with the posher schools, football being the sport with the greatest mass appeal. I never realised how firmly it had taken root in the Valleys. I guess the next step is actually watching a game or two?

ETA: I don't know what it says about my typing skills or my linguistic confusion that every time I had to type the word "rugby" in this post, I began writing it the Welsh way (rygbi) and had to go back and correct it.

Coming back on the drive last night, we saw a lighted display announcing the closure of the Bryn Mawr exit. Only on the sign the name of the street was spelled "BRYN MARW". Now some of you (i.e. anyone unfortunate enough to be within earshot of me when the subject's come up before) know that "Bryn Mawr" is a Welsh name meaning "big" (mawr) "hill" (bryn). As it turns out, marw is a Welsh word as well, one meaning "dead".

y gath "cat"
y cwrcath, y cwrcyn "tomcat"
y gath fenyw "she-cat"
pws fach "puss puss!"
y côt "coat"
brych "tabby"
trilliw "tortoiseshell"
y cwt, y gynffon "tail"
y bawen "paw"
y wisgeren "whisker"
mint(ys) y gath "catnip"
y cibl "kibble"
y blwch tywod "sandbox"
mewian "mewing"
oernadu, gwrcatha "caterwauling"
hepian "catnapping"
disbaddu/ysbaddu "spaying"
llech-hela "stalking"
canu grwndi/crwth "purring"
anwesu "petting"

Since I know rollick loves English mangled by reverse translation, here's a treat for her courtesy of Morfablog. Nic has a bone to pick with the Town Council of Barry for putting English text through an atrocious machine translator and slapping the resulting "Scymraeg" (pronounced "scum-rag") on their home page. To give the Welsh-impaired an idea of how awful this sounds, he's corrected the rendering of the first paragraph and fed it in through the Welsh-to-English side. The result:

Among things other, he will be the position this containing knowledge signs opportunities and resources available crookedly the bars, with contain the services that who ‘is heartburn have them prepare with Council the Town.

Mae'n ddigon clir, nag ydy? Sorry--I mean "He 'is being heartburn enough clear, nor he is being?"

[The following is my first ever mash note to a performer I saw live. Ah, the beauty of writing in a foreign language--I can't really hear how utterly naff I sound!]

Mike,

Oedd uchelbwynt Celtic Fest imi weld eich perfformiad byw. (Llall oedd gwrando ar Jon Langford efo'r gefnogaeth côr meibion Cymreig--gobeithio ti hefyd gest cyfle i'w clywed ychydig.) Dw i wedi prynu un o'ch CDs, ond oedd yn rhy hwyr i gael ei llofnodi. Efallai allet ti anfon llun llofnodedig ata i. Yn topless. (Dwi'n cellwair 'da ti wrth gwrs. Ond dim rili.)

Pob hwyl,

Un o'ch ffannau di-rif yn Sicago

P.S.: Unrhyw siawns byddwch chi'n recordio "Auntie Henrietta o Sicago" er ein mwyn ni fan hyn? Priti plîs?

P.S.: Ie, o'n i'n meddw pan sgwennes hwn.

Dydd Dewi Sant dechreuodd 'da un twrf. Tua hanner awr wedi tri naeth y storm ddeffro fi. Rhai munudau yn hwyrach weles i'r fflachiad disglair ac oedd y twrf dilynol mor uchel ysgytiodd y ffenestri. Mae hwn yn taranau a mellt blaena am y flwyddyn hon?

Ces i wahoddiad i ddathliad y Cambrian Benevolent Society ar ddydd Sadwrn nesa, ond arfaetha i ddim mynychu. Ffilmiau fampiresau mae'n ngalw i!

Mae fy ffrindiau hirymaros yn deall yr angen "pigiad" Cymraeg arna i. Oedd hyn yn prifreswm 'da fi dros mynd yn y gŵyl, yn y pen draw. Felly aethon nhw am dro tu allan (o leia bunj a snowy_owlet; sa i'n gwybod beth oedd prilicla a lhn yn gwneud) tra mod i'n ymgasglu mewn grwp o bedwar mewn swyddfa wag ar flaen y adeiliad. Oedd un yn ein mysg yn hollol dechreuwr, yr llall yn siarad tipyn bach (fel fi), ac y trydydd yn ddysgwr canolradd. Oedd gen y dyn 'na defnyddiau dysgu naeth e roi inni.

Hoffwn i allu weud nad oedd fy siarad i ddim yn hanner drwg, ond galla i ddim gweud yn arbennig o dda. Ro'n i wedi anghofio 'narostyngiad i 'da gwragedd o Fangor ac astudies i dipyn cyn i mi fynd. Oherwydd hyn ro'n i'n gallu gweud wrthyn nhw taw "llyfrgellydd" yw fi. Oedd arweinydd yn siarad fel Gog a chaeth e ei ddrysu gan f'acen Hwntw i.

Roedd y prynhawn yn y Canolfan Treftadaeth Wyddeleg-Americanaidd yn eitha hyfryd. Does dim llawer treftadaeth gymreig 'da ni (dim ond snowy_owlet all profi bodolaeth hynafiad Cymreig heb os nac onibai), ond o frwdfrydedd oes hen ddigon. Pan gyrraeddon ni roedd y dawnswyr yn gorffen yn fuan. Er hynny, daethon ni ddim yn rhy hwyr i ddysgu dawnsio! Fe ymafles i yn Cyw Dylluan fel cymares heb gwybod bod hi'n lawr mor dibrofiad â fi. Ta beth doedd dim ots, achos mod i ddim yn dawnsio 'da hi: Dawnswragedd o'r cylch dawns oedd 'nghymeriaid i'n. Dysgon nhw i ni tair dawns gymreig, ond dw i'n cofio dim ond un enw, "Nyth y Gog". Synnes i wrth weld prilicla ac lhn yn dawnsio'r dair i gyd 'da ni. Do'n ni ddim yn hanner drwg. (Fel wedodd snowy_owlet ar ôl i hen wraig greinio: "It wasn't one of us who fell down.")