Wiktionary:About Welsh

This is a Wiktionary policy, guideline or common practices page. Specifically it is a policy think tank, working to develop a formal policy. Policies – Entries: CFI - EL - NORM - NPOV - QUOTE - REDIR - DELETE. Languages: LT - AXX. Others: BLOCK - BOTS - VOTES.

See also Category:Welsh language

---

(based on Wiktionary:Entry layout explained)

Note 1: This guide is intended to provide guidelines both for creating Welsh entries on English Wiktionary as well as for adding Welsh translations to English words. The main guidelines for creating any entry on English Wiktionary is set forth in Wiktionary:Entry layout explained; this page is an addition to that page, not a replacement.

Note 2: If a change occurs in the basic wiktionary template (currently at Wiktionary:Entry layout explained) that affects Welsh entries, then that change should be reflected here.

---

Lemmas

For nouns, the lemma form is the singular in most cases, but for nouns where the singulative is formed by adding a suffix to the plural (e.g. aderyn (“bird”), singulative of adar (“birds”)), the plural is the lemma.

For adjectives, the lemma form is the masculine singular. Most adjectives have only one form anyway, but some have a distinct feminine and/or plural.

For verbs, the lemma form is the verbal noun.

Alphabetization

Alphabetical sorting is mostly done automatically by Module:languages/data2. Diacritics such as the circumflex, acute accent, grave accent, and dieresis are automatically stripped for sorting purposes, and the digraphs ch, dd, ff, ll, ph, rh, th are automatically sorted in their correct order. However, words containing the digraph ng, pronounced /ŋ/ require manual sorting (in which the ng is replaced by g~), while those containing the sequence ng, pronounced /ŋɡ/ do not require manual sorting. Thus the headword line and etymology templates at angor (/ˈaŋɔr/) require |sort=ag~or, while those at dangos (/ˈdaŋɡɔs/) do not require the |sort= parameter.

Welsh uses these letters:

(Latin-script letters) llythyren; A a (Á á, À à,  â, Ä ä), B b, C c, Ch ch, D d, Dd dd, E e (É é, È è, Ê ê, Ë ë), F f, Ff ff, G g, Ng ng, H h, I i (Í í, Ì ì, Πî, Ï ï), J j, L l, Ll ll, M m, N n, O o (Ó ó, Ò ò, Ô ô, Ö ö), P p, Ph ph, R r, Rh rh, S s, T t, Th th, U u (Ú ú, Ù ù, Û û, Ü ü), W w (Ẃ ẃ, Ẁ ẁ, Ŵ ŵ, Ẅ ẅ), Y y (Ý ý, Ỳ ỳ, Ŷ ŷ, Ÿ ÿ)

They have these names:

(Latin-script letter names) llythyren; a, bi, ec, èch, di, èdd, e, èf, èff, èg, eng, aetsh, i / i dot, je, ce, el, èll, em, en, o, pi, ffi, ciw, er, rhi, ès, ti, èth, u / u bedol / u gwpan, fi, w, ecs, y, sèd

Rhymes

Rhymes can be added using the template {{rhymes}} in the ===Pronunciation=== section as follows:

* {{rhymes|cy|2=}}

where |2= is the string from the stressed vowel to the end of the word, in IPA. We create Rhymes pages in such a way as to maximize phonemic distinctions. Thus for vowels we generally follow the Northern dialect, because it makes more phonemic distinctions than the Southern dialect. However, we follow the Southern dialect in contrasting /s/ ≠ /z/ and intervocalic /ŋ/ ≠ /ŋɡ/. We do not add the rhymes pages to mutated forms, as it is patently obvious that mutated forms (which differ from the radical only in the initial consonant) rhyme with their radical equivalents.

Welsh templates

See also Category:Welsh templates

There are several templates designed to both make entry of new words easier and to standardize format between entries.

Welsh headword-line templates:

• {{cy-adj}} – for adjectives
• {{cy-noun}} – for nouns
• {{cy-proper noun}} – for proper nouns
• {{cy-verb}} – for verbs

Welsh inflection-table templates:

• {{cy-personal-prep}} – for prepositions with personal forms
• {{cy-conj-colloquial}} – for the colloquial conjugation of verbs
• {{cy-conj-cons}} – for the literary conjugation of verbs whose root ends in a consonant
• {{cy-conj-a}} – for the literary conjugation of polysyllabic verbs whose root ends in a
• {{cy-conj-e}} – for the literary conjugation of verbs whose root ends in e
• {{cy-conj-i}} – for the literary conjugation of verbs whose root ends in i
• {{cy-conj-w}} – for the literary conjugation of verbs whose root ends in w

Definition-line templates for nonlemma forms (not Welsh-specific, so be sure to remember |cy):

• {{soft mutation of|cy|term}} – for soft-mutation forms
• {{nasal mutation of|cy|term}} – for nasal-mutation forms
• {{aspirate mutation of|cy|term}} – for aspirate-mutation forms
• {{h-prothesis of|cy|term}} – for h-prothesis forms
• {{inflection of|cy|term||...}} – can be used for noun, adjective, and verb forms and conjugated preposition forms; see Template:inflection of/documentation for instructions

Welsh in non-Welsh entries

Besides Welsh entries, Welsh words frequently appear in two places within entries for words in other languages: the Translations section of English entries, as well as the Etymology section of non-Welsh words derived from Welsh.

Welsh translations for English words

Further guidance is given in the main article Wiktionary:Translations.

Welsh words will appear in the Translations sections of English words. In general, only the lemma form of the Welsh translation should be given, as described for each part of speech listed above.

An abbreviated table from the entry for horse is shown below: (Click [Show] to expand the translation table.)

horse: a large hoofed animal

• Dutch: paard n
• Irish: capall m, each m
• Latin: equus m, caballus m
• Welsh: ceffyl m

The template {{t}} should be used, it speeds up entry and will enable any later, global changes in format to be made.

The syntax below will give the output in grey which follows:

* Welsh: {{t|cy|ceffyl|m}}

* Welsh: ceffyl m

The {{t}} template is explained at Template:t/documentation; it has the following arguments:

1. cy – the ISO code for Welsh
2. ceffyl – the word
3. m – the gender: m, f, or mf (m & f). This is only used for nouns.

Note that the line actually provides links to two other entries. The text ceffyl links to the entry for the Welsh word ceffyl in the English Wiktionary. The following superscript ^(cy)   provides a link to the entry for ceffyl on the Welsh edition of Wiktionary (Wiciadur), specifically to the relevant word should it exist there.

One variant of the {{t}} template is {{t+}}, which adds a link to the corresponding Wiciadur entry. A bot automatically converts {{t}} to {{t+}} when Wiciadur has the entry, so you don't need to worry about it.

Etymology of non-Welsh words

Some words in English (and other languages) derive from Welsh. These words will appear in the Descendants section of the Welsh entry (as described above), but the Etymology section of each of those words should also link back to the Welsh word from which they descend.

A simple example from the English entry for Guinevere is shown below. The syntax on the following line will give the output in grey that follows:

From {{der|en|cy|Gwenhwyfar}}...

From Welsh Gwenhwyfar...

The first template {{der}} uses the parameter cy to identify the word as having a Welsh origin, and links to the Wikipedia article about the Welsh language. This template takes three arguments: the ISO code for the language of the word whose entry the template appears in, in this case en to indicate English, the ISO code of the language of origin, in this case cy, and the source word itself, in this case Gwenhwyfar. In the example above, the template adds the entry to Category:Terms derived from Welsh. Since the template builds the category name directly from the given ISO code, a missing or incorrect argument will cause a module error.

All three arguments are required, as they provide the target for the link generated by {{m}}. Other possible arguments that can be used with {{der}} (and with {{bor}}, to be used for direct borrowings) include |t= to indicate the gloss of the Welsh word, |pos= to indicate the part of speech of the Welsh word, and |lit= to indicate a literal translation of a Welsh term.

Sources

As usual at Wiktionary, Welsh words are preferably attestable in use; i.e. inclusion in other dictionaries and word lists alone is less preferred. For large languages, Google Books is the usual go-to place for Wiktionarians looking for usage attestations, but there is very little Welsh at Google Books.

The National Library of Wales has made available Welsh Newspapers Online, a searchable database of Welsh newspapers (in both English and Welsh) from 1804 to 1919.

The Welsh Wikisource has some texts that can be searched as well.

When searching for words, remember to look for mutated and inflected forms as well!

Offline sources are acceptable too, of course: printed books, newspapers, magazines, etc., can all be used to attest Welsh words, but searching offline sources is obviously much more time- and research-intensive than searching online sources.

Welsh is a limited-documentation language, so entries are considered sufficiently verified if a single mention (not necessarily use) is found; for example a listing in a published dictionary or word list. Nevertheless, uses are preferable, and there are so many published dictionaries of Welsh available that entries should only be made if a word is found in multiple dictionaries. This will help us avoid intentional or accidental fictitious entries from other dictionaries being replicated here.

Additional help

Help from the community

Sometimes, we know there is a problem, but don't know what to do to correct the problem. If you should find a Welsh entry with a problem that you do not know how to correct, there are several ways to approach the situation.

1. Mark the page with {{attention|cy}}. This template will add the entry to Category:Requests for attention concerning Welsh, where another user can then find and correct the problem. It helps if you include comments on the entry's talk page explaining what the problem is or why you think the page needs attention.
2. Mark the page with {{rfc}}. this is a more general cleanup tag, and it allows the user to include reasons or concerns as an argument in the template. Be sure to also add an entry to WT:RFC concerning the word so that other editors will be made aware of the problem.
3. Raise the issue on Wiktionary talk:About Welsh. Note that this approach is primarily for issues of style, formatting, categorization, and not for specifics of content.

Other Welsh aids

• Category:Welsh language
• Category:Welsh templates
• Category:Welsh entry maintenance
• Wiktionary:Requested entries (Welsh)
• Welsh language on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Welsh morphology on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Welsh phonology on Wikipedia.Wikipedia