10 Welsh terms added to Oxford English Dictionary

19 September 2024, 15:32 | Updated: 19 September 2024, 17:57

A selection of Welsh words and terms have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary as part of its latest update.

Editors say the 10 Welsh words and phrases have been included as they have been "borrowed" by the English language.

It's part of editors' latest efforts to represent different varieties of English spoken around the world.

Welsh is one of Wales's two official languages, along with English.

The most recent Census found 538,300 people (17.8% of Wales's population) speak Welsh.

While this figure was lower than 10 years previously, the Welsh government has set itself a target of reaching a million Welsh speakers by 2050.

"Senedd", the name of the Welsh parliament, is one of the words that is now featured in the dictionary.

Other Welsh words to be added include "sglods" (chips), "twp" (stupid) and "cawl" (a traditional Welsh soup).

"Calennig", a New Year's gift or custom, has also been added, as has "ych a fi", an interjection used to express disgust.

"Iechyd da", a phrase which literally means "good health" but is often used as a toast, has also been added to the dictionary.

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"Mam-gu" and "tad-cu" (the Welsh for grandmother and grandfather in South Wales) and the North Wales equivalent of tad-cu, "taid", also make it in.

"Nain", the Welsh term for grandmother mainly used in North Wales, was already included in the dictionary in a previous update.

(c) Sky News 2024: 10 Welsh terms added to Oxford English Dictionary