Overview

This perennial bestseller continues to be a valuable resource in schools, homes and colleges. This Dictionary is divided into two main sections: namely meanings of Welsh words in Welsh and in English, giving the gender, plural and part of speech; meaning of English words in Welsh. In addition, the volume contains glossaries in Welsh-English and English-Welsh of personal names, place names, animals, birds, fish, plants, flowers and fruits. Incorporated in the body of the Dictionary are many important old Welsh words as well as modern technical terms. This Dictionary will always be an essential volume in the library of every student of the Welsh Language and its Literature.

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English review follows Mae yna eiriaduron mwy na'r Geiriadur Mawr ac nid yw mor gyflawn ag y mae'r is-deitl 'The Complete Welsh-English, English-Welsh Dictionary' yn ei awgrymu, ond i mi y mae'r Geiriadur Mawr fel hen gyfaill. Rwy'n gyfarwydd a'i gryfderau a'i wendidau, ac felly rwy'n gallu dibynnu arno. Fe'i cyfansoddwyd yn sgil llwyddiant y Geiriadur Newydd a'r prif ychwanegiadau at y geiriadur hwnnw yw'r geiriau hynafol a'r termau technegol a geir ynddo. I unrhyw un a'i fryd ar fwynhau'r canrifoedd o lenyddiaeth Gymraeg sydd ar glawr, mae'r geiriau serennog megis 'aergi', 'lletgawdd', ac 'ufyll' yn goleuo ffurfafen dywyll. O ran geirfa gyfoes nid yw'n llewyrchu cystal. Yn ofer y chwilir am 'boxer shorts', 'cyfrifydd' a gynigir am 'computer' (er yn yr adran Cymraeg-Saesneg diffinnir 'cyfrifydd' fel 'un medrus mewn cyfrifon . . . accountant') a cheir 'cyfrifiadur' fel term am 'computator'. Wedi dweud hynny, mae 'seismograff' yma, fel y mae 'gwrthfiotig' a 'heterodein'. Un o ragoriaethau'r Geiriadur Mawr yn yr adran Cymraeg-Saesneg yw'r ymgais at ddiffinio geiriau Cymraeg yn Gymraeg neu gofnodi cyfystyron, neu'r ddau. Mae'n wir fod Geiriadur y Brifysgol yn gwneud hyn yn fwy medrus o lawer, ond nid yw'r un mor hylaw a'r gyfrol fach hon. 'Anifeiliaid bach dinistriol a chynffonau hir' yw 'llygod', 'defnynnau dwr a ddaw ar y ddaear gyda'r nos' yw 'gwlith' ac 'yr awyr, cartref Duw, paradwys' yw 'nef'. Mae'r defnydd helaeth o gyfystyron yn galluogi'r defnyddiwr i ddefnyddio'r rhan Cymraeg-Saesneg fel thesawrws. Eisiau gair arall tebyg i 'gau'? Beth am 'ffug', 'coeg', 'ffals', 'anwir', 'anghywir', 'cyfeiliornus', 'twyllodrus' neu 'celwyddog'? Yn ogystal a geiriau unigol, mae hefyd yn rhoi cyfuniadau, felly o dan y gair 'papur', rhoddir 'papur saim', 'papur newydd', 'papur sidan' a 'papur llwyd'. Hefyd rhoddir sylw i ymadroddion, er enghraifft o dan 'hwyl' ceir 'pob hwyl' ac 'mewn hwyl dda'. Mae'n adran hon yn hynod werthfawr i unrhyw un sy'n cyfieithu o'r Gymraeg i'r Saesneg. O ran yr adran Saesneg-Cymraeg, mae'n rhannu nifer o ffaeleddau cyffredin geiriaduron Saesneg-Cymraeg, sef yn achos enwau rhaid troi at yr adran Cymraeg-Saesneg i ganfod cenedl a lluosog y gair ac o ran y prawf 'row', sef pa mor dda mae'n galluogi'r defnyddiwr i ddewis y 'row' iawn yn Gymraeg ar gyfer 'I had a blazing row with my mother last week' heb droi at yr adran Cymraeg-Saesneg, mae'n methu, er nid mor alaethus a rhai. Ar wahan i'r adrannau geiriadurol hyn, mae nifer o 'restrau amrywiol' gan gynnwys rhagddodiaid ac ol-ddodiaid, termau estron, enwau personau, enwau lleoedd, anifeiliaid, adar, pysgod, planhigion, ffrwythau, termau technegol, a rhifolion. Richard Crowe * * * There are larger dictionaries than the Geiriadur Mawr and it is not as complete as its sub-title 'The Complete Welsh-English, English-Welsh Dictionary' suggests, but the Geiriadur Mawr will always be an old friend of mine. I know its strengths and its weaknesses, so I can depend on it. It was compiled following the success of the Geiriadur Newydd on which it is based, with the addition of obsolete and technical words. For anyone set on enjoying the wealth of Welsh literature throughout the centuries, asterisked words such as 'aergi', 'lletgawdd' and 'ufyll' illuminate a dark firmament. It does not fare so well with contemporary vocabulary. One rummages in vain for 'boxer shorts', the word proffered for 'computer' is 'cyfrifydd' (which is now usually used for 'accountant') and the word now used for 'computer' ('cyfrifiadur') is entered for 'computator'. Having said that, words for 'seismograph', 'antibiotic' and 'heterodyne' are included. One of the best features of the Welsh-English section of the Geiriadur is the attempt to define Welsh words in Welsh or offer synonyms or both. It is true that the University of Wales's monumental Welsh dictionary does this more skillfully, but is nowhere near as handy as this little volume. This extensive use of synonyms enables the reader to use this section as a Welsh thesaurus. Looking for another word for 'gau' ('false')? What about 'ffug', 'coeg', 'ffals', 'anwir', 'anghywir', 'cyfeiliornus', 'twyllodrus' or 'celwyddog'? As well as individual words, it also gives collocations, so that under the word 'papur' ('paper') for example, we have 'papur saim' ('greaseproof paper'), 'papur newydd' ('newspaper'), 'papur sidan' ('tissue paper') and 'papur llwyd' ('brown paper'). Phrases are also dealt with in this section, for example under 'hwyl' ('mood') we have 'pob hwyl' ('all the best') and 'mewn hwyl dda' ('in a good mood'). The Welsh-English section is extremely useful for anyone involved in translating from Welsh to English. The English-Welsh section shares many of the common failures of English-Welsh dictionaries, namely that in the case of nouns one has to turn to the Welsh-English section to ascertain their gender and plural and with regard to the 'row' test, i.e. how well it enables the user to choose the correct Welsh word for 'row' in the phrase 'I had a blazing row with my mother last week' without resorting to the Welsh-English section, it fails although not as abysmally as some. Apart from these two major sections, there are a number of 'miscellaneous lists' which include prefixes and suffixes, foreign term, personal names, place names, animals, birds, fish, plants, fruits, technical terms and numerals. -- Richard Crowe @ www.gwales.com

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