Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

4 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

" DIWYGIAD " v. " REVIVAL."

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

DIWYGIAD v. REVIVAL." An amateur of words has been inquiring with scientific nicety into the precise meaning of the Welsh term Diwygiad," and its unequal corres- pondence to the English equivalent "Revival." He offers (writes Mr. Ernest Rhys) for the better rendering in English several words which would do to translate this household word "Diwygiad," and among them reform (the Reform Bill of 1832 was called "Ysgrif y Diwygiad" in Wales), reformation, correction, revision, amendment, cultivation, and expiation. The sixteenth century Reformation is called "Y Diwygiad," and Gwallter Mechain spoke of .91 the great reformer of that day, John Wicliff, as Seren ddydd y Diwygiad "—that is, the Morning Star of the Reformation. In the Welsh laws, as promulgated by Howel Dda, it is used in the sense of making amends for a crime. In another and very common use it is a slip off the word diwyg," which means dress or garb, or the habit or fashion of a man's dress, or his plight or bearing. Mewn diwyg da" stands for the familiar English idiom in good plight." And if we were to use in Welsh he common expression—borrowed, no doubt, Ifrom the highly compact slang vocabulary of Newmarket—"in good form," the same words precisely would be the nearest rendering for it. In fact, Diwygiad is a word of many colours and meanings, and boasting a great literary history, although it is in mere phonic effect by no means among the most euphonious.

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