blwyddyn

Welsh

Etymology

From Middle Welsh blwyðyn, from Old Welsh bloidin, from Proto-Brythonic *bluɨðėn (compare Cornish bledhen, Breton blizen), from Proto-Celtic *bleidanī (compare Old Irish blíadain), from *blēdū (compare Welsh blwydd (“age; year(s) old”)).^[1]

Pronunciation

(North Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈblʊɨ̯ðɨ̞n/
(South Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈblʊi̯ðɪn/
Rhymes: -ʊɨ̯ðɨ̞n

Noun

blwyddyn f (plural blynyddoedd or blynyddau)

year

Usage notes

In Welsh, blwydd refers to age and is the word used for a single year and is also found after numbers. The plural blwyddi is little utilised. When referring to any other kind of year, the word is blwyddyn in the singular, blynyddoedd in the plural and the special form blynedd is used after numbers.

Derived terms

blwyddyn naid (“leap year”)
Blwyddyn Newydd Dda (“Happy New Year”)
undydd a blwyddyn (“a year and a day”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of *blwyddyn*
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
blwyddyn	flwyddyn	mlwyddyn	unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

References

^ Schrijver, Peter C. H. (1995) Studies in British Celtic historical phonology (Leiden studies in Indo-European; 5), Amsterdam, Atlanta: Rodopi, page 245