# Welsh: gender of year names



## Gavril

Hello,

Since _blwyddyn _"year" is feminine, a number modifying this noun will generally be feminine also (when applicable): thus _dwy flynedd_ "two years" (not *_dau flynedd_), _pedair blynedd_ "4 years" (not *_pedwar blynedd_), etc.

But what about the names of years? E.g., if you say "I was born in 1992", would the year 1992 be translated "mil naw cant naw deg dwy", or would the masculine form _dau_ be used at the end instead?

The problem is that "1992" can either be seen as a cardinal number (an amount of years) or an ordinal (a name that shows where 1992 fits in the order of years). In the former case, I would expect feminine numbers to be used, but in the latter case, either the masculine or feminine form seems possible.

Thanks for any help


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## spindlemoss

Shwmae Gavril! A few points...

As you know, if a cardinal or ordinal number is used before a noun, it takes the necessary masculine or feminine form, e.g. _dau fab_, _dwy gath_, _y pedwerydd ci_, _y bedwaredd gath_.

If a cardinal follows a noun with "ordinal" meaning, it always takes the masculine form. So, _y trydydd darn_ = _darn tri_, _y drydedd ran_ = _rhan tri _(not_ *rhan tair_). So I think this is why we say the year 2002 as _dwy fil a dau_ because it's _blwyddyn dwy fil a dau_. Sometimes you'll hear _dwy fil a dwy_ but it's a hypercorrection.

As for years prior to 2000, the structure is _mil_ or _un_ plus the individual units, so 1992 is _mil naw naw dau_ or _un naw naw dau_. You wouldn't say _mil naw cant naw deg dau_ or use _dwy_ at all. You can also tell whether a writer uses the _mil_ or _un_ version by looking at the form of _yn_ before it, i.e. _yn 1992_ is_ yn un naw naw dau_, _ym 1992_ is _ym mil naw naw dau_.

Ask away if anything's unclear.


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## Gavril

Thanks, spindlemoss.

The only thing that is a bit unclear to me is this:



> As for years prior to 2000, the structure is _mil or un plus the individual units, so 1992 is mil naw naw dau or un naw naw dau. You wouldn't say mil naw cant naw deg dau_



I've been told by other Welsh speakers that "un naw naw dau" (i.e. "1-9-9-2") is a popular way of reading year-names among relatively younger speakers, but that it has not fully replaced the older system ("mil naw cant naw deg dau", i.e. "one thousand nine hundred ninety-two"): both are still options. Is the latter system not an option at all for you?


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## Tegs

Fe'i ganwyd ym mil naw cant naw deg dau
Fe'i ganwyd ym mil naw naw dau
Fe'i ganwyd yn un naw naw dau

All of these are completely acceptable. There is nothing wrong with the structure "mil naw cant naw deg dau". Going further back, "fe'i ganwyd ym mil naw cant ac ugain" or "fe'i ganwyd ym mil naw cant dau ddeg" sound much better to my ear than "fe'i ganwyd yn un naw dau dim".


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## spindlemoss

Tegs is right, all are acceptable. However I wouldn't say the _mil/un naw naw dau_ is confined to younger speakers at all. I'd say it was more the norm. _Mil naw cant naw deg dau_, for me, is a marked form.

Of course, remember also that many speakers will use English: _​Ges i ngeni yn_ _nineteen ninety-two_! If anything, this is more common amongst older speakers nowadays whereas younger speakers are more used to the _mil naw..._ system due to the wider availability and popularity of Welsh medium education.


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