# Welsh: efeilliaid (soft mutation)



## AndrasBP

Hello,

I know that the "soft" consonantal mutation occurs after certain prepositions and in many other cases when a word is _preceded _by something. 
I was surprised to see it at the beginning of phrases, such as photo captions on the Welsh Wikipedia page about *twins* = *g*efeilliaid.

"Efeilliaid monosygotaidd."
"Efeilliaid o Landderfel yn godro."  

However, another photo caption says:
"*G*efeilliaid yn y groth (14 wythnos)." 

Is there a rule behind this?

Diolch yn fawr.


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## Welsh_Sion

@AndrasBP 

*Gefell *'twin' is one of those awkward words which Welsh grammarians have spilt a lot of ink over. If it is preceded by the def. art. then it is fem. and suffers from soft mutation/treiglad meddal: *yr efell.*

In other contexts, it depends on the sex of twin referred to: *dau efell* (masc.),* dwy efell *(fem.). You already knew *dau *and *dwy *cause TM. (Geiriadur yr Academi also lists *gefeilles* as a fem. form, but I personally haven't heard this.)

*Gefeilliaid* 'twins' is plur. (Thorne calls this 'a dual plural') and irregularly also suffers from TM after the def. art. *yr efeilliaid* 'the twins'. (*yr  Efeilliaid*  = 'Gemini') ... But .. any following adjective does NOT mutate: *yr efeilliaid drwg* 'the bad twins'.

In summary then, I think you might have a choice where there's no def. art. and I might well use both forms.

Here's hoping a fellow Cymraeg user can add to the discussion ...


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## AndrasBP

Welsh_Sion said:


> If it is preceded by the def. art. then it is fem. and suffers from soft mutation/treiglad meddal: *yr efell.*


Yes, I know that singular feminine nouns undergo soft mutation after the definite article. 
My question was about the occurrence of soft mutation _when there is nothing before the noun_, either singular or plural.



Welsh_Sion said:


> In summary then, I think you might have a choice where there's no def. art. and I might well use both forms.


Is that a regular thing with feminine nouns, or is 'gefell' an exception?
If there was a title or photo caption saying "Gardens in Wales" (no article), could that be both "*G*erddi" or "*E*rddi yng Nghymru"?



Welsh_Sion said:


> *Gefeilliaid* 'twins' is plur.


In one of your messages you used the plural form "gefeilli*on*". Is that a Northern variant maybe?


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## Welsh_Sion

I included the well-known rule about SM after def. art. to fem. sing. nouns to lead into the gender discussion of *dau* and *dwy*. I know this wasn't your original question - but felt it was an interesting supplementary point. (Not many nouns do this in Cymraeg.)

I think you're right in relation to 'gefell' being exceptional in that* 'Gefeilliaid'* and *'Efeilliaid' *are both possible without the def. art. to indicate '(the) twins' (but NOT 'The Twins' as in 'Gemini' which must always have the def. art.). However,* 'Gerddi yng Nghymru'* for 'Gardens in Wales' works where '**Erddi yng Nghymru'* does not. I suspect - without proof - that this might be because of this old duality which 'Gefeilliaid' shows where 'Gerddi' (as an 'ordinary' plural does not.)

Again, with def. art. *'Y gerddi yng Nghymru' *('The gardens in Wales') works as does *'Y gefeilliaid/Yr efeilliaid yng Nghymru' *('The twins in Wales'). But *'*Yr erddi yng Nghymru' *for the former sentence does not.

*'Gefeilliaid' *and *'gefeillion'* (the latter by analogy with* 'cyfaill' > 'cyfeillion' *?) both work for me as plurals (viz. 'twins') - I don't know if this is regional. GPC also lists *gefyll* which I guess is more poetic (= fewer syllables). Whatever, it's not part of my active vocabulary.

Hope this is a bit clearer, but I have a tendency to go off on a few tangents sometimes and perhaps because of a legal background not always answer your question directly!

Hwyl.


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## Tegs

An interesting question! As @Welsh_Sion suspected, this is not a standard plural. It's a dual form. Dual forms take a mutation after the article.

So, _gefeilliaid _must mutate to _yr efeilliaid_. In Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru, it notes this, saying (yr efeilliaid, tr. deuol) [tr. deuol = the dual mutation].

Normal plurals do not mutate after the article, which is why we have _y gerddi_ and not _yr erddi_.

Another example of this dual form mutation can be seen in the name of the mountain Yr Eifl, which is on the Llŷn Peninsula in North Wales.

This is the dual form of the word _gafl, _meaning fork or groin_. _In Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru it says:

eb. ll. _gaflau_, deu. _geifl _[feminine noun, plural _gaflau, _dual form _geifl_]

So, because _geifl _is a dual form, it takes a mutation after the article, and you have Y_r Eifl._

Another interesting thing about the word _gefell _is that because it is used so frequently in the dual form, _yr efeilliaid,_ and people do not realise that this not a standard plural form, they don't realise that what they're dealing with is a mutated form, and so they assume that the singular form must be _efell. _So, by that logic, the plural form without the article must also be _efeilliaid. Efell _and _efeilliaid _are commonly used and are not considered incorrect.

This is why you have spotted instances of both "_Efeilliaid _o Landderfel yn godro" and "_Gefeilliaid _yn y groth" online. Technically, the most correct of these is _gefeilliaid. _

Personally, in spoken Welsh, I would always use _efell _and _efeilliaid_. (I speak south Wales Welsh, and I suspect this is the most common form in the south.)


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