Perhaps no more convoluted than "a napkin" being a diminutive of "an apron",
or similarly, "norange", cognate with Dutch "naartje" becoming "orange".
And, most probably, not convoluted at all to a Welsh ear.
Piers
-----Original Message-----
From: Chuck Norcutt [mailto:chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: 10 September 2013 15:48
To: Olympus Camera Discussion
Subject: Re: [OM] IMG: Cardiff and Carmarthen
Thanks Piers. I don't think I could repeat the rules now but at least I
have some basic understanding now of what's going on. It would be very
interesting to know how it got that convoluted but I don't think I'll pursue
that. :-)
Chuck Norcutt
On 9/10/2013 8:45 AM, Piers Hemy wrote:
> How interesting! I had assumed it might be a relic of the dual number
> (as opposed to singular or plural) but it is not. Nor is it specific
> to minutes
> - try months and you will get the same result.
>
> It's akin to a spelling rule - see
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_numerals for the following explanation:
>
> Nouns are [...] mutated following many numbers. [... The masculine and
> feminine forms of the numeral two] both trigger the soft mutation (ll
> and rh included).
>
> And http://www.cs.cf.ac.uk/fun/welsh/Lesson04.html illustrates that
> the soft mutation turns initial "m" into .... wait for it .... oh, you
guessed!
>
> Piers
>
> PS Since when did a translator tell you all about a language? If they
> did, they would put themselves out of business.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Chuck Norcutt [mailto:chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: 10 September 2013 01:01
> To: Olympus Camera Discussion
> Subject: Re: [OM] IMG: Cardiff and Carmarthen
>
> Thanks for the tour. My wife and I were in that area in the 80s in
> pursuit of some genealogical data from her mother's Welsh side. We
> weren't very successful in that endeavor but did see a lot of very
> fine scenery... but not including most of what you showed us.
>
> But you've posed a language mystery. Perhaps someone who speaks Welsh
> can answer. If you read the sign here
> <http://www.frozenlight.eu/cardiff082013/content/20130831-_DSF3952_lar
> ge.htm
> l>
> and look at the estimated time for Canon y dref/Town centre by bike
> (at upper left) you'll see the abbreviation for 2 minutes as "2 fun".
> But estimates of more than 2 minutes all use the abbreviation "mun"
> rather than "fun". If I ask Google to translate 2 minutes I get 2
> funud. If I ask any other number (including 1 and 3) I get munud rather
than funud.
>
> So, what's unique about 2 minutes that it gets its own word for minute?
> Something tells me the translator isn't telling me all about the language.
>
> Chuck Norcutt
>
>
> On 9/8/2013 3:32 AM, Nathan Wajsman wrote:
>> Finally finished processing my pictures from the week in Wales, and
>> the
> resulting gallery is here:
>>
>> http://www.frozenlight.eu/cardiff082013/
>>
>> Mostly from Cardiff Bay since that is where we were most of the time,
> although there are also a couple from Cardiff centre and from the town
> of Carmarthen, 70 miles to the west. Cardiff Bay is the city's
> waterfront. Like in many other cities, it had become a seedy area
> during the 1970 and 80s but has been completely transformed in recent
years.
>>
>> As always, comments and critique are welcome and appreciated.
>>
>> Nathan
>>
>> Nathan Wajsman
>> Alicante, Spain
>> http://www.frozenlight.eu
>> http://www.greatpix.eu
>> PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws
>> Blog: http://nathansmusings.wordpress.com/
>>
>> YNWA
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
> --
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