The word dysgu in Welsh means “learn”. It’s pronounced roughly like the English word “dusky”. (Possibly apt?)
| Dw i’n dysgu Cymraeg. | I’m learning Welsh. |
The curious thing about the word dysgu is it also means “teach”. So the above sentence could also mean “I’m teaching Welsh”.
I’ve often wondered if this could result in misunderstanding. Fluent Welsh speakers assure me that it’s possible to get the correct meaning from the context.
Nevertheless I’d like to think dysgu connotes the glorious learning swap which happens when education happens properly. You know, where the so-called teacher and learner both teach and learn from each other.
Incidentally, this is probably why people from, in particular, the south Wales valleys say “I learned him” and so on. The pattern has stuck – even if sometimes fluent use of the Welsh language hasn’t.
Related words and phrases:
| dysgu | learning |
(remember that Welsh verbs also work as gerunds, unlike English which uses ing-words as gerunds)
| dysgwr | learner |
(singular, pronounced like “dusk oor”)
| dysgwyr | learners |
(plural, pronounced like English phrase “dusk weir”)
| Dw i’n dysgu Saesneg hefyd. | I am learning English as well. | |
| Dw i’n dal i ddysgu Saesneg. | I am still learning English. |
(Saesneg is pronounced “sis-neg” or “sice-neg”. Compare to Scottish word sassenach.)
| addysg | education |
(Remember double-d is equivalent to a hard th sound in English. So something like “ath-isc”.)
| addysgu | educate |
(A school teacher friend informs me that professional educators use this verb to clearly distinguish between “learn” and “teach”…)
| Rydyn ni i gyd yn ddysgwyr. | We are all learners. |
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Interesting that in the scouse dialect (and maybe others) the word ‘teach’ is often dropped in favour of ‘learn’, e.g. “Dat’ll lern ya” meaning “that’ll teach you”…
The teach/learn interchangability is a VERY old one and not at all exclusive to Welsh, English, or even Indo-European languages. It definitely is an indicator of how classic and crucial Cymraeg is to British heritage.