The Article
Welsh has no indefinite article. The definite article, which precedes the words it modifies and whose usage differs little from that of English, has the forms y, yr, and ’r. The rules governing their usage are:
- When the previous word ends in a vowel, regardless of the quality of the word following, ’r is used, e.g. mae'r gath tu allan ("the cat is outside"). This rule takes precedence over the other two.
- When the word begins with a vowel, yr is used, e.g. yr ardd ("the garden").
- In all other places, y is used, e.g. y bachgen ("the boy").
The article triggers the soft mutation when it is used with feminine singular nouns, e.g. tywysoges "(a) princess" but y dywysoges ("the princess").
Read more about this topic: Colloquial Welsh Morphology
Famous quotes containing the word article:
“As compared with the college politician, the real article seems like an amateur.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)
“Although there is no universal agreement as to a definition of life, its biological manifestations are generally considered to be organization, metabolism, growth, irritability, adaptation, and reproduction.”
—The Columbia Encyclopedia, Fifth Edition, the first sentence of the article on “life” (based on wording in the First Edition, 1935)