sylw

Welsh

Etymology

Uncertain, but related to Breton sell (“look”) and Old Irish sellaid (“sees”).[1]

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈsɪlu/, /ˈsəlu/

Usage notes

Despite being written with ⟨y⟩, the vowel here is usually pronounced /ɪ/, because the final ⟨w⟩ was formerly non-syllabic.[2]

Noun

sylw m (plural sylwadau or sylwau, not mutable)

  1. attention, focus
    Talwch sylw! ― Pay attention!
  2. observation, remark, comment

Derived terms
  • arsylw (“observation”)
  • disylw (“unobservant; unnoticed”)
  • islaw sylw (“beneath notice, unworthy of attention”)
  • sylwgar (“attentive”)
  • sylwi (“to notice”)

References
  1. James, Alan G. (2013) “P-Celtic in Southern Scotland and Cumbria: a review of the place-name evidence for possible Pictish phonology”, in The Journal of Scottish Name Studies‎, volume 7, page 29‒78
  2. Morris Jones, John (1913) A Welsh Grammar, Historical and Comparative, Oxford: Clarendon Press, § 82 iii (1).
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