"Dw i wedi mynd ma's."
Translation:I have gone out.
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What is the difference between Dw i wedi mynd ma's and Dw i wedi mynd allan?
No difference in meaning...it's dialect/regional thing. "Mas" is used more in the south, whereas "allan" is more common in the north.
I understand allan and mas. I don't understand mas with an apostrophe -- "ma's". Duo started using the word mas, then switched to ma's without offering an explanation. And ma's doesn't seem to be in the dictionary.
Ma's is an older spelling of mas. They mean exactly the same thing - "out". You'll see both spellings used in the wild. I'm not sure which one Duolingo prefers.
The reason for the version with the apostrophe is that the word comes from i maes, literally "to (the) field/open country" i.e. "to the outside". In the south, ae in a single syllable word is often pronounced as a long a colloquially and this is how everyone pronounces it in this word now, hence the spellings ma's/mas.
The most common word for "field" today is cae but maes is still used sometimes. It refers especially to a patch of ground for a specific purpose e.g.
maes glo "coalfield"
maes y gad "battlefield"
maes chwarae "playground"
maes parcio "car park"
maes awyr "airport"
It's also used for more abstract "fields" e.g. a field of study or a field in a spreadsheet.
Do "ma's" and "allan" mean "out" as in "outside"? or "out" as in "away from home"m
Both, just like in English e.g. Dw i'n mynd mas/allan i'r siop "I'm going out to the shop", Dw i ddim yn y tŷ – dw i mas/allan ar hyn o bryd "I'm not in the house – I'm out at the moment".
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Is there a Welsh word for "went?" The English version (for American English) should be "I went out."
Two different tenses in both Welsh and English:
- Es i - I went (simple past, or preterite) (covered later in this course)
- Dw i wedi mynd - I have gone (present perfect)
This course covers the forms taught on the introductory DysguCymraeg Mynediad and Sylfaen courses and some Canolradd material. This includes forms from both their generic 'north' and 'south' versions.
There are five main dialect areas in Wales, with two of them in north Wales. There is considerable overlap between the areas. Learning the particular details of any dialect is best done locally.
If you look at the course notes for the section 'Dilaects' you will see links to more information - https://www.duolingo.com/skill/cy/Dialects-1/tips-and-notes The maps for 'cowshed' and 'gate' give an idea of how dialects can vary over quite small areas.
I had no idea there were so many dialect areas! Thought it was just North and South, thats super interesting.
Is there an option for North Wales Welsh?
No - you can't choose to see only "North" or only "South" forms.
Everyone gets the same mixture.
If you use your keyboard to type responses (rather than tapping tiles from a word bank), you can choose to answer more or less the way you like, but in listening exercises or translation exercises from Welsh to English, you will read both "Northern" and "Southern" forms.
("scare quotes" since there are a lot more than just two dialects of Welsh, and you can often find "Southern" forms such as gyda in the north as well, etc.)
On Duolingo translate, it actually answers, "I've gone here" but if you take out the apostrophe in "ma's" it comes back with "I've gone out". Why is that?
Just an error in whatever on-line translator is being used in the background. The same error is thrown up by Google Translate, so perhaps that it the one that Duolingo is using.
Googlewelsh is not a reliable form of Welsh.
Seems to be confusing ma's for 'ma, the shortened form of yma "here".
As ibisc says, Google Translate isn't always very reliable, especially for languages outside of the major Western European ones. For Welsh, it's OK for getting the gist of a Welsh text but not so much translating the other way round.