8 Comments
Does anyone else hear a phantom /d/ at the start of this sentence, or is it just my ears deceiving me?
Can things like "Tost a menyn" be translated as "Toast with butter" or "Buttered toast" or is it that there is toast and there is butter, but they are separate?
Interesting question, Salsmachev! Just for clarification, here are the literal translations:
- Tost a menyn = Toast and butter
- Tost รข menyn = Toast with butter
- Tost menyn = Butter-toast
No. 3 is, in fact, what you're most likely to hear for the English expression "buttered toast". As you imply, nos. 1 and 2 (which sound the same, by the way!) refer -- strictly speaking -- to toast and/with butter as separate items.
Supplementary point (hoping not to confuse you!): the parallel expression "bara menyn" (lit. "butter-bread") is used for what English calls "bread and butter" (i.e. buttered bread). This is one of those cases where the Welsh is more consistent than the English!
When I translated "tost a menyn" as "a toast and some butter" it got corrected as "a toast and a butter"; is there a reason I shouldn't be using "some" or is it a glitch? A whole stick of butter sound excessive for a piece of toast, but what do I know about Welsh cuisine...
Looks to me like (a serious) glitch, since "a toast and a butter" isn't even English!
I thought so. I realize I could easily have translated it as "toast and butter" or perhaps even "buttered toast" (though wouldn't that ideally be "tost menyn"?), but I just think "a toast and some butter" sounds better.
Anyway, thank you so much for your reply!
