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I translated this as 'him' not 'her' but was marked as wrong but even the hints indicate it's 'him'. Puzzled.
The hints have now been changed. As a reminder, though:
- ei dihuno (hi) - waking her up
- ei ddihuno (e) - waking him up (soft mutation after ei 'his': d -> dd)
This use of am is another way of expressing want. Probably best to stick with eisiau yourself, but be aware that some people may sometimes use am in this way.
I'd like to know more about that as well, if there is anything more than "some people just talk that way" (as is so often the case in languages!) "Am" is typically about or for as I know it, are there other usages that could point to a linguistic evolution to "wanting"?
I don't know how or when am came to have this particular meaning, I'm afraid. Many Welsh prepositions have uses and meanings beyond their basic ones, especially in combination with various verbs, and this is just one example.
You have probably already met gwrando ar, mynd i, edrych ar, dweud wrth and perhaps a couple of others.
Dw i eisiau ei dihuno - I want to wake her up
Dw i eisiau iddi hi dihuno - I want her to wake up
There are several other ways to say both these things, too.
Thanks - if I could ask you to elaborate slightly on that? Does 'dihuno' imply the action of somebody waking somebody up or can you 'dihuno' without anyone's assistance? And does 'iddi' have an approximate equivalent in English? :)
dihuno/deffro means both to wake up and to wake somebody else. This happens with several Welsh verbs - dysgu means both 'teaching' and 'learning', and benthyg means both ' borrowing' and 'lending', for example.
iddi hi = to/for her, and some other meanings depending on context.
I was marked incorrect for "Why are you wanting to wake her now?" I suspect that this might actually be correct?
The correct translation was apparently "Why are you going to wake her now?" I know that "am" can mean "want" in this context ... but does it also mean "going" = "intending"?
Diolch.
