"The leaves of spring"

Translation: Dail y Gwanwyn

[DesertGlass]

Why is the Y in the middle? Not: Y dail Gwanwyn ?

[shwmae]

In a possessive construction "the A of the B", the pattern in Welsh is A y B. The first noun (A) can't have an y before it, only the second noun (B) can.

"the top of the mountain" pen y mynydd

"the back of the bus" cefn y bws

"the leaves of the spring" dail y gwanwyn

There's a short video explaining it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUuvCwOHs2c

And here's a more detailed description of the construction: https://www.reddit.com/r/learnwelsh/comments/5oqafl/welsh_grammar_the_genitivepossessive_construction/?st=izfl71il