Erthygl Catchphrase ar berthynas JRR â’r hen iaith a’r tebygrwydd rhwng Cymraeg a Sindarin, iaith y bobl elfaidd ym myd Tolkien:

“Perhaps I might say just this – for it is not an analysis of Welsh, or of myself, that I am attempting, but an assertion of a feeling of pleasure, and of satisfaction (as of a want fulfilled) – it is the ordinary words for ordinary things that in Welsh I find so pleasing. Nef may be no better than heaven but wybren is more pleasing than sky. Beyond that what can one do? For a passage of good Welsh, even if read by a Welshman, is for this purpose useless. Those who understand him must already have experienced this pleasure, or have missed it for ever. Those who do not cannot yet receive it. A translation is of no avail. For this pleasure is felt most immediately and acutely in the moment of association: that is in the reception (or imagination) of a word-form which is felt to have a certain style, and the attribution to it of a meaning which is not received through it. I could only speak, or better write and speak and translate, a long list: adar, alarch, eryr; tân, dwfr, awel, gwynt, niwl, glaw; haul, lloer, ser; arglwydd, gwas, morwyn, dyn; cadarn, gwan, caled, meddal, garw, llyfn, llym, swrth; glas, melyn, brith and so on – and yet fail to communicate the pleasure. But even the more long-winded and bookish words are commonly in the same style, if a little diluted. In Welsh there is not as a rule the discrepancy that there is so often in English between words of this sort and the words of full aesthetic life, the flesh and bone of the language. Welsh annealladwy, dideimladrwydd, amhechadurus, atgyfodiad and the like are far more Welsh, not only as being analysable, but in style, than incomprehensible, insensibility, impeccable or resurrection are English”.

Krazy Kat, natur cariad, hunaniaeth a lenguage:

Krazy’s ignorance of contemporary discourse plays a large part in his mishaps and misinterpretations, as he would be the first to admit. "Why is `lenguage’, `Ignatz’?" he asks in a 1918 daily. "`Language’ is, that we may understand one another," replies Ignatz, but the dissatisfied Krazy asks whether "a Finn, or a Leplender, or a Oshkosher" can understand Ignatz and vice-versa, to which Ignatz can only respond in the negative. "Then, I would say," Krazy concludes, "lenguage is, that we may mis-unda-stend each udda."

[via wood s lot]

Dwyieithrwydd yn ysgolion Connecticut:

"It’s not just that they have all learned to speak two languages, but have learned to use their brains in different ways," said Sarmiento, one of a group of teachers who have played key roles in implementing the program. "Learning a new language, using your mind to understand a new language …it teaches your brain to work in new ways and that translates into better performance in other academic work, including things like Connecticut Mastery Tests," Sarmiento said. "National studies show language acquisition develops the mind and that students in a dual language program will do better in areas like science or math."

Amlieithrwydd ym myd pêl fas – erthygl ddidddorol ar bwysigwydd siarad yr un iaith â’ch pitsiwr.

Erthygl yn y Times (angen tanysgrifio neu ddefnyddio metafilter/metafilter) am alwadau am hawliau cyfartal am siaradwyr Gaeleg yr Alban, gan gynnwys yr hawl i dddefnyddio’r iaith mewn unrhyw achos llys, wrth gymryd prawf gyrru ac i gael ymateb gan gyrff cyhoeddus yn “iaith yr angelion”.

Dalwyd fy sylw gan hyn:

The Scottish executive is monitoring the take-up at the Skye, Uist and Lewis courts. But Russell said: �Why would people take civil actions in courts in Skye, North Uist and Lewis? It�s not surprising if the take-up is low. Monitoring this service for take-up is meaningless. If this is a way of showing there is no demand for Gaelic, it�s a silly way of proving it.�

Mae hyn yn fy atgoffa o rywbeth clywodd ffrind wrth ymweld â swyddfa’r heddlu, yma yng ngodre Ceredigion (oedd hi wedi mynd â grwp o ddysgwyr i gael cip tu ôl i’r llenni): gofynnodd fy ffrind i’r heddwas oedd yn eu harwain, “Faint o bobl sy’n dewis defnyddio’r Gymraeg wrth ymddangos o flaen y llys.”

“Dim ond protestwyr iaith,” daeth yr ateb.

Hynny yw, yr unig pobl sy’n debyg i ddefnyddio’r iaith mewn llys yw’r union pobl a’u harestiwyd er mwyn ennill y hawliau hynny.

Dw i’n siwr yr oedd yr heddwas yn gor-ddweud, ond mae ’na rywbeth i gnoi cil drosto yma, yndoes?

A chyn i unrhywun fy nghyhuddio o fod yn fradwr, cachgi, Wncl Twm neu beth bynnag ydw i’r wythnos ’ma, falle dylwn i ddatgan heb os neu oni bai mod i o blaid hawliau ieithyddol i siaradwyr Cymraeg (os nad ydy hyn yn ddigon glir yn barod) – dim ond meddwl am pam nad ydynt yn fwy barod i ddefnyddio eu hiaith mewn sefyllfaoedd felly.

Ac yn y blaen, ac yn y blaen, ac yn y blaen…