Bydd y rhaglen Radio 4 Word of Mouth heno yn edrych ar ystyr “cymdeithas ddwyiaithog” gan edrych ar y sefyllfa yng Nghymru, Iwerddon a Chanada. 11.00 yr hwyr, ail-ddarlledu fory am 4.00, ar gael o’r we wedi hynny, siwr o fod.
Diolch Pat!
Stori fach o Ganada (er taw dim ond y Qatar Peninsula ffeindiais i hi) am bobl sy wedi gwrthod talu tocynnau gor-yrru gan eu bod nhw ddim yn ddwyieithog. Ond yn lle iddyn nhw cael eu cosbi gan y llys, mae’r barnwr wedi dileu’r dirwyon.
In practical terms, it simply means the city must print a new batch of bilingual tickets. But it has also awakened some strong emotions nearly three decades after similar cases split the local English and French communities.
In 1976, insurance broker George Forest fought a parking ticket all the way to Canada’s Supreme Court on the grounds that the ticket should have been printed in both English and French. Three years later, his victory forced the Manitoba government to recognize francophone language rights that had been guaranteed when the province joined Confederation in 1870, but were ignored since 1890.
The Quebec Thing – cofnod hynod o ddiddorol, a sgwrs yn y sylwadau yr un mor ddiddorol, am hunaniaeth Montrealaidd/Cwebecaidd/Canadiaidd. O safbwynt rhywun a gafodd ei eni ym Montreal, ond mewn teulu Saesneg ei iaith, ac sy’n gefnogol iawn i iaith a diwylliant Cwebec, er ei fod yn teimlo y “bwlch” rhyngddo fe â’r Quebecois de souche.
I can’t follow the hairpin turns of conversational Quebec French well enough to watch a talk show without having to guess and fill in words and meanings. This makes me feel embarassed sometimes, in conversation, like people are “dumbing down” their French for me, if they don’t switch to English.
Wedi bod ’na, wedi neud ‘ny.
The idea that different nationalities or ethnic groups share some sort of hard-coded mental wiring is a pretty cartoonish idea of the universe, straight out of Asterix.
Mae gen i deimlad y bydd rhaid i ni cael y sgwrs ’ma o fewn yr 20/30 mlynedd nesa, os ydyn ni’n llwyddo ac mae Cymru Gymraeg i gael erbyn hynny.
Syniad gan actor o Montreal i helpu pobl sy’n byw mewn gwlad ddwyieithog weithio trwy gyfrwng eu hail iaith:
He came up with the idea when he realized he was having a tough time breaking into the French side of the business. Dunlevy speaks a fluent but accented French. On top of that, nobody in the French milieu knew who he was.“I spoke with some of my (French-speaking) actor friends and realized they were experiencing the same thing in English,” Dunlevy said. “(In the majority of cases) as soon as you have an accent, you don’t get the role.”
Yn anaml iawn (am wn i) dych chi’n gweld actor sy wedi dysgu Cymraeg fel oedolyn yn chwarae unrhyw rôl mewn drama Gymraeg ei hiaith heblaw am rôl “Y Dysgwr”. Wrth gwrs, mae hwn yn adlewyrchiad o broblem llawer mwy na phrynder gwaith ymysg actorion sy’n ddysgwyr. Cwrddais i â dyn ddoe a’m gofynnodd “Cymro dych chi?” cyn iddo siarad Cymraeg â fi. Wel, Cymro ydw i, ie, ond Cymro yw fy nhad hefyd – fyddai ynteu ddim wedi deall y cwestiwn. Dw i’n nabod digon o Saeson a fyddai wedi’i ddeall – beth fyddai eu hymateb nhw?
Yn yr un grwp o bobl, oedd Saesnes sy’n dysgu’r iaith ar hyn o bryd – roedd bron pawb yn defnyddio Saesneg â hi, er bod hi’n gwneud ymdrech enbyd i feistroli’r Gymraeg.
Yr Inuit a’r Saeson, hanes y perthynas rhwng y ddau bobl. Lluniau gwych, ac adroddiadau cyfoesol yn y Saesneg wreidddiol:
And being ashore, vpon the toppe of a hill, he perceiued a number of small things fleeting in the Sea a farre off, whyche hee supposed to be Porposes, or Ceales, or some kinde of strange fishe: but comming nearer, he discouered them to be men, in small boates made of leather.
[via nutlog]
How To Save Canadian Literature
What happens when arts council budgets are cut? What if a publisher gets cut off altogether? This sort of dependency is not healthy. Fortunately, there is a better way: publishers can launder money for organized crime! Let’s see how it could be done…
Fyddai hyn yn gweithio gyda llên Gymraeg, dych chi’n meddwl? Byddai’n rhoi ysteried newydd sbon i’r gair ‘Taffia’. Gall y Cyngor Celf newid ei enw i “Cyngor Celfyddydau/Cyffyriau Cymru”.
Fy hoff ddyfyniad:
Besides, who do you think smoked all that dope in the first place?
[via textism]