Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru
Encyclopedia
Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru (The University of Wales
Dictionary) is the principal historical dictionary
of the Welsh language
, enjoying a similar status to that of the Oxford English Dictionary
in the English language
.
Work on the dictionary began in 1921 with a small team of paid staff at the National Library of Wales
, Aberystwyth
, organised by the Rev. J. Bodvan Anwyl as Secretary, who arranged for a host of volunteer readers to record words. The task of editing the dictionary began in the 1948/49 academic year, under the editorship of R. J. Thomas, with the dictionary being published in 64-page parts, ultimately 61 parts in all.
Parts 1-21 were bound together as Volume I (a–ffysur) in 1967. Parts 22-36, edited by Gareth A. Bevan, were bound together as Volume II (g–llyys) in 1987. Parts 37-50, edited by Bevan and Patrick J. Donovan, were bound together as Volume III (m–rhywyr) in 1998. The final draft entry was written on 6 December 2001, after 80 years compilation, and Volume IV, edited by Bevan and Donovan, was published in December 2002. The final entry is "Zwinglïaidd, Zwinglian (adj.)", the three entries relating to Zwingli
being the only words to begin with the letter "Z", which does not ordinarily occur in Welsh.
The First Edition contains 7.3 million words of text in 3,949 pages, documenting 105,000 headword
s. There are almost 350,000 dated citations, from the seventh century to 2002, with 320,000 Welsh definition
s and 290,000 English synonym
s.
In January 2002 work immediately began on the Second Edition, as the words beginning with A and B had been compiled to a different, more concise, plan than the rest of the alphabet. Re-editing of "A" and "B" is scheduled to take until 2008. It is intended that the dictionary may eventually be available online and on CD. The Second Edition is, like the first edition, initially being issued in 64-page parts, approximately every five months. Because of the explosion in new terms since work on the dictionary began, the First Edition omits many now-important words in the language, e.g. cyfrifiadur, computer; meddalwedd, software, and cymuned community.
In January 2008 Andrew Hawke was appointed as Managing Editor, following the retirement of the two Co-Editors, Gareth A. Bevan and P. J. Donovan.
350.00, or £
99 per volume.
The individual parts of the second edition (10 parts (a-bil(1)) up to 2010) are also available at £
9.99 each or at a one-third discount to regular subscribers.
University of Wales
The University of Wales was a confederal university founded in 1893. It had accredited institutions throughout Wales, and formerly accredited courses in Britain and abroad, with over 100,000 students, but in October 2011, after a number of scandals, it withdrew all accreditation, and it was...
Dictionary) is the principal historical dictionary
Dictionary
A dictionary is a collection of words in one or more specific languages, often listed alphabetically, with usage information, definitions, etymologies, phonetics, pronunciations, and other information; or a book of words in one language with their equivalents in another, also known as a lexicon...
of the Welsh language
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
, enjoying a similar status to that of the Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press, is the self-styled premier dictionary of the English language. Two fully bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989. The first edition was published in twelve volumes , and...
in the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
Work on the dictionary began in 1921 with a small team of paid staff at the National Library of Wales
National Library of Wales
The National Library of Wales , Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales; one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies.Welsh is its main medium of communication...
, Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth is a historic market town, administrative centre and holiday resort within Ceredigion, Wales. Often colloquially known as Aber, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol....
, organised by the Rev. J. Bodvan Anwyl as Secretary, who arranged for a host of volunteer readers to record words. The task of editing the dictionary began in the 1948/49 academic year, under the editorship of R. J. Thomas, with the dictionary being published in 64-page parts, ultimately 61 parts in all.
Parts 1-21 were bound together as Volume I (a–ffysur) in 1967. Parts 22-36, edited by Gareth A. Bevan, were bound together as Volume II (g–llyys) in 1987. Parts 37-50, edited by Bevan and Patrick J. Donovan, were bound together as Volume III (m–rhywyr) in 1998. The final draft entry was written on 6 December 2001, after 80 years compilation, and Volume IV, edited by Bevan and Donovan, was published in December 2002. The final entry is "Zwinglïaidd, Zwinglian (adj.)", the three entries relating to Zwingli
Huldrych Zwingli
Ulrich Zwingli was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. Born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system, he attended the University of Vienna and the University of Basel, a scholarly centre of humanism...
being the only words to begin with the letter "Z", which does not ordinarily occur in Welsh.
The First Edition contains 7.3 million words of text in 3,949 pages, documenting 105,000 headword
Headword
A headword, head word, lemma, or sometimes catchword is the word under which a set of related dictionary or encyclopaedia entries appear. The headword is used to locate the entry, and dictates its alphabetical position...
s. There are almost 350,000 dated citations, from the seventh century to 2002, with 320,000 Welsh definition
Definition
A definition is a passage that explains the meaning of a term , or a type of thing. The term to be defined is the definiendum. A term may have many different senses or meanings...
s and 290,000 English synonym
Synonym
Synonyms are different words with almost identical or similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn and onoma . The words car and automobile are synonyms...
s.
In January 2002 work immediately began on the Second Edition, as the words beginning with A and B had been compiled to a different, more concise, plan than the rest of the alphabet. Re-editing of "A" and "B" is scheduled to take until 2008. It is intended that the dictionary may eventually be available online and on CD. The Second Edition is, like the first edition, initially being issued in 64-page parts, approximately every five months. Because of the explosion in new terms since work on the dictionary began, the First Edition omits many now-important words in the language, e.g. cyfrifiadur, computer; meddalwedd, software, and cymuned community.
In January 2008 Andrew Hawke was appointed as Managing Editor, following the retirement of the two Co-Editors, Gareth A. Bevan and P. J. Donovan.
Publishing details
As of 2006, the publishers' price for the complete set is £Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
350.00, or £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
99 per volume.
- Complete Set (4 volumes) eds. R. J. Thomas, Gareth A. Bevan and P. J. Donovan 1967-2002, xii+1366, xxxii+925, xxxvi+859, xvi+748, 195mm×272mm pages, University of Wales Press. ISBN 978-0-7083-1806-5.
- Volume I (a-ffysur) ed. R. J. Thomas, 1967, pp. xx+1366, 195×272mm, University of Wales Press. ISBN 978-0-7083-0504-1.
- Volume II (g-llyys) ed. R. J. Thomas and Gareth A. Bevan, 1987, pp. xxxii+925, 195×272mm, University of Wales Press. ISBN 978-0-7083-0981-0.
- Volume III (m-rhywyr) ed. Gareth A. Bevan and P. J. Donovan, 1998, pp. xxxvi+859, 195×272mm, University of Wales Press. ISBN 978-0-7083-1530-9.
- Volume IV (s-Zwinglïaidd) ed. Gareth A. Bevan and P. J. Donovan, 2002, tt. xvi+748, 195×272mm, University of Wales Press. ISBN 978-0-7083-1804-1.
The individual parts of the second edition (10 parts (a-bil(1)) up to 2010) are also available at £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
9.99 each or at a one-third discount to regular subscribers.