Saesneg
Sounds roughly like: sigh-sneg?
IPA: /ˈsɛisnɛg/ or /ˈsaːisnɛg/ ?
CEFR band: A1
Welsh for Adults level: Mynediad/Entry
noun
1. the English language
a.
without y
Doedd Cai ddim yn deall gair o Saesneg.
Cai didn't understand a word of English.
Saesneg yw iaith gwyddoniaeth.
English is the language of science.
b.
with y
Dw i'n cyfieithu geirfa newydd i'r Saesneg.
I translate new vocabulary to English
Dyma'r term sy'n cael ei defnyddio yn y Saesneg.
This is the term that's used in English.
2. English as a part of the curriculum in formal education
a. an educational subject, usually involving study of the English language, English literature, or both
Cymraeg oedd iaith pob pwnc ond am Saesneg.
Welsh was the language for every subject apart from English.
Roedd Mr. Evans yn dysgu Saesneg yn yr ysgol.
Mr. Evans taught English in the school.
b.
modifying another noun
Dyma llun o athro Saesneg yr ysgol.
Here is a picture of the school's English teacher.
Mae hi'n gweithio yn Adran Saesneg Prifysgol Aberystwyth.
She works in the English department of Aberystwyth University.
adjective
English
a. originating from EnglandEnglish by national identity, residence, or citizenship
Dwi'n teimlo'n Saesneg.
I feel English.
Ma rhai pobl Saesneg yn licio'r Gymraeg.
Some English people like Welsh.
b. characteristic of England, its people, or its cultureAnglicized
Roedd yr ardal yn troi'n Saesneg.
The area was becoming Anglicized.
Dw i ddim yn trio siarad gydag acen Saesneg.
I don't try to speak with an English accent.
c. using the English languageEnglish-medium
Pam ydyn ni'n troi at lyfrau Saesneg o hyd?
Why do we always turn to English-language books?
Dyddiau cynnar y we Saesneg.
The early days of the English-language web.
More about Saesneg (click a category to expand...)
Roots?
borrowing of Latin Saxonicus(Saxon)
Connections?
EnglishSaxon
Gàidhlig SasannachEnglishEnglishman
ManxSostynagh English English person
Family?
Saesneg[noun]
English (language)
Saesnes[noun]
(pl. Saesnesau)
Englishwoman
Sais[noun]
(pl. Saeson)
English person; Englishman
Seisnigaidd[adjective]
English in manner or attributes; Anglicized
Topics and themes?
language
Cymraeg (Welsh)
dwyieithog (bilingual)
iaith (language)
siarad (talk)
nationality and culture
byw (live)
cartref (home)
Cymreig (Welsh)
gwlad (country)
countries
Cymru (Wales)
Gogledd Iwerddon (Northern Ireland)
gwlad (country)
Lloegr (England)
yr Alban (Scotland)
Language and culture

As with the pair Cymraeg and Cymreig, sometimes Saesneg is paired with Seisnig to express a distinction between things that are Anglicized or culturally English, and things that relate to the English language.

Mae'r ardal yn un Seisnig, a Saesneg yw iaith y bobl yno.

The area is an Anglicized one, and English is the language of the people there.

Compounds?
cyfrwng Saesneg
English-medium;using English as the dominant language
Ysgolion cyfrwng Saesneg.
English-medium schools.
Saesneg ei iaith (masc.) ; Saesneg ei hiaith (fem.)
(pl. Saesneg eu hiaith)
English-speaking
Mae hi'n ardal Saesneg ei hiaith.
It's an English-speaking area.
uniaith Saesneg
monolingual English;English-language only
Ffurflen uniaith Saesneg oedd hi.
It was a monolingual English form.
Have you found an error or bug while using Geirfan? There are probably quite a few at this stage, and it would be so helpful to know about them! Comments, criticisms, and complaints can be sent by email, or come and have a conversation on Mastodon or on Twitter.

The project which inspired this dictionary was carried out by researchers at Cardiff University, in collaboration with the National Centre for Learning Welsh and the WJEC, and was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council's (ESRC) Impact Acceleration Account (IAA).

The dictionary entries and example sentences are based on data from CorCenCC, the National Corpus of Contemporary Welsh.

Geirfan's content, editorial policies, and social-media presence are the sole responsibility of Bethan Tovey-Walsh. Any mention of other individuals or organizations in connection with Geirfan is intended exclusively to acknowledge their contributions to the development of the website and conten; it does not mean that they agree with views expressed or implied as part of Geirfan project, or that they bear responsibility for any errors in Geirfan's content.

Creative Commons Licence
With the exception of quotations taken from CorCenCC, all content of Geirfan by Bethan Tovey-Walsh is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. This means that you can use the contents of the dictionary in any way you like, as long as you credit Geirfan as the source.