maethu

Welsh

Etymology

From maeth (“nourishment; nurture”) +‎ -u.

Pronunciation

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈmeɨ̯θɨ̞/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈmei̯θi/
• Rhymes: -eɨ̯θɨ̞

Verb

maethu (first-person singular present maethaf)

1. to nourish
2. to nurture, to foster

Conjugation

Conjugation (literary)

	singular			plural			impersonal
	first	second	third	first	second	third
present indicative/future	maethaf	maethi	maetha	maethwn	maethwch	maethant	maethir
imperfect (indicative/subjunctive)/ conditional	maethwn	maethit	maethai	maethem	maethech	maethent	maethid
preterite	maethais	maethaist	maethodd	maethasom	maethasoch	maethasant	maethwyd
pluperfect	maethaswn	maethasit	maethasai	maethasem	maethasech	maethasent	maethasid, maethesid
present subjunctive	maethwyf	maethych	maetho	maethom	maethoch	maethont	maether
imperative	—	maetha	maethed	maethwn	maethwch	maethent	maether
verbal noun	maethu
verbal adjectives	maethedig maethadwy

Conjugation (colloquial)

Inflected colloquial forms	singular			plural
	first	second	third	first	second	third
future	maetha i, maethaf i	maethi di	maethith o/e/hi, maethiff e/hi	maethwn ni	maethwch chi	maethan nhw
conditional	maethwn i, maethswn i	maethet ti, maethset ti	maethai fo/fe/hi, maethsai fo/fe/hi	maethen ni, maethsen ni	maethech chi, maethsech chi	maethen nhw, maethsen nhw
preterite	maethais i, maethes i	maethaist ti, maethest ti	maethodd o/e/hi	maethon ni	maethoch chi	maethon nhw
imperative	—	maetha	—	—	maethwch	—
Note: All other forms are periphrastic, as usual in colloquial Welsh.

Derived terms

• paramaethu (“permaculture”)

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
maethu	faethu	unchanged	unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “maethu”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies