sbio

Welsh

Etymology

From Middle English espien (“to espy”) or Old French espier (“to spy”), from Frankish *spehōn (“to spy”), from Proto-Germanic *spehōną (“to see, look”), from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsbiː.ɔ/, [ˈspiːɔ]
• Rhymes: -iːɔ

Verb

sbio (first-person singular present sbiaf, not mutable)

1. to spy

   Synonym: ysbïo

   Mae'n credu bod rhywun yn sbio arno fe.

   He thinks someone is spying on him.

2. (North Wales, colloquial) to look (at)

   Synonyms: disgwyl, edrych

   Nesh i'm sbio beth oedd yn y bag gynno fo.

   I didn't look what was in the bag he had with him.

   Sbia rhein!

   Look at these!

Conjugation

Conjugation (literary)

	singular			plural			impersonal
	first	second	third	first	second	third
present indicative/future	sbiaf	sbi	sbia	sbiwn	sbiwch	sbiant	sbir
imperfect (indicative/subjunctive)/conditional	sbiwn	sbit	sbiai	sbiem	sbiech	sbient	sbid
preterite	sbiais	sbiaist	sbiodd	sbiasom	sbiasoch	sbiasant	sbiwyd
pluperfect	sbiaswn	sbiasit	sbiasai	sbiasem	sbiasech	sbiasent	sbiasid, sbiesid
present subjunctive	sbiwyf	sbiech	sbio	sbiom	sbioch	sbiont	sbier
imperative	—	sbia	sbied	sbiwn	sbiwch	sbient	sbier
verbal noun	sbio
verbal adjectives	sbiedig sbiadwy

Conjugation (colloquial)

Inflected colloquial forms	singular			plural
	first	second	third	first	second	third
future	sbia i, sbiaf i	sbi di	sbith o/e/hi, sbiff e/hi	sbiwn ni	sbiwch chi	sbian nhw
conditional	sbiwn i, sbiswn i	sbiet ti, sbiset ti	sbiai fo/fe/hi, sbisai fo/fe/hi	sbien ni, sbisen ni	sbiech chi, sbisech chi	sbien nhw, sbisen nhw
preterite	sbiais i, sbies i	sbiaist ti, sbiest ti	sbiodd o/e/hi	sbion ni	sbioch chi	sbion nhw
imperative	—	sbia	—	—	sbiwch	—
Note: All other forms are periphrastic, as usual in colloquial Welsh.

Related terms

• ysbïo (“to spy”)

Further reading

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