cadw

Welsh

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *kat-wo-, from Proto-Indo-European *kadʰ- (“to protect”). Cognate with English hat, English heed, Latin cassis.

Pronunciation

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈkadʊ/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈka(ː)du/
• Rhymes: -adʊ

Verb

cadw (first-person singular present cadwaf)

1. to keep
2. to book (reserve)
3. (computing) to save

Conjugation

Conjugation (literary)

	singular			plural			impersonal
	first	second	third	first	second	third
present indicative/future	cadwaf	cedwi	ceidw	cadwn	cedwch	cadwant	cedwir
imperfect (indicative/subjunctive)/conditional	cadwn	cadwit	cadwai	cadwem	cadwech	cadwent	cedwid
preterite	cedwais	cedwaist	cadwodd	cadwasom	cadwasoch	cadwasant	cadwyd
pluperfect	cadwaswn	cadwasit	cadwasai	cadwasem	cadwasech	cadwasent	cadwasid, cadwesid
present subjunctive	cadwyf	cedwych	cadwo	cadwom	cadwoch	cadwont	cadwer
imperative	—	cadw, cadwa	cadwed	cadwn	cedwch	cadwent	cadwer
verbal noun	cadw
verbal adjectives	cadwedig cadwadwy

Conjugation (colloquial)

Inflected colloquial forms	singular			plural
	first	second	third	first	second	third
future	cadwa i, cadwaf i	cadwi di	cadwith o/e/hi, cadwiff e/hi	cadwn ni	cadwch chi	cadwan nhw
conditional	cadwn i, cadwswn i	cadwet ti, cadwset ti	cadwai fo/fe/hi, cadwsai fo/fe/hi	cadwen ni, cadwsen ni	cadwech chi, cadwsech chi	cadwen nhw, cadwsen nhw
preterite	cadwais i, cadwes i	cadwaist ti, cadwest ti	cadwodd o/e/hi	cadwon ni	cadwoch chi	cadwon nhw
imperative	—	cadwa	—	—	cadwch	—
Note: All other forms are periphrastic, as usual in colloquial Welsh.

• Alternative third-person singular subjunctive (literary): cato

Derived terms

• cadw draw (“to keep away”)
• cadw-mi-gei (“money box”)
• cadwraeth (“conservation”)
• ceidwad (“keeper”)
• gwarchod (“to guard”)
• cadw draenog yn boced un (“to be tightfisted, mean with money”, literally “to keep a hedgehog in one's pocket”)

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
cadw	gadw	nghadw	chadw
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), “cadwaf”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies