iii. (1) As in other languages, near relations and familiar animals have names of different origin for males and females: tad ‘father’, mam ‘mother’; brawd, chwaer; ewythr, modryb; ceffyl, caseg; etc.
(2) Names of birds are epicenes, mostly f. as y fwyalch or y fwyalcken ‘the blackbird’, y fronfraith ‘the thrush’, yr ŵydd ‘the goose’, y gog ‘the cuckoo’, y frân ‘the crow’, etc.; but almost an equal number are m., as eryr ‘eagle’, dryw ‘wren’, barcut ‘kite’, hedydd ‘lark’, alarch ‘swan’. The male bird is in some cases distinguished by using ceiliog followed by the specific name in the attributive genitive, as y ceiliog bronfraith or y ceiliog mwyalch; but this cannot be done generally. Note ceiliágwydd ‘gander’ § 74 i. The names of one or two male animals are formed in a similar manner; as bwch gafr ‘he-goat’; gwrcath ‘tom-cat’.
§ 138. The gender of nouns denoting inanimate objects or abstractions can only to a very limited extent be determined by the meaning.
i. The following nouns are mas.:
(1) tymor ‘season’, and the names of the seasons: gwanwyn, haf, hydref, gaeaf, see hydref dwys a’r gwanwyn § 38 viii; so y Garawys, y Grawys ‘Lent’ with g- as a new radical § 101 iii (2), cf. yr holl Arawys a.l. i 338 ‘all Lent’.
(2) mis ‘month’, and the names of the months, as Chwefrol sydd iddo 28 o ddyddiau 1620 Bible Almanac ‘February has 28 days’.
(3) dydd ‘day’, and names of days, see Difiau du § 46 ii (4); so y Pasg ‘Easter’, y Nadolig ‘Christmas’, y Sulgwyn ‘Whitsunday’, y Calan ‘New Year’s Day’; but gŵyl ‘feast’ is f., so that Gŵyl Fair ‘Lady Day’, etc., are f.
(4) gwynt ‘wind’, and the names of points of the compass: y gogledd ‘the north’, y dwyrain ‘the east’, y deheu ‘the south’, y gorllewin ‘the west’.
(5) Nouns denoting material or substance: aur, arian, haearn, pres, pren, derw, ffawydd, glo, maen, pridd, calch, clai, tail, gwair, gwellt, yd, bwyd, bara, cig, gwaed, gwin, cwrw, dwfr, gwydr, lledr, lliain, sidan, glaw, eira, etc.
(6) Verbal nouns; see § 205.
ii. The following nouns are fem.:
(1) gwlad ‘country’, teyrnas ‘kingdom’, ynys ‘island’, and names of countries, etc.: Cymru lân ‘beautiful Wales’, Prydain Fawr ‘Great Britain’, y Fôn fau Gr.O. 16 ‘my Mona’. But tir ‘land’ is m., hence Tir Groeg m. ‘Greece’.
(2) tref ‘town’, llan ‘church’, and names of towns and parishes: Bangor Fawr yn Arfon; Ỻanbadarn Fawr.
(3) afon ‘river’, and names of rivers: Dyfi wendal D.Ỻ. ‘fair-browed Dovey’.
(4) Names of mountains and hills: yr Wyddfa ‘Snowdon’, Carnedd
