gwybod

Welsh

From Middle Welsh gwybot, from Proto-Brythonic *gwɨbod. Originally a compound of bod (“to be”) with an adjective derived from Proto-Celtic *wid-, from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to know”).^[1]^[2]

(North Wales, standard, colloquial) IPA^(key): /ˈɡwɨ̞bɔd/
- (North Wales, colloquial) IPA^(key): /ˈɡʊbɔd/, /ˈɡʊbɔ/
(South Wales, standard) IPA^(key): /ˈɡʊi̯bɔd/, /ˈɡwɪbɔd/
- (South Wales, colloquial) IPA^(key): /ˈɡuːbɔd/, /ˈɡʊbɔd/, /ˈɡuːbɔ/, /ˈɡʊbɔ/
Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -ɨ̞bɔd, -ʊɨ̯bɔd

gwybod (first-person singular present gwn)

to know (be certain or sure about (something); have knowledge of; be informed about)

In the colloquial language, this verb does not form an inflected preterite; instead the imperfect and the periphrastic preterite are used.

This verb is not used in the sense of knowing a person or a place, only facts. To know a person/place is adnabod/nabod.

Literary forms	singular			plural			impersonal
Literary forms	first	second	third	first	second	third	impersonal
present	gwn	gwyddost	gŵyr	gwyddom	gwyddoch	gwyddant	gwyddys, gwys, gwyddir
future	gwybyddaf	gwybyddi	gwybydd	gwybyddwn	gwybyddwch	gwybyddant	gwyddir, gwybyddir
imperfect	gwyddwn	gwyddit	gwyddai, gwyddiad	gwyddem	gwyddech	gwyddent	gwyddid, gwybyddid
preterite	gwybûm	gwybuost	gwybu	gwybuom	gwybuoch	gwybuont, gwybuant	gwybuwyd
pluperfect	gwybuaswn	gwybuasit	gwybuasai	gwybuasem	gwybuasech	gwybuasent	gwybuasid
present subjunctive	gwypwyf, gwybyddwyf	gwypych, gwybyddych	gwypo, gwybyddo	gwypom, gwybyddom	gwypoch, gwybyddoch	gwypont, gwybyddont	gwyper, gwybydder
imperfect subjunctive	gwypwn, gwybyddwn	gwypit, gwybyddit	gwypai, gwybyddai	gwypem, gwybyddem	gwypech, gwybyddech	gwypent, gwybyddent	gwypid, gwybyddid
imperative	—	gwybydd	gwyped, gwybydded	gwybyddwn	gwybyddwch	gwypent, gwybyddent	gwyper, gwybydder
verbal noun	gwybod
verbal adjectives	gwybodedig gwybodadwy, gwybyddadwy

Colloquial forms	singular			plural
Colloquial forms	first	second	third	first	second	third
present	gwn i	gwyddost ti	gŵyr e/o/hi	gwyddon ni	gwyddoch chi	gwyddon nhw, gwyddan nhw
imperfect	gwyddwn i	gwyddet ti	gwyddai fe/fo/hi	gwydden ni	gwyddech chi	gwydden nhw
Note: All other forms are periphrastic, as usual in colloquial Welsh.

In northern colloquial language, gwn may be prefixed with d- in the phrase dwn i ddim (“I don't know”), where dwn is a contraction of literary nid wn.

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

^ Morris Jones, John (1913) A Welsh Grammar, Historical and Comparative, Oxford: Clarendon Press, § 191 iii
^ R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “gwybod”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies