Welsh Keywords: Mamiaith
From Planet 230
by Lisa Sheppard
This is the twenty-sixth contribution to our Welsh Keywords series – inspired by Raymond Williams’ Keywords – which offers contemporary perspectives on contested meanings of words in Welsh and how these shifting meanings continue to shape our society.
Mam and I enter the Neuadd Fawr (Great Hall) with its bilingual hum and the residual smell of lunchtime’s chips and curry sauce. We live about forty-five minutes away, and she’s had meetings after work. But being a teacher herself, she doesn’t want to miss parents’ evening, and now that I’m in Chweched (Sixth Form) I’m encouraged to go with her. I feign disaffection, but I am the brainy kid and I know my teachers will sing my praises. I won’t openly profess my intelligence, but feel a strange mix of embarrassment and smugness when others acknowledge it.
Sign in to read more
