achyfi

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>... See
>http://www.bbc.co.uk/cymru/tgau/welsh2nd/writing/writ_found_full_rev2.shtml
>for {ych a fi} in text.  Searching for {achyfi} on Google got me two pages:
>something off Linguist-L and a bare word-list.  Searching for {ach y fi} is
>no better.  But search for {ych a fi} and you'll find about 1,480 pages.  I
>think we can say that that's the right spelling.
>
>... the net sure is a hell of a research source.

Yes, it is, but the search engines have their peculiarities. Most of the
"1,480" pages are bogus. Google is returning hits on 'ych' OR 'fi' in this
case, I think.

Refined search with Copernic returns:

'ach y fi' 15 hits, 'achyfi' 2, 'ach a fi' 0, 'achafi' 0, 'ych a fi' 6,
'ychafi' 1, 'ych y fi' 3, 'ychyfi' 0.

All of these are genuine matches at responding sites.

It is interesting that the URL given above was NOT found by my search!

Other days, you'll get other numbers (various Web sites not responding at a
given time, various obsolete or erroneous URL's, etc.).

Using different search engines, you'll get vastly different results (I set
Copernic for Alta Vista, Lycos, FAST, plus some others which were
unproductive). The Google engine is good, but (I think) it doesn't search
for an exact phrase by default.

Using Google through Copernic (refined), I find (today):

'ach y fi' 10 hits, 'achyfi' 1, 'ach a fi' 0, 'achafi' 0, 'ych a fi' 13,
'ych a fi' 1, 'ych y fi' 2, 'ychyfi' 0.

Even using all available search engines, I suspect you're getting only
maybe 20% coverage of the Web (any better information available on this?).
I have often found that a search using a Japanese or French search engine
returns a VERY different set of results --  even English-language results
-- by comparison with the usual US engines.

With respect to the spelling of 'achyfi', my Welsh colleague states:

'As a colloquial interjection it has escaped the spelling police, so it is
to be found in several forms: achyfi, ychyfi, or (as I know it, from youth)
"ych y fi" (three words). ... I'd guess that the forms starting with "y"
would be more common.'

-- Doug Wilson