agerstalwm

Welsh

Etymology

Coined by Welsh children’s author and designer Llinos Mair in her tweet (№ 644243692103057408) of 16th September 2015 to Welsh journalist and novelist Ifan Morgan Jones: a blend of ager m (“steam”) +‎ ers talwm m (“times long past”), on the pattern of Aberstalwm.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌa.ɡɛrˈsta.lum/

Noun

agerstalwm (gender not attested)

1. (uncountable) steampunk (subgenre of science fiction)
   • 2019, Ifan Morgan Jones, Babel, Talybont: Y Lolfa, →ISBN, Acknowledgments, no pagination:

     Diolch hefyd i Llinos Mair am awgrymu ‘Agerstalwm’ fel cyfieithiad o enw genre ‘Steampunk’.

     Thanks also to Llinos Mair for suggesting ‘Agerstalwm’ as a translation of the name of the genre ‘Steampunk’.

   • 2019 June 21st, John Jones, quotee, “Agerstalwm”, in Wicipedia Cymraeg, quoted in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru, s.v. “agerstalwm”, entry published online in 2024:

     Is-genre ffantas[ï]ol o fewn gwyddonias yw agerstalwm, lle mae technoleg a dyfeisiadau esthetig wedi’u hysbrydoli gan beiriannau stêm diwydiannol o’r 19g.

     Steampunk is a fantasy sub-genre within science fiction, where technology and aesthetic devices are inspired by industrial steam machines from the 19c.

   • 2020 April 11th, Testun Cyf., Rhesymau Dros Aros yn Fyw, Talybont: Y Lolfa, translation of Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig (in English), →ISBN, “Fy symptomau”, no pagination:

     Yn aml fe fyddwn, yn hollol ddigymell, yn dychmygu fy meddwl fel rhyw beiriant eang a thywyll, fel rhywbeth allan o nofel graffeg steampunk neu ‘agerstalwm’, yn frith o bibelli a phedalau a liferi ac offer hydrolig, gyda sŵn, gwreichion a stêm yn tasgu i bob man.

     [original: I’d often involuntarily visualise my mind as a kind of vast and dark machine, like something out of a steampunk graphic novel, full of pipes and pedals and levers and hydraulics, emitting sparks and steam and noise.]

      — original English text from Matt Haig (2015 March 5th) Reasons to Stay Alive, Edinburgh · London: Canongate Books, published 2016, →ISBN, “My symptoms”, page 48

Mutation

Mutated forms of agerstalwm

radical	soft	nasal	h-prothesis
agerstalwm	unchanged	unchanged	hagerstalwm

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• agerstalwm on the Welsh Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^cy
• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “agerstalwm”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies