ysbïo

Welsh

Etymology

From Middle English espien (“to espy”) or Old French espier (“to spy”), from Frankish *spehōn (“to spy”), from Proto-Germanic *spehōną (“to see, look”), from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əsˈbiː.ɔ/, [əsˈpiːɔ]
• Rhymes: -iːɔ

Verb

ysbïo (first-person singular present ysbïaf)

1. to spy

   Mae'n credu bod rhywun yn ysbïo arno fe.

   He thinks someone is spying on him.

Conjugation

Conjugation (literary)

	singular			plural			impersonal
	first	second	third	first	second	third
present indicative/future	ysbiaf	ysbii	ysbia	ysbiwn	ysbiwch	ysbiant	ysbiir
imperfect (indicative/subjunctive)/conditional	ysbiwn	ysbiit	ysbiai	ysbiem	ysbiech	ysbient	ysbiid
preterite	ysbiais	ysbiaist	ysbiodd	ysbiasom	ysbiasoch	ysbiasant	ysbiwyd
pluperfect	ysbiaswn	ysbiasit	ysbiasai	ysbiasem	ysbiasech	ysbiasent	ysbiasid, ysbiesid
present subjunctive	ysbiwyf	ysbiech	ysbio	ysbiom	ysbioch	ysbiont	ysbier
imperative	—	ysbia	ysbied	ysbiwn	ysbiwch	ysbient	ysbier
verbal noun	ysbïo
verbal adjectives	ysbiedig ysbiadwy

Conjugation (colloquial)

inflected colloquial forms	singular			plural
	first	second	third	first	second	third
future	ysbïa i, ysbïaf i	ysbii di	ysbiith o/e/hi, ysbiiff o/e/hi	ysbïwn ni	ysbïwch chi	ysbïan nhw
conditional	ysbïwn i, ysbiswn i	ysbïet ti, ysbiset ti	ysbïai fo/fe/hi, ysbisai fo/fe/hi	ysbïen ni, ysbisen ni	ysbïech chi, ysbisech chi	ysbïen nhw, ysbisen nhw
preterite	ysbïais i, ysbïes i	ysbïaist ti, ysbïest ti	ysbïodd o/e/hi	ysbïon ni	ysbïoch chi	ysbïon nhw
imperative	—	ysbïa	—	—	ysbïwch	—

Note: All other forms are periphrastic, as usual in colloquial Welsh.

Derived terms

• ysbïwedd (“spyware”)
• ysbïwr (“spy”)
• ysbïwraig (“spy”)

Related terms

• sbio (“to spy; to look”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of ysbïo

radical	soft	nasal	h-prothesis
ysbïo	unchanged	unchanged	hysbïo

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

Further reading

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