honno

Welsh

Etymology

From Old Welsh hunnoid, from the root of hwn.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɔnɔ/
• Rhymes: -ɔnɔ

Determiner

honno f

1. (formal) (in conjunction with the definite article y) that

   Bydd y gystadleuaeth honno'n werth ei gwylio.

   That competition will be worth watching.

   Y ddynes honno sy'n gwneud môr a mynydd o'r sefyllfa.

   It's that woman who's blowing the situation out of proportion.

   Ni chefais erioed ateb i'r broblem honno.

   I never did find a solution to that problem.

Usage notes

• Refers to grammatically feminine singular nouns, hwnnw (“that”) being the masculine singular and hynny (“those”) the (masculine and feminine) plural equivalents.
• In informal language, honno as a determiner is replaced with yna (“there”) used in conjunction with the definite article y.

  y ddynes honno → y ddynes yna ― that woman

  y flwyddyn honno → y flwyddyn 'na ― that year

Pronoun

honno f

1. (formal) that

   Synonym: honna

   Bydd honno'n gystadleuaeth werth ei gwylio.

   That will be a competition worth watching.

   Honno sy'n gwneud môr a mynydd o'r sefyllfa.

   It's that woman who's blowing the situation out of proportion.

   Ni chefais erioed ateb i honno.

   I never did find a solution to that.

Usage notes

• Refers to grammatically feminine singular nouns, hwnnw being the masculine singular equivalent. In addition, hynny is used nonreferentially, for example, when talking about a general situation, action or event, rather than any particular noun.
• Informally, honna replaces pronomial honno.

  Pwy oedd honno? → Pwy oedd honna? ― Who was that?

  Beth fyddai honno? → Be(th) fyddai/fasai honna? ― What would that be?

Related terms

• hwn, hon (“this”); hyn (“this; these”)
• hwnna, honna, hynna, hwnnw (“that”); hynny (“that; those”)
• y rhain (“these”)
• y rheina, y rheini, y rheiny (“those”)

References

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