Neu darllenwch yr hanes isod.

Or read the story below (scroll down).

Y Gymraeg yw’r iaith sydd wedi cael ei siarad am yr hiraf ar ynys Prydain. Tyfodd allan o’r hen Frythoneg, iaith a siaradwyd gan lwythau Celtaidd Prydain tua dwy fil o flynyddoedd yn ôl. Roedd y Frythoneg honno yn hen iawn hefyd, a hithau wedi tyfu allan o iaith hynafol a siaradwyd ym Mhrydain efallai dair mil o flynyddoedd yn ôl.

 

Ond dim ond yn 2011 y gwnaed y Gymraeg yn iaith swyddogol yng Nghymru. Pan orchfygwyd Cymru gan Loegr yn y 13eg ganrif, daeth Saesneg yn iaith swyddogol gan ddisodli’r Gymraeg. Yna, pan unwyd Cymru a Lloegr yn yr 16eg ganrif, daeth yn anghyfreithlon i ddefnyddio’r Gymraeg yn y llysoedd barn a’r llywodraeth. Petai chi'n siarad Cymraeg yn y llefydd hynny, buasech chi’n colli’ch hawliau cyfreithiol.

 

Ond wnaeth hynny ddim atal mwyafrif poblogaeth Cymru rhag parhau i siarad yr iaith, a dyma fel y bu tan yn eithaf diweddar. Ar ddechrau'r 20fed ganrif roedd tua miliwn o siaradwyr Cymraeg, ond erbyn y 1970au, roedd y nifer wedi gostwng i tua pum can mil. Erbyn heddiw mae’r nifer wedi codi mymryn, i tua chwe chan mil, a hynny yn rhannol oherwydd fod y Gymraeg wedi dechrau cael ei dysgu yn yr ysgolion ers y 1950au.

 

Mae'r Senedd eisiau cynyddu nifer y siaradwyr Cymraeg i filiwn erbyn diwedd y ganrif. Ond mae angen gwneud llawer mwy, nid yn unig trwy amddiffyn addysg Gymraeg, ond hefyd wrth helpu pobl sy'n dod i fyw yng Nghymru i ddysgu'r iaith a'i defnyddio.

Did you know that Cymraeg, the Welsh language, was only made an official language of Wales in 2011? It is also the oldest language still spoken in the British Isles, and one of the oldest in Europe. It evolved from Brythonic, the language spoken by the Celtic tribes of Britain about two thousand years ago, and Brythonic was descended from an older language that was spoken in Britain as long as three thousand years ago.

 

Up until 2011, English had been the only official language since England conquered Wales in the 13th century. Then, when Wales was fully joined to England in the 16th century, Welsh was banned from the law courts and government. If you spoke Welsh, you were a second class citizen in your own country.

 

But that didn’t stop the majority of people still speaking Welsh, and this was the case up until modern times. At the beginning of the 20th century there were about a million Welsh speakers, but by the 1970s, this had dropped to half a million. Today, there are just under six hundred thousand Welsh speakers. Things are a little better now because in the 1950s Welsh was allowed to be taught in schools again.

 

The Senedd, the government of Wales, wants to increase the number of Welsh speakers to one million by the end of this century. But much more needs to be done, not only in protecting Welsh language education, but also in helping people who come to live in Wales to learn the language and use it.