Caernarfon place-name

Caernarfon place-name

Caernarfon was formerly spelt Caernarvon in English, but today the Welsh spelling is universal.

“Caer” usually denotes a fortress that pre-dated the stone castles built by the Welsh and Normans.

“Arfon” was the name of a cantref (Welsh administrative district) along the southern shore of the Menai Strait. This name may have signified that it was opposite Môn (Anglesey). Arfon District Council was abolished in 1996 but its successor unitary authority, Gwynedd Council, maintains Arfon as a geographical subdivision.

The “n” in the middle of Caernarfon is a truncation of “yn”, meaning in. So the name translates as Fortress in Arfon.
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Enw lle Caernarfon

Sillafiad blaenorol o Gaernarfon oedd yr un Saesnig, sef Caernarvon. Erbyn heddiw dim ond y sillafiad Cymraeg a geir.

Bu yma Gaer a chastell carreg Gymreig cyn i’r un adeiladwyd gan y concwerwyr Normanaidd.

Cantref (ardal ddaearyddol ac uned weinyddol yng Nghrymu’r Oesoedd Canol) oedd Arfon, yn gorwedd i’r de o Afon Menai. Gall olygu fod Arfon dros y ffordd a Môn (Ar Fôn). Diddymwyd Cyngor Dosbarth Arfon yn 1996 ond fe gadwyd yr ardal gan y Cyngor Sir Gwynedd fel israniad daearyddol.

Mae’r ‘n’ yng nghanol Caernarfon yn dalfyriad o ‘yn’. Felly ystyr enw’r dref ydi Caer yn Arfon.