Marit (a member of the working group) attended the National Eisteddfod representing Permaculture Cymru and raised the question of what to call the network; there was a lot of discussion around the various existing translations of the word permaculture that can be found. "Permaddiwylliant" was definitely not favouredby Eisteddfod attendees. There was however a very positive response to "Paramaeth"; one lady responded with tears in her eyes saying it sounded like "paradwys" (paradise). Very positive responses to "paramaeth" have also come from linguists at Bangor University who offered to take this up officially, and later the same day officials from the Welsh Language Commission quickly grasped and appreciated the reasoning behind "paramaeth" and are going to look into it.
To explain why "paramaeth" works so well, "amaeth" is the word for Agriculture, "parhaol" is the Welsh for permanent, but additionally para is a colloquialism meaning "to continue" or "to last".
"Amaeth" meant originally a husbandman, or cultivator, and comes from Amaethon, who was the Welsh deity associated with farming, a husbandman. He was one of the children of Dôn, who was a mother goddess. (Amaethon is found in the story of Culhwch and Olwen). At some point "amaeth" was adopted as the word for agriculture. As a verb "amaethu" is usually translated as "to cultivate". It relates to the noun "maeth", nourishment and the verb "maethu", to nourish or foster, hence "maethle", a nursery and Ysgol Feithrin, nursery school. So there are strong links with culture, cultivation and nurture (definitions are from Y Geiriadur Mawr).
Paramaeth is deemed to be a feminine noun and hence causes a soft mutation in the word following; so the C of Cymru mutates to a G, hence Paramaeth Gymru. (Mutations in the Welsh language are one of the greatest mysteries for learners but in turn, when understood, one of the things that make the language so special). The stress, as with most Welsh words, come on the penultimate syllable, Paramaeth. (The "y" and the "u" in Cymru are pronounced respectively something like the English "u" and "y"; "C" is hard in Welsh.)
Written by Chris Dixon. His website www.konsk.co.uk has a range of new Welsh language materials, as well as brilliant information about his evolving permaculture design at Tir Penrhos Isaf.