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Which it's the Patrick O'Brian list of the world!

Welsh for Readers of Testimonies

With thanks to my mate, Glyn Davies, who is a fluent, degree holding Gog (someone from North Wales), who is buying a sailing boat (Hooray!). I've applied for a post as ship's cat or cabin boy.

Sue Northcott


First some hints on pronunciation. Pinched from the Clwb Malu Cachu site: http://clwbmalucachu.co.uk/cmc/cheat/cheat_alphabet.htm

The Welsh alphabet is:

a  b  c  ch  d  dd  e  f  ff  g  ng  h  i  j  l  ll  m  n  o  p  ph  r  rh  s  t  th  u  w  y

It's also a good tactic to practise all seven vowels separately - ah eh ee o eu oo uh - unless you live in North Wales where, of course, they only have one vowel: 'eugh'.

Pronouncing words in Welsh is pretty easy really - Welsh is a phonetic language, so what you see is what you pronounce.

ashortas in 'hat', never as in 'ball'
b as in 'bag'. Although is there really any other way?
calways hardas in 'cat', never an s as in 'precise'
chlike the chin the Scottish word 'loch', but with more phlegm
das in 'dog'never as in 'djinn'
dda buzzy 'th' soundas in 'this'. Think angry bees with a lisp
eshortas in pen
fvThis is very, very simple, and when you get really used to it, f will play hafock with your spelling
fffEqually, you can ffind yourselff getting too used to ff as well
galways hardas in 'get', never a 'j' sound as in the last g in garage
ngas in 'song'where the g isn't hard, like in 'gig', but a soft glottal stop made in your throat
has in hatalways sounded and never silent
ias in 'pin'
 
j accepted now because of the loan words from English that use it, like 'garej'
la 'luh' as in 'lava'but never an 'ul' sound as in 'milk'
ll not as hard a sound to make as some would have you think. Raise your tongue to the top of your mouth as if you were going to say 'el', then make the 'ell' sound by blowing air round the sides of your raised tongue, instead of by using your voice. You should sound like an annoyed cat
mas in 'mithridatize'Or as in 'mum', if you want to be boring
nas in 'nanobot'
oshortas in 'hot', not round as in 'hotel'
p can I have a p please Bob?
phan English for Welsh ff sound, as in 'phase'
rrolledSome people just can't get a rolled 'r' - their tongues are unable to vibrate in the right way. It's a genetic thing, apparently, similar to being able to roll your tongue into a tube, or turn the end upside down. Honestly, some people can, but my tongue's not that prehensile. Roll if you can, don't if you can't
rhhrMake a huffy, breathy sound before your rolled 'r'
salways softas in 'sit', never a 'z' sound as in 'juxtapose'
tas in 'top'Can it get any simpler?
thas in 'think'softer and less buzzy than dd
uee in the Southbut not in the North . If you had stepped in something disgusting and made a kind of 'eugh' noise, the vowel 'eu' sound would about approximate the Northern 'u'. If you don't have access to a Gog who can teach you this noise, stick to the Southern sound - it's much easier
woooooo
yuh or eeOk, y breaks the rule that Welsh is phonetic. As a single syllable word, y is like 'uh', on the last syllable of a multisyllabic word it's an 'ee', and anywhere else it's like the unstressed, indeterminate noise of the final e in 'garden' or 'letter'. Ysbyty (hospital) is the perfect example.


Now for the words in Testimonies – I hope I haven't missed anything!
Working from the Flamingo paperback.

NainGrandmother (in the North only, in the south we use Mam-gu)
TaidGrandfather (Dad-cu in the South)
Llanusually translated as 'church of', but more correctly refers to holy ground usually associated with some saint or other. (Celtic saints are 10 a penny, and often don't seem very holy by modern standards.) I'll use the 'church' version for ease.
Pughsurname from 'ap Hugh', son of Hugh.
Cwm BugailValley of the Shepherd.
Vaughansurname. An Anglicised version of 'Fychan' an ancient word for 'small'.
GelliGrove.
Bronwenpure/white breast (It's also a name for the weasel!)
HafodSummer place. Could be high ground that gets too cold, or low lying pasture that is flooded in winter.
Annwyldear .
Beudycow shed.
Ty Gwairhay barn (literally 'Grass house').
Bro Morganwgthe Vale of Glamorgan.
PentrefVillage.
SaethArrow.
PenmawrHigh Top , though literally Big head, top or end.
Lloydsurname from 'Llwyd' meaning 'grey'.
Gogleddthe North.
LlanfairMary's church.
Dinascity.
Eisteddfoda festival where competitions are held in various forms of poetry, storytelling, music, dance and the arts.
Cletwra common name for streams/rivers but doesn't mean anything to me - we assume the Twr comes from dwr (water).
PontyfelinBridge of the Mill.
Hendreold town.
Uchafhigh/upper
Bwthyn bachlittle cottage.
Bowenfrom 'ab Owen', son of Owen .
Tyddyn Mawrlarge small-holding.
Cwm y GloValley of the Coal.
GwynWhite/pure.
Ty bachliterally little house (It causes much mirth when incomers name their houses 'Ty Bach', as it usually means 'toilet'.).
Cwm PriddlydEarthen Valley .
LlanfihangelMichael's church.
Caernarfonthe fort (caer) in Arfon (the land close to Mon (Anglesey)). The city where Edward I made his wife stay until his son was born. Then presented him to the Welsh as the Prince of Wales he had promised them, who was born on Welsh soil and spoke no English.
Pritchardfrom 'ap Richard', son of Richard.
Ruabonplace name near Wrexam I think is an anglisation of Rhiw (hill/slope) + abona the old Welsh for afon (river) but again thats our guess.
Diffwyscan mean desolate, rough or a steep slope
Llyn DuBlack Lake (rather like Dublin).
Hwnnathose.
Daishort for David, Dafydd or Dewi.
Moelgwynwhite/pure bare hill .
'diwch annwyl'Dear God.
Cwm ErchyllFrightful Valley.
Llinenlinen.
Cneunut.
Craig y NosRock of the Night.
LlechogPlace of the cuckoo.
Llyn LliwiogColoured Lake.
Carnedda carn.
Y Breninthe King.
Nant DeiniolDaniel's stream .
StwlanWe have never heard of this - northern borrowing of stool?
LlandudnoChurch of St. Tudno.
Ty HyllUgly House.
Cynghanedd

a form of Welsh poetry. Glyn says: 'Cynghanedd is explained by John Morris Jones in his excellent 250 page book - as long as you can read Welsh!
 
It is a strict set of rules concerning alliteration and rhymes internal to a single line of poetry, where the second half of the line will answer the first, there are 4 recognised types. It came to be during the 8th - 9th centuries and became formalised by the 12th and was used extensively by the professional bards. Each line in a poem must use one of the 4 types of cynghanedd for it to be considered a 'strict meter poem':
 

Henaint ni ddaw ei hunanhere the H and N are answered in the same order in both halves of the line but with a gap of unanswered letters ie n dd
A huno maith yn y manand here the n and m (h does not have to be answered)
Bu'r bedd ar agor heddihere there is an internal rhyme that is answered in the penultimate syllable
Pob llid, pob gofid yn gelhere there is an internal rhyme and the starting letter of the rhymed word is answered by the starting letter of the last word'


 

Nosen Lawen'A cheerful evening', usually an organised village social event, taking place in a barn or hall. Everyone is expected to perform a party piece.
DolforganMorgan's meadow.
Cefn Bachlittle ridge/back.
Hir GarddLong Garden.
Yr Ysgolthe school.
Tan yr Onnenunder the ash trees
'Da iawn, diolch''Very well, thank you.'
Gwasserving boy. In the South this has become a bit of an insult. Calling someone "'wus" isn't very polite!
MonAnglesey
Lleynthe peninsular at the North of Wales
LlewLion