Yr Iaith Gymraeg Back      Home Page | Tourism Wales UK Site Map A-Z Listings Find Accommodation Featured Article Yr Iaith Gymraeg gan Wythnos Yma Cymru Welsh is one of the oldest living languages in Europe and is closely related to the other Celtic languages - Cornish, Breton and Gaelic. An increasing per cent of the population of Wales speak Welsh and it can be heard in daily use. Here are a few useful words and phrases with a new guide to pronunciation to help you practise your countryside vocabulary. Cyfarchion-Greetings Croeso .................... Bore da ................... P'nawn da ................ Nos da ..................... Diolch yn fawr ........... Welcome Good morning Good afternoon Good night Thank you Ardal Wledig-Countryside; Mynydd..................... Afon......................... Aber ........................ Llyn ......................... Ynys ........................ Bryn......................... Cwm......................... Llannerch.................. Dyffryn..................... Glyn......................... Cae.......................... Coed........................ Pren......................... Deulen..................... Blodeuyn.................. Fflur......................... Aderyn ..................... Fferm....................... Dafad....................... Ci defaid................... Buwch....................... Ceffyl....................... Mochyn..................... Llan ........................ Caer ........................ Mountain River Estuary e.g. Abermaw Lake e.g. Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake) Island e.g. Ynys Enlli Hill Glen/Valley Glade Vale e.g. Dyffryn Conwy Dell Field Wood Tree Leaf Blossom Flower Bird Farm Sheep Sheepdog Cow Horse Pig In the Parish of e.g. Llandeilo Fortification or Walled Town e.g. Caerleon Pronunciation Every letter in Welsh is pronounced - there are no silent letters as in English. Most letters have only one basic sound, which makes pronunciation simple, but you will notice that all vowels can be long or short. The accent on Welsh words is, with few exceptions, on the last but one syllable. Here is the Welsh alphabet with the equivalent English sounds: First the vowels... A    E    I    O    U    W    Y    as in card (long) or ham (short). as in sane (long) or bet (short); when it follows an a, the sound is "ee" as in tea (long) or tin (short) as in ore (long) or top (short) roughly like the Welsh I but forming an o shape with the mouth as in boon (long) or cook (short) as in tea (long) or tin (short), or occasionally run (short) Now the consonants... B    C    Ch    D    DD    F    Ff    G    NG    H    J    L    Ll    M    N    P    Ph    R    Rh    S    T    Th    b hard k sound as in cot, never soft s sound as in cirrus as in Bach (the composer) d th (hard) as in them, never soft as in thistle v as in vote, never f as in fee (see ff below) f as in fee g (hard) as in garden, never soft as in girate as in long as in hat, never silent j l as in Llanelli. This sound does not occur in English. Place the tongue on the roof of the mouth near the teeth, as if to pronounce l, then blow voicelessly m n p ph as in phone r rh as in perhaps s (soft) as in song, never hard as in as t th (soft) as in cloth, never hard as in this Note: there is no Q, X or Z in the Welsh alphabet Now try the Welsh name for Wales: Cymru... C    Y    M    R    U    hard k sound as in cot short u sound as in run m r as in tea but forming an o shape with the mouth Associated Features Staying in Wales Fast Guide to Wales

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