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The Welsh Alphabet
Welsh Vowels
Welsh Pronounciation
The Dreaded 'LL' Sound
Dipthongs and Mutations
A Few Greetings
THE
WELSH ALPHABET
The Welsh alphabet has 28 letters
A, B, C, Ch, D, Dd, E, F, Ff, G, Ng, H, I, L, Ll, M, N, O, P, Ph,
R, Rh, S, T, Th, U, W, Y
WELSH VOWELS
There are more vowels in the Welsh language than in English.
They are of the kind often known as pure vowels, being more akin
to those found in Spanish or Italian. Welsh has 7 vowels:
A, E, I, U, O, W, Y
WELSH PRONOUNCIATION
As a guide to pronounciation it is helpful to remember
the following points, which indicate where Welsh differs from English
usage.
C - always hard as in 'cat'
CH - guttoral, as in Scots 'loch'
DD - as 'th' in the
E - as in 'bet' or 'echo'
FF - as 'f'
F - as 'v'
G - always hard as in 'garden'
H - hat (never silent as in 'honest'
LL - no equivalent sound. Place the tongue on the
upper roof of the mouth near the upper teeth, ready to pronounce
'L', then blow rather than voice the 'L'.
O - as in 'lot' or 'moe'
TH - three (never as in the)
U - near English is 'ee' of deep
W - as vowel sound as 'oo' in 'fool' or 'zoo'
Y - (a) in words of one syllable as 'i' in did
(b) as 'ee' in bee (c) anywhere
else as 'u' in funny
THE DREADED 'LL' SOUND
Its an unusual sound found only in a few languages, including
Greenlandic Eskimo and Zulu! To get the feel of the sound, simply
whisper 'please' loudly and listen very carefully to the sounds
you're making. The 'L' should very briefly sound something like
a 'LL'. To pronounce the letter, put your tongue in the English
'L' position, keep the ridge of your tongue against the ridge behind
the teeth and blow (or pronounce the English 'SH' as in 'shut).
It is the sound of air hissing over the sides of the tongue and
past the teeth that produces the sound and the key is to slowly
raise the sides of the tongue towards the roof of the mouth until
you get the necessary friction. It should take no more effort than
any other letter of the alaphabet.
DIPTHONGS AND MUTATIONS
In Welsh adjoining vowels are common. Ae, ai, aw, ew, iw, oe, oi,
ou, wy and yw are the usual forms and are pronounced as the two
separate sounds, with, generally, the stress on the first.
A further difficulty for those trying to recognise Welsh words is
the Welsh system of word mutations, where a previous word can affect
the beginning of a following one, principally to ease pronunciation.
For example, "in Cardiff (Caerdydd)" becomes "yng
Nghaerdydd" (note that the "yn" also mutates to ease
pronounciation.
A FEW GREETINGS
Bore da - Good morning
Dydd da - Good day
Noswaith dda - Good evening
Nos da - Good night
Sut mae? - How are you?
Hwyl - Cheers
Diolch - Thank You
Croeso - Welcome
Da - Good
Iechyd Da - Good Health
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