Calling for a guide to Welsh pronunciation
- Beith
- Posts: 3514
- Joined: 03 Feb 2003, 18:28
- Gender: Male
- Location: Somewhere over the rainbow
- Contact:
Calling for a guide to Welsh pronunciation
Hi folks,
I know that OBOD offers help in a guide to pronunciation of celtic languages. I think it would be useful if someone - OBOD or not - could provide such a guide in this forum. Please look at the one I posted ages ago above *guide to pronunciation of Irish mythic names and placenames*. It didn't take me too long to do that and I wonder if someone could offer something similar in Welsh?
This would greatly help those of us who would like to read the Welsh myth sagas but are somewhat hindered by lack of understanding of the name pronunciations.
Any takers?
And of course if anyone has Breton, Manx or Scots gaelic, that too would be greatly appreciated!
kind regards,
Beith
I know that OBOD offers help in a guide to pronunciation of celtic languages. I think it would be useful if someone - OBOD or not - could provide such a guide in this forum. Please look at the one I posted ages ago above *guide to pronunciation of Irish mythic names and placenames*. It didn't take me too long to do that and I wonder if someone could offer something similar in Welsh?
This would greatly help those of us who would like to read the Welsh myth sagas but are somewhat hindered by lack of understanding of the name pronunciations.
Any takers?
And of course if anyone has Breton, Manx or Scots gaelic, that too would be greatly appreciated!
kind regards,
Beith
- lee
- Posts: 279
- Joined: 05 Feb 2003, 04:46
- Gender: Male
- Location: London
- Contact:
- Art
- OBOD Druid
- Posts: 2126
- Joined: 03 Feb 2003, 05:42
- Gender: Male
- Location: Baton Rouge La USA
- Contact:
-
- Posts: 454
- Joined: 02 Jan 2004, 22:16
- Gender: Male
- Contact:
Geiriadur ysgol – scholar’s dictionary; alphabetical pronunciation guide
A (i) short as in cat
(ii) and as in farther
B same as the English b
C same as the Eng. k
CH as in the Dutch nacht
D same as the Eng. d
DD the th as in thou
E (i) short e as in hen
(ii) long as in pale
F as in v for van
FF as in f for fan
G as in g for get
NG as in ng for long
H as in h for hand
I (i) short as in pin
(ii) long as in machine
L same as the English L
LL
M as the English m
N as the English n except before the c (nc) when it’s pronounced ng
O (i) short as o in pot
(ii) long as in bone
P as the English p
PH same as ph in physic
R as r in rough
RH
S as s in sin but when followed by an i (si) becomes sh as in shall
T as in t for to
TH as th in thin
U (i) short u as in busy
(ii) long e as in me
W (i) short as in oo in good
(ii) long as in oo in boon
Y (i) short as in u in fun
(ii) long as in ee in see
CH, LL and RH has no sounds which are represented in English
A (i) short as in cat
(ii) and as in farther
B same as the English b
C same as the Eng. k
CH as in the Dutch nacht
D same as the Eng. d
DD the th as in thou
E (i) short e as in hen
(ii) long as in pale
F as in v for van
FF as in f for fan
G as in g for get
NG as in ng for long
H as in h for hand
I (i) short as in pin
(ii) long as in machine
L same as the English L
LL
M as the English m
N as the English n except before the c (nc) when it’s pronounced ng
O (i) short as o in pot
(ii) long as in bone
P as the English p
PH same as ph in physic
R as r in rough
RH
S as s in sin but when followed by an i (si) becomes sh as in shall
T as in t for to
TH as th in thin
U (i) short u as in busy
(ii) long e as in me
W (i) short as in oo in good
(ii) long as in oo in boon
Y (i) short as in u in fun
(ii) long as in ee in see
CH, LL and RH has no sounds which are represented in English

- lee
- Posts: 279
- Joined: 05 Feb 2003, 04:46
- Gender: Male
- Location: London
- Contact:
ok... i still do want to do this for the users on the site. however, im literally snowed under with university work and impending exams.
if someone else would like to do this instead im more than happy for them to do it and wont be offended.
on the other hand, after 3 june i will be free to produce what i *hope* will be a good guide, i can work with basics, do a proper names and a place names guide too, i also thought id go through the folklore i have an post up pronunciation guide for characters and stuff from some of the more common folktales and fairy tales.
a comprehensive guide if you like... but i can only start it in a months time
how does that sound?
if someone else would like to do this instead im more than happy for them to do it and wont be offended.
on the other hand, after 3 june i will be free to produce what i *hope* will be a good guide, i can work with basics, do a proper names and a place names guide too, i also thought id go through the folklore i have an post up pronunciation guide for characters and stuff from some of the more common folktales and fairy tales.
a comprehensive guide if you like... but i can only start it in a months time
how does that sound?
- Tangwystyl
- Posts: 13
- Joined: 10 Sep 2005, 16:40
- Gender: Male
- Location: Cambridgeshire
- Contact:
- Gwilym Goch
- Posts: 127
- Joined: 13 Nov 2005, 19:49
- Contact:
Helo,
Welsh is my first language. More than happy to answer any queries with regards to this. Just post up the name / word you're haveing problems with and I'll give you a comparative english brake down like the following (underlined syllables are the accents):
Bendigeidfran = bendy-gayd-vran
the 'a' in 'vran' is the same as in 'he ran away'
Welsh is my first language. More than happy to answer any queries with regards to this. Just post up the name / word you're haveing problems with and I'll give you a comparative english brake down like the following (underlined syllables are the accents):
Bendigeidfran = bendy-gayd-vran
the 'a' in 'vran' is the same as in 'he ran away'
-
- Posts: 18
- Joined: 03 Dec 2005, 00:05
- Contact:
- Gwilym Goch
- Posts: 127
- Joined: 13 Nov 2005, 19:49
- Contact:
- Lora
- OBOD Ovate
- Posts: 3530
- Joined: 03 Feb 2003, 02:31
- Gender: Female
- Location: on a hilltop
- Contact:
There you go... http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/learnwelsh/ Loads of stuff on there. I can't vouch for the accents as I'm not Welsh nor do I live in Wales, but it's free!Is there anywhere on the internet with audio clips?
Lorraine
- salmoncat
- Posts: 81
- Joined: 05 Nov 2005, 22:05
- Gender: Female
- Location: swimmin around somewhere
- Contact:
- Gwilym Goch
- Posts: 127
- Joined: 13 Nov 2005, 19:49
- Contact:
do you wan't me to suggest a pronounciation? it doesn't look much like Welsh to me I'm afraid. It could be Irish. Is it Bryn Ffion (Rose Hill)? Where did you find it?salmoncat wrote: brionnfhionn
Diolch = dee-olchsalmoncat wrote: ps how do you say thank you properly
the accent is on the first sylable,
'o' as in 'song',
and 'ch' as in the German 'nacht', it's a rasping sound, as if you were trying to bring up some phlegm (nice!), not as in 'much'.
Or just have a look at the above site listed which looks really good!
- salmoncat
- Posts: 81
- Joined: 05 Nov 2005, 22:05
- Gender: Female
- Location: swimmin around somewhere
- Contact:
- Gwilym Goch
- Posts: 127
- Joined: 13 Nov 2005, 19:49
- Contact:
Hi Salmoncat,
Salmon in Welsh is spelt 'eog' and is pronounced 'e-og', the accent being on the 'e'.
The 'e' is pronounced like the name of the letter 'a' in English, which phonetically sounds more like ey, I suppose. We just want the e (first whole sound) from the ey. Stick that in front of a greater spotted 'og', pronounced as it reads, and there you have it - 'eog'. Hope that's not too convoluted. There's a BBC web site listed above which might have an audio recording of the word.
Celtic isn't a language of its own anymore. But as a term it's sometimes used to describe the historic grouping of the 'Celtic' languages, a branch of the greater Indo-Eurpoean family. For example - Welsh (Cymraeg) and her cousins Cornish and Bretton are considered P Celtic languages, and Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic and Manx Gaelic are considered Q Celtic languages. The received oppinion is that at one time there was a purely 'Celtic' language, which divided into the above - but that was a long, long time ago, before the Celts (whoever they were) arrived in the British Isles.
Hope this helps.
Salmon in Welsh is spelt 'eog' and is pronounced 'e-og', the accent being on the 'e'.
The 'e' is pronounced like the name of the letter 'a' in English, which phonetically sounds more like ey, I suppose. We just want the e (first whole sound) from the ey. Stick that in front of a greater spotted 'og', pronounced as it reads, and there you have it - 'eog'. Hope that's not too convoluted. There's a BBC web site listed above which might have an audio recording of the word.
Celtic isn't a language of its own anymore. But as a term it's sometimes used to describe the historic grouping of the 'Celtic' languages, a branch of the greater Indo-Eurpoean family. For example - Welsh (Cymraeg) and her cousins Cornish and Bretton are considered P Celtic languages, and Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic and Manx Gaelic are considered Q Celtic languages. The received oppinion is that at one time there was a purely 'Celtic' language, which divided into the above - but that was a long, long time ago, before the Celts (whoever they were) arrived in the British Isles.
Hope this helps.
- Gwilym Goch
- Posts: 127
- Joined: 13 Nov 2005, 19:49
- Contact:
Hi Salmoncat,
Salmon in Welsh is spelt 'eog' and is pronounced 'e-og', the accent being on the 'e'.
The 'e' is pronounced like the name of the letter 'a' in English, which phonetically sounds more like ey, I suppose. We just want the e (first whole sound) from the ey. Stick that in front of a greater spotted 'og', pronounced as it reads, and there you have it - 'eog'. Hope that's not too convoluted. There's a BBC web site listed above which might have an audio recording of the word.
[incidentally- the ending -og usually denotes swiftness or movement as in 'draenog' = 'moving thorn', Welsh for hedgehog; or 'diog' = 'un-swift', Welsh for lazy]
Celtic isn't a language of its own anymore. But as a term it's sometimes used to describe the historic grouping of the 'Celtic' languages, a branch of the greater Indo-Eurpoean family. For example - Welsh (Cymraeg) and her cousins Cornish and Bretton are considered P Celtic languages, and Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic and Manx Gaelic are considered Q Celtic languages. The received oppinion is that at one time there was a purely 'Celtic' language, which divided into the above - but that was a long, long time ago, before the Celts (whoever they were) arrived in the British Isles.
Hope this helps.
Salmon in Welsh is spelt 'eog' and is pronounced 'e-og', the accent being on the 'e'.
The 'e' is pronounced like the name of the letter 'a' in English, which phonetically sounds more like ey, I suppose. We just want the e (first whole sound) from the ey. Stick that in front of a greater spotted 'og', pronounced as it reads, and there you have it - 'eog'. Hope that's not too convoluted. There's a BBC web site listed above which might have an audio recording of the word.
[incidentally- the ending -og usually denotes swiftness or movement as in 'draenog' = 'moving thorn', Welsh for hedgehog; or 'diog' = 'un-swift', Welsh for lazy]
Celtic isn't a language of its own anymore. But as a term it's sometimes used to describe the historic grouping of the 'Celtic' languages, a branch of the greater Indo-Eurpoean family. For example - Welsh (Cymraeg) and her cousins Cornish and Bretton are considered P Celtic languages, and Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic and Manx Gaelic are considered Q Celtic languages. The received oppinion is that at one time there was a purely 'Celtic' language, which divided into the above - but that was a long, long time ago, before the Celts (whoever they were) arrived in the British Isles.
Hope this helps.
- salmoncat
- Posts: 81
- Joined: 05 Nov 2005, 22:05
- Gender: Female
- Location: swimmin around somewhere
- Contact:
- salmoncat
- Posts: 81
- Joined: 05 Nov 2005, 22:05
- Gender: Female
- Location: swimmin around somewhere
- Contact:
- Gwilym Goch
- Posts: 127
- Joined: 13 Nov 2005, 19:49
- Contact:
- salmoncat
- Posts: 81
- Joined: 05 Nov 2005, 22:05
- Gender: Female
- Location: swimmin around somewhere
- Contact: