Dan I lived in North Wales for three years and after such a time still didn't get it. If only I had your page. What made me laugh is even when I used what I did pick up no matter how I pronounced it, it would be wrong simply because as someone not born in Wales there is no way I was going to be told it was correct. But still as you say Iechyd da pronounced "Yacky dah" ?
I've got a couple of friends who are learning Welsh at the moment, and they keep saying how it's such a hard language to learn. It's real funny listening to them try and pronounce stuff. Guess I shouldn't laugh, I was lucky to have learnt it when I was a kid. Strangely although English is my first language, the first language I learnt to write in was Welsh. I can tell you it's a much easier language to write in than English, completely phonetic with no silly rules like English has!
Having read some other pages of yours - high quality's no surprise.
But this is a huge surprise:
"Despite its formidable appearance to the uninitiated, Welsh is a language whose spelling is entirely regular and phonetic-"
I'm just having difficulty understanding how the U works against I. Isn't U for the longer sound, as in queen/these? And I for the shorter one, i.e. pin but not queen?
And what about R after a vowel, as in e.g. Garth - pronounced?
The type of ee sound is only ever elongated if it has a little 'roof' thing over it e.g. on this â (I couldn't find an example with an i, u or y). Otherwise the pronunciations are all the same.
You got the 'R' question right, that's exactly how you pronounce it.
mountainmanmark - Mar 7, 2008 6:11 pm - Voted 10/10
Truely InspiredDan I lived in North Wales for three years and after such a time still didn't get it. If only I had your page. What made me laugh is even when I used what I did pick up no matter how I pronounced it, it would be wrong simply because as someone not born in Wales there is no way I was going to be told it was correct. But still as you say Iechyd da pronounced "Yacky dah" ?
Nanuls - Mar 8, 2008 9:21 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Truely InspiredI've got a couple of friends who are learning Welsh at the moment, and they keep saying how it's such a hard language to learn. It's real funny listening to them try and pronounce stuff. Guess I shouldn't laugh, I was lucky to have learnt it when I was a kid. Strangely although English is my first language, the first language I learnt to write in was Welsh. I can tell you it's a much easier language to write in than English, completely phonetic with no silly rules like English has!
Yacky dah!
Dan
yatsek - Nov 25, 2008 8:28 am - Voted 10/10
No Surprise/SurpriseHaving read some other pages of yours - high quality's no surprise.
But this is a huge surprise:
"Despite its formidable appearance to the uninitiated, Welsh is a language whose spelling is entirely regular and phonetic-"
I'm just having difficulty understanding how the U works against I. Isn't U for the longer sound, as in queen/these? And I for the shorter one, i.e. pin but not queen?
And what about R after a vowel, as in e.g. Garth - pronounced?
Nanuls - Nov 26, 2008 8:25 am - Hasn't voted
Re: No Surprise/SurpriseRight, how do I explain this...
The type of ee sound is only ever elongated if it has a little 'roof' thing over it e.g. on this â (I couldn't find an example with an i, u or y). Otherwise the pronunciations are all the same.
You got the 'R' question right, that's exactly how you pronounce it.
yatsek - Nov 26, 2008 8:32 am - Voted 10/10
Re: No Surprise/SurpriseDiolch