Welsh language
From the Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can change
The Welsh language is the ancient Celtic language of Wales. The language the first language of more than than 20% of the people of Wales (approximately 500,000 people). Many people in Wales understand it, even if they do not speak it all the time. Almost all Welsh people understand and can use English. Children learn it in most schools in Wales. In Welsh it is known as Cymraeg.
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[change] Mutations
Welsh has mutations. Mutations are when a sound (in speech) or a letter (in writing) changes at the start of a word. An example is the Welsh word gwneud, in English it means "do". Sometimes the word changes from gwneud to wneud. These sound (in speech) or letter (in writing) changes also occur within and at the end of words although the simplified classification found in ordinary books does not mention this.
[change] How to say things in Welsh
Here are some things to say in Welsh. How to say it in brackets ()
- "Dewch i mewn" (dewkh ee mewn)- come in
- "Bore da" (bor-e da) - good morning
- "Sut dach chi heddiw?"( sit dakh khi hevu), or more commonly, "Siwmae?"(shoo-my), or "Sut wyt ti heddiw?" (sit oy-tea hevu) - how are you today?
- "Da iawn diolch" (da y-oww-n dee-olkh) very well thank you
"we will always remember you"
[change] Media
Lots of books have been translated into Welsh. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" was translated into a Welsh version called "Harri Potter a Maen yr Athronydd", which means the same thing as the English title.
[change] The Welsh Alphabet
The Welsh Alphabet has some extra letters that aren't used in English, and does not have some others. Although certain letters don't exist in Welsh, they are used sometimes to make sounds that couldn't possibly be made otherwise. A good example is the word 'garej' (meaning garage). The letter 'j' doesn't exist in Welsh but there is no other way of saying garage. Here is the Welsh alphabet:
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^.
All the letters that are marked out with '^'s are vowels. The letter W can be used either as a vowel (when it is said 'oo' like in the Welsh word 'cwm' (coom) meaning 'valley') or as a consonant (when it is said like it is in English, for example in the Welsh word 'gwyn' (gwin) meaning 'white'). This is the same with letter I which can also be used as a consonant (when it is said like an English Y like in 'iogwrt' (yog-oort) meaning yoghurt. Letters marked with '*'s are letters that aren't in the English alphabet, or have different sounds. CH sounds like a cat hissing, or the 'KH' in Ayatollah KHoumeini. DD is said like the TH in 'THere'. F is said like the English 'V'. FF is said like the English 'F'. NG sounds like it would in English but it is tricky because it comes at the beginnings of words (for example 'fy ngardd' - my garden). One trick is to blend it in with the word before it. LL sounds like someone with a lisp saying an 'S'. PH sounds like the English 'F' too, but it is only used in mutations. RH sounds like an 'R' said very quickly before a 'H'. TH sounds like the 'TH' in 'THin'. W has been explained in the sentences before about vowels.
