A road sign in the two official languages in Wales
This time - a month late, sorry about that, but hopefully worth the wait - we concentrate in Language Day on the Welsh language. Well yn hwyrach na byth (see below!). A Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Historically, it has also been known in English as British, Cambrian, and Cymric.
It might also be of interest to know about the Welsh people. There is a short list below the main article of people who were born in Wales. They don’t all necessarily speak Welsh, but you can often here in their accent that they are from Wales. You may easily recognize some of the names in the list, Richard Burton, Timothy Dalton, Anthony Hopkins and Ray Milland, among others.
So, the language itself. According to the 2011 census, the Welsh-speaking population of Wales was 19.0%, and nearly three quarters of the population in Wales said they had no Welsh language skills. But that 19% has since increased. Estimates suggest that 29.7% of people in Wales could speak Welsh in 2022, and the Welsh government plans to increase the number of Welsh language speakers to one million by 2050. So Welsh is a vibrant Celtic language, and the only Celtic language not considered endangered by UNESCO. There are altogether six living Celtic languages: the four continuously living languages: Breton, Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Welsh. And the two revived languages: Cornish and Manx.
One from outside the British Isles might ask whether Welsh and Irish languages are similar. If you with similar mean “mutually comprehensible,” then no, not at all. But they share a common ancestor, and thus they belong to separate branches of the Celtic language family. The two branches separated a long, long time ago.
In what ways does Welsh differ from English? Welsh developed from the language of Britons. The shift from that language occurred over a long period of time, with a sort of watershed moment perhaps being the Battle of Dyrham between the West Saxons and the Britons in the year 577 that split the South Western British from direct overland contact with the Welsh. There is a lot to know of course about the history of the language, but here we concentrate on modern Welsh, giving some easy samples and examples.
Welsh is a phonetic language. It is written exactly as it is spoken, and spoken exactly as it is written. Or so they say. So, how do you say for example “I love you” in Welsh?
Here are some common words and phrases in Welsh:
and = a
animal = anifail
at home = adref
beer = gwrw
better = well
better later than never = well yn hwyrach na byth
bird = aderyn
blue = glas
book = llyfr
boy = bachgen
bus = bws
car = car
cat = cath
Cheers! = Iechyd da! (To your health!) - We learn Welsh
child = plentyn
church = eglwys
city = dinas
country = qwlad
daughter = merch
day = dydd
doctor = meddyg
dog = ci
English = Saesneg
expensive = drud
father - tad
flower = blodeuyn
food = bwyd
girl = merch (so, same as daughter)
good = dda
Good evening! = Noswaith dda!
Good morning! = Bore da!
Good night! = Nos da!
he = ef
he is = mae o
health = iechyd
heart = calon
Help! = Help!
here = yma
home = cartref
hospital = ysbyty
hotel = gwesty
hour = awr
house = tŷ
how = sut
How do you say it in Welsh? = Sut wyt ti’n ei ddweud yn Gymraeg?
husband = gwr
husband and wife = gwr a gwraig
I am = Dwi yn
I am here = Rydw i yma
I love you = Rwy’n dy garu di
in English = yn Saesneg
in Welsh = yn Gymraeg
it is mine = eiddof fi ydyw
language = iaith
later = yn ddiweddarach
library = llyfrgell
love = cariad
man = dyn
map = map
medicine = meddygaeth
minute = munud
money = arian
month = mis
more = mwy
mother = mam
mother tongue = mam iaith
never = byth
new = newydd
news = newyddion
newspaper = papur newydd
no = nac oes
now = yn awr
old = hen
open = agored
paper = papur
pen = gorlan
police = heddlu
radio = radio
red = coch
restaurant = bwyty
road = ffordd
sea = môr
she = hi
she is = mae hi yns
low = araf
son = mab
Sorry = Sori!
station = gorsaf
sun = haul
taxi = tacsi
television = teledu
Thank you = Diolch!
time = amser
To your health! = Iechyd da!
today = heddiw
toilet = toiled
tomorrow = yfory
tourist = twristiaid
train = tren
Wales = Cymru
we are = rydym
week = wythnos
Welsh = Cymraeg
what is this? = beth yw hwn?
when? = pryd
where? = ble?
where are you? = ble wyt ti?
white = gwyn
why? = pam?
wife = gwraig
woman = gwraig
year = blwyddyn
yes = oes (compare with no)
yesterday = ddoe
you are = wyt ti
You are here = Rwyt ti yma
And here is how you count from one to ten in Welsh: un, dwy, tri, pedwar, pump, chwech, saith, wyth, naw, deg. And here the days of the week, from Sunday on: Sul (or Dydd Sul), Dydd Llun, Dydd Mawrth, Mercher, Dydd Lau, Gwener, Dydd Sadwrn.
So, very different from English! Watch the video down below and listen to some Welsh spoken! With both Welsh and English subtitles, thank you for that!
What about the long words? Anyone traveling in Wales has surely heard about the one railway station in Wales with the longest name!
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
Which freely translates to “St Mary’s Church in the hollow of the white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St Tysilio of the Red Cave”. Is that typical though? Long words in Welsh? Well, Welsh orthography uses 29 letters, and most of the words are of course much shorter than that one long one - as you can see from the above vocabulary.
Then, what about the Welsh accent? That is, people speaking English with the Welsh accent - whether English is their mother tongue or the second language. How does that sound actually? Here is a good video on that subject!
And finally, as promised, a list of people born in Wales. Many more can be found here. We give you here just some of the recent ones, i.e.
People born in Wales in the 20th century (max 6 people per decade):
1903-1015 Pixie O’Harris* Welsh-Australian artist/illustrator/author – Cardiff (1991/88)
1905-0813 Gareth Jones* investigative journalist – Barry (1935/29)
1907-0102 Ray Milland* Welsh-American actor – Neath (1986/79)
1908-0205 Peg Entwistle* actress – Port Talbot (1932/24)
1910-1114 Errie Ball* Welsh-American golfer – Bangor (2014/103)
1913-0329 R. S. Thomas* poet/Anglican priest/against the anglicisation of Wales – Cardiff (2000/87)
1914-1027 Dylan Thomas* poet/writer – Swansea (1953/39)
1915-0315 Wilfred Abse* psychiatrist/career in the U.S. – Cardiff (2005/90) Oh Brother
1916-0226 Joan Curran* scientist/helped develop radar and the atomic bomb – Swansea (1999/82)
1916-0913 Roald Dahl* WW2 fighter pilot/novelist/of Norwegian descent – Cardiff (1990/74)
1920-1110 Peter Philp* dramatist/ antiques expert/host of Collectors’ Club – Cardiff (2006/85)
1921-0319 Tommy Cooper* comedian/magician – Caerphilly (1984/63)
1925-0907 Laura Ashley* fashion designer/businesswoman – Dowlais (1985/60)
1925-1110 Richard Burton* actor – Pontrhydyfen (1984/58)
1926-1009 Ruth Ellis* nightclub hostess/last woman hanged in the UK – Rhyl (1955/28)
1927-0511 Bernard Fox* actor – Port Talbot (2016/89)
1930-1019 Mavis Nicholson* writer/radio and television broadcaster – Neath (2022/91)
1936-0410 Ricky Valance* (b Spencer) singer – Ynyssdu (2020/84)
1937-0108 Shirley Bassey* singer (James Bond)/hostess of her series Shirley Bassey – Cardiff
1937-0922 Richard Marquand* film and television director – Cardiff (1987/49)
1937-1231 Anthony Hopkins* actor – Port Talbot
1939-0717 Spencer Davis* multi-instrument musician – Swansea (2020/81)
1940-0607 Tom Jones* singer – Pontypridd
1943-0817 John Humphrys* broadcaster/ host of the BBC quiz show Mastermind – Cardiff
1946-0321 Timothy Dalton* actor – Colwyn Bay
1947-0601 Jonathan Pryce* actor – Carmel
1948-0304 Shakin’ Stevens* (b Michael Barratt) singer/songwriter – Cardiff
1949-0605 Ken Follett* author of thrillers and historical novels – Cardiff
1951-0608 Bonnie Tyler* singer – Neath
1953-1116 Griff Rhys Jones* comedian/ writer/television presenter – Cardiff
1954-0912 Michael Moritz* journalist (Time)/billionaire venture capitalist – Cardiff
1957-0508 Eddie Butler* rugby player/journalist/sports commentator – Newport (2022/65)
1959-0424 Paula Yates* television presenter/writer/ex-wife of Bob Geldof – Colwyn Bay (2000/41)
1967-0218 Colin Jackson* sprinter/coach/ sports commentator – Cardiff
1969-0205 Michael Sheen* actor – Newport
1969-0925 Catherine Zeta-Jones* actress/wife of Michael Douglas – Swansea
1971-0907 Lisa Rogers* television presenter/actress/writer – Cardiff
1973-1006 Ioan Gruffudd* actor – Llwydcoed
1973-1129 Ryan Giggs* (b Wilson) football player/coach – Cardiff
1974-0130 Christian Bale* actor – Haverfordwest
1974-1104 Matthew Rhys* actor (The Americans) – Cardiff
1979-0415 Luke Evans* actor/singer – Pontypool
1986-0221 Charlotte Church* singer-songwriter/ actress/political activist – Cardiff
1989-0108 Non Stanford* athlete (triathlon/EG) – Bridgend
1989-0716 Gareth Bale* football player – Cardiff
1990-1226 Aaron Ramsey* football player – Caerphilly
1994-0207 Nathan Walker* Australian hockey player/SC – Cardiff
1999-0426 Jake Heyward* middle-distance runner_/ES_ – Cardiff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufKf4eORcKA&ab_channel=EasyLanguages
Updated 29.11.2022