Welsh Language

DON’T FORGET YOUR WELSH

Welsh is one of Europe’s oldest living languages, underpinning a rich culture and heritage. You’ll see it on bilingual signs everywhere. Over one-quarter of Conwy County’s population speaks Welsh, so you’ll also hear it in our streets, towns and villages – along, of course, with English.

This lyrical language, amongst other things, makes Wales different. It shouldn’t cause you any problems or confusion. In fact, it’s good fun to dip into the language and to get your mouth around pronunciations. The effort’s well worth it, even if you manage to speak only a few words.

It’s also a very revealing language – in the sense that Welsh placenames tell you a lot about their immediate surroundings. Llan, for example – as in Llanrwst or Llandudno – signifies the presence of a church or religious settlement. Aber means ‘mouth of’ – so Abergele means ‘Mouth of the River Gele’. When you see llyn on the map look out for a lake. If there’s a mynydd ahead then you’ll have a mountain to climb.

Here are some Welsh words that help you build up a picture of a place:

afon                       river
bach, fach            small
blaen                    head, end, source
bryn                      hill
bwlch                    pass
cefn                       ridge
craig, graig         rock
cwm                      valley, cirque
dinas                     fort, city
du, ddu                 black
dyffryn                 valley
glyn                       glen
llan                       church, enclosure
llyn                         lake
maen                      stone
mawr, fawr           great, big
moel, foel               bare hill
mynydd, fynydd   mountain, moorland
pentre                     village, homestead
pont, bont               bridge
ystrad                      valley floor

And here are a few greetings:

good morning               bore da                      
good afternoon             prynhawn da              
good evening                 noswaith dda              
good health!/cheers!   iechyd da!                   
good night                       nos da                        
hello                                  shwmae
how are you?                  sut mae?                     
thanks                               diolch                         
very good                         da iawn
welcome                           croeso                        
welcome to Wales         croeso i Gymru           

Our ‘lls’ and ‘dds’

Double ‘ll’ (as in Llandudno) and double ‘dd’ (as in mynydd) crop up a lot in Welsh. They’re not difficult to get your tongue around. To pronounce ‘ll’ place the tongue behind the top row of your teeth and breathe out or hiss past the teeth. Double ‘dd’ is even easier – it’s equivalent to the ‘th’ sound in English.