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Tudalennau 'r Dysgwyr - Welsh Learners' Pages

Ynganiad a'r Wyddor / Pronunciation and the Alphabet

Let's start with the Welsh alphabet. It has 28 letters (29 if you include the English import 'J'), of which 8 are digraphs (letters constructed from two characters). Those of a mathematical bent will have done the maths already and are probably wondering what the 5 'missing' letters are. 'K', 'Q', 'V', 'X', and 'Z' do not appear in Welsh. 'J' is only used in 'loanwords', usually borrowed from the English (yes, 'Jones' is an English name! The Welsh version probably being Sio^ns). The Welsh alphabet is:-

a b c ch d dd e f ff g ng h i (j) l ll m n o p ph r rh s t th u w y

Note: Many computers are unable to show the accented characters that appear in Welsh. To resolve this problem, in the following, accents are shown after the letter to which they apply.

Llafariaid / Vowels

a
as in Welsh English man (i.e. slightly more open than in English man)
a^
longer version of a
e
as in English men
e^
longer version of e, like Welsh English game (i.e. without dipthongisation)
i
as in English pin
i^
longer version of i, like machine
o
as in English hot
o^
longer version of o, as in Welsh English hole (i.e. without dipthongisation)
u
in the North, like the french 'u' or German 'ü', but with unrounded lips; in the South, the same as i above
u^
longer version of u
w
as in English book
w^
longer version of w, as in Welsh English pool (i.e. without dipthongisation)
y
Two sounds depending upon where the letter appears in the word.
  1. in the last syllable of words of more than one syllable and in one-syllable words — like u above
  2. everywhere else — like the second vowel in English sofa, butter (there are a few exceptions to this rule)
y^
same as u^ above

Deuseiniaid / Diphthongs

ae & ai
generally like the English eye
au
generally like the English eye, except where used as a plural marker -au on nouns where it is pronounced as -a in the North and -e in the South
aw
as in English down
ei & eu
a combination of y (2 above) + i, almost like the English hay; but note the words ei and eu have special pronounciation
ew
e + w — NOT like English new
iw & uw & yw
as in English new, but with more emphasis on the first sound
oe & ou
as in English boy, though ou is rare in Welsh
ow
o + w — NOT as in English down
wy
as in English gooey

Cytseiniaid / Consonants

b
as in English book
c
always a 'k' sound as in English call; NEVER pronounced as s
ch
as in Scottish loch; Never as in English church
d
as in English damp
dd
a sounded 'th' as in English this (NOT as in English think); Compare with 'th' below
f
as in English van
ff
as in English fan
g
always a hard 'g' sound as in English girl; NEVER pronounced as 'j
ng
as in English singer (NOT as in English finger, i.e. the 'g' is not sounded) — note: can occur at the start of a word
h
as in English hat — always sounded in Welsh
j
as in English jam (used for loanwords only)
l
is sounded as in English lamp (NOT as in English milk)
ll
aspirated (i.e. unsounded) version of l — articulated in the same way but with breath only. It is a common misconception that it is pronounced 'cl' and many Welsh speakers will make a sound very similar to this, but the 'c' part is coming from the front and side edges of the tongue not the back of the tongue as in English.
m
as in English mother
n
as in English now
p
as in English park
ph
as in English philosophy (but quite rare in Welsh)
r
rolled or flapped r as in Scottish English
rh
h followed by r
s
Two sounds depending upon where the letters following it.
  1. as in English sit; NEVER pronounced as 'z'
  2. si when followed by a vowel is pronounced 'sh'
t
as in English tart
th
an unsounded 'th' as in English think (NOT as in English this); Compare with 'dd' above

In addition, i and w can be used as consonants

i
as in English yew
w
as in English wall

Aceniad / Word Stress

Word stress in Welsh nearly always falls on the penultimate syllable — the only exceptions to this among native words are certain adverbs that were originally two words, e.g. ymlaen (from yn + blaen), and certain verbnouns ending in -au, e.g. sicrhau

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