The following is a list of some of the Welsh words and phrases your child/ren may be using in and out of school, with translations and pronunciation guides. It will be regularly added to so please keep checking in.

 

Bore da – good morning

‘Bor’ like boar and ‘e’ as in the less polite way to say ‘pardon’: eh;

da (good) as is

So, boar-eh da.

 

Prynhawn da – good afternoon

Put a ‘p’ before run then how (as in ‘How do I speak Welsh?’) + n; or first 4 letters of hound.

P-run-how-n da.

 

Nos da – good night

Nos like Norse

Norse da.

 

Hwyl fawr – goodbye

Try hoo-eel for Hwyl and vow (as in promise)+ r for Fawr.

Hoo-eel vow-r

 

Dyma – here is

Dum+ ah

Dum-ah

Dyma Miss Fry – here is Miss Fry

Dyma fi (vee) – here I am

Dyma’r ysgol – here is the school ( ‘r is the) – just add a rolling ‘r’ to Dum-ah

Dum-ah-rrr

 

 

Some numbers

1 un - een

2 dau - Dai like the name or dye, die

3 tri - like tree

4 pedwar -  ped as in pedal and war as in Wario NOT as in fighting with guns

5 pump -  pimp as in pimple

6 chwech -

To master ch– impersonate Chewbacca, then take out the voice, just leaving the air blowing out through your mouth.

Try the wi in wind, but make it longer. Then another ch and join together.

ch-wii-ch

 

7 saith - si as in sigh and th as in think, thump, thunder

sigh-th

 

8 wyth - oo-eeth (th as above)

9 naw - now, but slightly longer, to rhyme with miaow

naow

10 deg - de a bit like de facto + hard g or as if you’re saying dig but making it very long: diiig.

 

Some colours

coch – red - cor + ch as above (Chewbacca)

glas – blue - glass – but the posh way, almost glarss

melyn – yellow -  Mel as in the name and yn like in

gwyrdd – green - gw as in Guadeloupe, Guatemala and Guam; yr as in irritate and th as in the

gu-irr-th

pinc – pink – exactly the same!

 

 

Cymalau Tymhorol / Seasonal Phrases

 

Nadolig Llawen – Merry Christmas

‘Nad’ – as is (rhymes with lad, glad, mad);

‘ol’ – as in Oliver

‘ig’ – as in The Stig

 

To master ‘ll’ – say ‘l’ then blow out of one side of your cheek.

So, ‘ll’ – as above

‘aw’ – as you’d say ow if you’d hurt yourself.

‘en’ – as in end

 

Nad-ol-ig Ll-aw-en

 

Blwyddyn Newydd Dda – Happy New Year

‘Blwy’ – like bluey

‘dd’ – soft thas in then, this, the

‘yn’ – like in

 

‘Ne’ – as in net, never, Nelly

‘wydd’ – like with

 

‘Dda’ – soft th + arr (though don’t say the rrs clearly)

 

Bluey-th-in Ne-with Th-arr

 

Sion Corn – Father Christmas

‘Sion’ – as you’d say Shaun

‘Cor’ – as in the way some people refer to Coronation Street – Corrie + ‘n’

 

Shaun Corr-n

 

eira – snow                 ey-raa

oer – cold                   oi as you might call someone + rrr oi-rrr

dyn eira – snowman  deen ey-raa

rhodd – gift                ‘rh’ should be pronounced, but can get away with rorth(soft th)

tinsel – tinsel              same

carol – carol               also same 

coeden – tree             coy-den

menyg – gloves          men-ig

maneg – glove           man-egg

 

 

Hope you enjoy learning some of these words – there will be NO exam. Check back for some more in a few days.

 

Blwyddyn Newydd Dda Bawb! / Happy New Year Everyone!

 

Misoedd y flwyddyn / Months of the Year

 

Ionawr – January

‘Ion’ as in yonder + ‘aw’ as in owl+ ‘r’ as in run

Yon-ow-r

 

Chwefror – February

‘Ch’ as before + ‘we’ as in web + v+ ‘ro’ as in rock + ‘r’ as in run

Ch-we-v-ro-r

 

Mawrth – March

Like mouth but with an ‘r’ betweeen the uand t

So, Mou-r-th

 

Ebrill – April

‘Eb’ as in ebb + ‘ri’ as in riddle+ ‘ll’ as before

Ebb-ri-ll

 

Mai – May

Like my

 

Mehefin – June

‘Me’ as meh+ ‘hef’ as in heavy + in

Me-heav-in

 

Gorffennaf – July (info: ‘gorffen’ = end + haf = summer, so Gorffennaf = end of summer)

‘Go’ as in got +‘r’ as in run+ ‘ffenn’ as in fence + ‘af’ like have without the ‘h’

Go-r-fen-‘ave

 

Awst – August

Like oust

 

Medi – September

Like Medivac

 

Hydref – October

‘Hyd’ as in Roy Hudd+ ‘rev’ like revving a car

Hudd-rev

 

Tachwedd – November

‘Ta’ as in tap + ch + ‘wedd’ as in weather

Ta-ch-weath

 

Rhagfyr – December

‘Rh’ can be tricky. Think My car has wheels and take the ‘rh’ as a separate sound.

R-h + hag + ‘fyr’ as in virulent

Rh-hag-vir

 

 

Y Tymhorau / The Seasons

 

Gaeaf – Winter

Gay + ‘af’ as in avenue or have without the ‘h’

Gay-ave

 

Gwanwyn – Spring

‘Gwa’ as in Guadeloupe + noo + ‘wyn’ as in win

Gwa-noo-win

 

Haf – Summer

Like halve but don’t sound the ‘l’

Ha-ve

 

Hydref – Autumn (also October)

‘Hyd’ as in Roy Hudd + ‘rev’ like revving a car

Hudd-rev

 

 

Dyddiau’r wythnos / Days of the week

As in English, in Welsh each day of the week has the word for ‘day’ in it.

 

Dydd – Day

Rhymes with seethe

So, Deethe

 

Dydd Llun – Monday

‘ll’ + een

Deethe Ll-een

 

Dydd Mawrth – Tuesday (Mawrth also = the month of March)

Like mouthbut with an ‘r’ betweeen the uand t

So, Deethe Mou-r-th

 

Dydd Mercher – Wednesday

Arguably the hardest.  If you/your child can say ‘merched’ (plural of ‘merch’ – girl) then change the ‘d’ for an ‘r’ on the end.

‘Mer’ as in merry + ‘ch’ + ‘er’ as in error

Deethe Merr-ch-err

 

Dydd Iau – Thursday

‘Iau’ as in ‘Yikes!’

Deethe Yi

 

Dydd Gwener – Friday

‘Gwen’ as in the name (i.e. Guadeloupe + enn) + ‘er’ as in error

Deethe Gu-enn-err

 

Dydd Sadwrn – Saturday (‘Sadwrn’ is Welsh for Saturn)

‘Sad’ as in sad + ‘w’ as in the ‘oo’ in book+ ‘r’ as in grrr + and n on its own

Deethe Sad-oo-rrr-n

 

Dydd Sul - Sunday

As in seal

Deethe Seal

 

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