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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