Welsh chat thread?

[picklesdragonisawelshdragon]

Bore da!
Sut wyt ti heddiw?

Dwi'n dysgu Cymraeg.
I'm very bad, to be fair. Grew up in S.Wales before Welsh was brought back.

A fyddai unrhyw un yn hoffi ymuno â mi?

Google is laughing at me. "One thing I can't put up with is people saying "English" instead of English or English."

I'm ploughing away on Duolingo...

Cwtsh (or cwtch) is everywhere in SWales. It's a verb - to cwtch- or a noun as in coal cwtch, cwtch dan stâr etc.

Twti is another one. And tampan, or tamping. As in "tamping mad". Or "tamping" a ball.

It's funny to hear Welsh words among the English ones - a legacy of days gone by.

One thing I can't put up with is people saying "Saes" instead of Englishman or Englishwoman."

Saes is the herb Sage.

Google translate translates it as English but it is wrong.

The English/Englishmen is Saeson.

What is twti?

If I said something like "Mae Dylan wedi cwtso" I would mean Dylan has lost a lot of weight.

Cwts could be a shed or cupboard.

North and South Welsh have quite a lot of differences.

You also get dialects that are specific to certain towns or villages.

I could certainly say a few words that would pinpoint where I am from.

I'm S Wales and cwtch was to cuddle up, or a cosy little hidden corner. Twp was mad or perhaps barmy. I'm trying to remember what other words we sprinkled liberally in among the English. I was shocked to be told off by my English teacher for using cwtch. He corrected it to cuddle, which just didn't feel the same.

I chose Dylan as it is a middle aged person's name and a man's name.

Which brings me back to Baby Names. The names that get suggested tend to be ones that were popular in the 1960s.
Friends at school had names like Sian, Bethan, Carys, Rhian, Delyth, Catrin, Iona, Eleri, Eirian, Sioned and Nia. Boys had names like John, Dylan, Dewi, Huw, Rhys, Gareth, Alun, Geraint, Bryn, Iwan, Sion. Some of these names fell out of fashion as they were at the tail end of their popularity.

When someone asks for welsh name suggestions Anwen usually gets suggested but it was a bit old-fashioned when I was at school, the -wen and -wyn names all were. Arianwen gets suggested and they give ARi ANwen as the pronunciation. Eek! It's dated and made up, and mispronounced.

Eira is suggested again and again, probably because of the Eve, Ava, Isla names being so popular. Eira is a pretty name that was not particularly popular over the years, it and Eirlys (Snowdrop) tended to be given to girls born in snowy weather. Eira pronounced Ira or Ay-ruh are not pretty. Eirlys said as Air-liss isn't pretty either.

I heard someone on the radio refer to Tell Airy. She was talking to a Teleri. Cringe. I've had people argue with me on here re the pronunciation of Eleri. I know so many Eleris! I've also seen someone say Osian is welsh for Ocean and pronounced the same

I could go on.

I agree, pickles. Cwtch is not the same as cuddle.

Twti is to crouch down. I think it comes from "twt" ie small - hence to make oneself small by crouching down. If that makes sense.

I would say cwtch meant embrace, hug and cuddle. Not my word, but embrace, hug and cuddle have different meanings.

Another pet hate, appropriating the word 'hiraeth'. Use nostalgia, homesickness or longing or whatever instead.

How would you pronounce Eira, Mike?

I'd pronounce it as Ira (like the Gershwin) but DD is always telling me it should be ey-ra.

I know several Eleris - one a young one, the rest older. Also many Sarans, Serens, Ffions, Mablis, Nels, Ionas, Sioneds (always tricky, that one!).

Meleri and Teleri also popular.

And a few Osians as well.

I like twti. Dwi'n twti yn aml.

Twt isn't often used in N Wales. Tlws isn't either.

When I was young, a friend had a Mamgu and Tadcu and a Nain and Taid. Friends of my parent lived just over the border and despite not being Welsh, they were known as Taid and Nain to their GC.

Ei sounds different to Ey. Very difficult to explain. A bit like Hei! doen't sound like Hey or Hay.
the -ra sounds like the ra in rat, not like the ra in Sarah.

If eira was pronounced like Ira (Gershwin) it would be written Aira.

Iona seems very dated (1950s-60s). Usually indicates a January birthday. Pronounced YONNa.

I hadn't thought of Sioned being tricky but there was a nickname (something-'ead). I suppose it gets Sigh-on-ed.

A name like Llinos or Meinir (both lovely) will cause misery outside welsh-speaking areas. They will be Clee-nose an Meneer - or worse.

Noswaith da, bawb! O gogledd Cymru ydw I ond dwi'n byw tramor rwan. Wnes I ddysgu Cymraeg yn yr ysgol ond does neb yn fy teulu yn siarad o a felly dydw I ddim yn cael llawer o gyfle I sgwrsio. Fel gallech chi weld, rydw i'n ofnadwy yn ysgrifennu! Ond mae'n braf iawn cael gweld yr iaith ar NetyFamau. Diolch OP

N oswaith dda maman.
Dydi eich Cymraeg ddim yn ofnadwy. Mae amcan gennyf eich bod yn gallu siarad Ffrangeg.

mamansnet Mon francais est terrible

A phrase used a lot when I was little was 'coopy down', for crouch down. Could that be a corruption of twti do you think? I've not heard it since leaving wales, I don't think.

Welsh names at school in 80s were Sioned, Meredith, Myffanwy, various forms of Ceri. Dewi, Dylan, David, Rhys, Owein (I think).

Can't think of any more off the top of my head.

Oh dear, I hope that was a typo - it's Myfanwy and Owain.

Meredydd is a boy's name. It isn't pronounced like Meredith.

Crouching is cwrcwd. Google translate gave baglu i lawr for crouch down - wrong. baglu is to trip.

Name fashions vary between NW and SW. Cerys was unusual but Carys very popular.
It seems very middle aged as do most of the names we listed. Myfanwy was very dated.

Names like Angharad and Rhiannon weren't overused in my youth. Rhiannon was quite dated, Rhian being much more popular. Rhiannon became more popular after the Fleetwood Mac song, resulting in the name being mispronounced. Angharad Rees was Demelza in Poldark in the 1970s - she was lovely. Nice name, but the 'ngh' sound isn't easy.

Dewi fell out of fashion, Dafydd being much more popular. Iwan similarly replaced by Sion or Ifan, although Ifan was an old man's name when I was a teenager.

David is Dei in the north and Dai in the south. I think Dai Davies is from the south but had a bookshop fairly locally. In NE Wales, non-welsh speaking Davids are sometimes called Day and Stephens Ste.

Dai has fallen out of fashion in SWales now. Maybe because David isn't so popular?

I spoke to Meredith today. She pronounced it MERedith, not MerEdith, as I would have. Nice name though.
So many Welsh names among my old neighbours: Nestas, Mairs and Dilyses everywhere!

Gareth is a name which was popular when I was young but I don't hear it so often now.

David isn't as popular. I can't think of anyone young with the name.
Nesta, Gwyneth and Dilys are WWII era names. Mair was still in use when I was at school, but more often as a middle name. Mari was much more popular. Gareth seems dated.

I think Meredith is not a nice name. I'm not keen on names with th in them. I like Elizabeth but can't think of any others.

I am overinvested, but I have a tricky Welsh name.

Love it but despite being Mel everywhere I get Melanie, or sometimes Melody or Melania. Not a problem. My parents insisted I got the full name all through my childhood.

I have a normal welshish surname but once people know I am welsh they sometimes decide that I am Melanie Jones. [email protected] is not me.

Every time I have an appointment with someone, I am announced as Mel Angel, Melange-L, Melonjel, Melangela, Melangelel or Melangehl. Usually Melonjel. If you have several appointments in one day that's a lot of cringing.

People write my name as Melangle, melangel, melnagel. Trying to teach people to say ll results in Melangech, Melangeth and a whole lot worse. The ng is rarely pronounced like a welsh ng.
People can be well-meaning and will try to get me to teach them to say it. I can't.

My beautiful name is a PITA. I have to spell it so often and they still get it wrong. I have even been asked why do I spell my name like that when it is really Melanie.

Melangell?

MaM not typos so much as misremembering names I haven't seen written in years! It's been lovely listening to all the names- I haven't heard them for ages. I may have to go and watch some Ivor the engine.

Mel, my name is similarly hard to read and write for a lot of people. I've never met anyone with my name. It's got better in the last ten/twenty years or so- it's been in the odd film, and there's an actress shares it. It can be irritating. Not hard to say once you know, though.

Has he got it right here?

forvo.com/word/melangell/

I live in North Walex. The word cwtch is widely used. There is a ty bach twt in every meithrin but I haven't heard the word twti. Agree that names that are not very current are often suggested as baby names. A bit like suggesting Pauline Barbara or Stephen to someone looking for an English name. Eira is pronounced Aye ra here but I believe it is Ira in the south.What baby names do you like MAM.

@MikeUniformMike yn yr ysgol oedd o'n hawdd I I’m newid rhwng y ddau. Rwan mae'n lot fwy anodd. Fedrai cychwyn brawddeg yn y gymraeg a gorffen hefo 'voila' heb sylwi 🙈