To think that if it was France & French no one would care about a name change but because it’s Welsh…

[Letshaveablackcelebration2022]

Welsh is trending on Twitter because a lot of people don’t like the fact that the Brecon Beacons will revert to its Welsh name https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/apr/17/brecon-beacons-relaunches-with-welsh-name-bannau-brycheiniog-as-picture-of-hope-for-future

People also kicked off when Snowdon also reverted to its Welsh name Yr Wyddfa

Aibu to really not understand the issue. I am Welsh and a Welsh speaker. It makes sense to me to call place names by their Welsh names and not by their anglicised versions if you want to protect a language and culture. Which we do.

Noone would bat an eyelid if in France their decided to only use French names. We drive in France and get by without English alternatives. So what exactly is the problem with Wales doing the same?

People in England are getting worked up about Welsh people giving Welsh names to Welsh places? Bunch of plu eira :)

I think so many people try to read Welsh as if it uses the English alphabet. Which is does not.

It's not 100% phonetic though. But certainly closer/ most consistent in phonetic pronunciation than English.

My big pet hate though, is people being taught/ pushed the dialect for different parts of Wales to where they live. Which makes paracticing conversation as a Welsh learner a lot harder than it needs to be.

I'm kiwi and have no problem with it being Welsh. I don't speak Welsh and I find the new name hard to say. But that's not the reason to object to name change is it? It should be Welsh. NZ went through the same renaming places back to their original Maori names.

But we do say "the moulin rouge" "notre dame" and "Sacré-Cœur" "the colosseum" etc.
Some things we (as english speakers) translate, some things we don't, it's not an absolute rule either way.

Same with the people saying "well everyone still calls it snowdon" yes that's because it's only changed a year or so ago! Most things need at least a generation or two before a new name beds in - again wales specific but everyone I know still coloquially refers to the Severn Bridge rather than the prince of wales Bridge, the millennium stadium rather than the principality stadium, etc.

It shouldn't be "if you only speak english then call places not in english by the english name" - by that logic you'd go to paris and ask for directions to the red windmill or to our lady cathedral.

It's if you're referring to it in an official or formal capacity - so government, newsbroadcasters etc. you should refer to somewhere by its correct/official name. In this case the official name has now changed so anyone referring to the area in a formal or official context should call it Bannau Brycheiniog.

If you're just a random person having a chat about where you're going on holiday to your friend of course nobody will care if you call it the brecon beacons. In exactly the same way its fine if you say you do your shopping in "sainsbos" or your friend lives in "brizzle" but it would be inappropriate for the bbc news anchor to refer to anything other than "sainsburies share prices" or "the weather in bristol".

Were you at private school or state? I also grew up in "very" South Wales and as I said, Welsh was compulsory til O Level. I am guessing you might be Newport?

But it was widely reported yet you weren't even aware, were you? That's about as much attention as the average English person will pay to the renaming of the Brecon Beacons after the current media coverage today has dissipated.

You guessed right and state school

I think it's a lovely idea. Why not. Now I just need to figure out how to pronounce it properly.

I think people are missing the fact that you can still call it whatever you want, and in England they will of course still be referred to by their English names.
But in Wales, why on earth shouldn’t we use the Welsh names. Our signs are bilingual anyway. People can still call use the English name if they prefer, same as a lot of Welsh people have always referred to them by the Welsh names.
The point is, due to influence from England the Welsh language has been damaged, and steps are being taken to rectify that for future generations, I don’t understand why anyone would have a problem with that.

I dunno I learned Welsh in South Wales from a young age, used to compete a lot at the youth national eisteddfod (another story) and so spoke in Welsh with lots of gogs and never really noticed a huge dialect difference. Maybe they were just being nice to me though 😂

@potniatheron i don’t have any problem with misinterpreting anything. You are just making shit up to suit your own agenda!

I find it very sad that they don't like the word Beacon because of pollution and climate change. For centuries, beacons were how people communicated and I think it's sad to try and airbrush that out of our history.

It feels like it's a virtue signal to me. And I'm assuming that welsh people call them the welsh name in any place?

It is a lot of fuss over nothing. If u really want to get non Welsh speakers backs up who live in Wales, talk to them about phoning NHS helpline and having to listen to all the options and announcements in Welsh first when you're already stressing about illness of your child or elderly parent. Or reading motorway signs at 70mph trying to find the English words in a flash.
But that's for another thread 😁

I've not read the whole thread, but I have read most of it.

Does anyone here have a 'problem' with the Welsh names being used? I don't think they do.

You are just making shit up to suit your own agenda!

I know you are

I'm assuming consistency i.e. all the street signs made at the same time should be the same size so if there wasn't a translation you'd either have one street name in much bigger lettering to fill the sign or a blank space on half the sign, both of which look weird.

The money "wasted" will be negligible -there needs to be a sign, the amount of letters on the very few that aren't translated won't have a huge effect on cost.

English people can continue to call the Brecon Beacons whatever they like.

Welsh people might like to consider widening the use of the Welsh name to normalise use of the Welsh language within Wales. I'm all for it.

@Horrace so you are quite happy to learn French & Spanish but can’t learn enough Welsh in the country of your birth to understand a few road signs?!

Batshit

theconversation.com/amp/why-does-turkey-want-other-countries-to-start-spelling-its-name-turkiye-199390

You may not be aware that they asked this, but they definitely did @JunkIsland

It is not virtue signalling! It is reverting to the original Welsh name.

Can I ask, OP, why you use the country name "Wales" when writing in English, rather than Cymru?

Isn’t it press 1 if you want English, 2 if you want Welsh? That’s how my GP surgery operates.

I have some shocking news about waste within the UK government.

I don’t think there was a big fuss when Ayers Rock or the Olgas reverted to their indigenous names

The road signs are also in English so NO. I'd rather spend my free time having fun