Saturday, October 17, 2009

'r 'n aflawen Cymraeg (The Awffll Welsh Language)

Cawn iawn lawer feddedig 'n gofwya at Cymru. We have very much enjoyed our visit to Wales.

Namyn 'r Cymraeg ydy iawn 'n afrwydd atom at ddeall. But the Welsh language is very difficult to understand.

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiligogogoch. The church of St. Mary by the white hazel pool, near to the fierce whirlpool by the red cave near St. Tysilio's church.

This is an actual place name, Llanfair for short, one of several the Welsh have been accused of concocting just to vex English tourists.

But language preservation is taken seriously here. Walk into any store and the conversation you'll hear among the locals is Welsh. Despite what the guidebooks said, we never heard any Gaelic, no matter how far to the north or west we went--and we went about as far as you can go--in Scotland or Ireland. Evereything here is bilingual--it's the law--and the people seem to like it. It's tough on visitors, but you have to love it. We have adapted so far as to attempt our own pronunciations: Caernarfon = car phone; Betws-y-coed = Betsy coed; etc.

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