How to read and say Welsh
Letters, sounds and stress from Wikivoyage's Welsh phrasebook. Then hear the phrases and practice them, free.
▶ Practice Welsh phrasesWelsh is a relatively phonetic language, with most letters having only one pronunciation. Complications may arise with the various consonantal digraphs, particularly "dd" which is represented in English as "th" as in "breathe", while "th" is represented in English as "th" as in "think"; "ll" is a famously difficult (and common) sound for non-Welsh speakers to produce - made by positioning the tongue at the top front of the mouth and blowing, and represented here as "lh". "Ch" is always pronounced like the German name "Bach" or the Scottish "loch"; the sound which appears in the English word "church" is represented by "ts".
There are relatively minor pronunciation differences between northern and southern Welsh, most notably that "i" on the one hand and "u" and "y" are two distinct sounds on the other in the north, while in the south these letters are pronounced identically as the sound of "i".
Unless overridden by an accent mark, the stress in Welsh words nearly always falls on the last but one syllable of a word. As syllables get added to words, for example to denote a plural or a female person of a particular occupation, the sound of a word can change dramatically.
Welsh is written in a version of the Latin alphabet containing 29 letters, including 8 digraphs which count as separate letters for collating purposes (and crossword puzzles): a, b, c, ch, d, dd, e, f, ff, g, ng, h, i, j, l, ll, m, n, o, p, ph, r, rh, s, t, th, u, w, y.
The letters v, x and z do not exist in normal Welsh usage, but have been adopted from English for limited use e.g. in personal names. "K" is regarded as redundant in Welsh as the sound is always represented by "c", but it is found in the prefix "kilo-", although "cilo-" is always acceptable.
Vowels
Vowels in Welsh can have accent marks, most commonly the circumflex (^), called the to bach (little roof), which lengthens the sound of the vowel, and the acute (´), which shortens it. Occasionally the diaeresis (¨) appears, dividing two vowel sounds from each other. Vowel sounds tend to resemble those of major continental European languages rather than English.
There are seven vowels in Welsh, which have both short and long forms. The following sounds are only approximations in English:
- a
- like "pat"
- â
- like "father"
- e
- like "pet"
- ê
- like "pear"
- i
- like "pit"
- î
- like "machine"
- o
- like "pot"
- ô
- "port"
- u
- like "pit" (South Wales)
- like a French "u" as in "tu" (North Wales)
- û
- like "machine" (South Wales)
- longer version of French "u" as in "tu" (North Wales)
- w
- when followed by a consonant or at the end of a word, like "u" in "put"
- when followed by a vowel, like "w" in "well"
- ŵ
- like "oo" as in "moon"
- y
- when the only or last vowel in a word, like "i" in "pit"
- when earlier in a word, like "u" in "put"
- NB: in a few common words, such as fy (my) and dy (your), y is pronounced as in "put"
- ŷ
- like "machine"
Consonants
- b
- like "b" in "bed".
- c
- like "c" in "cat".
- ch
- like "ch" in German "Bach" or Scottish "loch".
- d
- like "d" in "death".
- dd
- like "th" in "the".
- f
- like "v" in "van".
- ff
- like "f" in "fun".
- g
- like "g" in "garden".
- ng
- like "ng" in "pong". Sometimes, like in "finger".
- h
- like "h" in "heart".
- j
- like "j" in "jump"
- l
- like "l" in "link".
- ll
- place the tongue at the top of the mouth, and blow.
- m
- like "m" in "meet".
- n
- like "n" in "news".
- p
- like "p" in "pen".
- ph
- like "ph" in "philosophy".
- r
- like "r" in "red" (well rolled, as in Scottish pronunciation).
- rh
- an aspirated, breathy "r".
- s
- like "s" in "state".
- si + vowel (not a consonant, but a sound)
- like "sh" in "shore".
- t
- like "t" in "time".
- th
- like "th" in "think".
- ts + vowel (not a consonant, but a sound)
- like "ch" in "chocolate"
Common diphthongs
Only southern forms unless otherwise stated. English approximations are also given.
- ae
- like "eye".
- ai
- like "eye".
- au
- like "aye", with a rounded closing sound. When used as the plural marker, often pronounced "ah" in the north and "eh" in the south.
- aw
- like "ow!".
- ei
- like "ey" in "hey!"
- eu
- like "ey" in "hey!", but with a rounded closing sound.
- ew
- like "eh-oo" said quickly.
- ey
- like "ey" in "hey!".
- iw
- like "you".
- oe
- like "oy" in "boy".
- oi
- like "oy" in "boy".
- ou
- like "oy" in "boy".
- uw
- like "you".
- wy
- like "oo-ee".
- yw
- like "you" (in monosyllables).
- yw
- like "uh-oo" (in polysyllabics).
The differences between some of the diphthongs are often very subtle.