Yup, it’s not simple and I understand your necessity. I suppose the thing that concerns me is that I know quite a few people with second homes in N Wales and while I respect their right to do that, it can’t be good that those houses stand empty for much of the year. And while it probably brings income into the area, it also jacks up the house prices. Like any rural area, it’s jobs and a hope of some sort of future thst stops the young draining away and maybe part of that hope is the chance of a home. How do you bring that about? 'S gen i ddim syniad😗
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Ymm!! Pwynt da. Dw i 'n deud fel ‘mabb’ ond ella mae o’n deud fel ‘marb’. Rhaid i mi gwirio efo fy cymdogion (mae nhw iaith cyntaf Cymraeg) a dwad yn ol i chi.
My Jack Russell, Bill, doesn’t respond to orders in English or Welsh. If told to stop, wait, or aros for me he will simply walk a little slower, looking over his shoulder, but heaven forbade that HE should have to actually submit to my command. However, if it’s urgent that he stop, and I shout ‘biscuit’ he can stop on a sixpence!
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I adore that!!! 
Unfortunately, my current canine isn’t as food-oriented as some!!!
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Plus it’s well known that pets read their owner’s minds!
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Ha! They control your mind, you just don’t know it.
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Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. 
S’mae Gavin,
Dw i’n gwirio sut dach chi deud ‘Mab’ neithiwr efo fy twtor, Martyn, yn y ‘Countdown Cymraeg’ yng Nghricieth (Roedd o llawer o hwyl!!. Mae yr anfon ‘Marb’ felly rhaid i mi trio i ddeud o cywir yn y dyfodol!!
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S’mae John
Diolch i hwn, but I’m afraid my reading of Cymraeg is utterly hopeless. Consequently, dwi ddim wedi deall, beth naairs-ti ddweud. (excuse any phonetic spellings!)
I’ve been trying to religiously follow the SSi “rule” of learning by sound only. So although I feel I have made good progress in “siarad”, the sight of written Welsh still frightens the living daylights out of me and has me reaching for the smelling salts!
Perhaps learning to read simple Welsh will be my next project…
Pob hwyl, Gavin
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Used to frighten me too Gavin, even though theoretically I knew the main phonetic rules of the spelling. Still does occasionally, but it does gradually get easier over time.
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Thanks Mike, but I’m still interested in what you had to say in your posting. Would you mind repeating it in Saesneg, plis? Diolch!
Sorry Mike, my last posting was intended for John Sowerby - I must have had a Senior Moment! Thanks for your words of encouragement about written Cymraeg!
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S’mae Gavin,
I’ve just logged in after a very long break,nearly two years!!, and discovered that I have a message from you to which I haven’t replied. Profuse apologies for this. I hope you’re making good progress with Welsh.
You asked for a translation of my last message to you:-
"I checked how to say ‘Mab’ yesterday evening with my tutor, Martyn, at the ‘Countdown Cymraeg’ in Cricieth (It was lots of fun!!). The answer is ‘Marb’ so I must try to say it correctly in the future!!
Hwyl am a tro,
John
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Croeso nol /welcome back, John. I hope you soon get back in the swing of learning or improving your Welsh.
I note that you and many others insert an “r” when you want to indicate a long “a” in a word.
My Derbyshire wife and I often discuss (i.e. furiously argue about) the pronunciation of “bath”. She usually tells me that there’s no “r” in bath. (i) My retort is that, from a Welshman brought up in Scotland, any “r” in bath would come out loud and clear - a bit like a low-revving motorbike. 
(i) When she gets really heated about it, she adds “but there is in a*se” _
Unfortnately, I can’t offer an alternative for indicating a long “a” except with phonetic symbols (which I don’t know). Even the “aa” in biblical names like “Aaron” and “Baal” are not pronounced consistently. 
Any other ideas?
BTW pawb - Purleeeease don’t start a side thread about how to pronounce “bath” - this forum has done that and been there and I’ve had 39 years of it at home. My post is concerned only with how to indicate the sound of a long a (and welcoming John back to the forum).
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On my ipad, if I press the vowel long enough I get offered ã åāàáâäæ. On the laptop, have to use Welsh character set’ copy and pasteI Māb. But I thought mab was just mab!
I’d tend to use “ah” (since the word “ah” in English (if indeed it is a word) is normally pronounced in an elongated way). But I might stick in an extra “a” as well, which leaves your “Aaron” problem…
Good suggestion, Mike. Diolch
I’m so glad I stumbled upon this thread, as it covers two things important to me. Firstly, I wanted to know how to say “Shall we…?” and secondly, most of my Welsh practice, other than the wonderful SSIW lessons, comes from talking to the dogs. Mine are girls, though, so they mostly get “Merch dda!” or “Pwy sy’n merch dda?!” (which I hope is correct… dogs aren’t great at pulling me up on my mistakes)
So how does “Beth am…” translate literally? I know literal translations aren’t always very helpful, but I’m trying to work out the construction here. Is it sort of “What about…?”. And where does the i come from in “Beth am i ni fynd…?” Is it “What about for us to go…?”
Sorry to bump such an old thread, it just caught my eye.
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Pretty much - or perhaps “for our going…?”
There’s been discussion on this on the forum before, which might help - Beth am I ni gael?
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Yes I guess that as weve heard recently that the i is just joining the parts of the sentence like my “that”.
Also I was interested to learn recently that “beth” used to be “pa beth”. Which thing. Strange how they dropped the pa and kept the beth. You’ve gotta love learning Welsh 
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