Tiny questions with quick answers - continuing thread

Yes, often. Also I panic because I don’t know how to say something in Welsh, then I remember that I need to say it in English.
Sue

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Yes, from time to time! And not only with English speakers, also Italians, Germans etc. :laughing:

And here’s another funny thing: during lockdown I’ve tried Duolingo and been doing some every day on the home computer without headphones. This morning my partner (who’s made fun of my crazy idea of learning this language since I started) said he dreamt he was asking me how to pronunce a word in Welsh. :rofl: :rofl:

See? The power of Cymraeg! :wink:

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I need help I think I’m going mad. I have just seen a poster on facebook for a group to practice Welsh by learning 5 hymns in 5 weeks across zoom. You have to register and now I can’t find where I saw it. Has anyone else seen it and got the link?

It’s here:

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Oh diolch o galon Siaron! I really thought I had been seeing things.

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A Language + Welsh culture mixed question:
do you think it’s possible to translate “y Fro” in about 2-3 words?

I’d need it in Italian but I can accept English in between! :grin:

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…it might depend on context, in terms of meaning something specific but…

Bro means Vale (lowest, flatter part of a valley - nearest the sea) - it can mean ‘region’ too I think - or lowland.

Specifically the area by Cardiff - is often referred to as this - Vale of Glamorgan…Bro Morgannwg…

Any use? :smile:

Rich :slight_smile:

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Well, first of all I hadn’t realized it was a mutation, so that’s already helpful to start with! :smiley:

Also I suspected it could refer to some specific area just like I know “the Valleys” (sorry can’t remember the Welsh name right now) - but didn’t know which one, and that’s also helpful.

Now I’ll just reflect and see if there’s still something missing to my understanding and let you know if I need to go more in detail, thanks! :slight_smile:

(I still can’t think of a quick easy way to turn all this into Italian in just 2-3 words but one step at a time!)

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Hmm, I would probably fail to order two beers in Italian right now…(Even if the bars were open :grin:)

…in English we also have Vales and Dales - I live in the Yorkshire Dales which is a bit more hilly (nothing compared to yours) - Dales = the upper part of the valley.

Do you have Italian equivalents?

Rich :slight_smile:

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I think it’s much more complicated than just a one to one translation. Bro, in my experience, is as much about the area where someone lives.

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Noswaith dda, I’m on week 7 challenge 6 north, can someone tell me how to pronounce “to do”, I keep hearing different things g’naid gwanaid and I think a mutation naid? (Pronunciations not spellings!) Is it changing depending on the sentence, or just how fast it is spoken?

Diolch!

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Gwneud - and lots of other words - do vary in pronounciation and this is really just regional and/or personal preference.
In speech, the ‘g’ is often dropped either because what we call a ‘soft mutation’ has made the g fall off, or because some people just choose to let the g fall off anyway, so that leaves what sounds like wuhnayd or wuhnighd (both are equally legitimate pronounciations). Then, in some regions, the w is also left out, so that sounds like nayd or nighd (again, equally legitimate pronounciations).

So when a mutation causes the g to fall off, yes, technically the pronounciation should depend on the sentence, and speaking quickly has probably led to the leaving of the g (and the w), but how you pronounce the vowel sounds in the middle i.e. pronouncing the eu in gwneud/wneud/neud as either ay or igh - as in sigh! - doesn’t depend on anything other than the way you’ve decided to say it!

Does that help?

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I don’t think in Italian we have as many nuances as English language (and now you remind me also a debate over “dale” vs “dell” once, still haven’t figured if they’re two different things by the way). :thinking:

Nor as many as Welsh language for Bro - although I see “y Fro” should probably translated as “Vale of Glamorgan”…although I’m afraid most of those who read it over here have no idea of where that is! :roll_eyes:
@margaretnock

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Not neccessarily. Anyone anywhere can use “Y Fro” to refer to their area. E.g. “Y Fro Gymraeg” is “The area of Welsh speakers”

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Oh when I thought I had something figured out! :sweat_smile:

Thanks, guess I’ll take some extra time for search & reflections. :slight_smile:

I’ve decided Welsh is as clear as mud, but yes thank you, it does actually help! :wink:

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I only know this because I asked myself a while ago:
Its sometimes the Vale of Glamorgan known locally as “The Vale” (Y fro).
Also, figuratively for the Welsh speaking area that you visited: Carmarthenshire up to Gwynedd. I don’t think there is an English translation other than “Welsh Wales”.

Also some wide valleys (vales). Such as Bro Tawe etc.

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More of a fun question really:
In Manx I’ve reached the tricky sentence stage. so, I’m on to “That that’s” as in “He told me that that’s Jane’s bag”

Back to Welsh, any ideas what we would say. Come to think of it, would we even say it in English, unless pushed to do so?

Would it be something like “Dwedodd o wrtha’i taw/mai bag Jane ydy hwnna” in Welsh? Not too great with those identification type sentences!

I think I use “that that’s…” in English quite a bit, it feels wrong now the more I think about it :smile:

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A favourite of my partner’s late grandmother’s was to give people the following, unpunctuated, and ask them to sort it out – the context would be some schoolroom writing task on English tenses:

John, where Peter had had “had”, had had “had had”: “had had” had had the teacher’s approval.

And if that’s not bad enough, you can always try the Wikipedia entry on Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo.

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