WELSH PLACE NAMES
The following are among the place names or elements of place names
that may be found in some of the wilder parts of Wales. Many letters
in Welsh words are pronounced somewhat like they are in one word
or another--or one variety or another--of English (that's a big
help, eh!?). This isn't the place for a complete pronunciation
guide. But it wouldn't hurt to know some of the main rules where
there are clear differences with English patterns. For more on
Welsh pronunciation click here
or (for even more details) here.
C always a k sound
CH as the ch in the Scottish loch or in many German words
DD as the th in this, not as in thin (but D is as in English)
F as in v; (however FF is like f)
LL Ha! this is a good one. Put your tongue in place to pronounce a t and a k together, immediately followed by an l. Now blow out an explosion of breath that forces a little spray of spit out of both sides of your mouth from near where the t part is being sounded. This is only a slight exaggeration/distortion. Those in the UMD Study in England Programme can ask Tony for a demonstration. (A single l is like an l in English.)
R is trilled as in the Scottish r or as in the rr or initial r in most dialects of Spanish
RH don't forget to trill the r and add a strong h sound (at the beginning or at the end?--the two sources given above differ on this!).
TH always as the th in thin; not as the th in this
U like
the vowell sound in weed (NOT like the oo
in boot)
W this has
several sounds--including a sound similar to the oo
in boot.
Y sometimes like the vowell sound in weed, sometimes like the i in thin; sometimes like the u in bun.
Oh yes ... another problem. Under certain circumstances--to remain unnamed here), initial consonants in particular words may vary. For example (see the list below) bach and fach, or foel and moel, or coch and goch. For another example, one booklet, Welsh With Ease (p.2, no date, no author, printed by Gee and Son, Denbigh) gives car (borrowed from English). It may be written as car, char, nghar or gar! I have nothing further to say about this most fascinating topic. Well, just a little. It's called "mutation" and you can look it up here .
And now for some place name (toponymic) elements: (For a good web dictionary of Welsh [and the source of some of the Welsh elements and their definitions listed on this page] click here.)
ABER mouth
of a river
ANIAL desert,
wild, desolate
ANIALWCH wilderness,
desert
ANWAR uncivilized
(wild)
ARAN ridge
AFON (AVON) river
BACH (FACH) nook or bend in a river
BAE
bay
BALA outlet
of river from lake
BERWYN snow
mountain
BETWS house
of prayer
BLAEN head
of valley
BOD house
BONT (PONT)
bridge
BRON hillside
BRYN hill
BWLCH
pass
CADAIR stronghold
or chair
CAE field
CAER fort
CAPEL chapel
CARNEDD (burial?)
cairn
CARN cairn
CARREG rock
CARREG FAWR
boulder
CASTELL castle
CERRIG stones
CIL source
of a stream
CLAS cloister
CLOGAU knolls;
cliffs
CLUN meadow
COCH (GOCH)
red
COED forest
COMMINS commons
COPA summit
CORS bog,
swamp
CRAIG crag
or rock
CROES (GROES) cross
CRUG cairn
or mound
CWM a bowl shaped valley (cirque)
DAN below
DDU (DU) black
DE south
DIFFWYS wilderness, waste, awful, steep
DIFFAITH waste, desert, wilderness
DINAS camp
or fort
DOL meadow
DRUM summit
or ridge
DU (DDU) black
DWYRAIN east
DYFFRYN broad valley, low land
DDERW oak
EGLWYS church
ESGAIR mountain
ridge
FACH (BACH) nook; bend in a river
FAN (VAN) peak
FAWR big
FOEL (MOEL) bare hilltop (bald)
FFARM farm
FFORDD road
FFRIDD mountain
pasture
FFRWD torrent,
stream
FFYNNON
well,
spring
GAER (CAER)
wall, fort
GARDD garden
GARN pile
of stones, cairn
GARREG rock
or cliff
GELLI a
small wood, grove
GLAN river
bank
GLAS green
or blue
GLYN glen
GOCH (COCH) red
GOGLEDD north
GORLLEWIN
west
GORWYDD wooded
slope
GRAIG rock
or crag
GROES (CROES) cross
GWAELOD bottom
land
GWAUN meadow
GWAUNYDD moor,
meadow
GWERN marsh, meadow, alder grove
GWYDD in
the wilderness
GWYDDFA (WYDDFA) tumulus, grave
GWYN (WEN) white
GWYLLT wild
GWYRDD green
HEN old,
ancient
HEOL
road
ISAF lower
LLE
place
LLAN enclosure; church; flat
area
LLANERCH clearing
or glade
LLAWR low ground in valley, floor
LLE
place
LLECHWEDD hillside
LLEWYD
grey
LLUEST hut,
tent
LLWYBR path
LLWYN
bush or grove
LLYN lake
MAEN rock
MAES field
MAWR (FAWR) great,
big
MELYN yellow
MIN edge
MOEL (FOEL) bare
hilltop
MOR sea
MYNYDD
mountain
NAN
valley
NANT small
stream or valley
OGOF cave
PANT valley;
hollow
PARC park
PEN head;
end; head of valley
PENTRE
village
PISTYLL well;
spring
PONT (BONT) bridge
PORFA pasture,
grass
PORTH harbor
PWLL pool
RHAYADER waterfall
RHAYAEADR waterfall
RHIW hillside,
ascent
RHOS moorland,
heath
RHYD ford;
stream
TAL end; front;
brow of hill, high
TAN below
TIR land,
ground
TIR GWYLLT wilderness
TOMEN mound,
dunghill
TRAET beach
TRUM (DRUM) ridge
TWR
tower
TYDDEYN small
farm
UCHAF highest
VAN (FAN) a
peak
WAUN
moorland or meadow
WEN (GWYN) white
WYDDFA (GWYDDFA) tumulus, grave
Y, YR 'R
the; of the
YNYS island
Oh yes, should you have been wondering ...
Cymru = Wales
Cymraeg = Welsh (language [not person])
Cymro = Welsh male
Cymraes = Welsh female
And ... plurals are formed in a variety of ways. A common way is to add au to the ends of words, e.g. carnedd (cairn) + au = carneddau (cairns). Click here for more on Welsh plurals (including some words that are shorter in their plural form than in their singular form!).
Got it all? Test your Cymraeg with these place names:
Carnedd Uchaf; Foel Goch, Tal-y-Fan, Mynnyd
Moel, Penygadair (watch out for mutation) ... and what
about Bryn Mawr.
And one more: The highest mountain in Wales is YR WYDDFA. But it's more commonly known by its English name, Snowdon. The highest mountain in Wales gets an English name? Almost as disgusting as that imperialist anglicism, Everest, instead of the much more appriate Chomulungma (Mother goddess of the snows) or a local variant thereof. Ah well ...