#Cymraeg

[stephanidftba]

I figured the Jolene loving site needed to see this

[mwg-drwg]

This is a funny sign and all but I think the main takeaway should be that there is Dog English and Dog Welsh (Cimraeg?!?!?!?)

[foxgloveciara]

so yknow how miku has a leek and the leek is the national emblem of wales?

[nightbringer24]

A growing interest in the Welsh language and culture could mean Cymraeg is no longer classed as being "vulnerable to extinction," according to a new report. Preply's Endangered Language Report says an increase in the number of people wanting to learn Welsh could help the Welsh Government realise its ambition of one million Welsh speakers by 2050.

Welsh is integral to the country's heritage and national identity but a decline in the number of Welsh speakers had put it at risk of extinction in recent years. It is one of Britain's oldest languages but historical events such as the Act of Uniformity in 1549 (where all acts of worship were to be conducted in English), have impacted its growth dramatically.

The infamous ‘Welsh Not’ signs of the 1800s which were designed to punish school children for speaking Welsh are just one example of numerous attempts to extinguish the language throughout history. Despite this, Welsh remains widely spoken in homes, schools, and workplaces across the country and interest in the language is on the rise.

Saw this on my phone yesterday morning and forgot to share it.

[b1odeuwed]

i do a little dance whenever welsh ppl reblog my welsh miku art with something like “YOOOO MICŴ CYMRAEG!!! DYDD GWYL DEWI MICŴ HELL YEAH” DWI’N CARU CHI GYD <33333 MAE’R CELF AM CHI!!!!!!

[llyfrenfys]

PLEASE TELL US ABOUT Y DDRAIG TRAWS!

Certainly! I'm more than happy to oblige.

First though I'm gonna need to tldr: the history of Y Ddraig Goch before we get onto the (accidentally) canonically trans part.

A brief history of Y Ddraig Goch:

(The modern Welsh flag)

Y Ddraig Goch first appears in the tales of the Mabinogi (Charlotte Guest version) in the tale of Lludd and Llefelys where it is fighting a white dragon. The fight is also described/expanded upon in the c. 829 AD text Historia Brittonum (attributed to Nennius) - where the red dragon represents Wales and the white dragon represents the Anglo-Saxons. In the story the red dragon triumphs over the white. Of course, Geoffrey of Monmouth also covers the story c. 1136 in Historia Regnum Brittaniae in which he introduces the concept of the red dragon heralding the arrival of King Arthur.

Geoffrey of Monmouth claims Arthur used a banner featuring a golden dragon. But we also know the accuracy of Monmouth can be questionable at times. Owain Glyndŵr did use a banner with a golden dragon called Y Ddraig Aur - raised in 1401 at Caernarfon - Glyndŵr chose this banner as a nod to the supposed banner of Arthur and his father.

Later on the Tudor monarchs (being a Welsh family) adopted a red dragon on a white and green background in their heraldry. Eventually Y Ddraig Goch on a white and green background became the official badge of Wales in 1800. The design became the official flag of Wales in 1959.

Y Ddraig Traws:

Now for the thing you're all here for -

So, as outlined, the history of the dragon as a national symbol of Wales goes back a long way. If we're just talking post-1959, there's some interesting implications for Y Ddraig Goch's depiction.

This is what the Welsh flag (and Y Ddraig Goch) looked like in 1959 when it was officially adopted as the flag of Wales. It looks broadly the same as the first flag and has some common features - such as not having a penis (or, as in the correct heraldic terminology - a pizzle). Meanwhile, in the arms of the Tudors (specifically Henry VII)

(Tudor dragon with pizzle) vs (dragon on the flag of Cardiff - pizzleless)

the penis is almost always included. So much to the point that the present royal family still includes the penis. While pretty much 0 depictions of the dragon in Wales include a penis. So you could interpret this as the dragon is seen as male only by the British royal family and as female everywhere else (which kinda implies that at some point the Tudor dragon had an mtf transition in Wales and she keeps getting misgendered by the royal family every time she is depicted in (mostly) England).

So much to the point that in 1995 this pound coin was made by the Royal Mint featuring the pizzle on the dragon with all four feet touching the ground as opposed to standing up (passant rather than rampant).

But in Wales you'd be hard pressed to see a pizzled dragon anywhere. Ergo, we can only conclude Y Ddraig Goch is trans and she transitioned in Wales and keeps getting misgendered in England.

[note: This is mostly tongue in cheek - but I do think it's fun to extrapolate that the Welsh dragon is trans because of the differences in depiction between Wales and England. Like many things Welsh, it is misrepresented by England and the idea of the Welsh dragon being misgendered only in England is, I think, a good metaphor for a whole lot of English treatment of Wales.]

Unrelatedly, there is a gay Welsh flag held at the National Museum of Wales which has a very wonky dragon which I find very endearing.

(cleaned up version I made)

So much so I made it an emoji in my Welsh bilingual LGBTQIA+ Discord (requirements for joining are - be 16+, either speak or are learning Welsh and identify as LGBTQIA+ in some way. Dm for link!).

(triaist ti 'you tried' emoji)

~ Completely unrelatedly ~ never forget the time someone was trying to homophobic to me by suggesting that I was disrespecting all the soldiers who died 'for the Welsh flag' by making it rainbow colours and not red - arguing that any change of colour of the dragon was disrespectful. Reader, my bus pass at the time for Mid Wales Travel had a purple dragon on it.

[mouth-almighty]

Ynys Môn am byth!

[salvadorbonaparte]

Any fluent Welsh speakers here?

[crynwr-drwg]

I don't remember if I ever shared this before, but I found it again (in my camera roll)

It translates to "No Music On A Dead Planet" and it was outside the castle in Cardiff by Bute parc (a while ago it was, at least)

[tarragonthedragon]

so I'm in the office when I hear it. the EIC, in the corner, my manager's manager, lights up the batsignal and voices a cry for aid:

"is anyone here who speaks Welsh?"

immediately, all heads turn to Charles' desk. Charles is Welsh. Charles takes several days to recover from the shock every time someone on a National Trust podcast mispronounces Llanidloes. surely Charles will answer the call.

Charles, the bloody nerve of him, is on Annual Leave to spend the Easter holidays with his son.

at this point I realise that several heads, including my manager's, are turning to me.

I do not speak Welsh.

I was brought up by a Welsh speaker, my grandmother, but given that we live in London and noone else in the family speaks Welsh, I only really picked up the most basic of family pleasantries. I can say cheers and goodnight, I can offer and order hot beverages, and I can answer the six questions people immediately ask when they find out you speak even a little bit of Welsh (the answer to all of these is as far as I can tell, yes but nobody says that. yes but it's baby talk. yes but it was a marketing scam. you know the ones)

I also have a master's degree in, amongst other things, medieval Welsh. as attention turns to me, I weigh up the possibility that the EIC needs someone to urgently translate Culhwch ac Olwen into modern English.

it seems unlikely. however, my CV says I have basic Welsh, and I need this job, so I head to the EICs desk with the thudding tread of someone bound for the gallows

further context-- 90% of my job is combing through business documents for aside phrases indicating business changes. this takes a lot of cross-referencing and close reading. I find this hard in my native language. I find it extremely hard in languages I'm fluent in. the idea of doing it in Welsh, a language where my conversation options are limited to "good morrow sir! the English advance on our left flank!" or "Mr fishy likes to swim", fills me with fathomless dread. in my head, I am writing my application to the next job.

the EIC turns a page around on the desk. "how do you pronounce this?"

I look at the word, relief beginning to sink in. Welsh is phonetic. even if I don't know this word, I can read it.

I do a double take. "Dai?"

"are you sure?" the EIC asks. "should I call Charles on his holidays just to check?"

"it's Dai," I repeat.

"it's not different if it's Welsh?"

I have absolutely no idea what she thinks the Welsh are doing to innocent vowel sounds that the English are not already doing. "it's Dai. like Dai Llewellyn."

"it's the same every time?"

"... yes"

"oh good." the EIC puts away her sheet and lets me go back to my desk.

as I sit down, the news editor at the next desk looks up. "so," he asks. "is it true that the Welsh for jellyfish is

[queerwelsh]

Pride in Wales! Balchder yng Nghymru!

Here’s a list of the Pride events happening in Wales this year, in 2023. (click the links for more information)

Dyma rhestr o ddigwyddiadau Balchder yng Nghymru blwyddyn yma, yn 2023.

22 April/Ebrill - Aberystwyth Pride / Balchder yn Aberystwyth

29 April/Ebrill - Swansea Pride / Balchder Abertawe

30 April/Ebrill - Mini Pride and Swansea Anti-Capitalist Pride (1pm Singleton Park)  / Balchder Bach a Balchder Gwrthgyfalafol Abertawe (1yp Parc Singleton)

14 May/Mai - Colwyn Bay Pride / Balchder Bae Colwyn

17 June/Mehefin - Hay Pride

17 June/Mehefin - The Big Queer Picnic

17-18 June/Mehefin - Cardiff Pride / Balchder Caerdydd (Pride Cymru)

19 June/Mehefin - Cowbridge Pride / Balchder y Bontfaen

24 June/Mehefin - Caerphilly Pride / Balchder Caerffili

24 June/Mehefin - Abergavenny Pride

24 June/Mefefin - Balchder Gogledd Cymru / North Wales Pride Caernarfon

29 June/Mehefin - 2 July/Gorffennaf - Balchder Neath Port Talbot Pride

8 July/Gorffennaf - Llandeilo Pride / Balchder Llandeilo

15 July/Gorffennaf - Llanelli Pride / Balchder Llaneilli

29 July/Gorffennaf - Llandovery Pride / Balchder Llanymddyfri

12 August/Awst - Barry Pride / Balchder y Barri

12 August/Awst - Balchder Glitter Pride Cardiff

26 August/Awst - Merthyr Tydfil Pride / Balchder Merthyr Tudful

2 September/Medi - Pride in the Port Newport / Balchder Casnewydd

9-10 September/Medi - RCT Pride

15-17 September/Medi - Trans Pride Cardiff

16 September/Medi - Carmarthen Pride/Balchder Caerfyrddin

[karmagotme]

It's been announced that DuoLingo will stop updating Welsh courses. They've always championed endangered languages in the past but articles say they want to focus more on popular languages like Spanish and French. The following is a link to a petition to get the First Minister of Wales to work with the DuoLingo CEO and get them to save the course.

As someone who is learning Welsh, it's devastating news. Yes, there is still Say Something in Welsh and other methods, but DuoLingo is also extremely helpfull, especially for anyone who may not be able to afford all of the later courses in SSIW.

So please, signage would be most appreciated.

EDIT: Please don't think you have to live in Wales to sign this! I signed and I live in Australia. Share this with your language-learning friends around the world!

[kawaiideathslayer]

welsh miku!!! wanted to hop on the worldwide miku trend. I know others have already done welsh miku, but wanted to put my own spin on it, with things I grew up with in a Welsh medium primary school.

version with plain bg:

[official-wales]

Any advice for first language English speakers trying to learn Welsh?

sacrifice yourself to y ddraig goch and ascend into her kingdom of fire

Diolch yn fawr iawn! I'm a second language South Walian myself, so my Welsh is gonna be different to a first language North Walian, for example. But, we roll with it.

Start small

I don't know if you're in Wales, or elsewhere, but just introducing little Welsh phrases is a good place to start, like greetings. Don't worry about making mistakes, or being misunderstood. Everyone will know what you mean, and most people will be pleased you're using Welsh!

Hello - Shwmae/Helo

Good bye - Hwyl fawr

How are you? - Sut dych chi? (very formal), Sut wyt ti? (less formal)

Thank you (very much) - Diolch (yn fawr)

Please - O's gwelwch yn dda

Good morning - Bore da

Good afternoon - Prynhawn da

Good night - Nos da

Welcome - Croeso

If you ARE in Wales, look out for people wearing little orange speech mark badges in public places, like shops. These mean they are fluent, or learning Welsh, and will be happy to talk with you in the language.

2. Understanding pronunciation

Sometimes English speakers get tripped up by Welsh spelling, especially when mutations are involved. You've probably heard the old "it's just a keyboard smash language!", when honestly Welsh makes more sense than English (every letter is pronounced the same every time, unlike English, where it's a lottery).

Here's some major-ish differences to the English alphabet:

a - "ah" (apple)

ch - like a gutteral cat hiss? Or like you're trying to get phlegm out of the back of your throat.

dd - "th" (these)

e - "eh" (elephant)

f - "v" (velcro)

ff - "f" (fantastic)

i - "ee" (queen)

ll - like you're blowing air out the side of your tongue, while the tip is just behind your teeth. May take some practice, but it's a VERY common sound

r - roll that letter, baby. like an Italian

rh - like a breathy r. Use your teeth

u - "ih" (hit)

w - "ooh" (spoon)

y - "uh" (under) or sometimes "ih" (inside)

(there is no j, k, q or v in the Welsh alphabet. But that doesn't stop some anglicised words like "jam")

3. Mutations

Mutations are ways Welsh words change, depending on what comes before or after them. There are loads of mutations, but you can be understood without using them/forgetting them, so don't worry too much. They're quite easy to learn too.

For example:

Diflas - Boring

Mae Owen yn ddiflas - Owen is boring

The 'd' changes to a 'dd'. Because mutations. Don't ask me why.

Here's a guide to mutations that can explain it better than I can.

4. Find some sick Welsh media

Maybe you're into podcasts, or soap operas, or rock music, or food blogs, or children's books, or Eisteddfod poetry, or-

HERE'S SOME HANDPICKED STUFF FROM YOURS TRULY:

Hansh on Twitter, YouTube and iPlayer - comedy and more platform. Quite random.

Adwaith - Welsh-language, all-female, indie rock band from Carmarthenshire. Won the Welsh Music Prize in 2022.

Duolingo Welsh course - Recently, Duolingo announced they were going to stop updating the course, which led to some BIG OUTCRIES in Welsh news. Worth looking in to.

Learn Welsh - resources, schemes, audiobooks and more to help people learn Welsh in a way that suits them. 16-25 year olds can learn for free. You can book face to face lessons, online self-learning, learn with other learners, search courses near you and loads of other stuff. Good to explore.

Ap Treiglo and Ap Geiriadur - free apps to help with mutations and vocabulary. Ap Geiriadur is designed by Bangor University.

Siarad - Voluntary scheme to help people increase their confidence using Welsh. You're matched with a fluent Welsh speaker, and can go through three levels of proficiency. You arrange to meet up, or learn online - whatever suits you!

S4C - The Welsh language broadcasting service. Has everything: news, Gogglebocs Cymru, drama, documentaries, you name it.

Doctor Cymraeg - really successful tiktok and instagram account. Teaches about bitesized Welsh language facts, vocabulary and funny things. Also always films them when out on a walk, with the expression of a high school teacher who's just watched his pupils try and fail to make the leaning tower of pisa out of gluesticks. Classic.

5. TYMBLR

There are LOADS of people learning Welsh on here for the first time, and interacting with them is one of the best ways to get into the language online. #dysgu cymraeg is a good tag.

Sorry for the long post, but ta da! I am by no means an expert, but with your help anon, we can get everyone speaking Welsh by nightfall. The plan is in motion. Godspeed.

[b1odeuwed]

ffrindiau cymraeg ! dwi’n creu playlist o cherddoriaeth o cymru, yn dwyieithog, ond yn edrych am caneuon cymraeg yn bennaf.

hyd yn hyn mae gen i caneuon o adwaith, chroma, mellt, sage todz, melin melyn, hyll, ayyb ! rwy’n hapus i bobl danfon caneuon ac awgrymiadau i fy blog :-) diolch yn fawr !

translation/cyfieithiad

welsh friends ! i’m creating a playlist of music from wales, bilingual, but i’m looking for welsh songs mainly.

so far i have songs from adwaith, chroma, mellt, sage todz, melin melyn, hyll, etc ! i’m happy for people to send songs and suggestions to my blog :-) thanks so much !