Is the situation improving for Welsh speakers over there or are there fewer and fewer native Welsh speakers each generation? I know the situation is quite dire for Irish and Scottish Gaelic.
@@imladris9550 What would get the kids to speak it though and not drop the language later in life? That's the hardest part. I've been to Scotland, and there in the countryside only the elderly folk speak Scots, the younger generations speak completely intelligible English to my ears, which shouldn't be the case for Scots as far as I know. Haven't been to the Gaelic-speaking regions of Scotland, but they're supposedly very scarcely populated. The Hebrides is a region where Gaelic is spoken natively by almost the entire population, so that should be preserved if young people don't leave for the economic centres, as they have been doing in the last couple of decades.
@@elimalinsky7069 I'm definitely not an expert but making it useful and an official language would help. I find great benefit in using Welsh for my work and almost everyone in my family can speak Welsh.
I'm Irish and we speak Irish. I can speak my native language. But did you know out of all the Celtic languages Welsh has the most native speakers in the world. Irish he's the most by 2nd language but Welsh takes the cake as they're mother tongue. Keep Welsh alive Wales👍👍
I'm Welsh, so naturally I went into this video skeptical about how accurate it would be. Just want to say I was very impressed by the depth of research you've put into it. Thank you for bringing awareness to my wonderful language!
As a Welsh speaker I'm very impressed with the quality of this video. Great research and good to hear a non Welsh speaker complimenting the language. Chwarae teg a diolch yn fawr (Fair play and thanks very much).
Welsh: utterly gorgeous, completely phonetic, almost no irregular verbs, the oldest literature in Europe. What's not to love? It feels like a mouthful of rubies when I speak it.
Welsh is completely phonetic but uses a different spelling system to English. C is always "k", F is "v", FF is "f", W is vowel in the centre of words and LL has a special pronouciation. For many years I thought "cwm" was "quim" and Cymru was "simruh"!
I’m a first language speaker from a farm in the Snowdonia nation park mountains, and i must say im so thrilled to see the language spoken about by a non native speaker so eloquently and positively. Thank you so much 💖
Me too, though I’m afraid my Welsh isn’t as good as it should be. I live in a part of Wales where it isn’t spoken that much, but I’m working on getting better!
My 98-year-old Mum was born and raised in Betws y Coed. Although she has been in Canada since the late 1940s, she has kept her Welsh and still speaks it fluently. I love the language.
A similar thing happened in my family. My great auntie was born in South Wales and moved to East London in the 1940s, but her Welsh was still excellent when she retired home to Wales more than 30 years later.
@@philldavies7940 Which reminds me. I find it hard shopping for Christmas, Birthday and Mother's Day cards to find any with "Mam" on them. They're nearly all "Mum" these days, and I've never called her that!
This young lady is amazing! I'm welsh, and a Welsh speaker, and the amount times I hear the language dismissed as "not even a real language", resulting in people not even trying to pronounce the most simple of Welsh words is frustrating and at times insulting, yet the pronunciation in this video was almost perfect. Very good video, and very nice to see the language given the respect it deserves, thankyou 👌
I'd guess the "not even a real language" was just people winding you up. Doubt many people genuinely think that. Pronunciation on the other hand, might be simple to you because you're familiar with it, but it's a big learning curve for people with no previous experience.
She is amazing I agree, deep research and love for languages. Also it would be easier for her to pronounce certain Welsh sounds because her native language is Russian, and there are similar sounds in Welsh and Russian which are not there in the English language.
Is really important preserve the diversity of languajes in Europe. My people, The Basques know so well how hard can be preserve a languaje, we speak Basque or Euskara, an isolated languaje, the only pre Indoeropean languaje alive in Europe, actually we are not more than a million speakers but we make a great enfort to preserve and we still doing for sure! So dont give up and preserve your languaje! Is a cultural heritage and not only for people of welsh is a treasure for European culture to.
It's such a beautiful language and the oldest by far in Europe! It's amazing because it's not related to any language in the world today, showing how old and interesting it is 😀
Diolch yn barchus i chi! This video covers the language so beautifully! The main reason it did start to die off was due to being banned not once, but twice. It only recently regained status equal to English in 1993! If you're curious about this, research on the act of union 1536, the treachery of the blue books (Brad y llyfrau gleision 1847) where a member of parliament decided that Welsh language was barbaric and only served to hold the Welsh people back, and also the use of the Welsh Not in Schools through the 1900's Despite everything, all the oppression, us Welsh are a very stubborn people and our language continues to thrive to this day! It's wonderful to see more people taking an interest in, and learning the language, during the course of this pandemic. O byddedd i'r hen iaith barhau!
Os treisiodd y gelyn fy ngwlad dan ei droed, Mae hen iaith y Cymry mor fyw ag erioed, Ni luddiwyd yr awen gan erchyll law brad, Na thelyn berseiniol fy ngwlad. Though the enemy have trampled my country beneath their feet, The old language of the Welsh knows no retreat, The spirit is not hindered by the treacherous hand Nor silenced the sweet harp of my land.
Quite a few of the founding father's were Welsh or of a Welsh background,President's too including Abe,Welsh people were instrumental in establishing PA and the Buckeye state,I've a number of Facebook friends around Ohio and spend a fair bit of time"wandering"around the USA...Facebook/messenger wandering that is,hopefully will be able to get across the pond one day to visit
Shwmae a prynhawn da! Kate dw i! 😊 What a wonderful video! 😍 Welsh is my family’s ancestral language. In 1833, my 4th great grandfather, grandmother, and their six children came to America and still spoke Welsh in their home. Unfortunately, it was lost by the next generation. I am 40 years old, and a month ago, I began to learn Welsh to feel more connection to my ancestors and also for the beauty of the language. I now know over 300 words. 🥳 Reading Welsh is a lot easier for me than hearing and speaking, but it’s early days. I would love to be able to be fluent in Welsh, and I’ll put in the work! Diolch! 😊❤️
As an English man married to a Welsh speaking wife, (we were married in Welsh) - this video is a perfect example and explanation of and about the Welsh language . Thank you!
Diolch for keeping the language alive. I'm relearning it, as I used to speak it at the intermediate level, but did not use it for a decade - family issues, but when your grandfather's name is Thomas Powell Jones, you can't run from your ancestry!
I found this to be one of the more informative dissertations on the Welsh language but you also added a lovely measure of intrigue and nuance to the subject, You are truly a gifted linguist, Diolch!
Hi, I'm from Kazakhstan. I want the Welsh to take care of their language. You are unique in your way, fight for your language. Love him. Try to speak it even with an accent, do not hesitate. To die a language, die a nation too. Good luck brothers and sisters. 🇰🇿🏴
I tried to teach myself the Welsh language from library books before I had internet. I was determined but it was difficult. I did learn a lot about how the language was suppressed by England through school and laws. Thank you for this.
I am from Wales and speak fluent Welsh, it really is a great language. I went to an all Welsh primary school. I speak what you called ‘southern Welsh’. It can be very difficult to remember all the mutations when writing Welsh, I find it much easier to speak than read or write. It’s very interesting to see what other people think about something I have grown up with an consider a part of normal everyday life.
I was brought up in South Wales but not in a Welsh school and I'm wondering, the number system she used wasn't correct to me. I thought 40 was pedwar deg and 16 un deg chwech? Maybe it's a dialect difference? And un is pronounced een and Dau is pronounced Die? Just checking I wasn't taught incorrectly. I'm not fluent myself.
@@LillyHartmadecraft Your numbering system is completely correct and is used most often but weirdly there are two ‘versions’ of the Welsh number system. So the way some Welsh speakers would say ‘eleven’ would be ‘un deg un’. However some Welsh speakers would say ‘un ar ddeg’.
@@lili-wenb.d5278iv heard both used in Welsh mediums primary & Welsh medium secondary school, i went to. So I think it depends on teacher as majority of teachers were from south Wales in both schools.
I’m watching from Vancouver 🇨🇦 - I’m part Welsh on my mother’s side. Fond memories of visiting Cymru 🏴 ... and meeting the older relatives. Hope to return after this pandemic is over.
I'm watching from the west side of the Sound that is adjacent to Seattle, Washington. I'm part Welsh on my father's side. I did manage to travel to Cardiff about 3 years ago. So, we have a few commonalities. My relatives came here shortly after 1800. Finding relatives in Wales might be challenging.
as a welsh person who cannot speak welsh, it can feel very isolating and i have been made to feel inadequate by native welsh speakers for not being welsh enough (don’t get me started on the “get over the bridge” comments i’ve received), though i was born and raised here. i have been practicing online and soon going to start classes, thanks for this video, wales and the welsh language don’t get talked about enough.
I am self taught speaker of Irish (Gaeilge) and there is a saying, "Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam. A country without a language is a country without a soul.” A quote from Patrick Pearse.
st patrick was welsh, i believe his mother was irish, being that there was connections beween wales and ireland, long before the romans, normans and english.... even JFK had mixed norman-gaelic and royal welsh ancestor....
Thanks again Julie. Your attitude towards language exploration is always refreshing. And it's obvious that you put a lot of work into understanding them. More please!
Welsh speaker here, hi. Loved your video. It's people like you who bring our language to the mainstream and I really appreciate you for it. So, storytime. I was in America at a birthday party when I was younger (16?) and everyone kept asking me where I was from. But there was this one guy who asked me, kind of in that, "hey everybody, look at me!" kind of way? And I said, "I'm from Australia, but from Wales originally" as I'd said about 1,000 times that night" And this boy every so confidently said "Oh, I can speak Welsh too!". So I'm like, yeah, go on. And he says "Sigh May! Why do I'n seared (and I kid you not) SIMREEOO!!!" I tell you I died. I died that day. To think this boy was obviously bragging about his knowledge of Welsh only to have read and memorised "Cymraeg" as "SIM-ree-oo"! Oh, always a good laugh at that one. So, Diolch. And for those who want to say "I speak Welsh" but not actually learn anything else, 1st, don't. Have some self-respect. And 2nd it's pronounced "Do een SHAR-rad come-RAIGH" And yes, Phonetic transcription IS my specialty ;)
I live in Wales (though I'm not Welsh, pretty sure you can tell by my surname) and it is hearthwarming to see the bilingual signs, street names or sometimes even announcements in stores. Myself I can only speak few words in Welsh, but love hearing about it. As for your question, I'd say that a lot of languages in Europe could follow the Welsh example. I think that in a way the government of Ireland tries to revitalize Irish and I wish them luck w/that. Personally I would love to see that kind of strong preservation practice within the speakers of Sorbian and Kashubian. Would also love to see you makin videos about those languages. Or even better, about the Wymysorys language. Look at that one if you haven't heard about it, it is amazing.
Actually, when I was a boy in north Wales in the 60s and 70s, the most ethnically exotic people you could find round there had a Welsh first name and a Polish surname - there were quite a lot of them as a result of Polish soldiers settling there after WW2. The President of Poland, Wladyslaw Raczkiewicz, died in 1947 only a few miles from where my family lived.
@@arwelpI lived in Cardiff years ago, and remember there being an unusual number of Italian ice cream parlours around the place. Apparently that was due to there being a number of Italian POW’S who put down roots there when the war finished.
@@Oldtanktapper Actually it was a lot earlier than that - there was a wave of immigration from Italy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Giacomo Bracchi opened the first Italian cafe and ice cream shop in the country in the 1890s. “Bracchi” became a generic term in the Valleys!
Thank you for taking the time to pronounce the words properly. There are so many people who done videos and not even bothered and just pronounce the words as if they were English. Diolch yn fawr iawn i chi.
I'm actually quite impressed you took the time to research the word combrogi, most Welsh people don't even know that, or the word pritani... a great video, it's always awesome to see our beautiful and ancient language being appreciated by others.
Diolch Julie, you made a very thorough video that was perfectly structured and paced. Welsh can be a challenging language but it's also very rewarding. I know a lot of people will have a better grasp of Welsh because of your video. Da iawn ac dal ati!
Fascinating video! I’ve just discovered your channel and I love your way of talking about languages - your passion (which I share) is absolutely felt! I live in Shropshire, in England but very near to the Welsh border. This has convinced me that I should begin learning this beautiful language…
I’m Welsh amd I never see videos about Wales and the Welsh language so this is so nice to watch, the Welsh language is extremely important to me, so important that I go to a Welsh school and I speak Welsh to ny family and friends outside of school too! Diolch am creu hyn a cael pobl i deall mwy am cymraeg! ( thank you for making this and get people to understand more about Welsh) 🏴
So nice to see such a beautiful person inform the world on the Welsh language. I was born and raised in Wales and had my education through the medium of Welsh. Thank you very much for shedding some light on the language as the country is often overlooked and forgotten globally. I couldn't be happier watching and listening to your overview of the language, and your grammar is spot on!
So happy that the Welsh are fighting to keep the language alive. My father’s people are from Bala. I’m American. I hope to visit someday. Now I know why I love to sing.
@@501sqn3 Maybe Elvis had heard of Wales as Elvis's mother was named Gladys, which is a Welsh name and Elvis's grandmother Doll Mansel can trace her roots back the the Mansel's of Oxwich near Swansea, one of the richest familys in South Wales a few hundred years. Think they are the ones who built the mansion in Margam Park near Port Talbot.
Welsh choirs are beautiful to listen to in their own language and so passionate. The Welsh nation anthem has to be one of the best in the world. Unfortunately the english in past eons tried to destroy this language but failed. Even though I'm not welsh I do enjoy telling my english friends that welsh is the original language of britain and that english is really a scandinavian language.
Its not the original language, there were bell beaker people in Britain before the celts speaking their own language and there were hunter gatherers inhabiting the islands before them
English is principally from what is now northwest Germany. It has a strong Danish input, but for that matter Welsh has many words from Latin and, of course, from English. There is hardly a language on Earth that has not taken hundreds or even thousands of words from other languages.
I live in the U.S. a small town named Wales in Michigan. I was just curious about the history of the original Welsh people and language. Thanks for this intriguing lesson.
As an American who traces nearly half her roots to Wales, and has always been both curious about and flummoxed by the language, I found this fascinating. Thank you!
I watched this out of curiosity, and I’m very impressed. I honestly think I will send this to anyone who says “Welsh is a dead language” or “They shouldn’t teach Welsh, no one even speaks it any more” as there are some facts in here this video that state otherwise. I’m proud of my culture and heritage, I absolutely love being able to speak Welsh whenever possible and teach my friends simple terms (mostly the swear words). This filled my heart with so much pride . Cariad mawr ❤️ 🏴 Anyone have a favourite Welsh word/expression? Mine is “Fel rech mewn pot jam” gets me every time 🤣
Dwi'n wir yn hoffi 'Llyncu mul' (to sulk. Lit. to swallow a donkey), 'yn dywylled â bola buwch' (very dark. Lit. as dark as a cow's belly), 'gwynt yn ei d/ddwrn' (he/she is in a hurry. Lit. wind in his/her hand), 'tynnu blewyn o drwyn' (to provoke, put someone in their place, deliberately annoy someone. Lit. take a hair from so and so's nose), 'Hêb ei b/feiau, Hêb ei g/eni' (nobody's perfect. Lit without his/her faults, has not been born) & 'mae e/hi'n yn cadŵ draenog yn ei b/phoced' (he/she is tight with money. Lit. He/she keeps a hedgehog in his/her pocket) I think there're more personalised forms, like, 'I'm tight with money' would be 'Dwi'n cadŵ draenog yn fy mhoced' and so on
Diolch yn fawr iawn am dangos diddordeb yn ein iaith....thank you very much for showing interest in our language I love it when someone shows a real interest and doesn't want to push it aside as a "nuisance language" Diolch o'r galon.❤️
I spent my teenage years in Welsh-speaking Wales, and it's my guess that about half a million people speak Welsh as a first language while about the same number again (including people like me) learned the language at school or evening classes and speak it as a second language. Usually not that fluently because real spoken Welsh differs a lot from school Welsh and literary Welsh is different again ~ a kind of diglossia. The unusual L sound also exists in Mongolian, I heard...
I visited Mongolia five years ago -- a wonderful country. I can confirm that they have the same "L" sound as in Welsh. Here's something else -- the constructed language of Klingon (yes, from Star Trek) uses that very same "L". So, the language pronounces itself as "KlthI-ngon"
I think the way the Latin script has been used to transcribe modern Welsh seems to be a hurdle to learning the language as well. The vowels don't really correspond to the way the letters are used in other languages that uses the alphabet, so even guessing is futile. You would never be able to read Welsh without being instructed on how its pronounced and then memorize it. With modern Turkish, for example, you could learn to pronounce it in like 20 minutes.
As someone who is only part welsh, I'm trying to get a better understanding of my cultural background, and this video helps quite a bit in understanding the language!
Most of my family is Welsh and we're very proud to be Welsh especially with the culture, beautiful language and landscapes🏴 I'm seeing Wales and the Welsh language being represented more recently and I'm glad to see there are many people from different ethnicities learning our languages it's how everyone should be towards other cultures ❤️
Diolch Julie - da iawn. Your pronunciation was very good. The only points I'd make are: 'y' as you say can be liken 'i' sound, but it's usually a schwa. The definate article is 'y' which is pronounced as a schwa, 'uh' (yr if word after it starts with a vowel). Counting, there is a 'classical' way, which is similar to French, or, it seems, French is similar to Welsh as it may be proof of the Celtic Gaulish language subratatum in French, but the modern counting system is decimal so, for instance: 31 classical is "un ar ddeg ar hugain" (one and ten on twenty) but modern decimal is "tri deg un" (three ten one). This modern system was developed by the Welsh colony in Patagonia as they started the first ever proper Welsh medium schools there (Welsh was banned in Wales and children could be hit for speaking it) and they found that the classical counting system was too cumbersome for mathematics. The other small point I'd make is, there is a standard Welsh but, unlike, say in English is does allow for local variation. So, for instance a news reader may use the word 'rwan' (northern) or 'nawr' (southern) for the word 'now' in English, and both are acceptable. The big difference between spoken and written Welsh (though again this isn't a hard rule) is that increasingly Welsh speakers aren't running the verb, so not using the more condensed version e.g. "I ran" - "rhedais i" (condensed, 'standard') "dwi wedi rhedeg" (colloquial). Why this is, is difficult to understand, as the consended version is shorter, maybe people don't want to remember how to run the verb and may reflect a growing number of second language speakers who may not feel so confident in knowing how to run the verb. (I understand this happens in other languages too, like Hebrew?) The first clip you used, ironically, was a humorous sketch about the Welsh Language Commissioner, discussing the Welsh language! I don't know if you knew that! But thanks for the video, it was good - and thanks for the support. We're in the shadow of the world's most powerful language ever and it's a testament to our strength that we're 'yma o hyd': ua-cam.com/video/ZpaYJT-5MHc/v-deo.html
Thank you for this information! I didn’t know that Welsh was an original language and this is my first time seeing any of Julie’s videos. I am going to check if Duolingo, where I am learning German, also has Welsh and nibble at learning it too.
@@marsattaqueladelinquancest9727 It doesn't much matter. The written language is the same and it's going to take a long time just to learn the basic grammar and vocabulary. There is no international Welsh-speaking community so it would just depend where you are living if you are going to actually speak it. But if you are a foreigner learning Welsh then literary Welsh is your best bet.
@@marsattaqueladelinquancest9727 I live in South Wales and I’d suggest learning the South Welsh dialect as that’s where the capitol is. But you can visit most of Wales without ever knowing a single Welsh word cause we have English on all our signs and most people know English too 🤷🏻
I congratulate you on your scholarship. Great work. We visited Puerto Madryn, Argentina in January 2019 and as we disembarked from the ship we were surprised to be welcomed to Argentina by a group of young people dressed in Welsh costume (pointed hats and dress) waving at us. So obviously, a group of people very proud of their heritage.
I found this video in my recommendations and I'm glad the algorithm for once knew what I like :) Thank you for covering Cymraeg so beautifully and well researched. Almaenes Gymraeg ydw i, I'm German and I studied Welsh for a few years, moved to Wales and now I'm a fluent Welsh speaker.
Thank you for an informative video about Cymraeg. Cymru was forced into the UK through English colonisation rather than joining voluntarily as some might think. Our language didn’t almost die of its own accord - it was rather almost killed off by the English through concerted political efforts to vanquish it. E.g. banning it in courts etc in the acts of Union, caning welsh children for speaking welsh (Welsh Not) and Brad y Llyfrau Gleision (treachery of the blue books) where Westminster attacked the language and Welsh people as evil, lazy and stupid. The treatment of the language and the Welsh is shameful really (same with Scotland and Ireland).
Wow! Excellent job! You got even the smallest historical details spot on, like the fact Breton was transplanted to France by Brythonic speakers fleeing the Anglo Saxon invasion of what would become England
that's not certain, in his book on the Ancient Celts, Barry Cunliffe believes the languages today known as Celtic developed as a lingua franca on the West coast of Europe. Spoken from Galicia (hint in the name) in Spain all along the Atlantic coast, through Western France, including Brittany, to the UK and Ireland. Much like Swahili has developed along the East coast of Africa today.
@@philldavies7940 yes, that's right he does believe that, BUT the formation of the languages called Celtic today was another time period, long, long ago. The Brythonic-speaking Bretons, as she mentioned and demonstrated in a visual, moved *from* Britain to the peninsula in France *during the Anglo-Saxon invasion*, which was after the Romans left Britain ca: 400AD. I was surprised to find this out when I learned about the history of the Breton culture and language. The Bretons weren't holdouts like in Asterix and Obelisk, or like the Welsh in reality. Indeed, there were no more speakers of Brythonic nor Gaulish "Celtic" languages left any more in what is now France, until Britons (who then became "Bretons") fled the Anglo Saxons.
According to TravelFrance the stories of Arthur were also taken to Brittany by the Brythonic speaking immigrants from Britain in the 5th century. That's as early a reference as we could get. And look at all the Welsh place names on the map of Brittany.
@@caliburncymro7988 Arthur himself evacuated ( with the army ) to Brittany owing to the damage done to Britain by the catastrophe circa 562 ... which is believed to have been caused by impacts from comet/meteor fragments.
Great video! Yet another Englishman (albeit with a Scottish mother) who values Welsh but can't roll his Rs! I now live in Finland and speak Finnish, but even without my accent I would be betrayed as a foreigner because the rolled R belongs in that language too. I don't understand why many speakers of the majority language in any country (here meaning UK) disparage smaller languages and resent it when they hear them spoken. I have encountered this with the French attitude to Breton (related to Welsh) and the Russian attitude to their Finnic (and other) languages, and sadly, the attitude of many Finns to Saami and Swedish (here a minority but still an official language). Hopefully videos like this will help to preserve Welsh and other languages under pressure and teach people to value them!
Another fantastic video!! Dear teacher, you are definitely one of a kind! You have my deepest admiration. Thank for sharing your amazing knowledge with us. Congratulations and God bless you always.
Would you be so kind as to recommend your favorite resources for learning Welsh? My Mother's family is pretty much all of Welsh descent and I would love to learn the language with her to experience that heritage.
Native welsh speaker here.. the language has had a rough few decades, the welsh not being a big part of that but thankfully it is on the rise and its thanks to people like you. Thank you x
My Grandmother is from Galway and speaks West Ulster Irish. She has Dementia now and she has forgotten most English words. She still speaks Irish though. I'm a native speaker. The Language was stolen from us for many years but thanks to some brave men and women we finally got it back. Dia dhaoibh Éire
@Arnold Squirrel Technically yes. I'm registered under the foreign birth registry. My mother is Irish so by law I'm considered Irish. Am I from Ireland? No. I was the fourth person on her side born in America. My Uncle, My Aunt, My Brother, then me.
@@Sumabus was it? I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have faught a war and had their own language if that were the case? That's like saying Egypt was Egypt before Greece took over. I mean technically, but not really. I'll admit they treated the Welsh better than the Irish. My Ancestors were treated like slaves because they were Jewish in Derry, Northern Ireland. My grandfather joined the IRA because the English killed his father and brother in the Easter Rising. The Welsh were treated kindly because they lived on their knees instead of died on their feet. Your language was never outlawed, your food was never stolen, your children were never killed. But at what cost?
Da iawn Julie, Ymdrech da. (Well done Julie, good effort) It's nice to see someone who has done their research. I am starting to build a channel almost exclusively about Welsh language and culture for anyone interested!
My interest is from Irish ,Manx etc but your note reminded me the word 'da' is a match for the word 'dea' in Irish meaning 'good' . (Actually the word 'deas' means nice as well)
@@diarmuidbuckley6638 oh that's interesting, I actually made a video on some similarities between Scottish Gaelic and Welsh, if you're interested. I'm definitely interested in getting more material to work with. There would be a lot more similarities between Welsh and Irish than Welsh and Scottish just due to the Irish raids after the Romans left Britain and due to a mass of immigration from Ireland in the last 200 years.
I live in the usa and our family has been here for several gens . We came from wales is what ive been told by many of our family. This will b interresting to watch this video !! This girl does such a great job on all her videos she has to be very smart !! And has such beautiful hair !!
I am from wales, I don’t speak much Welsh but I know a bit, I used to think not many people around the world knew anything about Wales but this video truly changed my mind,
the local way of speaking (colloquial) is very much Wenglish, you often add '-io' on the end of verbs if you don't recall the Welsh verb name. To ask for something you would ask, "Ga i cael..." (Can I have...) you could use Google Translate for hearing pronunciation but sometimes it comes out with gibberish, do be warned. To say English names/ words in Welsh we often just add a Welsh accent and Welsh pronunciation. I hoped this help you have some steps toward your dream order! For a very safe English- Welsh dictionary just use geiriadur.uwtsd.ac.uk/ it only translates on word at a time, so if you plan on using it beware of the sentence structure we use, I promise it is safe as the Welsh teachers hate google translate and this is what they want us to use. Good luck! (sorry my comments always end up in paragraphs)
@@hiriaith yes, but let's be honest you can ask 4 people how to say something in Welsh and you'll get 4 different answers 😂😂 just how I've learned it in school
I started learning Welsh as a challenge during the first COVID 19 lockdown and I’ve kept it up since then. As someone who lives close to Wales and has family there it’s fun to now be able to understand all the signs and pronounce words i had no idea about previously
OUTSTANDING job, Julie ! Your mastery of the subtleties and "quirks" of English grammar and syntax is amazing. I very much enjoy listening to your presentations. Keep up the good work. Congratulations from Pennsylvania in the US, and best wishes for the New Year. S'nami bog.
Some great eye make-up going on there! When I was born Welsh was already disappearing (I lived just over the border on the English side). Then it underwent a revival and we even organised a petition at school to try and make it a foreign language taught at the school. Sadly it didn't happen.
@@JuLingo It's fascinating. I'm Welsh yet had to learn Welsh as an adult [I felt I had to learn Welsh before I could make a start on learning a foreign language]. So I did some research on my family. My great grandfather decided not to use Welsh in the home, he had seven sons and two daughters, so six sons who could not take over the farm whom he felt needed to become good English speakers to find jobs. This was quite common at the time; early 20th century. We are very fortunate that not everyone made this mistake and many Welsh people are trying to rectify those mistakes.
In England you should be taught Welsh or Irish Gaelic or Scots Gaelic at school as these languages aren't "foreign" languages but are of Britain heritage. This would help keep those languages alive.
I think I could listen to you forever. Your voice is just so calming and lovely. Your content is wonderful - especially to someone like me who has devoted his life to linguistics and cultural immersion. I only found your channel yesterday and am excited to follow along with you!
Very good video. All praise to you for correctly pronouncing the sound of the letter ll, double l. I wish the English would take the trouble to do the same.
In German, welsch is an old word meaning foreign, incomprehensible. For instance, Welschschweiz is a Swiss German word for the French speaking part of Switzerland and Kauderwelsch is a German word for incomprehensible speech.
You will find “Wal/Wel...” words all around the edge of the Germanic language world of Europe meaning roughly “foreigners who don’t speak like us” - Wallachia, Walloon, Wales and as you say Welschschweiz etc. Wales/Welsh derives from Anglo Saxon “waelisc” - pronounced and meaning almost exactly the same as the German “welsch”. It also crops up in eg the common Scottish surname “Wallace” - probably a description of people who spoke non-Germanic languages by people who did.
In Suedtirol the german speakers call the italian speakers "Welsh". In fact the Great Tirol is composed by Tirol (Innsbruck), Sued Tirol (Bozen), Ost Tirol (Lienz) and Welsh Tirol ( Trento,Trient), where is spoken an italian dialect.
Let us not forget that King Arthur was Welsh, and therefore spoke Cymraeg, and also that the reason the Welsh peoples were reduced but still surviving, is because they were historically stubborn, and so we have the beautiful language and traces of history to this day
Stubborn? You're right! It took the Normans 5 years to defeat the English after Hastings 1066, but 200 years to gain final control over Wales - and we still haven't been subdued!
I always thought my mom's side was mostly Scottish/Swedish, but I recently found out that I'm almost twice as much Welsh as I am Scottish. I never thought I had _any_ Welsh blood, so I'm learning about the culture for the very first time. Thanks for this awesome video! :)
I would like to say as a native Welsh speaker thank you for covering our language so clearly and beautifully. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
@@cody_p_2006 *they
Is the situation improving for Welsh speakers over there or are there fewer and fewer native Welsh speakers each generation? I know the situation is quite dire for Irish and Scottish Gaelic.
@@elimalinsky7069 I think its getting better. The Welsh government has started a campaign to get 1 million Welsh speakers by 2050
@@imladris9550 What would get the kids to speak it though and not drop the language later in life?
That's the hardest part.
I've been to Scotland, and there in the countryside only the elderly folk speak Scots, the younger generations speak completely intelligible English to my ears, which shouldn't be the case for Scots as far as I know. Haven't been to the Gaelic-speaking regions of Scotland, but they're supposedly very scarcely populated. The Hebrides is a region where Gaelic is spoken natively by almost the entire population, so that should be preserved if young people don't leave for the economic centres, as they have been doing in the last couple of decades.
@@elimalinsky7069 I'm definitely not an expert but making it useful and an official language would help. I find great benefit in using Welsh for my work and almost everyone in my family can speak Welsh.
I'm Irish and we speak Irish. I can speak my native language. But did you know out of all the Celtic languages Welsh has the most native speakers in the world. Irish he's the most by 2nd language but Welsh takes the cake as they're mother tongue. Keep Welsh alive Wales👍👍
i really want to learn irish!!
@@chaoticfanboy47 Maybe you should. You'll find Irish is a great language for describing the natural world around you
Heileo Gaeilgóir eile!
Cymro yma, dwi yn siarad cymraeg
@@breananuihobhann2120 Dia duit mo chara, cén chaoi a bhfuil tú
I'm Welsh, so naturally I went into this video skeptical about how accurate it would be. Just want to say I was very impressed by the depth of research you've put into it. Thank you for bringing awareness to my wonderful language!
Are all Welsh women as beautiful as you?😊😉
@@ryananthony4840 creature
Gwych!
Yndi mae hi yn prydferth chwara teg
DWI DDIM WEDI GWYBOD LOT O POBL O CYMRU AR UA-cam
for people who don't speak welsh:
I DIDN'T KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE FROM WALES ARE ON UA-cam
As a Welsh speaker I'm very impressed with the quality of this video. Great research and good to hear a non Welsh speaker complimenting the language. Chwarae teg a diolch yn fawr (Fair play and thanks very much).
Thank you so much! I appreciate it a lot!
Welsh definitely reminds of Dutch! Especially when that dude spoke, I thought it was Dutch! I am advanced level in Dutch and beginner level in Welsh!
Welsh: utterly gorgeous, completely phonetic, almost no irregular verbs, the oldest literature in Europe. What's not to love? It feels like a mouthful of rubies when I speak it.
Yes it is because it is phonetic that when I go to funerals, I can sing the hymns but I am not a Welsh speaker.
I went to Israel and spoke to some Christians in a book shop. They said the spoken Welsh was very much like Hebrew. The first language
@@juliephillips3374 well we are known as the lost tribe of Israel to which a witty friend replied, Dieu Dieu.
@@wendyrowland7787That's right!!!!. Well there's 10 lost tribes and they went somewhere....
Welsh is completely phonetic but uses a different spelling system to English. C is always "k", F is "v", FF is "f", W is vowel in the centre of words and LL has a special pronouciation. For many years I thought "cwm" was "quim" and Cymru was "simruh"!
I’m a first language speaker from a farm in the Snowdonia nation park mountains, and i must say im so thrilled to see the language spoken about by a non native speaker so eloquently and positively. Thank you so much 💖
Me to it’s brought a little tear to my eye . Hardd
Me too, though I’m afraid my Welsh isn’t as good as it should be. I live in a part of Wales where it isn’t spoken that much, but I’m working on getting better!
@@Orwic1 keep going mêt! Diolch am dysgu 💖
Hi, fflower.
@@omarmiftah9002 it's flower in English,blodyn in Welsh
My 98-year-old Mum was born and raised in Betws y Coed. Although she has been in Canada since the late 1940s, she has kept her Welsh and still speaks it fluently. I love the language.
A similar thing happened in my family. My great auntie was born in South Wales and moved to East London in the 1940s, but her Welsh was still excellent when she retired home to Wales more than 30 years later.
Gwych! Rwy'n byw yn ne Cymru ac rwyf wedi'i ddysgu Cymraeg fel ail iaith
Call her Mam then rather than Mum.
Waw that is absolutely amazing! I live 5 miles away from Betws.
@@philldavies7940 Which reminds me. I find it hard shopping for Christmas, Birthday and Mother's Day cards to find any with "Mam" on them. They're nearly all "Mum" these days, and I've never called her that!
I'm from Patagonia , argentina! My great-grandfathers were from wales! Interesting video
shwmae, cymro!
it is such a great story....travelled from Wales which is very wet to Patagonia which also is very wet....they must love the rain.
Do you guys eat mutton tacos?
@@MrAllmightyCornholioz no, mexican food is'nt that common
@@MrAllmightyCornholioz Wrong continent.
This young lady is amazing! I'm welsh, and a Welsh speaker, and the amount times I hear the language dismissed as "not even a real language", resulting in people not even trying to pronounce the most simple of Welsh words is frustrating and at times insulting, yet the pronunciation in this video was almost perfect. Very good video, and very nice to see the language given the respect it deserves, thankyou 👌
I'd guess the "not even a real language" was just people winding you up. Doubt many people genuinely think that.
Pronunciation on the other hand, might be simple to you because you're familiar with it, but it's a big learning curve for people with no previous experience.
She is amazing I agree, deep research and love for languages. Also it would be easier for her to pronounce certain Welsh sounds because her native language is Russian, and there are similar sounds in Welsh and Russian which are not there in the English language.
As a Welsh learner I hate when people do that, Welsh is a gorgeous language
Never heard anyone say that.
I am actually welsh also i live down in pontypool
hello everyone
i'm from Saudi Arabia and i had enjoyed about this information, peace for Welsh people 🇸🇦🤍
It's nice to see so many positive comments about the Welsh language from around the world. Ardderchog, diolch yn fawr.
I'm Greek and i feel Major respect for the Ancient languages.
Calon Lân
Rydw I’n byw yn maesteg
croeso
@@sophiejames5958 who you saying croeso to?
I am a Filipina and I want to learn the Welsh languange. I am now on my 2nd week learning Welsh in Duolingo😂
So cool!! How’s it goin?
I'm Filipina too and I just recently got interested in Wales and I also want to learn welsh niiice
Bore da sut ydy ti a Beth yw dy oedran
And no translating that would be cheating now
@@tsar6558 don't you have own script other than Roman/Latin ?
@@ରାଜକିରଣ wdym
Is really important preserve the diversity of languajes in Europe.
My people, The Basques know so well how hard can be preserve a languaje, we speak Basque or Euskara, an isolated languaje, the only pre Indoeropean languaje alive in Europe, actually we are not more than a million speakers but we make a great enfort to preserve and we still doing for sure!
So dont give up and preserve your languaje! Is a cultural heritage and not only for people of welsh is a treasure for European culture to.
It's such a beautiful language and the oldest by far in Europe! It's amazing because it's not related to any language in the world today, showing how old and interesting it is 😀
As a Welsh speaker is was so lovely to hear a non-Welsh speaker promoting our fascinating and historic language. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
Diolch yn barchus i chi! This video covers the language so beautifully!
The main reason it did start to die off was due to being banned not once, but twice. It only recently regained status equal to English in 1993!
If you're curious about this, research on the act of union 1536, the treachery of the blue books (Brad y llyfrau gleision 1847) where a member of parliament decided that Welsh language was barbaric and only served to hold the Welsh people back, and also the use of the Welsh Not in Schools through the 1900's
Despite everything, all the oppression, us Welsh are a very stubborn people and our language continues to thrive to this day! It's wonderful to see more people taking an interest in, and learning the language, during the course of this pandemic. O byddedd i'r hen iaith barhau!
Warms my heart they protect their beautiful languages x
Yeah they're doing a great job!
@@JuLingo diolch
Diolch yn fawr!
cymru am byth
Os treisiodd y gelyn fy ngwlad dan ei droed,
Mae hen iaith y Cymry mor fyw ag erioed,
Ni luddiwyd yr awen gan erchyll law brad,
Na thelyn berseiniol fy ngwlad.
Though the enemy have trampled my country beneath their feet,
The old language of the Welsh knows no retreat,
The spirit is not hindered by the treacherous hand
Nor silenced the sweet harp of my land.
There are a few Welsh speaking people here in South Eastern Lancaster PA. They continue to teach it in the only Welsh chapel.
Quite a few of the founding father's were Welsh or of a Welsh background,President's too including Abe,Welsh people were instrumental in establishing PA and the Buckeye state,I've a number of Facebook friends around Ohio and spend a fair bit of time"wandering"around the USA...Facebook/messenger wandering that is,hopefully will be able to get across the pond one day to visit
I was waiting for her to pronounce “Bala Cymwyd”. Alas, no luck.
does this “only welsh” mean genetically or linguistically??????
Hi,Jewel - Do they still publish 'Ninnau' in Pa? Den, Llangyfelach
*wonders if this person is from my hometown *
I don't know how I arrived here, but I'm a history nerd so I'm staying.
Same!!
I just put off making dinner. Good, educational video, eh? She has a lovely accent also. Cheers.
Da iawn
Please find on Y T : BritainsHiddenHistory Ross Cymroglyphics 01 Overview
Shwmae a prynhawn da! Kate dw i! 😊
What a wonderful video! 😍
Welsh is my family’s ancestral language. In 1833, my 4th great grandfather, grandmother, and their six children came to America and still spoke Welsh in their home. Unfortunately, it was lost by the next generation.
I am 40 years old, and a month ago, I began to learn Welsh to feel more connection to my ancestors and also for the beauty of the language. I now know over 300 words. 🥳
Reading Welsh is a lot easier for me than hearing and speaking, but it’s early days. I would love to be able to be fluent in Welsh, and I’ll put in the work!
Diolch! 😊❤️
As an English man married to a Welsh speaking wife, (we were married in Welsh) - this video is a perfect example and explanation of and about the Welsh language . Thank you!
Thoughts on the Welsh language: beautiful to my ear.
Diolch o’ Galon. Thank you from my heart.
What a lovely comment.
I always wondered why everyone loves the accent so much
Diolch yn fawr. Thanks very much.
As a Welsh person who continues to speak Welsh fluently, this video makes me so happy :') diolch yn fawr iawn Julie!
Preserve your language bro
Diolch for keeping the language alive. I'm relearning it, as I used to speak it at the intermediate level, but did not use it for a decade - family issues, but when your grandfather's name is Thomas Powell Jones, you can't run from your ancestry!
I found this to be one of the more informative dissertations on the Welsh language but you also added a lovely measure of intrigue and nuance to the subject, You are truly a gifted linguist, Diolch!
Also, intelligence....The new sexy!
I really enjoyed this video. Well done. Da iawn.
Hi, I'm from Kazakhstan. I want the Welsh to take care of their language. You are unique in your way, fight for your language. Love him. Try to speak it even with an accent, do not hesitate. To die a language, die a nation too. Good luck brothers and sisters. 🇰🇿🏴
I tried to teach myself the Welsh language from library books before I had internet. I was determined but it was difficult. I did learn a lot about how the language was suppressed by England through school and laws. Thank you for this.
I am from Wales and speak fluent Welsh, it really is a great language. I went to an all Welsh primary school. I speak what you called ‘southern Welsh’. It can be very difficult to remember all the mutations when writing Welsh, I find it much easier to speak than read or write. It’s very interesting to see what other people think about something I have grown up with an consider a part of normal everyday life.
I was brought up in South Wales but not in a Welsh school and I'm wondering, the number system she used wasn't correct to me. I thought 40 was pedwar deg and 16 un deg chwech? Maybe it's a dialect difference? And un is pronounced een and Dau is pronounced Die? Just checking I wasn't taught incorrectly. I'm not fluent myself.
@@LillyHartmadecraft Your numbering system is completely correct and is used most often but weirdly there are two ‘versions’ of the Welsh number system. So the way some Welsh speakers would say ‘eleven’ would be ‘un deg un’. However some Welsh speakers would say ‘un ar ddeg’.
@@lili-wenb.d5278 aaaah diolch yn fawr. Dwi'n ddim yn gwybod i x
@@LillyHartmadecraft there’s just different ways of doing these certain numbers...none is more ‘correct’ than the other imho
@@lili-wenb.d5278iv heard both used in Welsh mediums primary & Welsh medium secondary school, i went to. So I think it depends on teacher as majority of teachers were from south Wales in both schools.
I am of Welsh heritage but was born and raised in the United States. I just learned today that the Welsh language exists. Thank you for this video!
I’m watching from Vancouver 🇨🇦 - I’m part Welsh on my mother’s side. Fond memories of visiting Cymru 🏴 ... and meeting the older relatives. Hope to return after this pandemic is over.
Also in Vancouver; the lateral fricative (belted "ell") sound is common in Salish languages here.
We'll keep a welcome in the hillside!
I have ancestors who moved to Canada from South Wales!
Hello from wales brother
I'm watching from the west side of the Sound that is adjacent to Seattle, Washington. I'm part Welsh on my father's side. I did manage to travel to Cardiff about 3 years ago. So, we have a few commonalities. My relatives came here shortly after 1800. Finding relatives in Wales might be challenging.
as a welsh person who cannot speak welsh, it can feel very isolating and i have been made to feel inadequate by native welsh speakers for not being welsh enough (don’t get me started on the “get over the bridge” comments i’ve received), though i was born and raised here. i have been practicing online and soon going to start classes, thanks for this video, wales and the welsh language don’t get talked about enough.
Good luck with your learning!!
With the welsh speaking population rising so quickly soon you wont have a choice it will be like not speaking English in England.
as a native speaker i love how you did this so nicely
I am self taught speaker of Irish (Gaeilge) and there is a saying, "Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam. A country without a language is a country without a soul.” A quote from Patrick Pearse.
We have a similar saying in Welsh: "Cenedl heb iaith, cenedl heb galon" - A nation without a language, a nation without a heart".
@@RheinalltWilliams There is another funny little saying:
Is fearr Gaeilge briste ná Béarla cliste.
Broken Irish is better than clever English.
@@antseanbheanbocht4993 and in Welsh we have "gwell Cymraeg gwael na Saesneg da"! The same!
st patrick was welsh, i believe his mother was irish, being that there was connections beween wales and ireland, long before the romans, normans and english....
even JFK had mixed norman-gaelic and royal welsh ancestor....
Is sea.
Thanks again Julie. Your attitude towards language exploration is always refreshing. And it's obvious that you put a lot of work into understanding them. More please!
Thank you so much for your support! More is coming 😉
@@JuLingo I love your vidoes where are you original from ? I love your accent and when did you move to the UK?
Best national anthem and always, always the best sung!
Welsh speaker here, hi. Loved your video. It's people like you who bring our language to the mainstream and I really appreciate you for it. So, storytime. I was in America at a birthday party when I was younger (16?) and everyone kept asking me where I was from. But there was this one guy who asked me, kind of in that, "hey everybody, look at me!" kind of way? And I said, "I'm from Australia, but from Wales originally" as I'd said about 1,000 times that night" And this boy every so confidently said "Oh, I can speak Welsh too!". So I'm like, yeah, go on. And he says "Sigh May! Why do I'n seared (and I kid you not) SIMREEOO!!!" I tell you I died. I died that day. To think this boy was obviously bragging about his knowledge of Welsh only to have read and memorised "Cymraeg" as "SIM-ree-oo"! Oh, always a good laugh at that one. So, Diolch. And for those who want to say "I speak Welsh" but not actually learn anything else, 1st, don't. Have some self-respect. And 2nd it's pronounced "Do een SHAR-rad come-RAIGH" And yes, Phonetic transcription IS my specialty ;)
It's so nice to see the Welsh language being recognised! I'm fluent Welsh so this is lovely for me! Diolch Cariad ❤
I live in Wales (though I'm not Welsh, pretty sure you can tell by my surname) and it is hearthwarming to see the bilingual signs, street names or sometimes even announcements in stores. Myself I can only speak few words in Welsh, but love hearing about it.
As for your question, I'd say that a lot of languages in Europe could follow the Welsh example. I think that in a way the government of Ireland tries to revitalize Irish and I wish them luck w/that. Personally I would love to see that kind of strong preservation practice within the speakers of Sorbian and Kashubian. Would also love to see you makin videos about those languages. Or even better, about the Wymysorys language. Look at that one if you haven't heard about it, it is amazing.
Actually, when I was a boy in north Wales in the 60s and 70s, the most ethnically exotic people you could find round there had a Welsh first name and a Polish surname - there were quite a lot of them as a result of Polish soldiers settling there after WW2. The President of Poland, Wladyslaw Raczkiewicz, died in 1947 only a few miles from where my family lived.
For now you could start learning Welsh 😉 I'm German and learnt it up to university level. Hwyl fawr o'r Ynys Môn 😊
@@arwelpI lived in Cardiff years ago, and remember there being an unusual number of Italian ice cream parlours around the place. Apparently that was due to there being a number of Italian POW’S who put down roots there when the war finished.
@@Oldtanktapper Actually it was a lot earlier than that - there was a wave of immigration from Italy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Giacomo Bracchi opened the first Italian cafe and ice cream shop in the country in the 1890s. “Bracchi” became a generic term in the Valleys!
Thank you for taking the time to pronounce the words properly. There are so many people who done videos and not even bothered and just pronounce the words as if they were English. Diolch yn fawr iawn i chi.
Sorry, but I wouldn't trust a lesson given in English by a non-native English speaker. 'National' pronounced 'naytional' for example.
@@peterdean8009 and? people learn with experience. don't be so close minded
Please find on Y T : BritainsHiddenHistory Ross Cymroglyphics 01 Overview
I'm actually quite impressed you took the time to research the word combrogi, most Welsh people don't even know that, or the word pritani... a great video, it's always awesome to see our beautiful and ancient language being appreciated by others.
Diolch Julie, you made a very thorough video that was perfectly structured and paced. Welsh can be a challenging language but it's also very rewarding. I know a lot of people will have a better grasp of Welsh because of your video. Da iawn ac dal ati!
Fascinating video! I’ve just discovered your channel and I love your way of talking about languages - your passion (which I share) is absolutely felt!
I live in Shropshire, in England but very near to the Welsh border. This has convinced me that I should begin learning this beautiful language…
Thank you Julie!! Fascinating video combing historical and cultural facts with their consequences on Welsh language. Keep it up!!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I’m Welsh amd I never see videos about Wales and the Welsh language so this is so nice to watch, the Welsh language is extremely important to me, so important that I go to a Welsh school and I speak Welsh to ny family and friends outside of school too! Diolch am creu hyn a cael pobl i deall mwy am cymraeg! ( thank you for making this and get people to understand more about Welsh) 🏴
I've been studying Welsh for a couple of years and it calls to me more than any other language I've learned or studied.
I love this culture, blessed to have it in Patagonia. Regards from Puerto Madryn, Chubut 🖤
🤍
❤
💚
So nice to see such a beautiful person inform the world on the Welsh language. I was born and raised in Wales and had my education through the medium of Welsh. Thank you very much for shedding some light on the language as the country is often overlooked and forgotten globally. I couldn't be happier watching and listening to your overview of the language, and your grammar is spot on!
So happy that the Welsh are fighting to keep the language alive. My father’s people are from Bala. I’m American. I hope to visit someday. Now I know why I love to sing.
Diolch cariad.
I’m Welsh and this is surprisingly accurate I’m glad you made this video to educate people love this video x
A lovely language, and Tolkien's Sindarin Elvish was heavily influenced by Welsh!
Elvis wasn't influenced by the welsh!!, He'd probably never even heard of it 🙄
@@501sqn3 Maybe Elvis had heard of Wales as Elvis's mother was named Gladys, which is a Welsh name and Elvis's grandmother Doll Mansel can trace her roots back the the Mansel's of Oxwich near Swansea, one of the richest familys in South Wales a few hundred years. Think they are the ones who built the mansion in Margam Park near Port Talbot.
dude wtf are these two comments. definition of clueless
lol Elvis was beautiful and a glorious singer he HAD to have had Welsh roots! 🏴
As a native English person, with an interest in Welsh, I was impressed by this well researched piece.
Great job !
Hello from England, please keep your language alive! Every language has something unique to it, so keeping them is interesting!
Welsh choirs are beautiful to listen to in their own language and so passionate. The Welsh nation anthem has to be one of the best in the world. Unfortunately the english in past eons tried to destroy this language but failed. Even though I'm not welsh I do enjoy telling my english friends that welsh is the original language of britain and that english is really a scandinavian language.
Its not the original language, there were bell beaker people in Britain before the celts speaking their own language and there were hunter gatherers inhabiting the islands before them
English is principally from what is now northwest Germany. It has a strong Danish input, but for that matter Welsh has many words from Latin and, of course, from English. There is hardly a language on Earth that has not taken hundreds or even thousands of words from other languages.
@@DieFlabbergast The Saxons were in northwest Germany, but the Angles were in southern Denmark.
Rubbish, stop misinforming your friends
I live in the U.S. a small town named Wales in Michigan. I was just curious about the history of the original Welsh people and language. Thanks for this intriguing lesson.
As an American who traces nearly half her roots to Wales, and has always been both curious about and flummoxed by the language, I found this fascinating. Thank you!
I know an American guy learned welsh just by using tapes. This was around 2008 I think tho.
I watched this out of curiosity, and I’m very impressed. I honestly think I will send this to anyone who says “Welsh is a dead language” or “They shouldn’t teach Welsh, no one even speaks it any more” as there are some facts in here this video that state otherwise. I’m proud of my culture and heritage, I absolutely love being able to speak Welsh whenever possible and teach my friends simple terms (mostly the swear words). This filled my heart with so much pride . Cariad mawr ❤️ 🏴
Anyone have a favourite Welsh word/expression? Mine is “Fel rech mewn pot jam” gets me every time 🤣
❤
Dwi'n wir yn hoffi 'Llyncu mul' (to sulk. Lit. to swallow a donkey), 'yn dywylled â bola buwch' (very dark. Lit. as dark as a cow's belly), 'gwynt yn ei d/ddwrn' (he/she is in a hurry. Lit. wind in his/her hand), 'tynnu blewyn o drwyn' (to provoke, put someone in their place, deliberately annoy someone. Lit. take a hair from so and so's nose), 'Hêb ei b/feiau, Hêb ei g/eni' (nobody's perfect. Lit without his/her faults, has not been born) & 'mae e/hi'n yn cadŵ draenog yn ei b/phoced' (he/she is tight with money. Lit. He/she keeps a hedgehog in his/her pocket)
I think there're more personalised forms, like, 'I'm tight with money' would be 'Dwi'n cadŵ draenog yn fy mhoced' and so on
Diolch yn fawr iawn am dangos diddordeb yn ein iaith....thank you very much for showing interest in our language I love it when someone shows a real interest and doesn't want to push it aside as a "nuisance language" Diolch o'r galon.❤️
My mom is a 4th generation Welsh American from coal miners who emigrated to Ohio. Her father's surname was Williams.
Iaith hardd a gwlad hardd
I spent my teenage years in Welsh-speaking Wales, and it's my guess that about half a million people speak Welsh as a first language while about the same number again (including people like me) learned the language at school or evening classes and speak it as a second language. Usually not that fluently because real spoken Welsh differs a lot from school Welsh and literary Welsh is different again ~ a kind of diglossia.
The unusual L sound also exists in Mongolian, I heard...
I visited Mongolia five years ago -- a wonderful country. I can confirm that they have the same "L" sound as in Welsh. Here's something else -- the constructed language of Klingon (yes, from Star Trek) uses that very same "L". So, the language pronounces itself as "KlthI-ngon"
nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, has the so Lh sound in some form
@@dsyy90210 And also apparently Navajo. It might not be so rare of a sound in our languages.
I think the way the Latin script has been used to transcribe modern Welsh seems to be a hurdle to learning the language as well. The vowels don't really correspond to the way the letters are used in other languages that uses the alphabet, so even guessing is futile. You would never be able to read Welsh without being instructed on how its pronounced and then memorize it. With modern Turkish, for example, you could learn to pronounce it in like 20 minutes.
Please find on Y T : BritainsHiddenHistory Ross Cymroglyphics 01 Overview
glad to see a new upload! especially on a celtic language.
Glad you enjoy it!
This is extremely interesting! Thank you for making this video. Please continue!!
As someone who is only part welsh, I'm trying to get a better understanding of my cultural background, and this video helps quite a bit in understanding the language!
Well done! It gave me a good feeling when u said that they are trying to help their language.
Yeah makes me happy too ☺️
Please find on Y T : BritainsHiddenHistory Ross Cymroglyphics 01 Overview
I had no idea about the magnificent history of the welsh. Greetings from México.
Many interesting languages and dialects in your region as well.
Im a flent welsh speaker and im currently teaching my Mexican fiance.
Thank you.
And there is a Welsh-speaking community in South America - in Pategonia.
:0 otro mexicano
/ɬ/ I learned living in Musqueam country on the west coast of Canada! It was awesome learning Cymraeg has this sound, too!
Brilliant presentation - so insightful and full of historical accuracies regarding our wonderful Welsh language - diolch yn fawr am rannu
Most of my family is Welsh and we're very proud to be Welsh especially with the culture, beautiful language and landscapes🏴 I'm seeing Wales and the Welsh language being represented more recently and I'm glad to see there are many people from different ethnicities learning our languages it's how everyone should be towards other cultures ❤️
Diolch Julie - da iawn. Your pronunciation was very good.
The only points I'd make are: 'y' as you say can be liken 'i' sound, but it's usually a schwa. The definate article is 'y' which is pronounced as a schwa, 'uh' (yr if word after it starts with a vowel).
Counting, there is a 'classical' way, which is similar to French, or, it seems, French is similar to Welsh as it may be proof of the Celtic Gaulish language subratatum in French, but the modern counting system is decimal so, for instance: 31 classical is "un ar ddeg ar hugain" (one and ten on twenty) but modern decimal is "tri deg un" (three ten one). This modern system was developed by the Welsh colony in Patagonia as they started the first ever proper Welsh medium schools there (Welsh was banned in Wales and children could be hit for speaking it) and they found that the classical counting system was too cumbersome for mathematics.
The other small point I'd make is, there is a standard Welsh but, unlike, say in English is does allow for local variation. So, for instance a news reader may use the word 'rwan' (northern) or 'nawr' (southern) for the word 'now' in English, and both are acceptable. The big difference between spoken and written Welsh (though again this isn't a hard rule) is that increasingly Welsh speakers aren't running the verb, so not using the more condensed version e.g. "I ran" - "rhedais i" (condensed, 'standard') "dwi wedi rhedeg" (colloquial). Why this is, is difficult to understand, as the consended version is shorter, maybe people don't want to remember how to run the verb and may reflect a growing number of second language speakers who may not feel so confident in knowing how to run the verb. (I understand this happens in other languages too, like Hebrew?)
The first clip you used, ironically, was a humorous sketch about the Welsh Language Commissioner, discussing the Welsh language! I don't know if you knew that!
But thanks for the video, it was good - and thanks for the support. We're in the shadow of the world's most powerful language ever and it's a testament to our strength that we're 'yma o hyd': ua-cam.com/video/ZpaYJT-5MHc/v-deo.html
Thank you for this information! I didn’t know that Welsh was an original language and this is my first time seeing any of Julie’s videos. I am going to check if Duolingo, where I am learning German, also has Welsh and nibble at learning it too.
The accents of north and south vary greatly e.e
Sut mae hi: How is it (informal
North: su'mai
South:shwmae
we use shwmai in the north,maybe north east,but mid and west (north) we use shwmai
What sort of Welsh the strangers are supposed to learn then ?
@@marsattaqueladelinquancest9727 It doesn't much matter. The written language is the same and it's going to take a long time just to learn the basic grammar and vocabulary. There is no international Welsh-speaking community so it would just depend where you are living if you are going to actually speak it. But if you are a foreigner learning Welsh then literary Welsh is your best bet.
@@marsattaqueladelinquancest9727 I live in South Wales and I’d suggest learning the South Welsh dialect as that’s where the capitol is. But you can visit most of Wales without ever knowing a single Welsh word cause we have English on all our signs and most people know English too 🤷🏻
@@marsattaqueladelinquancest9727 Depends on what you feel would be most useful to you. But like asking which foreign language should I learn.
I congratulate you on your scholarship. Great work. We visited Puerto Madryn, Argentina in January 2019 and as we disembarked from the ship we were surprised to be welcomed to Argentina by a group of young people dressed in Welsh costume (pointed hats and dress) waving at us. So obviously, a group of people very proud of their heritage.
I found this video in my recommendations and I'm glad the algorithm for once knew what I like :) Thank you for covering Cymraeg so beautifully and well researched. Almaenes Gymraeg ydw i, I'm German and I studied Welsh for a few years, moved to Wales and now I'm a fluent Welsh speaker.
Thank you for an informative video about Cymraeg. Cymru was forced into the UK through English colonisation rather than joining voluntarily as some might think. Our language didn’t almost die of its own accord - it was rather almost killed off by the English through concerted political efforts to vanquish it. E.g. banning it in courts etc in the acts of Union, caning welsh children for speaking welsh (Welsh Not) and Brad y Llyfrau Gleision (treachery of the blue books) where Westminster attacked the language and Welsh people as evil, lazy and stupid. The treatment of the language and the Welsh is shameful really (same with Scotland and Ireland).
Awesome video Julie. Cheers from Argentina
Thank you! 😃
Diolch! Loved you accent when using Welsh words!!
Wow! Excellent job! You got even the smallest historical details spot on, like the fact Breton was transplanted to France by Brythonic speakers fleeing the Anglo Saxon invasion of what would become England
that's not certain, in his book on the Ancient Celts, Barry Cunliffe believes the languages today known as Celtic developed as a lingua franca on the West coast of Europe. Spoken from Galicia (hint in the name) in Spain all along the Atlantic coast, through Western France, including Brittany, to the UK and Ireland. Much like Swahili has developed along the East coast of Africa today.
@@philldavies7940 yes, that's right he does believe that, BUT the formation of the languages called Celtic today was another time period, long, long ago.
The Brythonic-speaking Bretons, as she mentioned and demonstrated in a visual, moved *from* Britain to the peninsula in France *during the Anglo-Saxon invasion*, which was after the Romans left Britain ca: 400AD.
I was surprised to find this out when I learned about the history of the Breton culture and language. The Bretons weren't holdouts like in Asterix and Obelisk, or like the Welsh in reality. Indeed, there were no more speakers of Brythonic nor Gaulish "Celtic" languages left any more in what is now France, until Britons (who then became "Bretons") fled the Anglo Saxons.
Please find on Y T : BritainsHiddenHistory Ross Cymroglyphics 01 Overview
According to TravelFrance the stories of Arthur were also taken to Brittany by the Brythonic speaking immigrants from Britain in the 5th century. That's as early a reference as we could get. And look at all the Welsh place names on the map of Brittany.
@@caliburncymro7988 Arthur himself evacuated ( with the army ) to Brittany owing to the damage done to Britain by the catastrophe circa 562 ... which is believed to have been caused by impacts from comet/meteor fragments.
Great video! Yet another Englishman (albeit with a Scottish mother) who values Welsh but can't roll his Rs! I now live in Finland and speak Finnish, but even without my accent I would be betrayed as a foreigner because the rolled R belongs in that language too. I don't understand why many speakers of the majority language in any country (here meaning UK) disparage smaller languages and resent it when they hear them spoken. I have encountered this with the French attitude to Breton (related to Welsh) and the Russian attitude to their Finnic (and other) languages, and sadly, the attitude of many Finns to Saami and Swedish (here a minority but still an official language). Hopefully videos like this will help to preserve Welsh and other languages under pressure and teach people to value them!
Great positive video. There's a school in Japan which teaches Welsh too.
Another fantastic video!! Dear teacher, you are definitely one of a kind! You have my deepest admiration. Thank for sharing your amazing knowledge with us. Congratulations and God bless you always.
Thank you so much for your support!!!
I've pursued learning Welsh on my own, because of my Morgan ancestry. It's a HARD damn language, but I absolutely love it 🖤🖤🖤
Would you be so kind as to recommend your favorite resources for learning Welsh? My Mother's family is pretty much all of Welsh descent and I would love to learn the language with her to experience that heritage.
This is so informative, thank you! Welsh is such a beautiful language! I'm so glad this video came up in my recommendations, subscribed 🥰
Excellent video. You covered a very good amount and managed to do it in under ten minutes. Very impressive. Thanks for the wonderful content.
Native welsh speaker here.. the language has had a rough few decades, the welsh not being a big part of that but thankfully it is on the rise and its thanks to people like you. Thank you x
I'm currently learning welsh and it's kinda hard but everytime I speak a sentence it feels epic.
Love your comment!
Funny
My Grandmother is from Galway and speaks West Ulster Irish. She has Dementia now and she has forgotten most English words. She still speaks Irish though. I'm a native speaker. The Language was stolen from us for many years but thanks to some brave men and women we finally got it back. Dia dhaoibh Éire
@Arnold Squirrel actually it was them in the beginning. But it was the British who outlawed it when they invaded on behalf of Protestantism.
@Arnold Squirrel I don't consider Welsh British and neither should you. Fight for your freedom again.
@Arnold Squirrel Technically yes. I'm registered under the foreign birth registry. My mother is Irish so by law I'm considered Irish. Am I from Ireland? No. I was the fourth person on her side born in America. My Uncle, My Aunt, My Brother, then me.
@@joebaumgart1146 Welsh was British before the English arrived on the British Isles.
@@Sumabus was it? I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have faught a war and had their own language if that were the case? That's like saying Egypt was Egypt before Greece took over. I mean technically, but not really. I'll admit they treated the Welsh better than the Irish. My Ancestors were treated like slaves because they were Jewish in Derry, Northern Ireland. My grandfather joined the IRA because the English killed his father and brother in the Easter Rising. The Welsh were treated kindly because they lived on their knees instead of died on their feet. Your language was never outlawed, your food was never stolen, your children were never killed. But at what cost?
Da iawn Julie, Ymdrech da. (Well done Julie, good effort) It's nice to see someone who has done their research. I am starting to build a channel almost exclusively about Welsh language and culture for anyone interested!
Sounds good - I’d be interested in the forthcoming channel, and I can probably find a few more people who would be interested too!
@@Orwic1 That would be great, please share and subscribe!!
My interest is from Irish ,Manx etc but your note reminded me the word 'da' is a match for the word 'dea' in Irish meaning 'good' . (Actually the word 'deas' means nice as well)
@@diarmuidbuckley6638 oh that's interesting, I actually made a video on some similarities between Scottish Gaelic and Welsh, if you're interested. I'm definitely interested in getting more material to work with. There would be a lot more similarities between Welsh and Irish than Welsh and Scottish just due to the Irish raids after the Romans left Britain and due to a mass of immigration from Ireland in the last 200 years.
Subbed! :)
That's a really lovely summary of the Welsh language.... Thank you for this!
I live in the usa and our family has been here for several gens . We came from wales is what ive been told by many of our family. This will b interresting to watch this video !! This girl does such a great job on all her videos she has to be very smart !! And has such beautiful hair !!
I am from wales, I don’t speak much Welsh but I know a bit, I used to think not many people around the world knew anything about Wales but this video truly changed my mind,
I've wanted to learn Welsh for years, even though I'm American.
Mostly to order at McDonald's in Welsh...
Un bigmac os gwellych yn dda.
There are no bad reasons to learn.
the local way of speaking (colloquial) is very much Wenglish, you often add '-io' on the end of verbs if you don't recall the Welsh verb name. To ask for something you would ask,
"Ga i cael..." (Can I have...)
you could use Google Translate for hearing pronunciation but sometimes it comes out with gibberish, do be warned. To say English names/ words in Welsh we often just add a Welsh accent and Welsh pronunciation. I hoped this help you have some steps toward your dream order! For a very safe English- Welsh dictionary just use
geiriadur.uwtsd.ac.uk/ it only translates on word at a time, so if you plan on using it beware of the sentence structure we use, I promise it is safe as the Welsh teachers hate google translate and this is what they want us to use. Good luck! (sorry my comments always end up in paragraphs)
@@hiriaith yes, but let's be honest you can ask 4 people how to say something in Welsh and you'll get 4 different answers 😂😂 just how I've learned it in school
@@philldavies7940 Un Macfawr? ;)
I started learning Welsh as a challenge during the first COVID 19 lockdown and I’ve kept it up since then. As someone who lives close to Wales and has family there it’s fun to now be able to understand all the signs and pronounce words i had no idea about previously
Hello ! Julingo every your explanation are meaning to me very much, thanks.
OUTSTANDING job, Julie ! Your mastery of the subtleties and "quirks" of English grammar and syntax is amazing. I very much enjoy listening to your presentations. Keep up the good work. Congratulations from Pennsylvania in the US, and best wishes for the New Year. S'nami bog.
I found your channel by Georgian language and oh my god im in love with the way you explain, now its my favorite channel, greetings!
Some great eye make-up going on there! When I was born Welsh was already disappearing (I lived just over the border on the English side). Then it underwent a revival and we even organised a petition at school to try and make it a foreign language taught at the school. Sadly it didn't happen.
Yeah that's unfortunate. Good news is that times are changing and Welsh is actually growing
Thanks for trying anyway. It would be really great if it was taught in more English schools.
@@JuLingo It's fascinating. I'm Welsh yet had to learn Welsh as an adult [I felt I had to learn Welsh before I could make a start on learning a foreign language]. So I did some research on my family. My great grandfather decided not to use Welsh in the home, he had seven sons and two daughters, so six sons who could not take over the farm whom he felt needed to become good English speakers to find jobs. This was quite common at the time; early 20th century. We are very fortunate that not everyone made this mistake and many Welsh people are trying to rectify those mistakes.
Please find on Y T : BritainsHiddenHistory Ross Cymroglyphics 01 Overview
In England you should be taught Welsh or Irish Gaelic or Scots Gaelic at school as these languages aren't "foreign" languages but are of Britain heritage. This would help keep those languages alive.
I think I could listen to you forever. Your voice is just so calming and lovely. Your content is wonderful - especially to someone like me who has devoted his life to linguistics and cultural immersion. I only found your channel yesterday and am excited to follow along with you!
Very good video. All praise to you for correctly pronouncing the sound of the letter ll, double l. I wish the English would take the trouble to do the same.
Thankyou for covering our language so well. Diolch ❤
In German, welsch is an old word meaning foreign, incomprehensible. For instance, Welschschweiz is a Swiss German word for the French speaking part of Switzerland and Kauderwelsch is a German word for incomprehensible speech.
oh wow that’s so intriguing
It’s where the word for Welsh came from iirc. They didn’t understand us so they just called us “the foreigners”
You will find “Wal/Wel...” words all around the edge of the Germanic language world of Europe meaning roughly “foreigners who don’t speak like us” - Wallachia, Walloon, Wales and as you say Welschschweiz etc. Wales/Welsh derives from Anglo Saxon “waelisc” - pronounced and meaning almost exactly the same as the German “welsch”. It also crops up in eg the common Scottish surname “Wallace” - probably a description of people who spoke non-Germanic languages by people who did.
@@FOXTROTALPHA2412 it's like in russian germans called "немцы (nemtsi)". It came from немой (nemoi) which means "mute"
In Suedtirol the german speakers call the italian speakers "Welsh". In fact the Great Tirol is composed by Tirol (Innsbruck), Sued Tirol (Bozen), Ost Tirol (Lienz) and Welsh Tirol ( Trento,Trient), where is spoken an italian dialect.
Let us not forget that King Arthur was Welsh, and therefore spoke Cymraeg, and also that the reason the Welsh peoples were reduced but still surviving, is because they were historically stubborn, and so we have the beautiful language and traces of history to this day
Stubborn? You're right! It took the Normans 5 years to defeat the English after Hastings 1066, but 200 years to gain final control over Wales - and we still haven't been subdued!
Cymru am byth
I always thought my mom's side was mostly Scottish/Swedish, but I recently found out that I'm almost twice as much Welsh as I am Scottish. I never thought I had _any_ Welsh blood, so I'm learning about the culture for the very first time. Thanks for this awesome video! :)
Please find on Y T : BritainsHiddenHistory Ross Cymroglyphics 01 Overview
There’s so much to know Emma, much of which is not commonly known, even by Welsh people, but it is there, just like on here. Good luck in your search.
Welsh influence went all the way into Scotland! William Wallace had Welsh blood. Note his last name.
Fantastic. I love they way you glided over history, language inventory, grammar and linguistics so smoothly. Great job. Thank you.
I really found this helpful, thank you
Irish speaker here. Welsh is also beautiful and full of imagery. The Celtic languages will thrive once more. Beir bua.