Vanishing Welsh Names: The Race to Save Welsh Heritage
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- Опубліковано 2 чер 2024
- Is Welsh heritage being erased? The fight to save Welsh names & reclaim Celtic heritage: Snowdon Vs Yr Wyddfa
In Snowdonia, North Wales, is the highest mountain in Wales. In English, it's called Snowdon, but it's Welsh name is Yr Wyddfa. Snowdonia itself also has a Welsh name: Eryri. Outside of Wales, they are known mostly by their English names which are easier for non-Welsh-speakers to pronounce. But there is a push in Wales to encourage people to refer to them by their original, Welsh names.
What does Snowdon mean? It's thought to have come from the Anglo-Saxon word for "Snow Dune" or "Snow Hill". So what's the meaning of Yr Wyddfa? The Welsh name means "Grave". Welsh folklore tells of a giant, Rhita Gawr, who roamed Wales, defeating armies and sewing the beards of vanquished kings into his cloak until he was defeated by the Legendary King Arthur. Welsh folklore lives on in Welsh names, and renaming them threatens to take Celtic heritage away from the landscape. This has ignited a debate over whether we should use the names Snowdon or Yr Wyddfa, Llyn Bochlwyd or Lake Australia, Porth Trecastell or Cable bay, to name just a few.
John Pughe Roberts pressured the Snowdonia national park authority to refer to Snowdon as Yr Wyddfa, and started a petition that received 5,000 signatures. We met with him learn why he thought it was important to reclaim Welsh place names.
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00:00-00:54 - Snowdon or Yr Wyddfa?
00:55-01:53 - Snowdonia is one of the most Welsh-Speaking parts of Wales
01:54-02:44 - Welsh names: Complicated to Pronounce but Part of History
02:45-04:17 - Llyn Bochlwyd & Porth Trecastell
04:18-05:04 - Welsh Folklore - The Story of Rhitta Gawr
05:05-07:08 - Protecting Welsh Names in Eryri (Snowdonia)
07:09-09:20 - Changing Attitudes to the Welsh Language
09:21-10:57 - Sacrificing Welsh Heritage for Names Easier to Pronounce
#wales #welshculture #Welshnames #welshlanguage #yrwyddfa #cymru #cymruambyth
![[柴犬ASMR]曼玉Manyu&小白Bai 毛发护理Spa asmr](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/0TsXQ7z2Dh4/mqdefault.jpg)
We have every right to preserve our language it was here first before English
Glad to see that the vote passed and it will officially be referred to as Yr Wyddfa!
I would think you can make every effort to not use English.
@@user-cj4xo6vp4t CYMRU AM BYTH!
@@user-cj4xo6vp4t CYMRU AM BYTH!
No such thing or place such as Wales until the Anglo saxons called it so waelas=Foreigner, the same applies to walonia in Belgium so there's nothing intrinsically unique about Wales at all a bunch of politically inspired clap trap
Diolch yn fawr Tiernan! Thank you so much 🙂 Your respect, acknowledgement and admiration for other cultures and languages, the Celtic ones in particular, speaks volumes for your character and integrity. We need more people like you in the world. Arbennig o dda!! Especially good video here.
Thank you for the kind words Owain, so glad you enjoyed the video!! I have several more videos from the Celtic nations on their way 😊It was such a privilege to spend so much time learning about them last year - as someone who never learned much about Celtic cultures and languages when I was younger, it was really eye-opening.
Fellow welshy :D
Your videos are great! I'm English but have been learning Welsh for some time now and I'm very passionate about the language being preserved for the next generations. I hope one day to be among those million Welsh speakers.
Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed them! That's fantastic, the Welsh language revival is such an encouraging success story. It's such a shame how neglected and damaged some of the Celtic Languages and cultures have been by the English over the years (I'm also English, and only came to learn in depth about them all relatively recently). How long have you been learning Welsh for?
@@TieranFreedman It is a real shame many of the Celtic languages have dwindled in numbers but the revival efforts are really encouraging. I enjoyed your videos about Cornwall and their efforts at reviving the language, too. I've been learning Welsh on and off for the last 4 years now. I'm nowhere near the level I'd like to be but with a little patience and time I'll get there!
@@anfiebrigantia2154 as a welsh person i think its important for us to know the culture from all the home nations
Spot on! 🏴
@@Uaeboravisma what culture? every other person is a white person from england/ireland 💀
I am 75 and from South Wales, back in my school days there was no chance of learning Welsh in school, it was effectively banned as a language and culture.
That was so wrong, and I am very glad that has changed now. I never learned Welsh as I moved away to join the RAF so have never been around the Welsh language, but I love to hear it spoken.
I believe all children in Welsh schools have to learn Welsh now.
I was born in Bolton and only moved to Wales when I was I think about 9. I can't speak much Welsh beyond basic greetings, asking where daily essentials are in shops, and saying thank you. I'd love to learn Welsh but my autism has made it a challenge. But unlike most English people who moved here, I'm 100% in favour of doing everything to improve Welsh speaking rates - I think hearing it more often would probably help me pick it up more - so I'm all for using Welsh place names in place of English ones, and use them instead in conversation quite often despite living in an area with few Welsh speakers. If I ever made the mistake of having children, I'd make more of an effort to learn as much Welsh as possible so they could grow up with the language, an opportunity I never got. It's a beautiful language so to see the amount of hate it gets on Facebook really pains me.
We don't hate the language so much as we are disgusted by it. But yeah, it would be a good thing if it went extinct.
@@user-cj4xo6vp4t do you just enjoy being an arsehole in comment sections?
I'm a 53 year old man, and this brought me to tears. Thank you so much for speaking out about this, it's greatly appreciated!
Thank you for sharing this feedback, it means a lot 💚🏴
Even English names for Welsh towns have been changed. Welshpool, Y Trallwng, in English was originally known as Pool, but was changed when the railways came so as not to confuse it with Poole in Dorset, unbelievable.
Really good documentary and done in a sensitive way, respect.
Thanks Peter, glad you enjoyed it! Hoping my pronunciations were somewhat acceptable 😅 I didn't know that, thanks for the information.
Glad you mentioned Dorset. There appears to be quite a few names derived from the ancient British/Welsh in this county. I was reading an old text online a few years ago regarding this (I’ve tried looking for it since but can’t locate it). Apparently the Dor in Dorset/Dorchester was derived from dwr, (although the academic consensus suggests it comes from ‘dura’ or hard relating to the chalky soil, although chalk isn’t that hard but the associated flint is) the Welsh word for water and believe that the pre Roman name for Dorchester was Caer Dwr, a fortified settlement on the water (meadows), from back in the day when the climate was much wetter and warmer. The text also suggested that Blandford was derived from Blaen (f)ford(d), not sure of the spelling, but described an upper ford or important crossing point. Stour as in the river was derived from ‘Is dwr’ which I think might have meant main waterway and Durdle Door, that amazing feature in the chalk cliffs near Lulworth Cove was so named because a Durdle is an ancient name for a drill, and door, again from dwr meaning water. That would accurately describe the feature, ‘drilled by water’.
Amazing this was so beautiful thank you for making it. And in case anyone reads this, "Snowdon/Snodonia" are now offically Yr Wyddfa/Eryri, not just that but Brecon Beacons national park also reverted to only Welsh Bannau Brycheiniog. Not even fluent but I am so happy to see the lanugage grow.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it! Was awesome to see that news 😁
Diolch yn fawr. I feel it is vital to keep the historical aspects of Cymru alive. A name can hold a lot of history. It always saddens me to think that up until fairly recently, people would of been told that their native tongue was considered rude. I’d be interested to see what the English would feel if told their language was rude when they visit other countries. 😢 Here’s to more Cymru learning the language. 🏴
Its starting to happen now..
It was rude and still is. I will give any welshie speaking that horrible tongue a stern look or a good talking to should they utter a word of that ghastly language.
Fantastic video and so happy to see the Welsh reclaiming their language and heritage. I think it's pretty shameful how few English people speak any foreign language.
Thanks Alex, glad you enjoyed it! Yeah and it's good to see it happening to varying degrees in all of the Celtic nations.
Haha I agree, but then again I'm one of those monolingual English people 😅
The amount of migrants living in England now, the English are learning , because in many areas English isn't the first language
Better to be monolingual than to speak welsh.
@user-cj4xo6vp4t
Few bitter comments on here pal!!
Do you have anything better to do?
Bitter? No. Scornful? Yes. The welsh have every reason to be looked down upon. And as long as red-faced welshies shagging their ewe while replying to me with one hand typing then I shall have nothing better to do.
I am a welshman who grew up in a anglinised part of wales. Welsh was never taught in my school days. The last welsh speaker in my family was my great grandmother blodwyn. She died in 1974. But fast forward to 2023. Both my children have welsh names, Ioan and Eira, and the school they goto does 20% of the classes in welsh. I would love to see a campaign to encourage people to consider their children to have welsh names.
My Nain moved to Canada as a young lady and made it a point to teach her children and grandchildren some Welsh. I've always appreciated that gift
Thank you for this video (Tapadh leibh a charaid) greetings from Scotland. It's been a similar story with us, during the times of Thatcher and John Major, they tried to anglicise the place names, I remember the sign for Alt an Dubh being changed to the black water river. No idea why they had to do this, because it just got the backs up of local people and led to a view that we are ruled by colonialists and imperialists, which we are. It was interesting to hear the lady talk about her gran being told off for speaking Wels, I know older people who had Gaelic beaten out of them at school, so can talk it fluently, but cant read or write it, beannachd dha ar caraidean sa Chuimrigh
Glad you enjoyed the video! Yeah it's so sad to hear stories like that. I met another guy who will feature in a future video who had the same thing happen to him with his Shetland dialect. But its great to see so many language revival efforts in the Celtic nations and to meet people like John who are actively pushing to protect Celtic heritage.
It's about control and erasing true history. Same thing happening in America, statues being torn down, etc. They won't succeed.
Bollocks
@@D_B_Cooper 🏴👍
Is that last sentence "Greetings to our friends in Wales?"
Remember ONE THING... The Welsh Language is the heritage of all people of British descent, not just the Welsh. Many English people are learning the language too - a significant number in fact.... Great Video !
There are about 100,000 Welsh speakers living in England - the largest concentration outside Wales itself I think. How many are from Wales I don't know, but I do know that Welsh is a very popular language to learn 'as a hobby'. It's all a win.
If Welsh is the heritage of all people of British descent then I am ashamed to be British.
@@user-cj4xo6vp4t You should be ashamed that you do not know much at all. Ignorance is not good for anything except playing the joker is it ?. The word "British" is of Brythonic origin (Welsh celtic).. Remember the romans called our land after our Welsh word "Prydain" which is an area of land that includes Wales, England and Southern Scotland.
@@user-cj4xo6vp4t What actually is your problem?
Asking what my problem is is akin to asking a person what their problem is with rats infesting their home.
The amount of Irish streets and towns had there name's changed to English ones is a disgrace.
A lot more Welsh people speak there native language than Irish. Respect!
Diolch - eyes are on the culture of Wales and I do appreciate this kind of content!
Sometimes it just feels like, as a Welsh speaker, I'm shooting into the Ether about such a rich culture. It helps when those who don't know about it all actually become curious about it ❤️
Also fun fact: the real name for Llanfairpwll (or LlanfairPG to the locals) was ... Just that Llanfairpwll.
Llanfairpwllgwyngyll[etc] was written by a Scotsman to make money lol.
It does seem like efforts to increase the number of Welsh speakers and interest in the language is paying off which is very encouraging. Glad you enjoyed the video! And yeah I did hear that about LlanfairPG, mentioned it in another video but I should probably have clarified that in this one too.
All eyes on wales... All eyes that will need to be splashed with bleach considering how awful and contemptible that country is.
Just found your channel and wow! The production value, cinematography and storytelling are really really impressive on all your videos. I have to wonder if you studied documentary film making because 95% of the time I wouldn't be able to tell if this was made by a network or not. And the 5% is just distinguishable as biking vlog content. Your interviews and choice of subject matter are also really excellent due to the fact that you are telling stories that need to be told. I love travel vlogs but always want the travelers to somehow be doing real journalism instead of just showing me what they ate. I think your approach really serves to honor and respect the places and people you encounter by listening to what matters to them and showing it to the world in a way that is relatable. IMO this is the perfect counter to the generalizing and frequently exploitative travel culture that has people "scrolling experiences" just to check off boxes. What we all need more of is to be listened to.
Good work my friend!! Keep it up!!!
Thank you for this comment, you perfectly summed up why I started making videos like this in the first place and what motivates me to keep going! Very cool to see someone else put this into words. Funnily enough I studied zoology, so nothing to do with film making. But I have had a few years of practice. There's so many tutorials you can find online now for editing and animating that it has totally opened it up to anyone who has a computer and some time on their hands. The lack of any training/studying did mean I had a bit of a rocky start though haha
So glad you're enjoying the videos, there are many more to come! Thanks again for this feedback 😊
You do a terrific job on these short films...your writing, drone work, interviews, and B-roll is all very nicely done. It's gotta be hard to move the gear by bike, too. Keep up the great work!
Thanks Bob, glad you're enjoying them! Haha yeah I'm currently on the road filming for the next series of videos and about half of the weight on my bike is filming/audio equipment 😂
@@TieranFreedman Might be worth doing a BTS short of your setup...everybody wants to cut the weight of the gear, even if we're old guys traveling in cars🙂I'd love to see how you've pared down your gear for pedaling.
It's very interesting video. I think people have to fight for preserve their culture. My ancestors came from Galiza, Celtic land. But that region became Latin with Rome invasion. Also they have conserved some Celtic costumes, they're are "Romanized". Sorry, I don't speak English very well. Thanks a lot. 🌻
You can see in the name Galicia / Galiza that it comes from the word Gaelic. As you say the language has been lost due to Romanisation, but it's interesting to hear that traditions like the bagpipes have been continued since then. Oh and by the way - you're English is great!
Amazing video! Thoroughly enjoying your Celtic series! I’ve long shared similar views in preserving these languages and letting the cultures thrive!
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!
The quality of this video and the others on the channel are outstanding, not to mention the quality of its content, very insightful and well researched and the outstanding pronunciations.
Chwarae teg, mae'r fideo mor wych chi 'di ennill fy "sub" - Fair play your video is so fantastic you've earned a subscription.
(though soon enough you'll be earning many more, the algorithm seems to have recognized your talent)
Thank you for the kind words, sp glad you're enjoying the videos, many more to come! Haha fingers crossed, that Cornwall video seems to have suddenly pleased the UA-cam gods
Another video that’s brought me to tears. Amazing job again.
Cymru am byth
YES CYMRU
Thanks so much, really happy to hear it resonated with you
💯 support for preserving the indigenous dialects and ancient languages! Best regards for the video!
Diolch yn fawr Iawn. Really enjoying these vids, I live in Wales and its been great seeing you cycle through some of my favourite areas.
Glad you're enjoying them, it was a beautiful section of our journey (if a little hilly)!
Great video. Thanks for highlighting this issue.
Great video!! Da iawn! It's important to speak about about the 'internalised hatred' that was and still is, present in Wales that contributed to the language decline. It's good that people are gaining more confidence in speaking Welsh.
Brilliant video Tiernan. The part about it being seen as rude to speak Welsh really rang true to my experiences. Really well researched and much appreciated!
Another gorgeous and heartfelt video. Thank you for your work covering the Celtic nations and their languages. Here in the States, relatively recently was the changing of 'Mt McKinley' back to its native name 'Denali,' ("the tall one") the name given to the mountain by the native Alaskan people. I am also reminded of the desire to recognize 'Mt. Everest' by its local name(s): Qomolangma (Tibetan: "Holy Mother"), or Sagarmāthā (Nepali: "the Head in the Great Blue Sky"). I'm not surprised that mountains come up so often in conversations like these; they ARE the land. Native language and names sing the songs of that land over generations, and- as you said- once gone, will not come back. Excited for any future videos regarding Éire (Ireland). Cheers!
Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it! I hadn't heard about a lot of those, thank you for sharing this. It's great to hear about the restoration of original names in other parts of the world. They are such an important connection between a people and the landscape.
Not too much longer until the videos from Éire come out!
I would love to see a similar thing in Cumbria.
As a person born in Wales, thank you for this video. I live in Catalonia now and i can see the parrelels (but Catalan and Spanish are languages of the same family); Palafrugell is maintained as the offical town name, and it means "Spade" and "the river Frugell" IIRC.
I like the Catalan language. Where Spanish just has non-English letters like "é" and "ñ", Catalan offers a far more intresting library, with things such as "à", "ä", "ç", "ny" (which is the same to the English version of "ñ", "ny"), and some even more intresting morephemes like "-se" and "t' "). However, due to a lack of resources, i don't really know Catalan beyond the basic orthography.
Since Catalan is similar to the big national language, it's a lot easier to teach. Hopefully this allows it to become more popular. I hope Welsh, and other celtic languages, also continues to gain more popularity.
Glad you enjoyed the video! That's really fascinating, thank you for sharing that. I have visited Barcelona very briefly once, but didn't have much time to learn about the region, culture, or language. I would love to go back, maybe it's a potential future video 😁
thank you for making these videos
Glad you're enjoying them!
Diolch am y fideo hon. Y Wyddfa is the origional name and was changed to 'Snowdon'. Cymraeg cynta', Cymru am Byth!
Yep, John was quick to remind us that it is not "renaming" the mountain despite what the headlines said, just calling it by it's original name. Glad you enjoyed the video!
Well researched and a respectful piece. Diolch yn fawr iawn. Yma o hyd.
English imperialism does my head in. Fair play to you for pointing it out.
wonderful video
Thank you! Glad you liked it 😁
good lessons from Cymru... some people do not think "identity" could have any importance, but as we see it is a very powerful force which can revive lots of dormant worldviews, mores, customs, ways of doing things, aspirations, ideals... that is why my children and I want to visit our 4 home-communities, which are dispersed through 4 european countries, far far away from our wild and wonderful patagonian lands
With the arrival of the Railway, Bangor-is-y-coed was rechristened by the Victorians as Bangor-on-Dee, because it needed to be differentiated with Bangor (city in Gwynedd) but “needed” to be pronounced by the English.
Smart on the part of the english to make unintelligible horseshit pronouncable.
Cyfarchion o Eryri.Wedi mwynhau.Diolch am yr arlwy👍
Amazing video. Hopefully it gets more attention! Diolch yn fawr
Thank you, glad you liked it 😁
da iawn, fideo gwych!
So important to preserve minority languages if we don't react to the massive suppression of cultures we'll be all the same culture, so important to preserve diversity like it is in nature. Greetings from Catalonia.
Very much so. Except for welsh.
It's a great video. This is so true. As an English only speaker who has lived here for 54 of my 58 years, I'm embarrassed to say how little of the Welsh language I can speak.
However, I have definitely moved to be so much more defensive of the Welsh language. How easy is it for everyone to include the correct names of everything.
This is absolutely how it should be. Bring on the changes & defend what makes this country so beautiful.
and this is why we had Brian Friel and and his play "Translations" def check it out man!
Adra ❤️ i come from north wales and welsh is my first language. I have lived away from home for 15 months now and the hiraeth is with me every day
Excellent video. Diolch yn fawr!
Thank you, glad you liked it!
The same erasure of traditional place names unfortunately occired in Ireland due to centuries of colonialism and cultural suppression. Irish names all have a meaning behind them and they were replaced by anglicised versions of the names like in Wales, fortunately there was an effort post-independence to revive some names but many still are anglicised
I was shocked that the Welsh names haven't been anglisised but changed. Why isn't snowdon called "Grave" and people now saying let's change it back. But to not just translate the name but replace it is beyond disrespectful
Well done on this. I am English but 100% support the need to maintain Celtic Culture
Thank you for highlighting this, my mum (Nainy to my children) was ridiculed at school for speaking Welsh (which she spoke at home) I so regret she didn't have time to teach me to speak the beautiful language (apart from a few songs) But she helped me learn some French instead. I have tried to learn it but can't get to grips with the first letter of words changing - 78% Welsh and proud, one day I will be able to hold a conversation.
Your mum was being very practical as fluency in French, opens up the prospect of living and working in many other countries. She could’ve chosen to speak Welsh to you as well as English when you were very young and the you would’ve acquired both languages.
@@colinlambert882 My Welsh parents went to school under the 'Welsh Not'. Children were encouraged to dob on one another to pass it on so they did not bear the sign with the words. The last child to have the board or stick passed to him/her at the end of the day got punished by cane strokes. Parents did not speak Welsh at home to protect their children from accidently speaking it at school and being punished.
@@barnowl5774 Unbelievable! Children got beaten up for speaking their tongue? In Britain? Φρίκη!
@@alicemi4155 Yes. It was a way for the English to gain control as the language united the Welsh people. They could not understand the language so tried to get rid of it to gain power. In history, first came the Romans, then the English were the who were Angles (from where the name of English language came), Saxons and Jutes from Western Europe who invaded England. Then came the Normans with their French. The Welsh are the original inhabitants of Britain and were pushed back to the west of the country into what is now known as Wales but the Welsh are calling it Cymry .The name of Wales was given by the Romans. It means 'stranger'- in their own land! (Cymry means my 'country.') Thanks for your interest.
When the time is suitable I will be teaching and learning my family about the brythonic and gaulic regions.
That's great! 💙
That's great! Except for welsh, please don't pass that slop onto your children.
Tieran, I’m interested in your angle, I’ve watched a few of your videos, and as a born and bred Welshman (in a different era, I was quite matey with the son of John (Barnard) Jenkins from MAC, the partial subject of one of your videos) who now lives just up the road from you in Poynings, I’m assuming that you are interested in wholesale change for the UK, what do you see as the result of the break up of the status quo, and what makes you think it would be an improvement on what already exists, from your own POV?
Hi Alun, I had no Idea John had family so close to me!
When talking about breaking up the status quo, are you referring to independence for the Celtic nations? My goal in making these videos is mainly to draw attention to Celtic culture and identity. It is a real shame that the diversity of languages and cultures in this part of the world is often ignored, when it should be celebrated. I never learned about Welsh, Manx, Cornish, Irish Gaelic, or Scots Gaelic in school, and was taught English history as though it was the uniform history of the entirety of the British Isles. Most people I know in England don't know that the Cornish or Manx languages even exist, and when I go abroad that's even more stark. What was particularly crazy to me was that I never learned about the conflict in Ireland at all (and I have a video on that coming later in the year). I made these videos partly because of my own personal curiosity about the topics, and also in the hope that someone would watch them who didn't know much about the Celtic nations.
But to loosely answer your question, some of the main improvements I'd like to see in this regard are some strong regulations on second/holiday home ownership, along with the preservation of the Celtic languages. Once a language is lost, preserving the culture and identity that it was part of becomes much more difficult. Some of the Celtic languages, like Welsh, are recovering successfully, but it's abundantly clear that the current status quo is not tackling the issue of second homes, which threatens to decimate some of the cultural heartlands of the Celtic nations. The two issues go hand-in-hand in a lot of ways; how can you preserve a language if you keep reducing the cohesion of communities that speak it with unregulated second-home ownership that leaves half of said communities empty for most of the year? So, any change to that would be an improvement from my perspective.
@@TieranFreedman Thanks for the reply, identity is a very complex subject, from my own POV, growing up in South Wales where the vast majority of the population is English speaking (half my mates went to a Welsh medium school, but we all spoke English on the streets), there is sometimes a kickback against the perceived advantages of of having fluent Cymraig in the job market and such, there was a perception that there was a connected “taffia” in control of how far you could progress in certain professions, especially the media, so, many like my mother had an anti-language mentality, odd in many ways, as her mother was from the north and had Welsh as her mother tongue and, only ever spoke a sort of broken English. All that being said, I’m a supporter of the preservation of the language despite my own lack of fluency, but I’d guard you against having too much of a sentimental view of people like John Jenkins and his ilk, many of them were pretty xenophobic and had a deep hatred of all things English, I’d also caution against wanting to over preserve ethnically pure Welsh areas, banning the sale of second homes is a good idea on paper, but it can lead to massive wealth disparity between parts of the UK in practice. Personally I’m against the break up of the UK, but I try to stay out of matters of Welsh independence because I no longer live there and it’s for the those that do live there like my family to decide their own destiny. I’ve enjoyed watching your videos, but all I really want to say is be a little bit careful when dealing with ultra-nationalists and their rosy view of “Celtic destiny”, because quite often, they don’t really speak for the majority.
I am definitely in support of welsh language and name preservation. Instead of having the english names like snowdon, maybe have an english phonetic pronunciation or ipa on the sign so foreignors and english speakers will know how to pronounce the name
Excellent idea!
Nah. Kick welshies out of their country (the Irish Sea would be a good place to send them) and scrub the filth out of that country (the welsh language, welsh place names, etc.) before settling english people there. Hope this helps!
Hello everyone, love from an italian australian, please keep your wonderful culture and language, we love you all
I'm English but have been going to Eryri for many years, way back I learned how to pronounce the names of the mountains I walked on and the crags I climbed on. I speak a little Cymraeg but have managed to become an ambassador for Eryri. It is a special place, with its language, flag, anthem and culture my feeling for Eryri is this "Hiraeth".
Awesome video. My fiance's grandmother is Welsh
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it ☺️ oh cool, does she speak the language?
Great videos on Isle of Mann, Cornwall, and Wales (or Cymru). The disappearance of an indigenous language is a loss of history and a people. I am of Chinese descent and growing up in America I have also felt a pressure not to speak Mandarin in front of other Americans. There was always a feeling of inappropriateness to speak anything other than American English. I suspect many of my Hispanic friends might feel the same way about speaking Mexican Spanish in public. I hope the Cymru do no lose their language and culture. It is funny. I was watching a Sky News report and there was a mention among UK citizens that "foreigners" (I think that means recent immigrants to the Great Britain) should learn British English and British culture and try to fit in. Many Brexiteers feel that "foreigners" should become British when they immigrate to Great Britain. So what would be their position be on the Scots speaking Gaelic and the other Celtic minorities. This is a tough issue. I am an American first. I am most fluent in American English, but I am proud of my Chinese heritage. America is a new nation and we do not have a distant cultural past to preserve. America is also a country of immigrants, so Americans accept pluralism.
Welsh should be made to be the overwhelming dominant language in 🏴 Wales
Lol fuck no. It ought to run its natural course and go extinct like it should.
@@user-cj4xo6vp4tPiss off
Diolch/slàinte/cheers! 🇺🇸🏴🇮🇪❤️🏴
As someone from England but whose other half is Welsh, I always found it strange that there was a place called Snowdonia until I learned the real name of Eryri and Yr Wyddfa did I realise that Snowden was just he name given in English not Welsh. I tend to refer to the place more as Eryri though purely because my memory isn't the best. So it will take a while longer to remember the full name when not written in front of me.
Edit: 9:17 this goes for all languages, at the end of the day we are terrible in this country (England anyway) for speaking other languages and while it is getting better. Please ignore people who complain about you speaking anything other than English in front of them. Unless they are involved with the conversation they are the rude ones for butting in.
Really interesting to hear nains story. Such a shame these fellow countrymen fell from grace. I really hope a Celtic revival is coming
The theory that Wales means foreigner or outsider is pure myth. Its pretty much Gaul spelled with a W instead of a G. The Romans had an aversion to the letter G for some reason. Take as an example the name of the Welsh tribe Y Gododdin; the Latin is spelled Votadini (Vs are pronounced as Ws in Latin). The Germanic peoples simply used the Romans’ pronunciation of Wealas to describe the wider Celtic peoples. Replace the W for G and you get that Wales and Gaelic carry the same origin and meaning.
I have always believed this G=>W theory - today we are referred to as Galles by French, Spanish, Italians etc... If you want another example try Guarantee = Warranty. We are not Foreigners. We live in the Land of Gauls.
@@mikemurphy5671 spot on. Couldn’t have put it better myself
And Wallone.
I'm American but I have strong Welsh heritage and have researched my family best I can, where can I better learn the Welsh language? Learning more about Wales has always been a big interest to me. Also wanted to say hi to any of my distant Owens cousins!
Duolingo. But be careful, the North and South speak slightly different forms of Welsh
A really well-made film.
Interesting though,that when one applies the lessons and wishes expressed to English,it all comes unravelled...
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I don't think the "cable" in Cable Bay should have been referred to so dismissively as "a cable was laid a few years ago"...this was a massive piece of engineering in 1902...linking the UK with the USA via an underwater telegraph cable....a huge human achievement for the time. Btw, I'm hugely in favour of retaining Welsh names here in Wales and have changed the name of my house back to it's historic Welsh name. Just need to be accurate in reporting....
It should have been called shithole bay, a title more befitting in a country like wales.
One that’s always irked me is Casnewydd to Newport, surely the name is closer to Newcastle than it is to Newport. Just doesn’t make sense to me
Diolch yn fawr iawn am hyn thank you so much for this.
Very enjoyable. Let’s do something on local dialects 😃🏴🏴🏴
So glad you enjoyed the video! If I'm back again to film that sounds like an interesting topic ☺️
WOW, an Englishman who gets it. Thank you so much for this....
Glad you enjoyed the video!
Imagine acting like there's any difference between Welsh and English people.
It's fascinating to hear about the fights to maintain and, in the case of Man, regain regional languages. The same effort is being mounted in the States by the Indigenous peoples. They are struggling to regain their languages and culture.
I firmly stand with everyone doing this. I'm Norwegian and I am also the only one of my father's children who speaks his native tongue. Everyone else only speaks English because they were all raised in the U.S.
While there are still plenty of Norwegian speakers in the world, it's lost within my father's line. I'd love to pass it on, though. The problem is getting anyone else interested. I feel these folks struggle on a personal level.
Placenames belong to the IDENTITY of the people inhabiting the land and its cities.
The opposition was making no sense, the English weren't just translating, but actually giving the places new names, that's why everyone's so mad.
As an English person who lives near the Welsh border I found this very interesting. I do try to use Welsh place names where possible even though I don't speak the language. I used to work with a few fluent Welsh speakers, but would be very annoyed if they spoke Welsh to someone else in front of me, I did consider that to be bad manners I'm afraid.
Speaking your own language isn't bad manners
@@WelahMan Correct, unless the people around you don't speak it and can't understand what you are saying. You could be saying bad things about them.
@@MargaretUK it's none of their business really
Maith thú Tiernan! Ceapaim go bhfuil se seo go hiontach!
Go raibh maith agat, sásta gur bhain tú sult as! (Bhí orm dul chuig google translate chun cabhair a fháil le seo😂)
Old names that are used will survive. For example: Pen-y-ghent still has its old Cumbric Welsh name even though that language is long dead.
When was living in Ireland in the 90’s i always wrote the addresses on letters in English AND Irish ( despite being Swedish ).
To me the address in Irish was the ”real” address.
My Swedish friends and family had to get used to writing to ”Cionn tSáile, Contae Chorcaí”. 😂
Language is part of culture.
To me it was a way of showing respect.
Fight to protect your heritage!
it isn't just the fight for Welsh names but in the 1950s the Welsh Language was banned for a long time , I am so happy the welsh are retaking back their language it was and is disgusting what the English did to the Welsh :( I hope one day that , The Welsh people choose to only speak Welsh in Wales and only speak English if there is English tourists
I think there is a great power in names in calling this mountain by its older name it build associations with the welsh identity if your used to seeing welsh names and know how they are supposed to be pronounced they seem less foreign they feel more comfortable and familiar if its named by its English way the opposite is true people become disassociated with the welsh language and it becomes something strange and foreign so yes it matters a lot.
I think it's powerful to stamp out the welsh language and call a mountain by its anglo name which in turn makes it even more familiar, instead of what you're suggesting. Hope this helps!
YR WYDDFA 💪
Beautiful video, I'm English, but love the Welsh language and culture.
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!
How can anyone disagree with Welsh people deciding themselves to use the traditional names?
It's disrespectful to change the name of a house you own if it's historical
I support every single language. Especially the ones that have been banned by an imperialist country. In Canada we've had the same problem with the English and then with the canadian governement. They forced French-canadians and all the native to give up on our languages everywhere in Canada. Luckily, some places resisted and lots of indigenous communities and part of New-Brunswick, plus Québec still speak something else than English.
Agree, live in England but welsh through and through. It our history
6:57 what town is this?
Dolgellau in North Wales 🏴🏴🏴
@@TieranFreedman Its really cool looking
If they are going to be referred to in English, why is the direct translation of the Welsh name not used?
Kembrek Bys Vykken! From your Cornish brethren!
Diolch Tieran!
Yes the Welsh should use thier names for places. The growth in the use of Welsh is a great thing. However in the English language the names are different just ad the Welsh for Chester is Caer Liverpool is Lerpwl and England is Lloegr.
Also a large number of Welsh particularly in the south don't speak Welsh
Thank god we survived henry the 8th
Question for Welsh people. In regards to the names of places on signs/maps etc what are your thoughts on this.
Rather then having the Welsh name followed by the English name would it be better to have the Welsh name followed by the phonetic name Englishised? Making it easier for English speakers to pronounce it properly or at least get pretty close.
For example Llandudno then followed by Clan-dudno? Obviously it it doesn't show the "phlegmy" bit of the pronunciation, no idea how you would represent that in a easy way for English speakers, but it's a much closer pronunciation then "land-udno" which is what I hear fellow English men call it 😅.
Or like Carnedd Dafydd being followed by Carneth Davith and Carnedd Llewelyn followed by Carneth Clu-elin.
Sure not showing the proper pronunciation of Llewelyn but is closer then "Lew-lyn" as I notice a lot of other English pronounce it and closer then "Thloo-elin" which is what comes up when googling the pronunciation (if that was put on signs English speakers 100% would pronounce it as "Th-loo-e-lin" with the TH pronounced like the TH in THE with our stiff, ridgid tongues) 🤣🤣
Thoughts?
Certainly an interesting idea.
Personally, I'd start by asking why there would be a need to modify a name (or how that name is presented) for a speaker of another language. Unfortunately it's common to see the calls for Welsh and Welshness bend to the will of others, without seeing any reciprocity in turn. Is there a Welsh phonetic name for Gloucestershire on the sign as we cross the border?
For those in Wales, the task of using traditional Welsh only names would provide incremental improvements to speakers' understanding and pronounciation ability over time. With no need to presently practice, due to English substitute names, there's little wonder that some describe a difficulty in Welsh pronounciation. I'm sure those moving to France or Germany have the same initial issues.
Tolkien is quoted as saying that Welsh is "of the soil". What I, and others, would like to see is that this connection is preserved, protected and celebrated for future generations.
@@popcod I do understand what you're saying I really do :)
The argument I have to counter would be this.
Wales, along with the other countries in the UK I think have quite a unique situation compared to other parts as not only the English language has dominated *cough* Welsh Knot *cough* along with English culture but also they aren't in a position to ever truly reclaim independence from England even if the countries themselves were to become independent in both language and culture.
As there's so much mixing back and forth (both in regards to relationships but also even just doing trips people often even doing day trips on both sides of the border as well as people living on one side of the border and working on the other side. Like I know plenty of people who live in Gwynedd, so not even right by the border, but work in England and vice versa).
So even if the country becomes independent and the Welsh language becomes dominant it's still gonna be having a lot of cultural influence from England.
So I'd imagine an idea like above maybe if use of keeping the pronunciation correct or at least pretty close.
Both sure for people who grew up in England then moved over but even for Welsh people.
I know a lot of Welsh people where I live who often default to the English name (just for example with Snowdon) even if the conversation is in Welsh with other Welsh speakers as (in their words not mine) it's easier to remember as while the might speak some Welsh everyday English is their primarily used language day to day.
And also know plenty who went to Welsh schools, understand Welsh but struggle to speak it because they don't use it a lot and so default to the English name (Both North and South Welsh) or even pronunciation especially more so with South Welsh who will just call Llandudno "land-ud-no" who went to Welsh school and speak Welsh.
If it was just called by the Welsh name on top and then then English version of how it is phonetically below instead of an English name or just the Welsh name it would basically force everyone to say it properly or at least close.
Understand there's a morality aspect on is it being too accommodating to the English/Wales bending.
Though personally I wouldn't view it as Wales bending if anything enforcing the language basically saying "you're in Wales now so make sure you say it the Welsh way".
Though I don't know if there are South Welsh locations called one name in South Welsh dialect Vs North. If so I guess it would need to be standardised? Or just keep the South Welsh pronunciation as the proper, makes sense as it's in their area.
That's what my view point would be at least
@@popcod oh but to be clear I'm not saying about modify the name itself though yes on how it's presented.
Having the actual name first then instead of it following the English name get rid of it completely and replace the English name with the phonetic name but Englishised so when English speakers say it how they would if it was an English word then the sound the comes out is correct or at least very close.
Plus could argue more people would ask why is it written/said like that as it would look weird to then be educated in the history of the language and what the name means. Granted not sure how strong of a worth while argument that would be.
But yeah I think that could be one way around of maintaing the culture and language and increasing its independence (at least how is viewed socially) as like I said even if the country became independent I don't think Wales can ever become fully independent culturally, not saying can't maintain and represent the cultural identity, but just culturally not be fully independent from England. Think the only way that could happen is if the country became fully independent, had very strict border control, requiring to only enter an exit at check points and have visas etc and remove all English language use. Which it would have the right too as it would be just like every other country. But while it would allow for Wales to become fully independent from England I don't think it would be to the benefit of everyday life for average Welsh people.
If you start making Welsh spelling consistent with English phonetics you open the way for the phonetic spelling to become the dominant one. It would simply become a new way to anglicize the Welsh language. Let the English learn their neighbours' languages like grown up people. We don't owe them any cultural favours!
Yes Cymru, Yes Kernow
Mae reospeedwaggon r e o !! 😁
English a Scandinavian-West Germanic tongue first spoken in Denmark and Northern Germany by early Nordic peoples was brought over by immigrant refugees fleeing the Hunnish invasions on the continent. Their Teutonic tongue more closely related to Icelandic, Dutch and Norwegian than to any Celtic language living or dead was imposed on native Brythonic and Pictish speakers over a thousand years without any respect for the culture and speech of the people who had inhabited the island for thousands of years. It is often said that there were Germanic tribes already in England like the Belgae and that Angles, Saxons and Frisians had been on the coast of England and Scotland for hundreds of years before the rest of the population uprooted themselves to resettle o the British isles. Thus it wasn’t until the 5th century AD that the Angles mass emigrated to England emptying the Jutish peninsula of its original population. Even today Schleswig-Holstein the native continental. The ability of Anglo Saxondom to exterminate other cultures in its pathway has been relentless and unless active measures are taken to revive and maintain the UKs indigenous tongues, this imposed Germanic tongue will continue to tread mercilessly on everything in in its path.
We've had similar things in Kernow. The English are desperate the colonise and get rid of Celtic nations, they don't like them and seem to always get mad when they're spoken about from my experience. Save our Celtic heritage and culture and don't let foreigners take it from us!
If you say so.
@@Konoronn well yes, as somebody who is an ethnic Cornishman who's seen what's happening and spoke to various Cornish historians, I think I'm going to have a good idea of what's happening in my own land. Kernow rag an Kernewek.
@@foofy14 Your patch of land is as amusing as it is pathetic, evoking the cowardice and deceit of King Mark of Arthurian legend and beach goers having fun. A good tourist spot for English tourists and retirees who already make up the majority of the population, I'll give it that. Your adopted, scarcely used tongue merely exists to add to the fairy tale immersion for people visiting on holiday, like elvish is to the LoTR. It gives me a good chuckle, seeing our celtic neighbours desperately cling onto their dying language instead of embracing the superior one next door.
It seems the people of Cymru are more embracing of their language than the other celtic language groups. Pity. May we all (is Éireannach me) learn a lesson from our cousins. ❤️
I’d much prefer Swansea to be called Abertawe! I’m with John on this!
You know why they called it Swansea?
@@WelahMan yep
The efforts to erase Welsh, Gaelic, Cornish, and Manx have been England's arrogant notion that these languages and people are inferior.
I don't they deem those peoples inferior, I think they just want a more homogenized , globalist nation . English dialects (yorkshire, cumbrian etc) and regional accents have also been either completely erased, or are dying out.
It is hardly arrogant to treat inferior languages like welsh as the dirt that they are and to attempt to clean it up which unfortunately is an on-going process until they finally die out.
@@user-cj4xo6vp4t English is hardly superior to Welsh, Gaelic, Manx, or Cornish. In fact, it is considered a bastardized language because it evolved from so many different languages, has conflicting rules of grammar and spelling, and is confusing because of that.
@@user-cj4xo6vp4t atleast welsh isn't a hybrid of many, many languages
@@marcwilliams2929 At least English isn't one of the many, many languages that will go extinct and be superseded.
Boed i'r Ddraig siarad am byth.👍🏴
can you please make a video on Scotland in the future.
I have a video coming from Shetland at the end of this series. Plus another to do with Scottish independence. Keep an eye out 😁
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Fight the assimilation, save human diversity.