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    When Americans try to pronounce Welsh Place Names...

    Place names in a foreign language can be very difficult. I know, having once had an impromptu lesson in Greek outside Athens airport....
    Anyway, thought you might enjoy some of the tongue twisters where I come from - and yes, they are all real places!


    www.thewolfenhowlepress.com


    Phantom Turnips never die.... they just get stewed occasionally....

    #2
    Re: When Americans try to pronounce Welsh Place Names...

    I love things like this! You know, I didn't know how to say your name until I started listening to your radio show (love it btw, I pop ion a track at work as the sun is coming up, open all the windows to let in some fresh air and sit back with a nice hot drink!).

    I wish the common Brittonic/Brythonic had survived. I'd love to learn that so I could address my gods with it. I've heard modern Welsh came from Brythonic, but there'll have been so many changes over time, that it probably bears little resemblance now. I don't think the Welsh would appreciate an English girl trying to speak their language either.
    夕方に急なにわか雨は「夕立」と呼ばれるなら、なぜ朝ににわか雨は「朝立ち」と呼ばれないの? ^^If a sudden rain shower in the evening is referred to as an 'evening stand', then why isn't a shower in the morning called 'morning stand'?

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      #3
      Re: When Americans try to pronounce Welsh Place Names...

      When I was 12 or so, Tom Jones had a weekly tv show and he would close every show with a Welsh saying. I have no idea what it means but phonetically it's something like "gwen ick bee delemen eveek will a meneth bobamsa". Do you know what it means, Tylluan?
      sigpic
      Can you hear me, Major Tom? I think I love you.

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        #4
        Re: When Americans try to pronounce Welsh Place Names...

        Okay, to be fair though...

        How many of you call Llanfair PG by its FULL name? I've almost exclusively heard it mentioned as Llanfair PG.

        And hah! I knew some of those! Take that, Americans!


        Mostly art.

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          #5
          Re: When Americans try to pronounce Welsh Place Names...

          I always had trouble with Trayvewrn
          Tyvwren
          trywenvrn....
          .....
          *google search*
          Tryweryn

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            #6
            Re: When Americans try to pronounce Welsh Place Names...

            Thanks for the laughs! And a budding interest in the Welsh language.
            (Also, it's kind of funny how an English speaker commented on having two Ys in the same word (Tywyn) and pronouncing them diffently... Ghoti, anyone?)

            And a random coincidence: just a day or two ago I wondered how to pronounce that Llanfair thing. Ode to all the wisdom one can gain on PF!
            baah.

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              #7
              Re: When Americans try to pronounce Welsh Place Names...

              Near where I lived is a place called 'Llwynypia.'
              Because it has a hospital there, we have to say the word often, which isn't a problem really. However an English friend once asked whether there was an easier version of the hospital name. The receptionist smiled and said, 'Yes, of course. It's Ysbyty Cwm Rhondda.'
              www.thewolfenhowlepress.com


              Phantom Turnips never die.... they just get stewed occasionally....

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                #8
                Re: When Americans try to pronounce Welsh Place Names...

                I've actually been to Wales a few times and seen these signs for towns and streets that just made me tilt my head and go.... wtf? We even had a Welsh citizen say a few of them for me and I still had no clue how to reproduce the words.

                - - - Updated - - -

                Also, if you go forward on that same playlist on youtube for about another 5-6 videos, you get some weird stuff...

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                  #9
                  Re: When Americans try to pronounce Welsh Place Names...

                  The Pontcysyllte Aquaduct on the Llangollen Canal always gives me trouble even though I lived for a while in Treharris Mid Glamorgan.

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                    #10
                    Re: When Americans try to pronounce Welsh Place Names...

                    Originally posted by geoff View Post
                    The Pontcysyllte Aquaduct on the Llangollen Canal always gives me trouble even though I lived for a while in Treharris Mid Glamorgan.
                    Yes, it doesn't sound anything like it looks, does it? Local pronounciation always sounds like Pont-stick to me!
                    www.thewolfenhowlepress.com


                    Phantom Turnips never die.... they just get stewed occasionally....

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                      #11
                      Re: When Americans try to pronounce Welsh Place Names...

                      Perhaps it just depends on the way our mouth is built. We can't pronounce every sound in the planet... For instance it's hard for me to pronounce Arabic or Czech. I have more trouble with Czech but you guys know what I mean.
                      "Fair means that everybody gets what they need. And the only way to get that is to make it happen yourself."



                      Since I adore cats, I might write something strange or unusual in my comment.Cats are awesome!!! ^_^

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                        #12
                        Re: When Americans try to pronounce Welsh Place Names...

                        Originally posted by Gleb View Post
                        Perhaps it just depends on the way our mouth is built. We can't pronounce every sound in the planet... For instance it's hard for me to pronounce Arabic or Czech. I have more trouble with Czech but you guys know what I mean.
                        It's mostly your brain. Sounds that don't exist in your own language are harder for you because your brain doesn't recognise them, it will often try to replace them with something you know. For example, danish doesn't have the 'th' sound from english (think, thank), a lot of danes pronounce it as an 'f' because that's the closest one we have. You have the potential to learn all sounds, but it gets harder with age... I think it's like after age 10-ish that it starts getting really hard.
                        You remind me of the babe
                        What babe?
                        The babe with the power
                        What power?
                        The Power of voodoo
                        Who do?
                        You do!
                        Do what?
                        Remind me of the babe!

                        Army of Darkness: Guardians of the Chat

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                          #13
                          Re: When Americans try to pronounce Welsh Place Names...

                          Originally posted by iris View Post
                          It's mostly your brain. Sounds that don't exist in your own language are harder for you because your brain doesn't recognise them, it will often try to replace them with something you know. For example, danish doesn't have the 'th' sound from english (think, thank), a lot of danes pronounce it as an 'f' because that's the closest one we have. You have the potential to learn all sounds, but it gets harder with age... I think it's like after age 10-ish that it starts getting really hard.
                          i remeber reading years ago that a an infant with normal hearing has embedded all their languages phonemes by 6 months.....I don't remeber where I read that, and its annoying to try to look something up to verify it on my phone, but its interesting.
                          Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
                          sigpic

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                            #14
                            Re: When Americans try to pronounce Welsh Place Names...

                            Originally posted by iris View Post
                            It's mostly your brain. Sounds that don't exist in your own language are harder for you because your brain doesn't recognise them, it will often try to replace them with something you know. For example, danish doesn't have the 'th' sound from english (think, thank), a lot of danes pronounce it as an 'f' because that's the closest one we have. You have the potential to learn all sounds, but it gets harder with age... I think it's like after age 10-ish that it starts getting really hard.
                            Oh, cool. Thanks.
                            "Fair means that everybody gets what they need. And the only way to get that is to make it happen yourself."



                            Since I adore cats, I might write something strange or unusual in my comment.Cats are awesome!!! ^_^

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                              #15
                              Re: When Americans try to pronounce Welsh Place Names...

                              Originally posted by thalassa View Post
                              i remeber reading years ago that a an infant with normal hearing has embedded all their languages phonemes by 6 months.....I don't remeber where I read that, and its annoying to try to look something up to verify it on my phone, but its interesting.
                              My phonetics professor said the same thing. But I can't find anything about it either right now. might be in one of my books.
                              You remind me of the babe
                              What babe?
                              The babe with the power
                              What power?
                              The Power of voodoo
                              Who do?
                              You do!
                              Do what?
                              Remind me of the babe!

                              Army of Darkness: Guardians of the Chat

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