Welsh language

The Welsh language is a Celtic language and the national language of Wales, a country that is part of the United Kingdom. In Welsh, it is known as Cymraeg, or yr iaith Gymraeg, which means "the Welsh language".

Welsh
Cymraeg, y Gymraeg
Native to	Wales and Argentina.
Region	Spoken throughout Wales, in border-towns between England and Wales, and in the Chubut province of Argentina.
Ethnicity	Historically white Welsh, now Welsh people of all ethnicities
Native speakers	721,700 total speakers (2011) — Wales: 562,000 speakers, 19.0% of the population of Wales, with 14.6% of the population (431,000) considering themselves fluent in Welsh — England: 150,000 — Chubut Province, Argentina: 5,000 — United States: 2,500 — Canada: 2,200
Language family	Indo-European Celtic Insular Celtic Brythonic Welsh
Early forms	Old Welsh Middle Welsh
Writing system	Latin (Welsh alphabet)
Official status
Official language in	Wales
Regulated by	Meri Huws, the Welsh Language Commissioner (since 1 April 2012) and the Welsh Government (Llywodraeth Cymru)
Language codes
ISO 639-1	cy
ISO 639-2	wel (B) cym (T)
ISO 639-3	cym
ELP	Welsh
Linguasphere	50-ABA
Percentage of Welsh speakers by principal area

Welsh is spoken throughout the country: of of the 2021 census about 17.8% of people living in Wales over the age of 3 can speak Welsh, which about 538,000 people. Many people in Wales say they can understand some form of Welsh and can speak, write or read Welsh even if they do not speak it all the time.

Even though almost all Welsh people can understand and use English, Welsh is still an important part of Welsh culture and so children in all schools in Wales have to study it. There are some schools that have almost all of their classes in Welsh, but most schools teach mainly in English. Welsh is taught as a second language in these schools.

Language mutations

Welsh has mutations in which a sound (in speech) or a letter (in writing) changes at the start of a word. Example are the Welsh words gwneud, which in English means "to do"; dod, which means "to come"; and dewch i mewn, which means "come in". The word sometimes changes from gwneud to wneud and from dod to ddod. The sounds (in speech) or letters (in writing) changes also occur within and at the end of words, but that iks not mentioned in the simplified classification that is found in ordinary books.

Formal and informal Welsh

Welsh has formal and informal Welsh. Formal Welsh is used for writing in formal documents and tor speaking to a group (because it also includes the plural), to someone older than oneself, to someone who has just been met, or to someone to which one shows respect. Formal words and phrases use variations of chi, meaning "you." Sometimes, people will ask to call them chi.

Informal Welsh is used in sending e-mails or sending text messages to friends or family and in talking with people who have been known for a long time. Informal words and phrases use variations of ti, meaning "you." Sometimes, people will ask to call them ti.

Sounds

There are some sounds and letters that exist in Welsh but not English such as ch and ll. The first sound is pronounced like the Scottish Loch Ness, and one Welsh word that uses it is bach, which means "small." Ll is a voiceless l and is made by placing the tongue on the top of the top gum, and blowing. A Welsh word that uses ll is "llan", which means "church" and often appears in place names, including Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. Both ch and ll are single letters in the Welsh alphabet, along with dd, ff, ng, ph, rh and th.

Here are some things to say in Welsh with the pronunciation in brackets ().

• "Croeso i Gymru" (Kroy-sore ee Gum-ree) - Welcome to Wales
• "Dewch i mewn" (Dew-ch ee mewn) - Come in (formal Welsh)
• "Bore da" (Bor-eh dah) - Good morning
• "Cai ydw i" (Ky uh-doo ee) - I am Cai (i.e., My name is Cai)
• "Pwy ydych chi?" (Poi Ud-uch ee) - Who are you?, or What is your name? (formal Welsh)
• "Sut ydych chi heddiw?" (Sit uhd-ich ee heth-ew) - How are you today? (formal Welsh)
• "Sut wyt ti heddiw?" (Sit ooee-tea heth-ew) - How are you today? (informal Welsh)
• "Da iawn diolch" (Dah yoww-n dee-olch) - Very well, thank you.

Here are a few other words;

• "Trwyn" (Troo-in) - Nose
• "Hapus" (Hap-is) - Happy
• "Trist" (Tree-st) - Sad
• "Rwy'n caru ti" (Rooeen carry tea) - I love you (informal Welsh)
• "Heulog" (Hey-log) - Sunny
• "Eira" (Ey-ra) - Snow
• "Ci" (Key) - Dog

Media

Welsh books and newspapers have been printed for hundreds of years. Some books have been translated into English, and some books in other languages have been translated into Welsh. "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" was translated into Welsh, with the translation of "Harri Potter a Maen yr Athronydd," which means the same as the English title.

BBC Radio Cymru is a Welsh-language radio station that is available throughout Wales. Some local radio stations have some Welsh and English programs during the day.

The Welsh television channel, S4C, has been on air since 1982. It broadcasts shows such as the soap opera Pobol y Cwm, and children's programs such as Superted and Sam Tân (known as Fireman Sam in English).

In August 2009, the mobile phone maker Samsung (with the provider Orange) unveiled a new Welsh-language mobile phone that would be available from September 2009. It includes Welsh-language predictive text and menus.

The Welsh alphabet

The Welsh alphabet has some extra letters that are not used in English, and does not have some others. Although certain letters do not exist in Welsh, they are used sometimes to make sounds that could not possibly be made otherwise. A good example is the word "garej" (meaning garage). The letter "j" does not exist in the Welsh language, and the word comes from English. The traditional word for "garage" in Welsh is modurdy, which means "motor house". Another loanword is toiled, which means "toilet" in English. There are now many lonwords in spoken Welsh. Here is the Welsh alphabet;

A¹, B, C, CH², D, DD², E¹, F², FF², G, NG², H, I¹, L, LL², M, N, O¹, P, PH², R, RH², S, T, TH², U¹, W^{1 2}, Y¹.

¹ These letters are vowels. The letter 'W' can be used either as a vowel (when it is said 'oo' like in the Welsh word 'cwm' (coom) meaning 'valley') or as a consonant (when it is said like it is in English like in the Welsh word 'gwyn' (gwin) meaning 'white'). This It the same with letter 'I', which can also be used as a consonant (when it is said like an English Y like in 'iogwrt' (yog-oort) meaning yoghurt.
² These letters that are not in the English alphabet or have different sounds. CH sounds like the 'KH' in Ayatollah Khoumeini. DD is said like the TH in 'there'. F sounds like the English 'V'. FF sounds like like the English 'F'. NG sounds like in English but is tricky because it comes at the beginnings of words (for example 'fy ngardd' - my garden). One trick is to blend it in with the word before it. LL sounds like a cat hissing. PH sounds like the English 'F' but is used only in mutations. RH sounds like an 'R' said very quickly before a 'H'. TH sounds like the 'TH' in 'THin'. W has been explained in the sentences before about vowels.

Further reading

• Prys, Delyth; Watkins, Gareth; Ghazzali, Stefano (2022). European Language Equality: Report on the Welsh Language (PDF) (Report). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-09-12. Retrieved 2025-02-01.