Welsh Orthography - Letter Names and Sound Values

Letter Names and Sound Values

"N" and "S" represent the variants in the northern and southern dialects of Welsh.

Letter Name Corresponding sounds English approximation
a â /a, ɑː/ cat (short) / father (long)
b /b/ bat
c èc /k/ case
ch èch /x/ loch (Scottish)
d /d/ day
dd èdd /ð/ this
e ê /ɛ, eː/ bed (short) / closest to hey (long)
f èf /v/ vat
ff èff /f/ four
g èg /ɡ/ gate
ng èng /ŋ/ thing
h âets, /h/ hat
i î (N), î dot (S) /ɪ, iː, j/ bit (short) / machine (long) / yes (as consonant; before vowels)
l èl /l/ lad
ll ell /ɬ/ not present in English; a voiceless alveolar lateral fricative
m èm /m/ mat
n en /n/ net
o ô /ɔ, oː/ Short, like "bog" in RP; long like stove in Scottish English, North Central American English and West/Central Canadian English
p /p/ pet
ph ffî /f/ phone
r èr /r/ rat (trilled)
rh rhî, rhô /r̥/ pray (trilled): an unvoiced
s ès /s/ sat
t /t/ tan
th èth /θ/ thin
u û (N), û bedol (S) /ɨ̞, ɨː/ (N), /ɪ, iː/ (S) for Southern variants: bit (short) / machine (long); /ɨ̞, ɨː/ not found in English.
w ŵ /ʊ, uː, w/ book (short) / pool (long) / wet (as consonant)
y ŷ /ɨ̞, ɨː, ə/ (N)
/ɪ, iː, ə, əː/ (S)
for Southern variants: bit (final syllable, short) / machine (final syllable, long)
above (other places, short) / roses /ɨ̞, ɨː/, found in certain dialects of English that differentiate "Rosa's" and "roses", for example, General American.
Notes

Read more about this topic:  Welsh Orthography

Famous quotes containing the words letter, names, sound and/or values:

    When you travel to the Celestial City, carry no letter of introduction. When you knock, ask to see God,—none of the servants.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    Watt’s need of semantic succour was at times so great that he would set to trying names on things, and on himself, almost as a woman hats.
    Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)

    A sound mind in a sound body, is a short, but full description of a happy state in this World: he that has these two, has little more to wish for; and he that wants either of them, will be little the better for anything else.
    John Locke (1632–1704)

    Any relation to the land, the habit of tilling it, or mining it, or even hunting on it, generates the feeling of patriotism. He who keeps shop on it, or he who merely uses it as a support to his desk and ledger, or to his manufactory, values it less.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)