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:

    A letter with it
    discloses, in its words and between them,
    a life opening, fearful, fearless,
    thousand-eyed, a field
    of sparks that move swiftly
    in darkness....
    Denise Levertov (b. 1923)

    I come to this land to ride my horse,
    to try my own guitar, to copy out
    their two separate names like sunflowers, to conjure
    up my daily bread, to endure,
    somehow to endure.
    Anne Sexton (1928–1974)

    There was a sound of revelry by night,
    And Belgium’s capital had gathered then
    Her beauty and her chivalry, and bright
    The lamps shone o’er fair women and brave men;
    A thousand hearts beat happily; and when
    Music arose with its voluptuous swell,
    Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again,
    And all went merry as a marriage-bell;
    But hush! hark! a deep sound strikes like a rising knell!
    George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)

    Our first line of defense in raising children with values is modeling good behavior ourselves. This is critical. How will our kids learn tolerance for others if our hearts are filled with hate? Learn compassion if we are indifferent? Perceive academics as important if soccer practice is a higher priority than homework?
    Fred G. Gosman (20th century)