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 bî /b/ bat
c èc /k/ case
ch èch /x/ loch (Scottish)
d dî /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, hâ /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 pî /p/ pet
ph ffî /f/ phone
r èr /r/ rat (trilled)
rh rhî, rhô /r̥/ pray (trilled): an unvoiced
s ès /s/ sat
t tî /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:

    “Love is the hardest thing in the world to write about. So simple. You’ve got to catch it through details, like the early morning sunlight hitting the gray tin of the rain spout in front of her house. The ringing of a telephone that sounds like Beethoven’s “Pastoral.” A letter scribbled on her office stationery that you carry around in your pocket because it smells of all the lilacs in Ohio.”
    —Billy Wilder (b. 1906)

    “Publicity in women is detestable. Anonymity runs in their blood. The desire to be veiled still possesses them. They are not even now as concerned about the health of their fame as men are, and, speaking generally, will pass a tombstone or a signpost without feeling an irresistible desire to cut their names on it.”
    —Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)

    “He seems determined to make a trumpet sound like a tin whistle.”
    —Aneurin Bevan (1897–1960)

    “The vulgar crowd values friends according to their usefulness.”
    —Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)