Welsh orthography uses 29letters (including eightdigraphs) of theLatin script to write nativeWelsh words as well as established loanwords.[1][2]
| Majuscule forms (also calleduppercase orcapital letters) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | B | C | CH | D | DD | E | F | FF | G | NG | H | I | J | L | LL | M | N | O | P | PH | R | RH | S | T | TH | U | W | Y |
| Titlecase forms | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A | B | C | Ch | D | Dd | E | F | Ff | G | Ng | H | I | J | L | Ll | M | N | O | P | Ph | R | Rh | S | T | Th | U | W | Y |
| Minuscule forms (also calledlowercase orsmall letters) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| a | b | c | ch | d | dd | e | f | ff | g | ng | h | i | j | l | ll | m | n | o | p | ph | r | rh | s | t | th | u | w | y |
The traditional names of the letters area, bi, èc, èch, di, èdd, e, èf, èff, èg, èng, aets, i, je, èl, èll, èm, èn, o, pi, ffi (yff), èr, rhi, ès, ti, èth, u, w, y.[3][4] In South Wales, where the lettersi andu are pronounced identically, they are distinguished asi-dot andu-bedol (bedol means "horseshoe"). Thus the television channelS4C is pronouncedès pedwar èc. Informally, another way of saying the letters is often used, adding the sound [ɘ] after stop consonants and simply pronouncing the others:a, by, cy, ch, dy, dd, and so on.
In a Welsh dictionary, the Welsh order of letters is strictly observed, so thatcyngor 'council' is found beforecyhyrog 'muscular', andlori 'lorry' is found beforellaeth 'milk'.
Welshorthography makes use of multiplediacritics, which are primarily used on vowels, namely theacute accent (acen ddyrchafedig), thegrave accent (acen ddisgynedig), thecircumflex (acen grom,to bach, orhirnod) and thediaeresis (didolnod). They are considered variants of their base letter, i.e. they are notalphabetised separately. The Welsh alphabet also lacks⟨K⟩ (ce,[keː]),⟨Q⟩ (ciw,[kɪu̯]),⟨V⟩ (fi,[viː]),⟨X⟩ (ecs,[ɛks]), and⟨Z⟩ (sèd,[sɛd]/[zɛd]).[5]
Welsh borrows a number of words from English.[6] Those words are spelled according to Welsh spelling conventions, for example:bws "bus",bwc "buck",bwced "bucket",car "car",nogin "noggin",gob "gob",slogan "slogan",fflanel "flannel",trwnt "truant", andgêl/geol/jael/jêl/siêl "gaol".
The letter ⟨j⟩ was only recently[when?] accepted into Welsh orthography: for use in words borrowed from English which retain the/dʒ/ sound, even when it was not originally spelled ⟨j⟩ in English, as ingarej ("garage"),jiráff ("giraffe"), andffrij ("fridge"). Older borrowings of English words containing/dʒ/ resulted in the sound being pronounced and spelled in various other ways, resulting in occasionaldoublets such asSiapan andJapan ("Japan").[a]
The letters ⟨k, q, v, x, z⟩ are not part of the Welsh Alphabet. However, these letters are used in foreignproper names and their derivatives:Kantaidd,Zwinglïaidd. They are also sometimes used in technical and other specialized terms, likekilogram,queer,volt andzero, but in all cases can be, and often are, nativised:cilogram,cwiar,folt andsero.[7]
The earliest samples of written Welsh date from the 6th century and are in theLatin alphabet (seeOld Welsh). The orthography differs from that of modern Welsh, particularly in the use of⟨p, t, c⟩ to represent thevoicedplosives/b,d,ɡ/ non initially. Similarly, the voicedfricatives/v,ð/ were written⟨b, d⟩.[8]
By theMiddle Welsh period, this had given way to quite a bit of variability: Although⟨b, d, g⟩ were now used to represent/b,d,ɡ/, these sounds were also often written as in Old Welsh, while/v/ could be denoted by⟨u, v,ỽ, f, w⟩. In earlier manuscripts, moreover,fricatives were often not distinguished fromplosives (e.g.⟨t⟩ for/θ/, now written⟨th⟩).[9] Thegrapheme⟨k⟩ was also used, unlike in the modern alphabet, particularly beforefront vowels.[8] The disuse of this letter is at least partly due to the publication ofWilliam Salesbury's Welsh New Testament andWilliam Morgan'sWelsh Bible, whose English printers, with type letter frequencies set for English and Latin, did not have enough⟨k⟩ letters in their type cases to spell every/k/ as⟨k⟩, so the order went "C for K, because the printers have not so many as the Welsh requireth";[10] this was not liked at the time, but has become standard usage.
In this period,⟨ð⟩ (capital⟨Ð⟩) was also used interchangeably with⟨dd⟩, such as the passage in the 1567 New Testament:A Dyw y sych ymaith yr ollðeigre oddiwrth y llygeid, which contains both⟨ð⟩ and⟨dd⟩. Elsewhere, the same word is spelt in different ways, e.g.newydd andnewyð.[11]
The printer and publisherLewis Jones, one of the co-founders ofY Wladfa, the Welsh-speaking settlement in Patagonia, favoured a limitedspelling reform which replaced Welsh⟨f⟩/v/ and⟨ff⟩/f/ with⟨v⟩ and⟨f⟩, and fromcirca 1866 to 1886 Jones employed this innovation in a number of newspapers and periodicals he published and/or edited in the colony.[8] However, the only real relic of this practice today is the Patagonian placenameTrevelin ("mill town"), which in standard Welsh orthography would beTrefelin.
In 1928, a committee chaired by SirJohn Morris-Jones standardised the orthography of modern Welsh.
In 1987, a committee chaired by Professor Stephen J. Williams made further small changes,[which?] introducing⟨j⟩. Not all modern writers adhere to the conventions established by these committees.[12]
"N" and "S" indicate variants specific to the northern and southern dialects of Welsh. Throughout Wales an alternative system is also in use in which all consonant letters are named using the corresponding consonant sound plus aschwa (e.g.cy/kə/ forèc). In this system the vowels are named as below.
| Letter | Name | Corresponding sounds | English approximation |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | a | /a,ɑː,a:/ | father (long) |
| b | bi | /b/ | bat |
| c | èc | /k/ | case |
| ch | èch | /χ/ | No English equivalent; similar to loch in Scottish, but pronounced further back. |
| d[* 1] | di | /d/ | day |
| dd | èdd | /ð/ | these |
| e | e | /ɛ,eː/ | bed (short) / closest to hey (long) |
| f | èf | /v/ | of |
| ff | èff | /f/ | four |
| g | èg | /ɡ/ | gate |
| ng | èng | /ŋ/ | thing |
| h[* 2] | aets | /h/ | hat |
| i | i,i dot (S) | /ɪ,iː,j/ | bit (short) / machine (long) /yes (as consonant; before vowels) |
| j | je | /d͡ʒ/ | jump (only found in loanwords, usually from English but still in wide use such asjeli ('jelly',IPA:[dʒɛlɪ]) andjîns ('jeans',IPA:[dʒɪnz]) |
| l | èl | /l/ | lad |
| ll | èll | /ɬ/ | not present in English; avoiceless alveolar lateral fricative. A bit like what the consonant cluster "hl" would sound like. |
| m | èm | /m/ | mat |
| n | èn | /n/ | net |
| o | o | /ɔ,oː/ | Short, like "bog" inRP; long like dawn in RP or stove inScottish English |
| p | pi | /p/ | pet |
| ph[* 3] | ffi | /f/ | phone |
| r | èr | /r/ | Rolled R |
| rh | rhi | /r̥/ | Voiceless rolled R |
| s[* 1] | ès | /s/ | sat |
| t[* 1] | ti | /t/ | stick |
| th | èth | /θ/ | thin |
| u | u (N),u bedol (S) | /ɨ̞,ɨː/ (N),[* 4] /ɪ,iː/ (S) | for Southern variants: bit (short) / machine (long); in Northern dialects/ɨ̞,ɨː/ not found in English. Identical to "î" and "â" inRomanian, and similar to the "e" in Englishroses. |
| w | w | /ʊ,uː,w/ | push (short) / pool (long) /wet (as consonant) |
| y[* 5] | ỳ | /ɨ̞,ɨː,ə/ (N),[* 4] /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. |
| Orthography | Northern dialects | Southern dialects | English (approximation only) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ae | /ɑːɨ̯/[* 1] | /ai̯/ | eye |
| /ɛi̯/[* 2] | /eːɨ̯/ | may | |
| ai | /ai̯/ | /ai̯/ | eye |
| au | /aɨ̯/,/a/ | /ai̯/,/ɛ/ | eye. Realised as bet (south) and cat (north) in plural endings. |
| aw | /au̯,ɑːu̯/ | /au̯/ | how |
| ei | /ɛi̯/ | /ɛi̯/ | As ineight |
| eu | /əɨ̯/ | /əi̯/ | As in height |
| ew | /ɛu̯,eːu̯/ | /ɛu̯/ | Roughly likeEdward with thed removed:E'ward, or Cockney pronunciation of-ell in words likewell,hell. |
| ey | /e.ɨ̯/ | /e.ɪ/ | Two distinct vowels. |
| iw | /ɪu̯/ | /ɪu̯/ | similar to Cockney pronunciation of-ill in words likebill,fill |
| oe | /ɔɨ̯,ɔːɨ̯/ | /ɔi̯/ | boy |
| oi | /ɔi̯/ | /ɔi̯/ | boy |
| ou | /ɔɨ̯,ɔːɨ̯/ | /ɔi̯/ | boy |
| ow | /ɔu̯/ | /ɔu̯/ | goal |
| uw | /ɨu̯/ | /ɪu̯/ | Southern/ɪu̯/: see "iw" above. Northern/ɨu̯/: not present in English. |
| wy[* 3] | /ʊ̯ɨ,u̯ɨ/ | /ʊ̯i/ | not present in English; closest to gooey |
| yw[* 4] | /ɨu̯/ | /ɪu̯/ | see "uw" above |
Welsh makes use of a number ofdiacritics.
Thecircumflex (ˆ) is mostly used to marklong vowels, soâ, ê, î, ô, û, ŵ, ŷ are always long. However, not all long vowels are marked with a circumflex, so the lettersa, e, i, o, u, w, y with no circumflex do not necessarily represent short vowels; see§ Predicting vowel length from orthography.
Thegrave accent (`) is sometimes used, usually in words borrowed from another language, to mark vowels that are short when a long vowel would normally be expected, e.g.pas/paːs/ (a cough),pàs/pas/ (a pass/permit or a lift in a car);mwg/muːɡ/ (smoke),mẁg/mʊɡ/ (a mug).
Theacute accent (´) is sometimes used to mark a stressed final syllable in a polysyllabic word. Thus the wordsgwacáu (to empty) anddicléin (decline) have final stress. However, not all polysyllabic words with final stress are marked with the acute accent (Cymraeg "Welsh" andymlaen "forward/onward", for example, are written with none). The acute may also be used to indicate that a letterw represents a vowel where a glide might otherwise be expected, e.g.gẃraidd/ˈɡʊ.raið/ (two syllables) "manly", as opposed togwraidd/ˈɡwraið/ (one syllable) "root".
Similarly, thediaeresis (¨) is used to indicate that two adjoining vowels are to be pronounced separately (not as a diphthong). However, it is also used to show that the letteri is used to represent the cluster/ij/ which is always followed by another vowel, e.g.copïo (to copy) pronounced/kɔ.ˈpi.jɔ/, not*/ˈkɔp.jɔ/.
The grave and acute accents in particular are very often omitted in casual writing, and the same is true to a lesser extent of the diaeresis. The circumflex, however, is usually included. Accented vowels are not considered distinct letters for the purpose of collation.
As mentioned above, vowels marked with the circumflex are always long, and those marked with the grave accent are always short. If a vowel is not marked with a diacritic, its length must be determined by its environment; the rules vary a bit according to dialect.[13][14]
In all dialects, only stressed vowels may be long; unstressed vowels are always short.
An unmarked (stressed) vowel is long:
An unmarked vowel is short:
The vowely, when it is pronounced/ə/, is always short[contradictory][citation needed] even when it appears in an environment where other vowels would be long:cyfan (whole)/ˈkəvan/. When pronounced as aclose ornear-close vowel (/ɨ/ or/ɨ̞/ in the North,/i/ or/ɪ/ in the South),y follows the same rules as other vowels:dydd (day)/ˈdɨːð/ (North) ~/ˈdiːð/ (South),gwynt (wind)/ˈɡwɨ̞nt/ (North) ~/ˈɡwɪnt/ (South).
Beforel,m,n, andr, unmarked vowels are long in some words and short in others:
| vowel | long | short | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| i | gwin | /ɡwiːn/ | (wine) | prin | /prɪn/ | (scarcely) | ||
| e | hen | /heːn/ | (old) | pen | /pɛn/ | (head) | ||
| y | dyn | /dɨːn/~/diːn/ | (man) | gwyn | /ɡwɨ̞n/~/ɡwɪn/ | (white) | ||
| w | stwmo | /ˈstuːmo/ | (bank up a fire) | amal | /ˈamal/ | (often) | ||
| e | celyn | /ˈkeːlɪn/ | (holly) | calon | /ˈkalɔn/ | (heart) |
(The last four examples are given in South Welsh pronunciation only since vowels in nonfinal syllables are always short in North Welsh.)
Beforenn andrr, vowels are always short:onn/ˈɔn/ (ash trees),ennill/ˈɛnɪɬ/ (to win),carreg/ˈkarɛɡ/ (stone).
In Northern dialects, long vowels are stressed and appear in the final syllable of the word. Vowels in non-final syllables are always short. In addition to the rules above, a vowel is long in the North before a consonant cluster beginning withs:tyst/tɨːst/ (witness). Beforell, a vowel is short when no consonant follows thell:gwell (better)/ɡwɛɬ/ It is long when another consonant does follow thell:gwallt/ɡwɑːɬt/ (hair).
In Southern dialects, long vowels may appear in a stressedpenultimate syllable as well as in a stressed word-final syllable. Beforell, a stressed vowel in the last syllable can be either long (e.g.gwell "better"/ɡweːɬ/) or short (e.g.twll "hole"/tʊɬ/). However, a stressed vowel in thepenult beforell is always short:dillad/ˈdɪɬad/ (clothes).[citation needed]Befores, a stressed vowel in the last syllable is long, as mentioned above, but a stressed vowel in the penult is short:mesur (measure)/ˈmɛsir/. Vowels are always short before consonant clusters:sant/sant/ (saint),gwallt/ɡwaɬt/ (hair),tyst/tɪst/ (witness).
While thedigraphsch, dd, ff, ng, ll, ph, rh, th are each written with two symbols, they are all considered to be single letters. This means, for example thatLlanelli (a town in South Wales) is considered to have only six letters in Welsh, compared to eight letters in English. Consequently, they each take up only a single space in Welshcrosswords.Ll itself had actually been written as the ligatureỺ in Middle Welsh.
Sorting is done in correspondence with the alphabet. For example,la comes beforely, which comes beforella, which comes beforema. Automated sorting may occasionally be complicated by the fact that additional information may be needed to distinguish a genuine digraph from a juxtaposition of letters; for examplellom comes afterllong (in which theng stands for/ŋ/) but beforellongyfarch (in whichn andg are pronounced separately as/ŋɡ/).
Although the digraphs above are considered to be single letters, only their first component letter is capitalised when a word in lower case requires an initial capital letter. Thus:
The two letters in a digraph are only both capitalised when the whole word is in uppercase:
The status of the digraphs as single letters is reflected in the stylised forms used in the logos of theNational Library of Wales (logo) andCardiff University (logo).
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