The Welsh language (calledCymraeg in Welsh) has 28 letters. The Latin alphabet is used (i.e. as in English, French, Polish, etc.), but letters sometimes represent different sounds in Welsh, which can be confusing to English speakers.
There are no silent letters. Every letter has a sound, and the sound is vocalized in spoken Welsh. The letters K, Q, V, X and Z are not included in the Welsh alphabet, but are sometimes found in borrowed words. When present, these letters have their English sounds, except for Z, which tends to be /s/ in North Wales.
There are regional differences in Welsh pronunciation, but standard Welsh is understood by Welsh speakers everywhere. The pronunciation guide below approximates the Welsh letter sounds by using standard English examples.
The charts below show the way in which theInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Welsh pronunciations in Wiktionary entries.
SeeWelsh phonology at Wikipedia for a more thorough look at the sounds of Welsh.
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| Other symbols used in transcription of Welsh pronunciation | ||
|---|---|---|
| IPA | Explanation | |
| ˈ | Primary stress (placed before the stressed syllable), for exampleysgrifenyddes/əsɡrɪvɛˈnəðɛs/ | |
The vowels are A, E, I, O, U, W, and Y. All the vowels can be lengthened by the addition of acircumflex, properly calledacen grom ('convex accent', or 'crooked accent') in Welsh, but often known by the familiar/juvenile nameto bach (lit. 'little roof').
