Gwenhwyseg
Gwenhwyseg or Y Wenhwyseg (also called "Gwentian" in English) is a Welsh dialect of South East Wales.[1] The name derives from an old term for the inhabitants of the area, y Gwennwys. One of Gwenhwyseg's characteristics is the change in the long a vowel to a long e e.g. y Ted a'r Meb a'r Ysbryd Glên rather than the standard y Tad, y Mab a'r Ysbryd Glân ("the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit"). The diphthong ae is changed in the same way:
Standard Welsh | Gwenhwyseg |
---|---|
Cymraeg | Cymrêg |
Traed | Trêd |
Cae | Cê |
This is a diphthong which varies in pronunciation over the Gwenhwyseg territory and not realised with same phoneme; it is also found in words like pen, pren, pert, etc. This does not occur in monosyllabic words containing a short a like mam and naw as happens in some of the dialects of Montgomeryshire. Gwenhwyseg has influenced the English spoken in the area with English speakers using Welsh words and syntax (see Welsh English), e.g. "What is on her?" reflects Welsh Beth sy' arni hi?.[2]
Other differences between standard Welsh and Gwenhwyseg are:[3]
English | Standard Welsh | Gwenwhyseg (Gwent Welsh) |
---|---|---|
to walk | cerdded | cered |
to play | chwarae | wara |
canal | camlas | cnel |
window | ffenest(r) | ffenast |
shoes | esgidiau | sgitsha |
to do | gwneud | nithir |
aunt | modryb | bopa |
to speak | siarad | wilia |
chair | cadair | catar |
References
- ^ "Geiriadur Gwenhwyseg / Gwentian Dictionary". Retrieved 26 April 2012.
- ^ BBC – De Ddwyrain – Geirfa'r Wenhwyseg
- ^ Burkitt, Sian (25 February 2020). "Gwent Welsh - the once common dialect that has almost disappeared". Retrieved 24 January 2023.
External links
- Articles with short description
- Short description is different from Wikidata
- Use British English from January 2023
- Use dmy dates from April 2022
- Articles containing Welsh-language text
- All articles with dead external links
- Articles with dead external links from January 2020
- Articles with permanently dead external links
- Welsh dialects
- Gwent (county)