98-430: Englyn ( pronounced [ˈɛŋ.lɪn] ; plural englynion ) is a traditional Welsh short poem form. It uses quantitative metres , involving the counting of syllables , and rigid patterns of rhyme and half rhyme . Each line contains a repeating pattern of consonants and accent known as cynghanedd . The englyn is found in the work of the earliest attested Welsh poets (the cynfeirdd ), where
196-542: A gliding vowel or a vowel glide , is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable . Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech apparatus ) moves during the pronunciation of the vowel. In most varieties of English , the phrase "no highway cowboy" ( / n oʊ ˈ h aɪ w eɪ ˈ k aʊ b ɔɪ / noh HY -way KOW -boy ) has five distinct diphthongs, one in every syllable . Diphthongs contrast with monophthongs , where
294-441: A Welsh Language Scheme, which indicates its commitment to the equality of treatment principle. This is sent out in draft form for public consultation for a three-month period, whereupon comments on it may be incorporated into a final version. It requires the final approval of the now defunct Welsh Language Board ( Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg ). Thereafter, the public body is charged with implementing and fulfilling its obligations under
392-594: A Welsh-language edge inscription was used on pound coins dated 1985, 1990 and 1995, which circulated in all parts of the UK prior to their 2017 withdrawal. The wording is Pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad (Welsh for 'True am I to my country'), and derives from the national anthem of Wales, " Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau ". UK banknotes are in English only. Some shops employ bilingual signage. Welsh sometimes appears on product packaging or instructions. The UK government has ratified
490-663: A census glossary of terms to support the release of results from the census, including their definition of "main language" as referring to "first or preferred language" (though that wording was not in the census questionnaire itself). The wards in England with the most people giving Welsh as their main language were the Liverpool wards of Central and Greenbank ; and Oswestry South in Shropshire . The wards of Oswestry South (1.15%), Oswestry East (0.86%) and St Oswald (0.71%) had
588-494: A diphthong differently than when those sounds are produced in hiatus. For example, due to English diphthong raising , many North American English speakers pronounce /aɪ/ with closer vowels than /a.ɪ/ , and, among a subset of those, the diphthong /aʊ/ may be similarly raised as compared to /a.ʊ/ . In words coming from Middle English , most cases of the Modern English diphthongs [aɪ̯, oʊ̯, eɪ̯, aʊ̯] originate from
686-421: A diphthong, they can be transcribed with two vowel symbols with a period in between. Thus, lower can be transcribed ⟨ ˈloʊ.ɚ ⟩, with a period separating the first syllable, / l oʊ / , from the second syllable, ⟨ ɚ ⟩. The non-syllabic diacritic is used only when necessary. It is typically omitted when there is no ambiguity, as in ⟨ haɪ kaʊ ⟩. No words in English have
784-509: A diphthong. Diphthongs often form when separate vowels are run together in rapid speech during a conversation. However, there are also unitary diphthongs, as in the English examples above, which are heard by listeners as single-vowel sounds ( phonemes ). In the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), monophthongs are transcribed with one symbol, as in English sun [sʌn] , in which ⟨ ʌ ⟩ represents
882-772: A fourth, rhyming, seven-syllable line at the end. Thus it consists of four lines of ten, six, seven and seven syllables. The seventh, eighth or ninth syllable of the first line introduces the rhyme and this is repeated on the last syllable of the other three lines. The part of the first line after the rhyme alliterates with the first part of the second line. This is an englyn unodl union by Alan Llwyd: Ym Mhorth oer y Merthyr on – y merthyr Mwya'i werth o ddig on A hir-fawrha y fro h on Wr dewr o Aberdar on The "soldier's englyn ". This consists of three seven-syllable lines. All three lines rhyme. Otid eiry, gwyn y cn es ; Nid â cedwyr i'w neg es ; Oer llynnau, eu lliw heb d es . The "even englyn ", more common in
980-430: A happy family – we come With thanks anew, For from your hand comes every day Our sustenance and our joy. Breton poet Padrig an Habask also writes Breton-language englynion ; in 2020, he has published a collection of them called Lampreiz . ( http://brezhoneg.org/en/node/11057 ) Welsh language Welsh ( Cymraeg [kəmˈraːiɡ] or y Gymraeg [ə ɡəmˈraːiɡ] )
1078-424: A monophthong becomes a diphthong. Monophthongization or smoothing is a vowel shift in which a diphthong becomes a monophthong. While there are a number of similarities, diphthongs are not the same phonologically as a combination of a vowel and an approximant or glide. Most importantly, diphthongs are fully contained in the syllable nucleus while a semivowel or glide is restricted to the syllable boundaries (either
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#17327724452531176-434: A monophthong. Diphthongs are transcribed with two symbols, as in English high /haɪ/ or cow /kaʊ/ , in which ⟨ aɪ ⟩ and ⟨ aʊ ⟩ represent diphthongs. Diphthongs may be transcribed with two vowel symbols or with a vowel symbol and a semivowel symbol. In the words above, the less prominent member of the diphthong can be represented with the symbols for the palatal approximant [ j ] and
1274-535: A more peripheral vowel and ends with a more central one, such as [ɪə̯] , [ɛə̯] , and [ʊə̯] in Received Pronunciation or [iə̯] and [uə̯] in Irish . Many centering diphthongs are also opening diphthongs ( [iə̯] , [uə̯] ). Diphthongs may contrast in how far they open or close. For example, Samoan contrasts low-to-mid with low-to-high diphthongs: Narrow diphthongs are the ones that end with
1372-628: A similar length. In languages with only one phonemic length for pure vowels, however, diphthongs may behave like pure vowels. For example, in Icelandic , both monophthongs and diphthongs are pronounced long before single consonants and short before most consonant clusters. Some languages contrast short and long diphthongs. In some languages, such as Old English , these behave like short and long vowels, occupying one and two morae , respectively. Languages that contrast three quantities in diphthongs are extremely rare, but not unheard of; Northern Sami
1470-479: A single discourse (known in linguistics as code-switching ). Welsh speakers are largely concentrated in the north and west of Wales, principally Gwynedd , Conwy County Borough , Denbighshire , Anglesey , Carmarthenshire , north Pembrokeshire , Ceredigion , parts of Glamorgan , and north-west and extreme south-west Powys . However, first-language and other fluent speakers can be found throughout Wales. Welsh-speaking communities persisted well into
1568-596: A stanza of three lines. The first line has ten syllables (in two groups of five), the second has five to six; and the third has seven. The seventh, eighth or ninth syllable of the first line introduces the rhyme and this is repeated on the last syllable of the other two lines. The fourth syllable of the second line may echo the final syllable of the first through either rhyme or consonance . Oer gwly pysgawd yng nghysg awd iäen; Cul hydd, cawn barf awd ; Byr diwedydd, gwŷdd gwyr awd . The "straight one-rhymed englyn ", identical to englyn penfyr except that it adds
1666-563: A vowel which on a vowel chart is quite close to the one that begins the diphthong, for example Northern Dutch [eɪ] , [øʏ] and [oʊ] . Wide diphthongs are the opposite – they require a greater tongue movement, and their offsets are farther away from their starting points on the vowel chart. Examples of wide diphthongs are RP/GA English [aɪ] and [aʊ] . Languages differ in the length of diphthongs, measured in terms of morae . In languages with phonemically short and long vowels, diphthongs typically behave like long vowels, and are pronounced with
1764-884: A vowel, European Portuguese has 14 phonemic diphthongs (10 oral and 4 nasal), all of which are falling diphthongs formed by a vowel and a nonsyllabic high vowel. Brazilian Portuguese has roughly the same amount, although the European and non-European dialects have slightly different pronunciations ( [ɐj] is a distinctive feature of some southern and central Portuguese dialects, especially that of Lisbon). A [w] onglide after /k/ or /ɡ/ and before all vowels as in quando [ˈkwɐ̃du] ('when') or guarda [ˈɡwaɾðɐ ~ ˈɡwaʁdɐ] ('guard') may also form rising diphthongs and triphthongs . Additionally, in casual speech, adjacent heterosyllabic vowels may combine into diphthongs and triphthongs or even sequences of them. In addition, phonetic diphthongs are formed in most Brazilian Portuguese dialects by
1862-1041: Is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people . Welsh is spoken natively in Wales , by some in England , and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province , Argentina ). It is spoken by smaller numbers of people in Canada and the United States descended from Welsh immigrants, within their households (especially in Nova Scotia ). Historically, it has also been known in English as "British", "Cambrian", "Cambric" and "Cymric". The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 gave
1960-434: Is a less precise or broader transcription, since these diphthongs usually end in a vowel sound that is more open than the semivowels [j w] or the close vowels [i u] . Transcribing the diphthongs as ⟨ aɪ̯ aʊ̯ ⟩ is a more precise or narrower transcription, since the English diphthongs usually end in the near-close vowels [ɪ ʊ] . The non-syllabic diacritic , the inverted breve below ⟨◌̯⟩ ,
2058-733: Is additional cynghanedd . This is a hybrid between an englyn and a toddaid . The first two lines are as for an englyn , and there follow two more lines of ten syllables each. After the first two lines there is just one more line of three syllables or fewer, which follows the rhyme of the first two lines. Here are two englynion by the 12th-century Welsh poet Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr : Balch ei fugunawr ban nafawr ei lef Pan ganer cyrn cydawr; Corn Llywelyn llyw lluydfawr Bon ehang blaen hang bloed fawr. Corn wedi llad corn llawen Corn llugynor Llywelyn Corn gwyd gwydr ai can Corn rueinell yn ol gellgwn The poet Robert Graves wrote an englyn in English, included in
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#17327724452532156-807: Is available throughout Europe on satellite and online throughout the UK. Since the digital switchover was completed in South Wales on 31 March 2010, S4C Digidol became the main broadcasting channel and fully in Welsh. The main evening television news provided by the BBC in Welsh is available for download. There is also a Welsh-language radio station, BBC Radio Cymru , which was launched in 1977. Diphthongs A diphthong ( / ˈ d ɪ f θ ɒ ŋ , ˈ d ɪ p -/ DIF -thong, DIP - ; from Ancient Greek δίφθογγος (díphthongos) 'two sounds', from δίς (dís) 'twice' and φθόγγος (phthóngos) 'sound'), also known as
2254-688: Is considered to have lasted from then until the 14th century, when the Modern Welsh period began, which in turn is divided into Early and Late Modern Welsh. The word Welsh is a descendant, via Old English wealh, wielisc , of the Proto-Germanic word * Walhaz , which was derived from the name of the Celtic people known to the Romans as Volcae and which came to refer to speakers of Celtic languages, and then indiscriminately to
2352-479: Is identical to the englyn proest dalgron except that the half rhymes must use the ae , oe , wy , and ei diphthongs . The " chain half-rhyme englyn ". In this version there are four lines of seven syllables. The first and third lines rhyme and the second and fourth half rhyme on the same vowel sound as the full rhyme syllables. The "reciprocal half-rhyme englyn ". This has four lines of seven syllables. All four lines half-rhyme, and there
2450-411: Is known to contrast long, short and "finally stressed" diphthongs, the last of which are distinguished by a longer second element. In some languages, diphthongs are single phonemes , while in others they are analyzed as sequences of two vowels, or of a vowel and a semivowel. Certain sound changes relate to diphthongs and monophthongs . Vowel breaking or diphthongization is a vowel shift in which
2548-400: Is more close than the first (e.g. [ai] ); in opening diphthongs, the second element is more open (e.g. [ia] ). Closing diphthongs tend to be falling ( [ai̯] ), and opening diphthongs are generally rising ( [i̯a] ), as open vowels are more sonorous and therefore tend to be more prominent. However, exceptions to this rule are not rare in the world's languages. In Finnish , for instance,
2646-399: Is not clear which symbol represents the syllable nucleus, or when they have equal weight. Superscripts are especially used when an on- or off-glide is particularly fleeting. The period ⟨ . ⟩ is the opposite of the non-syllabic diacritic: it represents a syllable break. If two vowels next to each other belong to two different syllables ( hiatus ), meaning that they do not form
2744-460: Is placed under the less prominent part of a diphthong to show that it is part of a diphthong rather than a vowel in a separate syllable: [aɪ̯ aʊ̯] . When there is no contrastive vowel sequence in the language, the diacritic may be omitted. Other common indications that the two sounds are not separate vowels are a superscript, ⟨ aᶦ aᶷ ⟩, or a tie bar, ⟨ a͡ɪ a͡ʊ ⟩ or ⟨ a͜ɪ a͜ʊ ⟩. The tie bar can be useful when it
2842-415: Is possible for languages to contrast [ij] and [iː] . Diphthongs are also distinct from sequences of simple vowels. The Bunaq language of Timor, for example, distinguishes /sa͡i/ [saj] 'exit' from /sai/ [saʲi] 'be amused', /te͡i/ [tej] 'dance' from /tei/ [teʲi] 'stare at', and /po͡i/ [poj] 'choice' from /loi/ [loʷi] 'good'. Some languages or dialects also articulate the component sounds of
2940-511: Is the label attached to the Welsh of the 12th to 14th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This is the language of nearly all surviving early manuscripts of the Mabinogion , although the tales themselves are certainly much older. It is also the language of the existing Welsh law manuscripts. Middle Welsh is reasonably intelligible to a modern-day Welsh speaker. The Bible translations into Welsh helped maintain
3038-732: The Cynfeirdd or "Early Poets" – is generally considered to date to the Primitive Welsh period. However, much of this poetry was supposedly composed in the Hen Ogledd , raising further questions about the dating of the material and language in which it was originally composed. This discretion stems from the fact that Cumbric was widely believed to have been the language used in Hen Ogledd. An 8th-century inscription in Tywyn shows
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3136-542: The Englynion y Beddau or Geraint son of Erbin , and others again are lyric, religious meditations and laments such as the famous Claf Abercuawg and Kyntaw geir . There are a number of types of englynion . Details of their structures are as follows; not all of these, however, are included in the Traditional Welsh poetic metres . Also known as "the short-ended englyn ". It consists of
3234-500: The 2016 Australian census , 1,688 people noted that they spoke Welsh. In the 2011 Canadian census , 3,885 people reported Welsh as their first language . According to the 2021 Canadian census , 1,130 people noted that Welsh was their mother tongue. The 2018 New Zealand census noted that 1,083 people in New Zealand spoke Welsh. The American Community Survey 2009–2013 noted that 2,235 people aged five years and over in
3332-466: The 2021 census , 7,349 people in England recorded Welsh to be their "main language". In the 2011 census, 1,189 people aged three and over in Scotland noted that Welsh was a language (other than English) that they used at home. It is believed that there are as many as 5,000 speakers of Patagonian Welsh . In response to the question 'Does the person speak a language other than English at home?' in
3430-470: The English and Italian languages, among others, many phoneticians do not consider rising combinations to be diphthongs, but rather sequences of approximant and vowel. There are many languages (such as Romanian ) that contrast one or more rising diphthongs with similar sequences of a glide and a vowel in their phonetic inventory (see semivowel for examples). In closing diphthongs, the second element
3528-538: The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in respect of Welsh. The language has greatly increased its prominence since the creation of the television channel S4C in November 1982, which until digital switchover in 2010 broadcast 70 per cent of Channel 4's programming along with a majority of Welsh language shows during peak viewing hours. The all-Welsh-language digital station S4C Digidol
3626-531: The Middle High German diphthongs than to standard German diphthongs: Apart from these phonemic diphthongs, Bernese German has numerous phonetic diphthongs due to L-vocalization in the syllable coda, for instance the following ones: Yiddish has three diphthongs: Diphthongs may reach a higher target position (towards /i/ ) in situations of coarticulatory phenomena or when words with such vowels are being emphasized. There are five diphthongs in
3724-756: The Polish name for Italians) have a similar etymology. The Welsh term for the language, Cymraeg , descends from the Brythonic word combrogi , meaning 'compatriots' or 'fellow countrymen'. Welsh evolved from Common Brittonic , the Celtic language spoken by the ancient Celtic Britons . Classified as Insular Celtic , the British language probably arrived in Britain during the Bronze Age or Iron Age and
3822-640: The United States spoke Welsh at home. The highest number of those (255) lived in Florida . Sources: Calls for the Welsh language to be granted official status grew with the establishment of the nationalist political party Plaid Cymru in 1925, the establishment of the Welsh Language Society in 1962 and the rise of Welsh nationalism in the later 20th century. Of the six living Celtic languages (including two revived), Welsh has
3920-666: The vocalization of /l/ in the syllable coda with words like sol [sɔw] ('sun') and sul [suw] ('south') as well as by yodization of vowels preceding / s / or its allophone at syllable coda [ ʃ ~ ɕ ] in terms like arroz [aˈʁojs ~ ɐˈʁo(j)ɕ] ('rice'), and / z / (or [ ʒ ~ ʑ ] ) in terms such as paz mundial [ˈpajz mũdʒiˈaw ~ ˈpa(j)ʑ mũdʑiˈaw] ('world peace') and dez anos [ˌdɛjˈz‿ɐ̃nu(j)s ~ ˌdɛjˈz‿ɐ̃nuɕ] ('ten years'). Phonetically, Spanish has seven falling diphthongs and eight rising diphthongs. In addition, during fast speech, sequences of vowels in hiatus become diphthongs wherein one becomes non-syllabic (unless they are
4018-594: The "hugely important role", adding, "I look forward to working with the Welsh Government and organisations in Wales in developing the new system of standards. I will look to build on the good work that has been done by the Welsh Language Board and others to strengthen the Welsh language and ensure that it continues to thrive." First Minister Carwyn Jones said that Huws would act as a champion for
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4116-596: The 1880s identified a small part of Shropshire as still then speaking Welsh, with the "Celtic Border" passing from Llanymynech through Oswestry to Chirk . The number of Welsh-speaking people in the rest of Britain has not yet been counted for statistical purposes. In 1993, the Welsh-language television channel S4C published the results of a survey into the numbers of people who spoke or understood Welsh, which estimated that there were around 133,000 Welsh-speaking people living in England, about 50,000 of them in
4214-536: The 1993 Act nor secondary legislation made under it covers the private sector, although some organisations, notably banks and some railway companies, provide some of their information in Welsh. On 7 December 2010, the Welsh Assembly unanimously approved a set of measures to develop the use of the Welsh language within Wales. On 9 February 2011 this measure, the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 ,
4312-486: The Assembly which confirms the official status of the Welsh language; which creates a strong advocate for Welsh speakers and will improve the quality and quantity of services available through the medium of Welsh. I believe that everyone who wants to access services in the Welsh language should be able to do so, and that is what this government has worked towards. This legislation is an important and historic step forward for
4410-550: The Greater London area. The Welsh Language Board , on the basis of an analysis of the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study, estimated there were 110,000 Welsh-speaking people in England, and another thousand in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In the 2011 census , 8,248 people in England gave Welsh in answer to the question "What is your main language?" The Office for National Statistics subsequently published
4508-510: The Juvinalia (1910–1914) of his Complete Poems A Pot of White Heather Thou, a poor woman's fairing, white heather, Witherest from the ending Of summer's bliss to the sting Of winter's grey beginning. Here is an English-language englyn by novelist Robertson Davies . The Old Journalist He types his laboured column—weary drudge! Senile, fudge and solemn; Spare, editor, to condemn These dry leaves of his autumn. Grace in
4606-475: The Middle Ages than later. This consists of four seven-syllable lines. All four lines rhyme. One example (showing the half-rhyme of -edd with -er ) is: Cyntefin ceinaf ams er , Dydar adar, glas call edd , Ereidr yn rhych, ych yng ngw edd , Gwyrdd môr, brithotor tir edd . The "short crooked englyn ". This is like englyn penfyr , but orders the lines differently: seven syllables in
4704-731: The Middle English long monophthongs [iː, ɔː, aː, uː] through the Great Vowel Shift , although some cases of [oʊ̯, eɪ̯] originate from the Middle English diphthongs [ɔu̯, aɪ̯] . The dialect of Hamont (in Limburg ) has five centring diphthongs and contrasts long and short forms of [ɛɪ̯] , [œʏ̯] , [ɔʊ̯] , and [ɑʊ̯] . The Afrikaans language has its origin in Dutch but differs in many significant ways, including
4802-590: The Oslo dialect of Norwegian , all of them falling: An additional diphthong, [ʉ͍ɪ] , occurs only in the word hui in the expression i hui og hast "in great haste". The number and form of diphthongs vary between dialects. Diphthongs in Faroese are: Diphthongs in Icelandic are the following: Combinations of semivowel /j/ and a vowel are the following: In French , /wa/ , /wɛ̃/ , /ɥi/ and /ɥɛ̃/ may be considered true diphthongs (that is, fully contained in
4900-496: The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, all new signs have Welsh displayed first. There have been incidents of one of the languages being vandalised, which may be considered a hate crime . Since 2000, the teaching of Welsh has been compulsory in all schools in Wales up to age 16; this has had an effect in stabilising and reversing the decline in the language. Text on UK coins tends to be in English and Latin. However,
4998-704: The Welsh Language Scheme. The list of other public bodies which have to prepare Schemes could be added to by initially the Secretary of State for Wales, from 1993 to 1997, by way of statutory instrument . Subsequent to the forming of the National Assembly for Wales in 1997, the Government Minister responsible for the Welsh language can and has passed statutory instruments naming public bodies who have to prepare Schemes. Neither
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#17327724452535096-667: The Welsh language official status in Wales. Welsh and English are de jure official languages of the Welsh Parliament, the Senedd , with Welsh being the only de jure official language in any part of the United Kingdom, with English being merely de facto official. According to the 2021 census , the Welsh-speaking population of Wales aged three or older was 538,300 (17.8%) and nearly three quarters of
5194-526: The Welsh language, though some had concerns over her appointment: Plaid Cymru spokeswoman Bethan Jenkins said, "I have concerns about the transition from Meri Huws's role from the Welsh Language Board to the language commissioner, and I will be asking the Welsh government how this will be successfully managed. We must be sure that there is no conflict of interest, and that the Welsh Language Commissioner can demonstrate how she will offer
5292-487: The Welsh of the 16th century, but they are similar enough for a fluent Welsh speaker to have little trouble understanding it. During the Modern Welsh period, there has been a decline in the popularity of the Welsh language: the number of Welsh speakers declined to the point at which there was concern that the language would become extinct. During industrialisation in the late 19th century, immigrants from England led to
5390-630: The Welsh-speaking heartlands, with the number dropping to under 50 per cent in Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire for the first time. However, according to the Welsh Language Use Survey in 2019–20, 22 per cent of people aged three and over were able to speak Welsh. The Annual Population Survey (APS) by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated that as of March 2024, approximately 862,700, or 28.0 per cent of
5488-401: The beginning. This is made up of four lines of seven, seven, ten and six syllables. The last syllables of the first, second and last lines and the seventh, eighth or ninth syllable of the third line all rhyme. The "seeking englyn ". This form has four lines of seven syllables each. The final syllables of the first, second, and last line rhyme. The final syllable of the third line rhymes with
5586-460: The census. In terms of usage, ONS also reported that 14.4 per cent (443,800) of people aged three or older in Wales reported that they spoke Welsh daily in March 2024, with 5.4 per cent (165,500) speaking it weekly and 6.5 per cent (201,200) less often. Approximately 1.7 per cent (51,700) reported that they never spoke Welsh despite being able to speak the language, with the remaining 72.0 per cent of
5684-414: The course of the 20th century this monolingual population all but disappeared, but a small percentage remained at the time of the 1981 census. Most Welsh-speaking people in Wales also speak English. However, many Welsh-speaking people are more comfortable expressing themselves in Welsh than in English. A speaker's choice of language can vary according to the subject domain and the social context, even within
5782-489: The creation of Old Welsh, Davies suggests it may be more appropriate to refer to this derivative language as Lingua Britannica rather than characterising it as a new language altogether. The argued dates for the period of "Primitive Welsh" are widely debated, with some historians' suggestions differing by hundreds of years. The next main period is Old Welsh ( Hen Gymraeg , 9th to 11th centuries); poetry from both Wales and Scotland has been preserved in this form of
5880-479: The decline in Welsh speakers particularly in the South Wales Valleys. Welsh government processes and legislation have worked to increase the proliferation of the Welsh language, for example through education. Welsh has been spoken continuously in Wales throughout history; however, by 1911, it had become a minority language, spoken by 43.5 per cent of the population. While this decline continued over
5978-422: The first, ten syllables (in two groups of five) in the second, and five to six syllables in the third. In the following example, the second line does not participate in the rhyme: Ton tra thon toid tu t ir ; Goruchel gwaeddau rhag bron bannau bre; Braidd allan orsef ir . The "crooked one-rhyme englyn ". This englyn is like englyn byr crwca , except that it adds an extra seven-syllable line at
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#17327724452536076-537: The following contexts: There are also certain instances of compensatory diphthongization in the Majorcan dialect so that /ˈtroncs/ ('logs') (in addition to deleting the palatal plosive) develops a compensating palatal glide and surfaces as [ˈtrojns] (and contrasts with the unpluralized [ˈtronʲc] ). Diphthongization compensates for the loss of the palatal stop (part of Catalan's segment loss compensation). There are other cases where diphthongization compensates for
6174-491: The following decades, the language did not die out. The smallest number of speakers was recorded in 1981 with 503,000 although the lowest percentage was recorded in the most recent census in 2021 at 17.8 per cent. By the start of the 21st century, numbers began to increase once more, at least partly as a result of the increase in Welsh-medium education . The 2004 Welsh Language Use Survey showed that 21.7 per cent of
6272-535: The form of an englyn (with cynghanedd shown) in a poem by W. D. Williams: O, Dad, yn deulu dedwydd – y deuwn [ Dad and dedwydd , d <accent> d repeated] Â diolch o newydd , [ deuwn and diolch , d <accent> repeated] Cans o'th law y daw bob dydd [ law and daw rhyming, daw and dydd , d <accent> repeated, cynghanedd sain ] Ein lluniaeth a'n llawenydd. [ ein lluniaeth and a'n llawenydd , ll <accent> n repeated] O, Father, as
6370-469: The highest number of native speakers who use the language on a daily basis, and it is the Celtic language which is considered the least endangered by UNESCO . The Welsh Language Act 1993 and the Government of Wales Act 1998 provide that the Welsh and English languages be treated equally in the public sector, as far as is reasonable and practicable. Each public body is required to prepare for approval
6468-476: The highest percentage of residents giving Welsh as their main language. The census also revealed that 3,528 wards in England, or 46% of the total number, contained at least one resident whose main language is Welsh. In terms of the regions of England , North West England (1,945), London (1,310) and the West Midlands (1,265) had the highest number of people noting Welsh as their main language. According to
6566-456: The history of Welsh, with rather indistinct boundaries: Primitive Welsh, Old Welsh, Middle Welsh, and Modern Welsh. The period immediately following the language's emergence is sometimes referred to as Primitive Welsh, followed by the Old Welsh period – which is generally considered to stretch from the beginning of the 9th century to sometime during the 12th century. The Middle Welsh period
6664-417: The labiovelar approximant [ w ] , with the symbols for the close vowels [ i ] and [ u ] , or the symbols for the near-close vowels [ ɪ ] and [ ʊ ] : Some transcriptions are broader or narrower (less precise or more precise phonetically) than others. Transcribing the English diphthongs in high and cow as ⟨ aj aw ⟩ or ⟨ ai̯ au̯ ⟩
6762-595: The language already dropping inflections in the declension of nouns. Janet Davies proposed that the origins of the Welsh language were much less definite; in The Welsh Language: A History , she proposes that Welsh may have been around even earlier than 600 AD. This is evidenced by the dropping of final syllables from Brittonic: * bardos 'poet' became bardd , and * abona 'river' became afon . Though both Davies and Jackson cite minor changes in syllable structure and sounds as evidence for
6860-506: The language, its speakers and for the nation." The measure was not welcomed warmly by all supporters: Bethan Williams, chairman of the Welsh Language Society, gave a mixed response to the move, saying, "Through this measure we have won official status for the language and that has been warmly welcomed. But there was a core principle missing in the law passed by the Assembly before Christmas. It doesn't give language rights to
6958-555: The language. As Germanic and Gaelic colonisation of Britain proceeded, the Brittonic speakers in Wales were split off from those in northern England, speaking Cumbric, and those in the southwest, speaking what would become Cornish , so the languages diverged. Both the works of Aneirin ( Canu Aneirin , c. 600 ) and the Book of Taliesin ( Canu Taliesin ) were written during this era. Middle Welsh ( Cymraeg Canol )
7056-475: The latter as ⟨eeu⟩ . In diminutives ending in /ki/ formed to monosyllabic nouns, the vowels /u, ɪə, ʊə, ɛ, ə, œ, ɔ, a, ɑː/ are realised as closing diphthongs [ui, ei, oi, ɛi, əi, œi, ɔi, ai, ɑːi] . In the same environment, the sequences /ɛn, ən, œn, ɔn, an/ are realized as [ɛiɲ, əiɲ, œiɲ, ɔiɲ, aiɲ] , i.e. as closing diphthongs followed by palatal nasal. Phonemic diphthongs in German : In
7154-470: The loss of point of articulation features (property loss compensation) as in [ˈaɲ] ('year') vs [ˈajns] ('years'). The dialectal distribution of this compensatory diphthongization is almost entirely dependent on the dorsal plosive (whether it is velar or palatal) and the extent of consonant assimilation (whether or not it is extended to palatals). The Portuguese diphthongs are formed by the labio-velar approximant [w] and palatal approximant [j] with
7252-423: The main types are the three-line englyn milwr and englyn penfyr . It is the only set stanzaic metre found in the early Welsh poetic corpus, and explanations for its origins have tended to focus on stanzaic Latin poetry and hymns; however, it is as likely to be a development within the Brittonic poetic tradition. Whereas the metrical rules of later englynion are clear (and are based on counting syllables),
7350-622: The modern period across the border in England. Archenfield was still Welsh enough in the time of Elizabeth I for the Bishop of Hereford to be made responsible, together with the four Welsh bishops, for the translation of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer into Welsh. Welsh was still commonly spoken there in the first half of the 19th century, and churchwardens' notices were put up in both Welsh and English until about 1860. Alexander John Ellis in
7448-448: The number of Welsh-language speakers to one million by 2050. Since 1980, the number of children attending Welsh-medium schools has increased, while the number going to Welsh bilingual and dual-medium schools has decreased. Welsh is considered the least endangered Celtic language by UNESCO . The language of the Welsh developed from the language of Britons . The emergence of Welsh was not instantaneous and clearly identifiable. Instead,
7546-435: The onset or the coda). This often manifests itself phonetically by a greater degree of constriction, but the phonetic distinction is not always clear. The English word yes , for example, consists of a palatal glide followed by a monophthong rather than a rising diphthong. In addition, the segmental elements must be different in diphthongs [ii̯] and so when it occurs in a language, it does not contrast with [iː] . However, it
7644-462: The opening diphthongs /ie̯/ and /uo̯/ are true falling diphthongs, since they begin louder and with higher pitch and fall in prominence during the diphthong. A third, rare type of diphthong that is neither opening nor closing is height-harmonic diphthongs, with both elements at the same vowel height. These may have occurred in Old English : A centering diphthong is one that begins with
7742-473: The people of Wales in every aspect of their lives. Despite that, an amendment to that effect was supported by 18 Assembly Members from three different parties, and that was a significant step forward." On 5 October 2011, Meri Huws , Chair of the Welsh Language Board , was appointed the new Welsh Language Commissioner. She released a statement that she was "delighted" to have been appointed to
7840-551: The people of the Western Roman Empire . In Old English the term went through semantic narrowing , coming to refer to either Britons in particular or, in some contexts, slaves. The plural form Wēalas evolved into the name for their territory, Wales. The modern names for various Romance-speaking people in Continental Europe (e.g. Walloons , Valaisans , Vlachs / Wallachians , and Włosi ,
7938-436: The population in Wales said they had no Welsh language skills. Other estimates suggest that 862,700 people (28.0%) aged three or older in Wales could speak Welsh in March 2024. Almost half of all Welsh speakers consider themselves fluent, while 20 per cent are able to speak a fair amount. 56 per cent of Welsh speakers speak the language daily, and 19 per cent speak the language weekly. The Welsh Government plans to increase
8036-471: The population not being able to speak it. The National Survey for Wales, conducted by Welsh Government, has also tended to report a higher percentage of Welsh speakers than the census, with the most recent results for 2022–2023 suggesting that 18 per cent of the population aged 3 and over were able to speak Welsh, with an additional 16 per cent noting that they had some Welsh-speaking ability. Historically, large numbers of Welsh people spoke only Welsh. Over
8134-502: The population of Wales aged 3 and over, were able to speak the language. Children and young people aged three to 15 years old were more likely to report that they could speak Welsh than any other age group (48.4 per cent, 241,300). Around 1,001,500 people, or 32.5 per cent, reported that they could understand spoken Welsh. 24.7 per cent (759,200) could read and 22.2 per cent (684,500) could write in Welsh. The APS estimates of Welsh language ability are historically higher than those produced by
8232-407: The population of Wales spoke Welsh, compared with 20.8 per cent in the 2001 census , and 18.5 per cent in the 1991 census . Since 2001, however, the number of Welsh speakers has declined in both the 2011 and 2021 censuses to about 538,300 or 17.8 per cent in 2021, lower than 1991, although it is still higher in absolute terms. The 2011 census also showed a "big drop" in the number of speakers in
8330-518: The precise metre of the early englynion is debated and could have involved stress-counting. The earliest englynion are found as marginalia written in a tenth-century hand in the Juvencus Manuscript . Many early englynion form poems which seem to represent moments of characters' emotional reflection in stories now lost: Canu Llywarch Hen , Canu Urien , Canu Heledd . Others survey heroic tradition, for example
8428-409: The required fresh approach to this new role." Huws started her role as the Welsh Language Commissioner on 1 April 2012. Local councils and the Senedd use Welsh, issuing Welsh versions of their literature, to varying degrees. Road signs in Wales are in Welsh and English. Prior to 2016, the choice of which language to display first was the responsibility of the local council. Since then, as part of
8526-456: The second, third or fourth syllable of the last line: Caradawg fab Cedif or , Gwalch byddin gwerin gor or , Hebawg teulu cu ceinm yn , Anawdd genn yn dy hepg or . In this englyn , there are four seven-syllable lines that half-rhyme with each other (half-rhyme means that the final consonants agree). Adeiliwyd bedd, gwedd gwiwd er , F'enaid, i'th gylch o fyn or : Adeiliawdd cof dy al ar I'm calon ddilon ddol ur . This
8624-651: The shift occurred over a long period, with some historians claiming that it had happened by as late as the 9th century , with a watershed moment being that proposed by linguist Kenneth H. Jackson , the Battle of Dyrham , a military battle between the West Saxons and the Britons in 577 AD, which split the South Western British from direct overland contact with the Welsh. Four periods are identified in
8722-612: The syllable nucleus: [u̯a], [u̯ɛ̃], [y̯i], [y̯ɛ̃] ). Other sequences are considered part of a glide formation process that turns a high vowel into a semivowel (and part of the syllable onset) when followed by another vowel. Diphthongs Semivowels In Quebec French , long vowels are generally diphthongized in informal speech when stressed . Catalan possesses a number of phonetic diphthongs, all of which begin ( rising diphthongs ) or end ( falling diphthongs ) in [j] or [w] . In standard Eastern Catalan, rising diphthongs (that is, those starting with [j] or [w] ) are possible only in
8820-492: The terms "falling" and "rising" are used, instead, to refer to vowel height , i.e. as synonyms of the terms "closing" and "opening". See below.) The less prominent component in the diphthong may also be transcribed as an approximant , thus [aj] in eye and [ja] in yard . However, when the diphthong is analysed as a single phoneme , both elements are often transcribed with vowel symbols ( /aɪ̯/ , /ɪ̯a/ ). Semivowels and approximants are not equivalent in all treatments, and in
8918-403: The tongue or other speech organs do not move and the syllable contains only a single vowel sound. For instance, in English, the word ah is spoken as a monophthong ( / ɑː / ), while the word ow is spoken as a diphthong in most varieties ( / aʊ / ). Where two adjacent vowel sounds occur in different syllables (e.g. in the English word re-elect ) the result is described as hiatus , not as
9016-526: The use of Welsh in daily life, and standardised spelling. The New Testament was translated by William Salesbury in 1567, and the complete Bible by William Morgan in 1588. Modern Welsh is subdivided into Early Modern Welsh and Late Modern Welsh. Early Modern Welsh ran from the 15th century through to the end of the 16th century, and the Late Modern Welsh period roughly dates from the 16th century onwards. Contemporary Welsh differs greatly from
9114-433: The use of diphthongs in the place of several non-diphthong Dutch double vowels, or double-vowels being pronounced differently. Examples include: The long diphthongs (or 'double vowels') are phonemically sequences of a free vowel and a non-syllabic equivalent of /i/ or /u/ : [iu, ui, oːi, eu, ɑːi] . Both [iu] and [eu] tend to be pronounced as [iu] , but they are spelled differently: the former as ⟨ieu⟩ ,
9212-570: The varieties of German that vocalize the /r/ in the syllable coda , other diphthongal combinations may occur. These are only phonetic diphthongs, not phonemic diphthongs, since the vocalic pronunciation [ɐ̯] alternates with consonantal pronunciations of /r/ if a vowel follows, cf. du hörst [duː ˈhøːɐ̯st] 'you hear' – ich höre [ʔɪç ˈhøːʀə] 'I hear'. These phonetic diphthongs may be as follows: The diphthongs of some German dialects differ from standard German diphthongs. The Bernese German diphthongs, for instance, correspond rather to
9310-440: The vowel sequences *[a.ɪ a.ʊ] , so the non-syllabic diacritic is unnecessary. Falling (or descending ) diphthongs start with a vowel quality of higher prominence (higher pitch or volume) and end in a semivowel with less prominence, like [aɪ̯] in eye , while rising (or ascending ) diphthongs begin with a less prominent semivowel and end with a more prominent full vowel, similar to the [ja] in yard . (Sometimes, however,
9408-622: Was complete by around AD 550, and labelled the period between then and about AD 800 "Primitive Welsh". This Primitive Welsh may have been spoken in both Wales and the Hen Ogledd ('Old North') – the Brittonic-speaking areas of what are now northern England and southern Scotland – and therefore may have been the ancestor of Cumbric as well as Welsh. Jackson, however, believed that the two varieties were already distinct by that time. The earliest Welsh poetry – that attributed to
9506-518: Was passed and received Royal Assent, thus making the Welsh language an officially recognised language within Wales. The measure: The measure required public bodies and some private companies to provide services in Welsh. The Welsh government's Minister for Heritage at the time, Alun Ffred Jones , said, "The Welsh language is a source of great pride for the people of Wales, whether they speak it or not, and I am delighted that this measure has now become law. I am very proud to have steered legislation through
9604-517: Was probably spoken throughout the island south of the Firth of Forth . During the Early Middle Ages the British language began to fragment due to increased dialect differentiation, thus evolving into Welsh and the other Brittonic languages. It is not clear when Welsh became distinct. Linguist Kenneth H. Jackson has suggested that the evolution in syllabic structure and sound pattern
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