Welsh/Alphabet

The Sounds of Welsh

This is enough to get you started. For a fuller guide, please see the reference
work at Pronunciation of Welsh.
Consonants
We will start with learning the consonant sounds of Welsh. We've split them
into 4 groups. Consonants in Welsh can only make one unique sound, as
opposed to English which can make several sounds per consonant. For
example, the c can make a k sound as in cat or a s sound as in city. When
you learn the sound a consonant makes in Welsh, it will only ever make that
sound you learn.
Consonant sounds same in English and Welsh
These consonants look the same in English and Welsh, and sound the same.
• b /b/ Like b in boy. Welsh example:
• c /k/ Like c in cat. Welsh example:
• d /d/ Like d in dog. Welsh example:
• g /g/ Like g in gun. Welsh example:
• h /h/ Like h in happy. Welsh example:
• l /l/ Like l in lake. Welsh example:
• m /m/ Like m in mad. Welsh example:
• n /n/ Like n in none. Welsh example:
• ng /ŋ/ Like the end of the English word sing. In Welsh, this letter can
come at the front of a word. In Welsh, it is never pronounced with a
hard g, as in the English finger. Welsh example:
• p /p/ Like p in poker. Welsh example:
• s /s/ Like s in sad. Welsh example:
• t /t/ Like t in tar. Welsh example:
• th /θ/ Like th in think. Welsh example:
Consonant sounds in English, Different letter in Welsh
These sounds are found in English, but they are assigned to a different letter
in Welsh. Train yourself to read them differently now.
• f /v/ Like v in violin. Welsh example:
• ff /f/ Like f in friend. Welsh example:
• dd /ð/ Like th in then. Welsh example:
Consonant sounds in English, Not in Welsh
These sounds are in English, but you will not hear them in Welsh.
• The c in Welsh only makes a hard /k/ sound. It will never sound like an
s, such as in the English city.
• The g only makes a /g/ sound. It will never sound like an English g, like
in the English gender.
• The th in Welsh represents the th in English think. The dd represents
the other th in English, like the word then.
• There is no z sound in Welsh.
Consonants sounds only in Welsh
These consonant sounds should be new to you.
• ch /x/ Like the Scottish loch. Welsh example:
• ll /ɬ/ The ll is a hard Welsh sound to make. It is best described as
putting your tongue in the position of l and then blowing out air gently.
Like saying a h and l simultaneously, but with more puff. Welsh
example:
• r /r/ The Welsh r should always be trilled. Welsh example:
• rh /r̥/ The Welsh rh should be trilled with aspiration. Like saying a h and
r simultaneously, but with more puff. Welsh example:
Vowels
There are seven vowels in Welsh. Most vowels can be two different sounds.
The y can take three different sounds. There are clear patterns on when to
use which vowel sound, but for the beginning level: learn how to pronounce
each word as you go along, and you'll eventually be able to logically deduct
which vowel sound to use.
• a
• e
• i
• o
• u
• w
• y

Alphabet
 Welsh Vocabulary • Alphabet •

Yr Wyddor Gymraeg The Welsh Alphabet

Lette Name of Corresponding
as in
r letter sounds
a â /a, ɑː/ hat, Am. hot
b bî /b/ bag
c èc /k/ cat
like Scottish
ch ech /x/
'loch'
d dî /d/ dog
dd èdd /ð/ the
e ê /ɛ, eː/ pen
f èf /v/ veil
ff èff /f/ field
g èg /g/ get
ng èng /ŋ/ song
h âets /h/ hat
i î /ɪ, iː/ pin
l èl /l/ lava
ll ell /ɬ/ no equivalent
m èm /m/ mother
n en /n/ name
o ô /ɔ, oː/ hot, Am. pole
p pî /p/ please
ph ffî /f/ field
r èr /r/ rolled r
rh rhî, rhô /r̥/ no equivalent
s ès /s/ sit
t tî /t/ top
th èth /θ/ think
u û /ɨ̞, ɨː/ (N), /ɪ, iː/ (S) sit, seat
w ŵ /ʊ, uː/ put, loot
/ɨ̞, ɨː, ə/ (N), /ɪ, iː, ə/
y ŷ kit, about
(S)

• The names of the letters above are in Southern dialect. In the North,
the letters are pronounced differently.
• h indicates voicelessness in mh, nh, and ngh.
• ph occurs occasionally in words derived from Greek (e.g. phenol) but
more commonly as a result of aspirate mutation (e.g. ei phen-ôl)
 • y indicates /ə/ in unstressed monosyllabic words (e.g. y "the", fy "my")
or non-final syllables, but /ɨ̞, ɨː/ (N) or /ɪ, iː/ (S) everywhere else.
• The digraphs (letters consisting of two characters) are treated as a
single letter (with the collation order as listed above), although the
same combinations of characters can sometimes also arise as a
juxtaposition of two separate letters. For example, the digraph ng
representing /ŋ/ is alphabetised between g and h (alphabetical order
llegach, lleng, lleiaf), but when ng is two letters representing /ŋg/ it is
alphabetised between nf and nh (alphabetical order danfon, dangos,
danheddog).
• si indicates /ʃ/ (as in English sheep) when followed by a vowel.
• di and ti sometimes indicate /dʒ/ (as in English joke) and /tʃ/ (as in
English church)respectively when followed by a vowel. Otherwise /dʒ/
and /tʃ/ are spelled j and ts, but only in loanwords like jẁg "jug" and
wats "watch".
• To pronounce the ll sound, blow while placing your tongue on the roof
of your mouth.
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
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
And saying it out loud : ah bee ec ech dee eh edd ef eff eg eng aetch ee jay
el ell em en o pee phee er rhee es tee eth eu oo uh