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Welsh English
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Welsh English, Anglo-Welsh, or Wenglish (see below) refers to the dialects of English spoken in Wales by Welsh people. The dialects are significantly influenced by Welsh grammar and often include words derived from Welsh. In addition to the distinctive words and grammar, there is a variety of accents found across Wales.
John Edwards of Abercynon has written and spoken entertainingly about a specific form of Welsh English—found in the south-east area of Wales—that he calls 'Wenglish'. Some people, generally outside Wales, use the same word to refer to any form of English spoken in Wales.
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Some of the features of Welsh English are
- Distinctive pitch differences, giving a "sing-song" effect.
- Lengthening of all vowels is common in strong valleys accents.
- Pronouncing a short 'i' as 'eh' e.g. edit would become 'ed-et' and benefit would be 'benefet'
- A tendency towards using an alveolar trill [r] (the 'rolled r') in place of an approximant [ɹ] (the 'normal English r').
- Yod-dropping does not occur after any consonant, so rude and rood, threw and through, chews and choose, chute and shoot, for example, are distinct.
- Sometimes adding the word "like" to the end of a sentence for emphasis, or using it as a filler.
As well as borrowing words directly from the Welsh language (e.g. cwtch, bach), Welsh English is influenced by the grammar of Welsh and Welsh intonation. Placing something at the start of a sentence emphasises it: "furious, she was". Conversely, structures that would indicate emphasis in Standard English, like "He does go there", or "I do do it", might be used in neutral contexts, where no emphasis is intended. This derives from the common use of periphrasis and auxiliary verbs in spoken Welsh.
There is also evidence of semantic influence. e.g.
(1) The Welsh verb dysgu means both "learn" and "teach", and sentences like "He learned me to drive" in place of Standard-English "He taught me to drive" are not uncommon.
(2) "She've been ill all week, she have." [Standard-English "She's been ill all week, she has."] probably derives from the fact that Welsh for 'have' is "mae", and "mae" doesn't change for the third person singular, as it does in Standard-English, to 'he/she/it 'has' '.
(3) Question tags. In Standard-English question tags are common, seeking agreement from the listener. e.g. She's a good teacher, isn't she? Notice that the question tag always uses the same verb and in the same tense, but is put as a negative, or a negative statement has a positive tag, 'That wasn't kind, was it?' He looks hungry, doesn't he? etc, but in Welsh-English they say: She's a good teacher, isn't it? / That wasn't kind, is it? / He looks hungry, isn't it? i.e. The question tag is always the verb 'to be', and in the present tense. This can be very confusing to learners of English, but the explanation is that the expression 'isn't it?' is short for 'isn't it true?' thus seeking agreement/confirmation from the listener, i.e. the meaning is the same, but the actual words used are different from Standard-English.
There is a very wide range of regional accents within Wales.
The 'sing-song' Welsh accent familiar to many English people is generally associated with South Wales. Somewhat reduced South-Wales accents can be heard from serious Shakespearian 'theatre' actors Richard Burton and Anthony Hopkins, or on recordings of Dylan Thomas. Swansea accents are prominent in the film Twin Town. The popular Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones also has a Swansea accent. The singers Shirley Bassey and Charlotte Church, meanwhile, are from Cardiff where many Cardiffians refer to their home city as 'Caaardiff'. The accent of Newport is also distinctive, quite different from that of nearby Cardiff and has some of the influence of rural Monmouthshire, i.e. Newportonians going shopping go "Dewn tewn" for 'down town'.
An online survey for the BBC,[1] reported in January 2005, placed the Swansea accent in the bottom ten accents likely to help a career, although "Cardiff folk ranked only a few places higher".
In North East Wales, the accent can sound like those of Cheshire and Merseyside (the latter most evident in Flintshire). Towns nearer the border or with substantial populations tend to have Scouse-like accents, due to the preference of the urban youth and Liverpudlians living there[citation needed], as well as the high population of families having moved there from the Liverpool area in recent centuries[citation needed]. More 'sing-song' accents are often found in Welsh speakers in the Northeast.
In the South of Pembrokeshire, the accent is similar in some respects to Cornish speech patterns[citation needed]. Certain Welsh words such as 'crwt' and 'pwdu' are used, despite the low number of Welsh speakers in the area. Owing to the high number of English migrants to the area, South Pembrokeshire is sometimes claimed to have an almost English accent[citation needed]; however, this is incorrect.[citation needed]. There is a distinct South Pembrokeshire accent and terminology used, although this is now in retreat.
It is worth noting that accents in Wales vary even over relatively short distances. Within Swansea itself there is a striking difference between the West Swansea accent (which sounds relatively English) and the rest of Swansea. The Neath accent is different again. Within Carmarthenshire, there is a noticeable difference between the Carmarthen, Llanelli and Ammanford accents. As in many other areas of Britain, the strength of different south-Walian accents is frequently related to social class, with the pronunciation of more educated speakers often closer to RP.
While English accents have affected the accents of English in Wales, influence has moved in both directions. In particular, Scouse and Brummie accents have both had extensive Anglo-Welsh input through immigration, although in the former case, the influence of Anglo-Irish is better known.
- ^ Welsh proud of 'unpopular' accent. Retrieved on June 30, 2005.
- Sounds Familiar? — Listen to examples of regional accents and dialects from across the UK on the British Library's 'Sounds Familiar' website
- Talk Tidy : John Edwards, the inventor/populariser of the term "Wenglish" and his books and CDs on the matter.
- Some thoughts and notes on the English of south Wales : D Parry-Jones, National Library of Wales journal 1974 Winter, volume XVIII/4
- Samples of Welsh Dialect(s)/Accent(s)
- The Life and Work of Dylan Thomas Radio performance of Under Milk Wood, with many Welsh accents. Narrated by Richard Burton.