8. Diphthong Practice - Welsh Pronunciation (Series 1)

Learn to pronounce Welsh clearly and understandably whether you're in north or south Wales.
Diphthong Practice (Series 1 | Video 8)
Part of the Welsh Pronunciation Series.

[@winstonc.6951]

There's a super interesting similarity between the u/y spund in the north Welsh accent, and the way the Swedish pronounce their i's (I've been told it's a Göteborg accent, but I think they all do it and don't realise!). Possibly a connection to the Viking/Celtic meetings from the medieval times?

[@mikaolsen7368]

I'm swedish and I laughed out in surprise when I heard the pronunciation of north Welsh "u". I was like "It literally sounds exactly like someone from Göteborg" with the right intonation and everything! Though I think the Swedish pronunciation evolved way later in history.

[@seren78]

thank you so much. your channel is helping my daughter learn lots more.

[@welshplus]

Croeso / You're welcome. We're hoping to start adding more videos sometime soon!

[@bubbledreams6382]

Thanks for posting. The only thing is the north vs. south thing gets confusing so it's difficult not to mingle the dialects, and I would suggest slowing down a little after demonstrating because I end up talking over the audio when I'm trying to pronounce.

[@welshplus]

TheReprobate Thanks for the suggestions. Diolch!

[@ThisCharmingBat]

Thank you for this! The hardest word for my husband to pronounce is "mewn". I hope this video lesson helps him.

[@welshplus]

Yes, a lot of people struggle with that. They end up pronouncing it "mawn" which means "peat". Tell him to start slow with "meeeeeh" (like a sheep) + "ooon". The idea is to get quicker and quicker and let the two sounds glide into each other. I'm sure he can get there - pob hwyl!

[@ThisCharmingBat]

@@welshplus Thank you! I figured out an English (American) equivalent of of the “ew” sound. It’s like a 2 year old saying “air” 😂

[@welshplus]

@@ThisCharmingBat Gwych! That's it, spot on!

[@jameshumphreys9715]

Do you say reis and Beic as you would say the words as if English Bike and rice or nearer to bake and race

[@welshplus]

_Reis_ and _beic_ sound like English "race" and "bake", yes 🍚🚲

[@mirandabethell2921]

These are all brilliant pronunciation guides. Diolch yn fawr! (I clicked the dislike button on 8 by mistake just now and can't get rid of it!)

[@welshplus]

Haha. Try the like button again later, if not, no worries. Glad the videos are a help.

[@andrewellis2823]

Thanks for your amazing videos! They are great and really helpful. Can you clarify one thing for me. I still really struggle with wy and if you could answer the following questions that would be really helpful. 1. What is the difference in pronunciation between bywyd and bwyd? 2. Sometimes wy seems to sound like "oo-i" as in Clwyd. But sometimes it seems to sound like "oy" in the English boy, for example in wyth. Can you clarify for me. 3. So coming back to bwyd I am not sure if it's "boo-id" or if it's "boyd".

[@welshplus]

Croeso / You're welcome! If you're pronouncing _wy_ like English "oi", you're not quite there yet but you're getting there. Words like _bwyd, Clwyd, wyth_ are all one-syllable words and with the same diphthong _wy_ sound. English speakers often try and pronounce them with the wrong sound ("oi") or make them into two-syllable words ("oo-ee"), which is also wrong. When you say English "oi" (and Welsh _oe, oi, ou_ ) you start with your mouth fairly open with your lips almost forming a circular shape and then you draw the lips together into a classic mouth shape ( ), almost to the start of a smile. Say "oi" in front of a mirror a couple of times and you'll see what I mean. For the Welsh diphthong _wy_ the mechanics are exactly the same but this time you start with your lips in the position for English "oo". If you say "oo" in the mirror, you'll see your lips are a lot more protruded and closer together than when saying "oi" and there isn't much of a gap between them. You then finish saying _wy_ by drawing your lips together flat almost into a smile. This is the only difference between _oe, oi, ou_ and _wy_ - the shape of your lips at the start. The rest of the sound is the same (drawing your lips to a smile). If you look at these images from French learning: grammar.collinsdictionary.com/images/french/p023-1.jpg?version=4.0.268 the lips at the start of Welsh _oe, oi, ou_ look a bit like the ones in _hôtel, alors, mon_ whereas the start of _wy_ looks more like the _tu, vous_ examples. If I were you, I'd practise saying these two different sounds first and try the word pairs from the video in the mirror next so that your _coed_ and your _cwyd_ both look and sound different. Also try learning to hear the difference from the video, maybe by slowing it down. Be aware that as _wy_ isn't an English sound, it can be frustrating and take a little practice, but it can definitely be learnt. Re question 1, _bwyd_ sounds like we described above whereas _bywyd_ is a two-syllable word where the _by_ sounds a bit like English "bu" in "buddy" and the _wyd_ sounds like English "wid" in "widow" (it doesn't use the diphthong _wy_ sound at all). Hope that helps. These things are much easier to explain in person rather than in text!

[@andrewellis2823]

Thanks very much. That's really helpful. Thanks for taking the time to write such a full and comprehensive reply. 👍

[@welshplus]

@@andrewellis2823 Dim problem!

[@vronlace]

I came here to find out why eu seems to be pronounced in two different ways: as English ay, and as i in bite, light. It seems to be the one diphthong you left out :(

[@welshplus]

The diphthong _eu_ is usually pronounced like English "ay" in "day, pay" by native speakers but lot of learners mispronounce it as "ie" in "die, pie". The problem with this mistake is that you often end up saying a different word e.g. the word _eu_ (rhymes with "day") means "their" but the word _a'u_ (rhymes with "die") means "and their"; the word _neu_ means "or" but _nai_ means "nephew"; the word _creu_ means "create" but _crau_ means "socket, eye (of a needle)". You can hear the _eu_ sound in the video at 00:39.

[@jonbaker1697]

About a'u. I just wondered if there was a link between how Liverpudlians said, "ah eh(arr ei)". Given the Welsh influence. are they saying ,"a' eu", which became , "ah eh" in English