4. Tricky Consonants - Welsh Pronunciation (Series 1)

Learn to pronounce Welsh clearly and understandably whether you're in north or south Wales.
Tricky Consonants (Series 1 | Video 4)
Part of the Welsh Pronunciation Series.

[@ifotagoosonce8008]

The "LL" is actually quite easy for me, my problem is with the "RH". It really ties my tongue into knots just attempting it. Usually it comes out sounding like a fancy "CH" when I try it.

[@welshplus]

Well, that's great you find the "ll" easy! Many people struggle with that. If you can pronounce an "r" then "rh" is something you should be able to learn. For "rh", the tongue performs exactly the same action as for "r" but there's no vibration of the vocal chords (you don't use any voice) and in addition there's aspiration (you blow more air through). I would first practise the difference between saying "r" normally and then whispering an "r" (i.e. making an unvoiced "r" sound). When you've got that down, try and add a bit more breath in there by blowing it out the sides of your tongue. That make take some time but once you're able to pronounce "rh" in isolation like that, you can move on to putting it in words. It's probably easier to pronounce it at the start of a word (like "rhan, rhoi, rhy") than in the middle (like "anrheg, anrhydedd") but thankfully it only usually occurs at the start of a word anyway. Hope that helps a little.

[@alyanahzoe]

​@@welshplus like, are you serious?

[@ashmckinlay1402]

These phonetics are very difficult but they are exactly what makes Welsh one if the most interesting languages I have ever heard and why I have chosen Welsh as my next language. I love the fact that Welsh has not one but two types of trilled 'r' and that the 'll' sound is so technical and unique! brilliant video, it's the first video on this particular channel that I have came across but it warranted an instant subscription. :)

[@welshplus]

+Ash Mckinlay Diolch for the kind words! Great to hear you want to learn Welsh. The pronunciation is a bit strange if you've not come across the it before, but the alphabet is pretty regular once you get used to it with a bit of practice. If you're interested, we have a few grammar summaries uploaded on our other channel: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eIvKY4N3m76loZo

[@alyanahzoe]

​@@welshplus ha cha cha

[@frilly35]

"LL" is easy to pronounce if you think about pronouncing it like an english "HL". As an American, the "r" is also much easier because we already pronounce the "r" at the end of words like "car, after, weather" etc.

[@alyanahzoe]

me: *watching this video* the world: *explodes*

[@rtperrett]

Ll is the most beautiful sound in the universe, Welsh is so blessed to have such a beautiful sound. In the Caucasus, the Avar and Adyghe languages have this sound. Many native American languages such as Navajo have this sound, and so do African languages such as Zulu and Xhosa have it.

[@sledgehog1]

From what I've heard Mongolian as well.

[@nadamarena]

@@sledgehog1 yes for example хотол ᠬᠣᠲᠠᠯᠠ "all" is pronounced as /xɔˈtɔɬ/. If trying to transcribe in Welsh alphabet then it might be "chodoll" (just kidding

[@tomjames9674]

I'm trying to learn Welsh at the moment and found this video really helpful. I'm from the West Midlands so spend a lot of time in Wales but never got round to learning much. The 'RH' sound is causing me the most trouble atm.

[@welshplus]

That's good to hear. Improving pronunciation helps immensly in so many ways - your comprehensibility, understanding others, spelling etc. _Rh_ is one of the more difficult sounds. It's the combination of saying an _r_ and whispering breathily at the same time that can take some practice to master, so keep at it. You know you've got it right when you sound like a cat purring!

[@tomjames9674]

@@welshplus that purring tip is really helpful! Diolch 👍🏻

[@alyanahzoe]

​@@welshplus cat purring? i did not know that!

[@samuelbernhardt8534]

What I recommend is incorporating these hard sounds into your everyday speech. For example, I would say the name of one of my cats as "Ste-hla" (with Welsh ll), and the name of my other cat as "Khester" (with Welsh ch)

[@einat1622]

The ll sound is a doozy :-) (making it alone is easy enough, but using it causally as part of speech is tricky ! )

[@icepalmhearthgold338]

I really love all your basic practice . Thanks for uploading!!!

[@TheWayned315]

Always thought I was German Irish and native. Found out recently through testing I'm Welsh, Irish and barely native. So I'm learning and enjoying. Keep presenting the same way. You're helping.

[@Pinakamataas]

I have come across Welsh on 3 separate and completely unrelated occasions. So I think universe is telling me something.. It is such a beautiful language, but the ll makes me cry and I'm so bad at it. The fact that my first language is purely phonetical makes it easier to some degree (like r), but it is so difficult, and considering I continue finding it everywhere I go, I will have to continue learning it! Thank you for these super comprehensive and amazing videos!

[@welshplus]

Croeso mawr / You're very welcome. "Ll" is a tough one but it can be done if you make sure you have your tongue in the right place and start slowly. With enough practice, it becomes easier and easier, so keep at it! What is your first language?

[@Pinakamataas]

@@welshplus my first is Latvian, then 2nd/3rd are English/Russian and I've done some Finnish and German (but nowhere near fluent) hopefully after the first struggles of pronounciation, grammar becomes easier!

[@welshplus]

@@Pinakamataas That's cool! All the best with your language learning and practice. You know where to come if you need more help with Welsh ☺️

[@alyanahzoe]

​@@welshplus no. get out.

[@MichaelELambert]

The DD is a soft TH with a V sounding twist as in the American English example "Clothes" and the TH Welsh pronunciation is much like the American TH pronunciation as in "Cloth". The American pronunciation of F in "OF" also has a soft V sound, short u "uv", but with the FF sound, short u becomes AH as in OFF when joined with the FF paired. Very interesting language, Northern and Southern Welsh! Thank you for your videos! ❤😁

[@welshplus]

Croeso / You're welcome! Glad you found them interesting.

[@violettachernishova5083]

Thank you for your videos!❤🎑🌞🌋🌈

[@welshplus]

Croeso! / You're welcome!

[@alexk7973]

to be honest, the ch is EXACTLY like the German one, except when it comes after the vowels e, i, or the combinations thereof, that is ei or ie, in which it‘s a lot softer and closer to the welsh ll, though instead of forming an l with the tongue, you form a valley and just push air through. 😅 I‘ve been confused before, as I‘ve read somewhere that the Welsh ch should somehow be soft, and I‘ve been trying to somehow make my German ch sound softer. But apparently I needn‘t have worried 😅

[@logangriffith4950]

my only difficulty so far is "rolling" my r's before dd, th, and ch. i tought myself how to roll my r's so i know how and can do, just it hard before dd, th, and ch

[@Nothingisbutwhatisnot_]

it sounded similar to Icelandic for some reason especially the double LL and double DD

[@welshplus]

That's right. Both Welsh and Icelandic share those sounds!

[@irisrichards7070]

Excellent

[@SiroccoDream]

Well, my "LL" is going to need a lot of work, that's for sure. To my ear, the Welsh "R" sounds like a clean, rolled trill, similar to the South American Spanish "R" I learned in high school. With the "RH" sound, I swear it sounds to me as if you're pronouncing a soft English H (as in "happy") followed immediately by a lightly rolled R. Am I hearing that correctly?

[@welshplus]

+SiroccoDream That's right, you've got a good ear. "R" is a trill, but "R" is an unvoiced trill, so a whispered trill if you like. There's a lot of breath or "h" sound involved, as you say, so almost "h + r".

[@welshplus]

@Peter Parker Both "r" and "rh" are alveolar - voiced and unvoiced aspirated respectively. The only uvular sound in Welsh is the "ch". If you use an alveolar trill in Welsh you sound a bit like you're speaking Breton!

[@jorbharris8097]

@@welshplus Welsh, Cornish and Breton are closely related.

[@MREmusique]

for Southpark fans, maybe think of the LL sound as the "Shelly" sound?

[@skysurfer5728]

I already do haha

[@jaycee330]

Or the exact same sound in tlhingan.(Klingon)

[@evanrudibaugh8772]

I looked up the most special word used here and it means 'before.' "What? No, I didn't call you such a thing! I just said before in Welsh (cynt), you silly before."

[@tobyw.1688]

We had the letter "w" in my Welsh Language course, for example in "wel" what means the same as "well" in English

[@welshplus]

Yep, _w_ in Welsh can represent either a vowel like in _cwm_ and _dŵr_ : kzbin.info/www/bejne/fZObc6OpaMd6bpY or more of a consonant sound like in _wel_ and _wedi_ : kzbin.info/www/bejne/onbVpnqQgbBpmNk

[@alyanahzoe]

​@@welshplus 여러분

[@dracodistortion9447]

dd is like đ but th is like þ

[@scifigeek14]

those two "r" sounds are tripping me up.

[@welshplus]

Keep going :)

[@alyanahzoe]

​@@welshplus no. i'm not watching this video again!

[@Fan_OfFandoms]

Bro stop hating​@@alyanahzoe

[@alyanahzoe]

@@Fan_OfFandoms fine.

[@cynhwon]

I couldn't get the rh right...my tongue is at war inside my mouth LOL

[@alyanahzoe]

😂😂😂

[@SimonS44]

I'm a German native: not sure what the difference between the Welsh and German ch sounds is supposed to be? When I say "ach" (German interjection) it sounds just like Welsh "chi".

[@welshplus]

The standard German "ch" (ach-Laut) is [x] whereas Welsh "ch" is usually [c] i.e. slightly further back in the throat. Having said that, some German words and varieties of German use [χ], the same as Welsh, so your German "ch" might sound just like Welsh "ch", yes!

[@user-bx5ff9jt3j]

I think "LL" is very similar to German /ç/ as in "durCH"

[@welshplus]

@@user-bx5ff9jt3j There is some similarity in sound there. For most Welsh speakers "ll" is /ɬ/, where the tip of the tongue touches the alveolar ridge (the hard part at the top of the mouth just above the teeth) and the air flows out of either side of the tongue. For /ç/ the tip of the tongue doesn't touch anything but rather is pulled further back and the air flows over it. Having said that, some native Welsh speakers that can't pronounce /ɬ/ do end up using /ç/ instead.

[@alyanahzoe]

​@@welshplus i filmed a video titled "why did i film this? (read description)".

[@engorgioarmani3381]

Is the l still pronounced just a lil bit after saying ll? I tend to slip a lil l after saying ll.

[@welshplus]

Both _l_ and _ll_ are made with the tongue in the same position in the mouth so they're related sounds. If a voiced sound, like a vowel, comes after a _ll_ it can sound as if you're saying a very short _l_ in between the _ll_ and the vowel as the one sound transitions to the other. At the end of a word however you shouldn't hear any kind of _l_ because no voiced sound follows the _ll_ to create it.

[@estrellawakelin]

Hiya, are you in Facebook? because I would need to ask things :) amazing video.

[@welshplus]

Helo Vilandra. We don't have a Facebook page specifically for WelshPlus but we do have a general Welsh for Adults Glamorgan one: facebook.com/welshforadultsglamorgan. You're welcome to ask away here or there!

[@TheWayned315]

The double "ll" seems more like saying her just with he roll the red. The way you all help is awesome.

[@777LoveStory]

My double ll's just come out like th's.

[@welshplus]

Hmm, "th" and "ll" are both made with the tongue in the same place in the mouth. With "th", there's a gap between the tip of your tongue and the top of the mouth (behind the teeth). If you blow hard when saying "th", you can feel the air travel through that gap. With "ll", on the other hand, that gap is closed. Raise the tip of your tongue and press it to the top of the mouth to acheive this. Now, rather than blowing out over the tip of the tongue, the air escapes out of both sides of the tongue. Have a go!

[@alyanahzoe]

​@@welshplus no

[@AbrahamLure]

My father is Welsh and I grew up watching Welsh TV and whilst all the tricky vowels come natural and fluent to me, the rolled Rs don't happen at all! I don't normally use my tongue at all to pronounce R, it's all lip moments. I'm wondering if that's why?

[@welshplus]

Probably! Rolled _r_ is one of those sounds that children take a while to pick up, so maybe you didn't quite get to that stage when you were young. Other consonants come more easily earlier on but _r_ takes some time. There shouldn't really by any lips involved. It's made with the tip of your tongue against the fleshy ridge you can feel behind/above your teeth. Here on KZbin, there are lots of videos that teach you different techniques to roll your _r_ , so my advice would be to try a few different ones (search for "How to roll r") and see which technique or combination of techniques works for you. Don't use French vidoes - their _r_ is different. Try Italian videos about _r_ or Spanish ones about _rr_ .

[@ellislloydjones7373]

I'd of though ngh would be the hardest 😂

[@welshplus]

Ha, yes! This video's just revising the consonants in the alphabet. Saying "ngh" comes later on.

[@bloodaxe5028]

Why the "dd" sounds live "w" and the "th" sounds like "f" ?

[@welshplus]

"Dd" is /ð/ like "th" in English "this". "Th" is /θ/ like "th" in English "thin". They sound different to /w/ and /f/, which are spelt with "w" and "ff" respectively.

[@bloodaxe5028]

Welsh Plus - Learn Welsh Online With Us​ That's not what I hear. Is this a dialect thing ?

[@welshplus]

No, it's the same all over Wales. Keep practising your Welsh and you'll start to hear the difference :)

[@alyanahzoe]

​@@welshplus oh, s**t! just kidding!

[@bobtalbott336]

3:18

[@alyanahzoe]

i'm not clicking that!

[@alexk7973]

to be honest, the ch is EXACTLY like the German one, except when it comes after the vowels e, i, or the combinations thereof, that is ei or ie, in which it‘s a lot softer and closer to the welsh ll, though instead of forming an l with the tongue, you form a valley and just push air through. 😅 I‘ve been confused before, as I‘ve read somewhere that the Welsh ch should somehow be soft, and I‘ve been trying to somehow make my German ch sound softer. But apparently I needn‘t have worried 😅

[@welshplus]

Yes, Welsh _ch_ and the German _ach-Laut_ are very similar, sometimes identical in some German words or dialects, but as you say, never use the German _ich-Laut_ for Welsh _ch_ - it's not a "soft" sound at all!

[@alyanahzoe]

​@@welshplus 무... 슨? 어디 숨아라?