Yr Wyddor Gymraeg

A, B, C, CH, D, DD, E, F, FF, G, NG, H, I, J, L, LL, M, N, O, P, R, RH, S, T, TH, U, W, Y

A- 1) short A, as in "cat" or "ham", eg mam (mom) 2) long A, as in "hard" or "far", eg tad (dad)

B- as in "bread", eg bara (bread)

C- as in "cat", eg calon (heart)

CH- a non-English sound, like Scottish "loch" (not "lock") but more gutteral, eg Gwion Bach or chwech (six)

D- as in "David", eg Dafydd

DD- as in "the" (voiced), never unvoiced, eg bedd (grave)

E- 1) short E, as in "bed", eg pen (head); 2) long E, the same sound as short E but slightly elongated, eg hen (old)

F- as in "vet" or "voice", eg hefyd (also)

FF- as in "phone" or "fate", eg ffon (stick)

G- as in "get" or "goddess", eg Gwydion

Ng-- dipthong only found in mutation, like yng Ngwynedd; ng as in "sing"

H- as in "hold" or "happy", eg hel or hapus

I- 1) short I as in "hit", "him", eg hinsawdd (climate); 2) long I as in "ee", "he", "meet", "seat", eg the Welsh preposition i (to) or inc (ink); middle I, a cross between short I and long I, like a softer "ee" that's had a child with short I, eg hiraeth (intense longing)

J- rare, as in "joke", eg joc ... J is often written in names as a Si but pronounced SH, as in the Welsh names Sian and Siwan (Shan, Shew-anne, Jane and Joan/Joanne)

L- as in "light" or "laugh out loud", e.g., lol (nonsense)

LL- a non-English sound, a cross between an L and a TH, and sounds like you are hissing, eg llan (church) or llyfr (book)

M- as in "mother", eg mam

N- as in "news", eg newyddion

O- 1) short O as in "on", eg bron (breast, brink); 2) long O as in "toe" eg to (roof)

P- as in "people", eg pobl (people)

PH- only found in the aspirate mutation of the P, Phrynodd o ddim (He didn't buy), a normal English "PH" sound ... photograph

R- as in "read" or "create", eg ras (race) or cariad (love/lover)

RH- a non-English sound, a bit like English W and WH sounds, but instead of a W, an R sound--slightly rolled like in Spanish "roho"; eg rhedeg (to run)

S- as in "snake" or "silk", eg sant (saint)

T- as in "tale", eg telyn (harp)

TH- as in "with", soft and whispery, eg thelyn (harp, aspirate mutated)

U- 1) short U but unlike English U; sounds like "sit", (same pronunciation) eg sut (how) 2) long U but unlike English; sounds like "sing", eg un (one)

W- 1) "oo" as in "loo" or "chew", eg cwm (valley); 2) "w" as in "winter", eg wyn (white); 3) "oo" as in "pool" or "fool", eg mwclus (necklace)

Y- this is never a consonant, only a vowel!!! 1) as in "up", eg yn (in); 2) as in "in", eg cyn (before); 3) as in "ee" Dean, with same pronunciation dyn (man)

Guide to Welsh Personal Names in the Mabinogi

Arianrhod > ah-ree-AN-rod (try and gently trill the "r" a bit like in Spanish)

Bendigeidfran > ben-dih-GAYD-vran

Blodeuedd > blod-EH-yeth (the 'th" is a long hard sound like in "this" but NOT like in "theater")

Blodeuwedd > blod-EYE-weth (the "eye" like your eyes; the "th" like in "the")

Branwen > BRAN-wen

Cigfa > KIG-vah

Gilfaethwy > Gil-VAY-thooee ("gil" as in the gills on a fish)

Gwydion > GWID-ee-yon (try and run the "ee" and "yon" together )

Lleu Llaw Gyffes > THLAY THLOU GUH-fes (for "llaw" imagine you are saying "thou" with an L in there

Manawydan > man-ah-WUD-an ("wud" as in "bud")

Matholwch > math-ol-ooch ("ch" like in the Scottish "loch" almost ... not a K sound)

Pryderi > prud-AIR-ee ("air" like the air we breathe)

Pwyll > PWI-LTH (this one is very easy to say but hard to explain without sound. The "w" sounds almost like a "oo" and a normal "w" sound. The "y" is only barely heard and gets squashed between the strong sounds on either side of it ... but if you could hear it, it would be a short i sound, as in "pill". The double L at the end is probably one of the hardest sounds to get used to. It sounds like an L that has been run over by a "th" sound. )

Rhiannon > Hree-AN-on (the "RH" is rolled like in Spanish "roho" but has a great deal more of the H sound in it than just R. Imagine you are panting and out of breath and as you suck air in and out, you are talking about "running". It would probably sound very "aspirate" or breathy like "hrunning" with the H being more of air passing through than a hard H)