Llanwnnen

[Tackytoe]

Morning guys!

Hoping you can help the new girl out!

My partner and I moved to Llanwnnen recently and are currently in a heated debate as to the correct pronunciation of Llanwnnen as have heard it said several different ways!

Anyone able spell it phonetically for me and prevent divorce before we are even married?! 🙏🏼😁

 

[Crosshill Pacers]

I have sat here for the last five minutes trying to figure out how to spell it phonetically and I can't!

Go for Ll-an-un(as in Kim Jong Un)-en.

It's not Ll-an-oo-nen nor is it Ll-an-wun-nen.

Or say you live near Lampeter!

 

[Tackytoe]

Haha! Thank you!
So far we've had

Ll - an - an

Ll - an - whin - an

And Ll - an - oooooo - an - en

I've been doing exactly that 'near Lampeter ......🙈🙊

 

[Crosshill Pacers]

It's almost impossible to phonetically spell the 'wn' part because it's not ooooo-nen! Kim Jong Un is the best comparison I could get!

I have friends who are vets in Llanwnnen, you might not be far from them. Look up Talgrwn Stud (http://www.talgrwnstud.co.uk/), they're really great with all types of horses and not just the reproduction stuff. Quite handy to have on the doorstep!

 

[Tackytoe]

Oh wow just looked them up - they are quite literally our neighbours, next property along the A475 to us😃

 

[Enfys]

Hla-noo-nen is how I said it and none of my welsh speaking friends corrected me on it.

Simply ask a local, I used to cause massive hilarity when I tried to pronounce some names

 

[Annagain]

The best way I can describe the "w" is that it's a short "w" so like the "oo" in look or book (as long as you're from down south!) Contrary to common opinion, Welsh is actually fairly easy to learn as once you've learnt how to pronounce certain combinations of letters, they never change, unlike English where just the "ough" combination can be pronounce about 5 different ways!

Ll is probably the most difficult (especially when followed by a consonant) as it's not a natural sound for an English speaker, in case you need help with it, put your tongue up behind your front teeth and blow either side. Think Mutley's laugh from the Wacky Races!

The biggest stumbling block I have had when helping people to learn is that they can't get past English pronunciations for certain letters and they believe that Welsh pronunciation is too hard so don't try. If you can get past that, Welsh really is quite easy!

Some of the combinations that are much easier than you think!

dd - th as in "that" (lose all thoughts of "d"!)
th - th as in "thin" (I actually think it makes more sense to have two different combinations for the two different pronunciations of "th". In Welsh you always know which sound to use!)
f - v as in of - just the same as English!
ff -f as in off - just the same as English!
ch - as in loch - very throaty noise, (gross but imagine you're trying to get phlegm out of your throat!)
ae - I (as in the name of the letter)
au - I (as in the name of the letter) Very slight differences if you're a proper Welsh speaker (especially up north) but "I" would be acceptable
si - sh
r - rrrrrrrrrrrrr. Really roll it!
io - (often at the end of a verb, like "ing" in English. "Eeyore" would be the closest in English, but say it quickly.
u or i - ee
Y - eurgh (imagine you hate it!)

Vowels are generally as a child would learn them rather than the name of the vowel. W and Y are considered vowels in Welsh hence why you get lots of words seemingly without vowels.

Other than these, if you see a letter pronounce it, there are no silent letters in Welsh so if there's an "e" at the end it's a syllable in it's own right. If there's an "r" anywhere in a word really go for it!