The Welsh Language

This week, I mentioned to some Asian friends in Singapore that part of my ancestry is Welsh, and that my Grandmother spoke some of the language. One friend asked "What does it sound like? Can people who speak British English understand it?" I guess he was thinking - not unreasonably - that Welsh was a dialect or variation of English.

In fact Welsh has absolutely no similarity to English at all, and it sounds completely alien to us! Because the roots of the Welsh language are completely different from English. Welsh, or Cymraeg, is a Celtic language. It is an old language, derived from Common Brittonic, which was the indigenous language of many of the peoples of Britain since the Iron Age, before English arrived and started replacing it in around the 5th Century.

(English is actually a Germanic language, which arrived with the Anglo Saxons and other settlers from that region. During earlier Roman Britain it seems Celtic languages were still used alongside Latin.)

Even within Welsh itself there are dialects, and also apparently polite and colloquial forms of speech. Many of the UK's ancient languages have been dying out, but since the late 20th century, the Welsh have made a concerted attempt to preserve their traditional language. All schools in Wales now teach Welsh as a compulsory subject, and about 20% are Welsh-speaking schools. Today apparently around 15% of the population of Wales is well versed in the language (speaking, reading and writing). There have also been for several decades in the UK, Welsh language television channels. (I remember these from childhood, even though we didn't live in Wales!) 

SO, in answer to my Asian friend's question, this is what Welsh sounds like (serious topics, but the subtitles show how different it is from English):
 

Incidentally (trivia) the longest place name in Britain is Welsh:
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
(Apparently the name translates as "The church of St. Mary in the hollow of white hazel trees near the rapid whirlpool by St. Tysilio's of the red cave".)