Well that was a fascinating short article and podcast on the history of the Welsh language. My grandad was from Cardiff - and Welsh always felt ancient and magical to me, so I loved this. The podcast starts with a great bit about some ancient Welsh laws that were written down at the time! 💚 - ThreadSky

mikegalsworthy.bsky.social • 87 days ago

Well that was a fascinating short article and podcast on the history of the Welsh language.

My grandad was from Cardiff - and Welsh always felt ancient and magical to me, so I loved this. The podcast starts with a great bit about some ancient Welsh laws that were written down at the time!

💚

Comments

roisindubh1.bsky.social•87 days ago

Beautiful language

mrlittoral.bsky.social•86 days ago

Born in England but to a Welsh father and feel much the same.

diablo1968.bsky.social•87 days ago

It's amazing how the language has survived with its position to England on this island. It should have been decimated. Says something about the Welsh people, I believe.

challengelucy.bsky.social•87 days ago

I remember when I was an (English) kid, Welsh was thought to be dying out. The efforts to keep the language has been fantastic hasn’t it.

Shame Scotland didn’t seem to manage it 😞

diablo1968.bsky.social•87 days ago

Yes , I would say most people can speak some Welsh even if it's a simple Bore da (Good Morning).All kids are taught until they leave secondary education .. Welsh Govt target I believe 1 million speakers by 2050 .

heledd.bsky.social•87 days ago

This might come across facetious, but a lot of its survival has to do with sheer bloody-mindedness on our part. I don’t know a single Welsh speaker- myself included- who doesn’t immediately take up figurative arms when someone disparages the language. 0-60 in the blink of an eye.

challengelucy.bsky.social•87 days ago

Such a poetic sounding language too. I LOVE this song, and I can’t even speak or understand Welsh 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Plus you have a red dragon on your flag. What not to love ❤️

https://youtu.be/iLXtf1XFczk?si=SKUHO-J_Wgsi7Yls

diablo1968.bsky.social•87 days ago

Yma o hyd gives me goosebumps .

heledd.bsky.social•87 days ago

Admittedly, we *do* have the best flag 😂

sffcorgi.bsky.social•87 days ago

I got to go to a Welsh college back in the early '80s [/dates self] and I stayed overnight in a B&B after my initial arrival. The couple running it had a new baby who they fully intended to be natively bilingual.

Aiii, he's a year older than the Prince of Wales....

leightonvw.bsky.social•87 days ago

During the 19th century, Welsh children in schools were punished for speaking their native language, often by being forced to wear the "Welsh Not”, a piece of wood hung around their neck as a form of shame. This was part of broader efforts to anglicise Wales. It didn’t work!

richardoutram.bsky.social•86 days ago

St Fagan's, Cardiff

fungiman.bsky.social•87 days ago

Da iwan

helenlouise1973.bsky.social•87 days ago

I have to say that this is another reason why reform winning big in Wales is terrible - they have no respect for the language and culture of Cymru as a seperate entity. Annibyniaeth.

siencyn.bsky.social•86 days ago

If Farage has it way? you are right.

helenlouise1973.bsky.social•86 days ago

Yes! Unionism on steroids! Which is not good for Cymru and especially for those of us who support Indy wales too!

christopher-hervez.bsky.social•87 days ago

The Laws of Hywel Dda?

rhyskamjones.bsky.social•87 days ago

If anyone in the thread is interested in a cutting edge history of the Welsh Not (pictured here) with all its contexts and complexity, a new book available for free as a pdf here!

https://www.uwp.co.uk/book/welsh-not/

rhyskamjones.bsky.social•87 days ago

(the article - not really the podcast - is a bit incorrect in suggesting there were "language suppressing laws" targeting Welsh people speaking the language in their everyday lives. The laws were about official/legal usage - and the state ended up strategically supporting its use in church)

cathaguamia.bsky.social•86 days ago

Diolch am rannu

shazzlep.bsky.social•87 days ago

Thank you. As someone with a Welsh speaking mother who sadly decided it wasn’t worth bringing me up speaking Welsh it was interesting to learn that the roots to that decision go way back.

anneundone.bsky.social•47 days ago

It *is* magical. ♥️

lokiesteve.bsky.social•87 days ago

Ancestry says I'm 2% Welsh, like the milk. The Welsh language is very difficult, it's a different branch from Gaelic and while I am very much a Celt I just can't get the lingo.

croesfrid.bsky.social•87 days ago

I understand that there are some unfamiliar parts like treiglad (consonant mutation) but Welsh is about as phonetic as you can get and that does help. Please give it a try, you’ll soon learn to love it. There are lots of learning resources e.g. https://www.saysomethingin.com/en/automagic/

Pob lwc!

sffcorgi.bsky.social•87 days ago

It's the grammar that's a pain!

lokiesteve.bsky.social•87 days ago

I used to be able to speak conversational French but lost that due to not using it. I live in Northern Ireland so Welsh isn't much good to me, I'd love to speak Gaelic but it doesn't hit me right, I'm more Latin language than Celtic and Gaul I guess ... sssorry ancestors. My surname is Hopkins lol.

croesfrid.bsky.social•87 days ago

It is hard to pick up the rhythm of any language if you don’t hear it every day. I have a constant battle with Italian which lands me in the surreal zone of replying in Welsh to a question if I panic. Ta waeth, ymlaen a ni! 😂

lokiesteve.bsky.social•87 days ago

See, we all learn differently. Me taking up the Latin based languages and you the Britonic ones. Immersion is the best way to learn.

croesfrid.bsky.social•87 days ago

True, I’m half Welsh half Yorks and ail iaith - second language. My Leeds Mam hated me speaking Welsh and blamed it on ‘yer Dad’s lot’ 😂

iwanwills.bsky.social•87 days ago

Diolch Mike😀👏 Didn’t know about your 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 roots!

Cymraeg’s survival over the centuries: remarkable. It was banned in Edward’s castles,anything legal/formal had to be in English. The ripple effect of Welsh Not & “Welsh will hold you back” is felt to this day.But Cymraeg endures & spoken daily across 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿👍

whitsey.bsky.social•87 days ago

I’m a Lancastrian, and I have no issue with any place name being changed to a Welsh one. I find the Welsh language very interesting; it’s the closest we have to the ancient Cumbric language that might once have been spoken in my own area.

siencyn.bsky.social•86 days ago

A version of Welsh was spoken throughout the island of Britain except for the far north. Buddug or ‘Boadicea’ was a Celt who spoke a form of Welsh.

whitsey.bsky.social•86 days ago

Aye, I believe so! Welsh holds an important connection for us all, and it’s vital that we work to keep it alive.

stros54.bsky.social•87 days ago

My husband and I love to watch UK shows on Acorn streaming. Some of the best have been from Wales, including both Hinterland and Hidden, where part are in English and part Welsh. I love hearing them speak their native language.

windust.bsky.social•87 days ago

I was reading about the Welsh Not just this very afternoon.

heptaglemious.bsky.social•87 days ago

My nieces and nephews all speak some Welsh. Me? I wandered aimlessly around Machynlleth for hours trying to find out what a "llwybr cyhoeddus" was, because all the signs pointed to it.

Iechyd da!

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