Welsh Alphabet - Yr Wyddor

Welsh Alphabet - Welsh Vowels

Discover the beauty and uniqueness of the Welsh alphabet, Yr Wyddor Gymraeg. One of the most common questions we’re asked is, “How many letters are in the Welsh alphabet?” or “How many vowels does Welsh have?” The answer might surprise you, there are 29 letters and 7 vowels! Unlike English, Welsh is a fully phonetic language, meaning every letter is pronounced exactly as it’s written. Though it uses the Latin alphabet, just like English or French, Welsh stands out with its own distinct sounds and character combinations.

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Welsh Alphabet - Yr Wyddor Gymraeg

The 29 letters of the Welsh alphabet are;

A, b, c, ch, d, dd, e, f, ff, g, ng, h, i, j, l, ll, m, n, o, p, ph, r, rh, s, t, th, u, w, and lastly y.

Whilst many of the letters are the same as in English, sometimes they represent different sounds in Welsh. The letters K, Q, V, X and Z are not included in the Welsh alphabet but are sometimes found in borrowed words and in technical words. Interestingly, in Y Wladfa, the Welsh settlement in Patagonia, the letter v is used generally to represent the sound v instead of the letter f. The letter J has only recently become more familiar and accepted in the Welsh alphabet for borrowed words, for example garage (garej) and is generally now included in the alphabet.

Letters such as ch, ll, ff and other equivalents are a single letter in Welsh. So, as far as crosswords are concerned the word “Llan” (as in Llanfair, Llandaf, or Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyllllantysiliogogogoch - the longest Welsh word) has only three letters. Llan would be written into three boxes in a crossword. 

Have listen to this (courtesy of Channel 4).

Welsh Alphabet - Vowels

There are seven vowels in Welsh, a, e, i, o, u, w, and y. The letter y can be a vowel but also a consonant. The Welsh alphabet employs diacritics, marks placed above or below letters to modify their pronunciation. Acute and grave accents indicate the length of vowels, while the circumflex accent (â, ê, î, ô, û, ŵ, ŷ) marks a vowel with a broader sound. The diaeresis, two dots placed above a vowel, indicates that the vowel should be pronounced separately.

Welsh Alphabet - Consonants

There are twenty-three consonants in the alphabet with the letter y being both a consonant and a vowel. Two consonants, 'n' and 'r', are sometimes doubled in written Welsh, e.g., "tynnu," "torri." (Please remember that letters such as 'dd,' 'ff' and 'll' are not two letters or doubled but are consonants in their own right).

Welsh Alphabet - Diphthongs

There are no silent letters in the Welsh alphabet, every letter is pronounced phonetically. Every letter has a sound, and the sound is vocalised in spoken Welsh. However, diphthongs are two letters which are pronounced as one letter and they are as follows;

Ae, ai, au, aw, ei, eu, ew, ey, iw, oi, ou, ow, uw, wy, and yw.

Welsh Words without Vowels

This is a myth!!! Every now and again, mainly in the English media, someone lists a number of Welsh words or place names apparently with no vowels! Recently, the place name "Ynysybwl" has been quoted in English Press as a word with no vowels. Other place names include,

• Crymych (Pembrokeshire)
• Cwmystwyth (Ceredigion)
• Mwnt (Ceredigion)

These are Welsh places and of course they do have vowels, namely the letters "w" and "y"!!! There are also lots of Welsh words with no (English) vowels, here are just a few...

• Bryn (hill)
• Cwtch (only the Welsh can cwtch)
• Cwm (valley)
• Gwyn (white)
• Ynys (island)
• Ysbyty (hospital)

So, there are 7 vowels in the Welsh language, and we have two extra ones, "w" and "y" than in English. Myth busted.

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