When I first encountered Welsh road signs, I thought, “Where are the vowels?” But as I’ve come to learn, the Welsh alphabet holds the secret to understanding this beautiful, ancient language.

‘Yr Wyddor Gymraeg.

The Welsh alphabet and basic pronunciation.

Cymraeg (Welsh) can seem complex. After all, it has spent roughly 4,000 years evolving. What *is* certain is that it is Britain’s oldest surviving language.

The language has Indo-European and Brythonic origins. The Romans were the first to commit these words to paper, introducing elements of Latin that are still evident today. Think of “ffenestre” (derived from the Latin “fenstra”) – window; pobl, (which comes from the Latin “populus”) – people and “pont” (from the Latin “pons”) – bridge.

It is no wonder that J.R.R. Tolkien was fascinated with our beautiful language. He also based the phonology and grammar of his fictional Elvish language, Sindarin, on literary Cymraeg. He also gave many of his characters and places Welsh names.

But to anyone visiting Cymru (Wales) and seeing the road signs in both Cymraeg and English, it can be challenging, so many stick with the English. After all, it’s easier to stick with what you know. But basic pronunciation isn’t that difficult. Of course, there are some exceptions. It can take years for many non-speakers to become fluent. This shouldn’t stop anyone from trying at least a little. Simple phrases like “Bore da” and “Diolch” are a great start.

The Welsh alphabet contains 29 letters, unlike the English alphabet which has 26. In fact English is actually more difficult as letters change. In Cymraeg, it’s phonetic and on the whole each letter generally won’t change except for a few exceptions. I have lost count of how many times I have heard that the place names have a lack of vowels. There are 7 unlike the 5 in English.

Just like in English, there are the A E I O U plus W and Y. What is different is that we have extra letters: Ch Dd Ff Ng Ll Ph Rh Th. “Wtf!!” I can hear, but each one of these is classed as a single letter, so you need not worry. There are also no J, K, Q, V, X or Z in Cymraeg. J has been used in recent times and was included in 1987 for words adopted from English like “garej” for garage and the surname “Jones”.

I have attached a photo of the alphabet and how to pronounce each letter to help. So next time you visit Cymru, you have a better idea how the words will sound.

Pob lwc (good luck).’

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Sally George

Sally is a proud wife of a Welshman, editor & writer of Welsh Histories. She’s all about stories—that shout ‘anything Welsh.’ Drop her an email if you have an advice, insight, experience, or a story to share.