Whitland - Hendy-gwyn, Station Sign In Wales. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.
This station name on the line to Fishguard is Hendy-gwyn. The station name in English is Whitland. The literal translation is Hendy - old house and gwyn - white. I looked at the name and immediately thought that the word gwyn was white. the giveaways were the little w in both words, and the vowels looked similar. I guessed that Welsh had the adjective after the noun. In English over time the e has been dropped. Although the d is in both handy and land, the old house on the land is handy.
Learning Languages
When learning a new language, to remember translations of words, apart from finding links between ideas, you have to keep repeating them. You can look at the words from the window and take a photograph with your phone so you can come back to the words and look at them again later.
Welsh Pronunciation
How do you pronounce the words? Listen to the way the Welsh speak English for a clue as to the intonation. The emphasis is on the first syllable, with the the first tone low and the second syllable or a single syllable in high tone, as if you are asking a question.
Welsh - English
gwyn - white
hendy - old house
Hendy-gwyn - Whitland
English - Welsh
Old house - hendy
white - gwyn
Whitland - Hendygwyn
Here's a useful sign:
Welsh - English
Toiledau - Toilets
English - Welsh
Toilets - toiledau
The first time I looked at the sign I thought 'toilet'. When I typed the word I noticed it was plural. I thought, is au the plural?
If so, that's easy to remember. Every time I look at the word toilets, I can recall that the Welsh plural is au, just like the English plural is made by adding s.
Plurals To Plot and Plan
When I googled Welsh plurals, up popped a forum on a Duolingo website. I love Duolingo. I use it daily for the language I am currently learning for my next or most recent trip to another language zone. The other Welsh plurals mentioned in the forum were:
iau
One person said, never mind the rules. Don't make life complicated. Just learn the words as you come across them.
However, the other person replied, I like things complicated!
The Advantages Of Learning Languages
I noticed a girl looking at her mobile phone on the train and another on the station. I thought, maybe she is engrossed in an important conversation, texting with a family member or friend, like several others I overheard passengers telling family what time their train would be arriving and that they would be home late. When I sat beside her on the seat on the platform I could see she was playing a video game.
I thought, she could be using that time spent on video games on learning a foreign language instead. That would enhance her travels and ingratiate her with local people.
The Welsh flag, a red dragon, lower half on a green background, upper half against white. Photo by Angela Lansbury.
It could help her status and skills when looking for work. One study found that learning a new language increased your income level by an average of five percent.
Learning Tools - Handy Websites
duolingo.com - Many languages including Welsh
https://www.duolingo.com/comment/25110878/Plurals-in-Welsh
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have several other posts on Learning Welsh. Please share links to your favourite posts.
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