A is pronounced like that of the English short or open a, as in man, bar, glass: and when circumflexed, as a in dâme, pâle; so that the words câr, dâr, are pronounced like care, dare; never soft, as in able, stable.

B, as b English; mutable into f and m, as bara, bread; ei fara, his bread; fy mara, my bread.

C is always like k in English; or as C in can, come; never as in çity, çistern. It is mutable, as câr, a friend; ei châr, her friend; ei går, his friend; fy nghâr, my friend.

Ch is like the x of the Spanish, the ch of the Germans, the x of the Greek. It is pronounced by the contact of the tongue and the palate, about the eighth of an inch farther back than when k is expressed.

D is English; but mutable into dd and

n, as Duw, God; ie Dduw, his God; fy Nuw, my God.

Dd as soft th, as in thus, this, that, neither.

E as the English short e in men, ten, bed; ê as in dame, came, ale; thus, cêd, advantage, is pronounced as if written kade: Eu, diphthong, as ei English; as beudy, a cowhouse, pronounced as beidy.

Fas v English; as, gôf, a smith; pronounced as gov.

Ff as f English in fetch.

Gas g English in go, give, leg, peg; never soft, as in gem. In composi tion it is dropped, as gwr, a man, yr hên wr, the old man; glân, the bank of a river, ar y lân, upon the bank; glân, clean, dillad lân, clean clothes; garth, a hill, ar arth, upon a hill, pen yr arth, the top of the hill. It is mutable into ng and w; as gwâs, a servant, fy ngwâs, my servant, ei wâs, his servant.

Has in English, an aspiration or breathing.

I as the English ee in bee, tree; or i in rich, ring; cil, a retreat, is pronounced keel: never as in bind, kind.

J is not a Welsh letter; it is supplied by si or i.

K is not a Welsh letter; it is supplied by c or ch.

L as in law, love, low.

Ll is 1 aspirated, a sound peculiar to the Welsh language, like the English lh. It is pronounced by placing the tip of the tongue a little farther back against the roof of the mouth than for 1, and breathing through the jaw teeth on both sides. Llangollen is pronounced Khlangothlin. The English 1 in let, when forcibly spoken, is near to it. In composition the 11 is expressed by the single 1, a llaw, a hand, ei law, his hand.

M as m English; mutable into f, as mam, a mother, ei fam, his mother, pronounced as if written vam; maen, a rock, ei faen, his rock. N as n English.

O as o in go, no, lot; when circumflexed ô as o in bone and note; thus môdd, a mode or form, is pronounced mooth.

Pas p English.

Ph as ph English, as in philosophy, physic, &c. The true difference betwixt ff and ph is, that we write with ff either such words as are purely British, as ffon, a staff; ffau, a den; ffordd, a way; ffelaig, a chieftain, a prince: or such words as are derived from Latin words written with f, as ffydd, faith; ffynnon, a fountain; ffurf, a form; ffenestr, a window; perffaith, perfect; but we write with ph either such British words as have the radical p changed into the aspirate ph, as tri-phen, three heads; from pen, a head. It is mutable into b, mh, and ph, as pen, a head; ei ben, his head; fy mhen, my head; ei phen, her head.

Q not a Welsh letter. In words taken from the English, it is expressed by cw, as cwestiwn, from question. R in the middle or end of words, as r English; but rh in all cases is the

X

radical; mutable into r; grace, dy râd, thy grace

S as in English.

as rhâd,

Tas in English; but mutable into d, nh, and th; as tâd, a father, ei dâd, his father, fy nhâd, my father, ei thâd, her father.

Th, which is a mutation of t, as in the English words thank, both, nothing, never as in them.

U as English, in busy, and of i in the words sin, skin, thin, bliss; if circumflexed, as ee in queen, green; thus, dû, black, is pronounced as if written dee; sûl, the sun, as seal; sûr, sour, The word ûn, one, is pro

as seer.

nounced een.

V not a Welsh letter, but f has the same sound.

Was o in the words bone, sore; if circumflexed, as oo in hook, food, boot; thus, cŵd, a bag, pronounced kood; mŵg, smoke, as moog.

X not a Welsh letter: in writing foreign words ecs is used, as Ecsodus, i. e. Exodus.

Y in any syllable, except the last, is pronounced as u in run, churn, hunt; in the last syllable of a word, as i in din, fin, sin; also in monosyllables, except the following, y, ydd, yn, fy, dy, myn, which have the sound of u in run. When y is circumflexed it has the same sound as û, thus bŷd, the world, is pronounced beed. These two sounds are exemplified in the word sundry. Z is not a Welsh letter; it is supplied by s.

The accent is, in all Welsh words, either on the penultimate, or last syllable but one; never on the antepenultimate, or last but two; but it is much more frequently on the former; and when on the last, it is a circumflex.

The variation of the initial letters is always regular, and constantly between letters of the same organ of pronunciation for a labial letter is never changed to a dental, nor a dental to a labial, &c. Adverbs being formed of adjectives, become such, by prefixing yn to the adjectives, which change their mutable initial consonants into their soft; as da (adjective), good; yn dda (adverb), well; mwyn (adj.), kind; yn fwyn (adv.), kindly. Initial vowels are also capable of occasional changes. Some of changing one vowel into another; as aberth, a sacrifice, pl. ebyrth; attal, to stop, ettyl, he will stop, &c. And all, of taking the aspirate h before them after the pronoun sing. Ei, when of the feminine gender; and the pl. pronouns eu, their; and ein, our; and the affix 'm; as oedran, age; ei hodran, her age; amser, time; eu hamser, their time; anadl, breath; ein hanadl, our breath; Arglwydd, Lord; i'm Harglwydd, to my Lord, &c., to which rule dipthongs are also subject; as eiddo, one's own; ei heiddo, her own, &c. In seeking for words in a dictionary, the reader should always turn to them in their primary or radical initials.

Richards's Welsh Grammar.