Anyone trying to learn Welsh? And why?

[Barreldriver]

Just learn Welsh for the time being then write it phonetically = Neo-Cumbric.

That's what I try to do as Welsh phonetics I still struggle with, when writing in Welsh I just write how I'd say it.

[Barreldriver]

I wish they'd resurrect what was spoken in South Yorkshire, me agnatic lineal folks originated near to Hatfield where the Battle of Hatfield Chase was fought then moved into the East Riding at a later date. So Brigantian?

[Leadchucker]

I've thought about it on the past but there's not as much material to do so as with the major languages. I also started wondering what the point would be apart from out of just interest.

Same with, I know no one who speaks it other than some at the Philadelphia Welsh Society. I know a few words and have a couple CDs with Welsh langage lessons, but other than irritate my wife there's little use for it here. Still, I'm proud of my Welsh heritage, fly the Red Dragon on occasions and have made some love spoons in the Welsh style.

[Albion]

That's what I try to do as Welsh phonetics I still struggle with, when writing in Welsh I just write how I'd say it.

When the Anglo-Saxons pushed into the Midlands and SW they broke up the old British speaking area. The British language in its isolated Cornish, Welsh and Rheged (North west England) enclaves then developed into Cornish, Welsh and Cumbric.
Some people consider Cumbric to be so similar to Old Welsh that it is actually a dialect. Cumbric wasn't just spoken in Cumbria but across much of Northern England and Southern Scotland - Y Hen Ogledd "The Old North". This area included Cumbria, Lancashire and Cheshire (Rheged), South and West Yorkshire (Elmet), Dumfries and Galloway (Strathclyde).

Gradually the Angles kept creeping in via the passes through the Pennines at Alston and the Aire Gap and south up along the Trent.
The last Cumbric speakers in England were mountain dwellers - shepherds, that is until the Norse arrived who liked hill country just as much as they did. Cumbric was probably last spoken in Southern Scotland, but its counting system survived in much of Northern England into the present day.

The Brigantes just ended up speaking Cumbric.

[Albion]

Same with, I know no one who speaks it other than some at the Philadelphia Welsh Society. I know a few words and have a couple CDs with Welsh langage lessons, but other than irritate my wife there's little use for it here. Still, I'm proud of my Welsh heritage, fly the Red Dragon on occasions and have made some love spoons in the Welsh style.

The Welsh are often the forgotten Celtic nation outside the British Isles. Theirs is a rich and beautiful culture though, it is a shame to overlook it for the much over-hyped Gaelic identities of Ireland and Scotland.

[Albion]

The Cornish were cut off early from the other Britons which enabled their language to diverge quicker. There's also survived into the Victorian era and so was a fully fledged language by then whereas Cumbric died out by the 1100s at the latest.



The first place the Anglo-Saxons took was Kent (the ultimate homeland of my paternal ancestors as it happened). Here they were lacking in numbers in the early conquest so quickly absorbed the original population rather than solely pushing them out. That ultimately may be why a lot of British place names including 'Kent' itself survived.

[Barreldriver]

A bit of an exercise, figured I'd write out how I think I ought to say somethin' in Welsh 'n see if it's correct or if there's a better way to say it.

I'll use the word/name Cadwallon (I used to use this as a screen name) -

Cadwallon broken down into Cad-oo-a-hlon when pronounced?

[Albion]

A bit of an exercise, figured I'd write out how I think I ought to say somethin' in Welsh 'n see if it's correct or if there's a better way to say it.

I'll use the word/name Cadwallon (I used to use this as a screen name) -

Cadwallon broken down into Cad-oo-a-hlon when pronounced?

It looks right to me (I only know a few basics though). Have you heard of S4C? It's the Welsh-language TV channel, I think they do some sort of online courses and you could probably watch a few programmes online once you get better to keep yourself fluent.

[Comte Arnau]

It's the most spoken Celtic language and there are several Welsh-Catalan websites and dictionaries online. If I ever decide to learn a Celtic language, these two reasons would make my option clear, unless personal reasons made me choose Gaelic.

[Albion]

If I went to live in Wales I'd probably learn it out of respect for the culture. I suppose that'd make me a damn site better than a lot of Welsh natives who never bother anyway.