Ok, so, I had been saying [name_f]Ceridwen[/name_f] as care-ed-wen. However, when I showed the name to my grandmother (who can speak & read Welsh somewhat fluently), she told me that the C would make an S sound, making the name ser-ed-wen. Which way is correct?
I tend to use behindthename.com as a helpful guide. I think most berries agree its a good source.
They have [name_f]Ceridwen[/name_f] pronounced as: ke-rid-wen.
You can also listen to an (apparently) native speaker say it here: Ceridwen pronunciation: How to pronounce Ceridwen in English, Welsh
I’m right there with [name_u]Lexie[/name_u]. I know it from the pagan circles and the pagan friends I have who worship from that pantheon say it keh-rid-wen. And I also use behindthename.com.
That’s not to say Behind the Name isn’t wrong. It’s happened. They have some Greek names on there listed wrong and I know that because I speak and read Greek. I trust native speakers over the internet any day.
All that being said, here’s various links to the name being pronounced:
Supposed Welsh speaker – Ceridwen pronunciation: How to pronounce Ceridwen in English, Welsh
This says C is pronounced K – HugeDomains.com
This is a .org that says the same – http://welshleigh.org/genealogy/welshnames.html
That’s interesting. Everything I’ve seen says K as well, but then again, my grandmother probably hasn’t read/used Welsh in years (her father was Welsh, and he chose to speak it to her quite often apparently, and her parents felt it was important for her to learn it), but in all honesty, at first glance, my guess was ser-id-wen. Oh the Welsh and their misleading pronunciations, haha!
Is it possible that the different Welsh pronunciations are because of the native speakers being from different parts of [name_m]Wales[/name_m]? They might be both right if thats the case.
I’ve always pronounced [name_f]Ceridwen[/name_f] like keh-rid-wen.
but I find the way it looks on paper much more appealing than either way it might sound.
ke-RID-wen
I wouldn’t have known, either :).
I thought that, but on one of the sites that dantea showed me, it says that the Welsh language doesn’t have the letter K, so the K sound is made by the letter C, and the letter C never makes the S sound. So, I’m guessing my grandmother’s just gone the route that I went and pronounced it as it appeared!
I’m a native Welsh speaker, living in [name_m]Wales[/name_m], and my whole family/community speaks Welsh. So, trust me when I say that if your grandmother was really fluent in Welsh, she would know that [name_f]Ceridwen[/name_f] is only pronounced as Ker-I-dwen. The emphasis is always on the ‘i’ in this name, and not on the beginning. Any variation of this comes about from English mispronunciations.
‘C’ is never ever pronounced as ‘S’ in Welsh. That would be like you telling me that the letter ‘H’ can be pronounced as ‘R’!!
There is no ‘K’ in Welsh, because there is simply no need for it and the language is more phonetic than English. In English, ‘C’ can both mean ‘K’ sound and ‘S’ sound. In Welsh is goes as follows -
C - the sound ‘k’ as in ‘kite’ or ‘c’ in ‘cat’
S - the sound ‘s’ in ‘sit’
The reason why you see Keridwen, is this is the simplest way to explain the pronunciation who speaks English.
Please refer to a post I made about this topic a while ago -
I’m a native speaker and I listened to those clips.
They are not very clear, from their muffled pronunciation I suspect they are not native speakers.
I’ve said it “Keh-rid-wen”, and that seems to be the generally accepted pronunciation on this site. I agree with sunshine kid that this may be a regional variety difference.
My question regarding syllable emphasis is: Is it Kah-RID-Whin? Emphasizing the RID or is it KEH-rid-whin? Or either?? I love both. [name_m]Just[/name_m] curious…
[name_u]Ashley[/name_u] that’s wrong. ‘E’ in Welsh is always pronounced as the ‘e’ in ‘emphasis’, ‘Edward’ or ‘energy’.
It’s the same wherever it appears in the word, so the ‘e’ at the beginning of ‘[name_f]Ceridwen[/name_f]’ sound exactly the same as the ‘e’ on the end. English speakers often have a habit of making their vowels disappear, so sometimes you’ll hear it incorrectly pronounced as ‘Ceridw’n’
‘E’ is never pronounced as the ‘a’ in ‘apple’ or the more rounded ‘ah’ sound.
There is no regional variation concerning this name - it’s pronounced the same way by native speaker all over [name_m]Wales[/name_m]. Please refer to my earlier thread which will explain more about correct pronunciation -
I’ve always said [name_f]Ceridwen[/name_f] as Se-ri-dwen, with the “Se” sounding like the “Ce” in “Celebrate”. I am slightly disappointed to find out that this is not how you actually pronounce [name_f]Ceridwen[/name_f] as I had always loved this name. I also love Cerdiwyn, but I’m guessing that will be pronounced with a “K” sound as well.