Obviously, people might prefer to say Welsh names a certain way because they like it better, but I’ve seen a few people on-line claiming they know how to pronounce the names correctly, when they do not.
As my native language is Welsh, and I live in [name_m]Wales[/name_m], I know what I’m talking about! So here are a few -
Ceridwen- Ke-REED-wen ( ‘e’ sounds like the ‘e’ in ‘bet’, or the name ‘[name_m]Ben[/name_m]’. It never sounds like the ‘i’ in ‘sit’)
Ceinwen - KeEEN-wen (‘i’ is always a sharp vowel like the ‘ee’ in ‘meet & greet’
Gwenith - GWEN-eeth
Meleri - Mel-ER-ee
Meredith (the most commonly mispronounced name). It’s Mer-E-deeth not ‘MER-e-dith’. If it’s Meredyth, then the ‘y’ is pronounced like the ‘i’ in ‘sit’
Mererid - Mer-ER-eed
Myfanwy- My-VAN-wy (‘y’ sound similar to the ‘i’ in ‘sit’)
Rhoswen - ROS-wen not ‘ROW-swen’ (Hard to describe ‘rh’. It sounds like the harder, voiceless version of the Italian rolled ‘r’.
‘O’ is always pronounced like the sharp, open ‘o’ in ‘dot’ and never like the long ‘oh’ sound in ‘home’
Most of my baby name books give the pronunciation of Ceinwen as “cain-wen”. That’s how much they know. I may be bothering you in the future, [name_f]Gwenith[/name_f]!
Hehe That ‘ei’ sound is quite tricky for English speakers to get used to. Their tendency is to say ‘[name_m]Cane[/name_m]’, with out the sharp ‘ee’ that’s needed.
Oh good Lol. The amount of times I’ve had to correct the pronunciation of [name_f]Cerys[/name_f] and [name_f]Carys[/name_f] on these boards… [name_f]Glad[/name_f] there’s someone else now who can help me champion correct Welsh pronunciation!
I’m English but my Welsh friend taught me some Welsh. I can usually read/guesstimate words and names pretty well Know my f’s from my ff’s and my dd’s from my d’s etc
The only girl’s name we have agreed upon so far is Aelwen, however we can’t seem to find consensus on the pronunciation. I know this was an old post, but I’d love some input if possible!
I don’t have OP’s credentials, but I think Aelwen is ‘ayl-wen’ as in ale or rhyming with mail, sale, etc. Likewise, the Welsh name [name_f]Aeronwy[/name_f] is ‘ay-[name_m]RON[/name_m]-oo-ee’. Hopefully native Welsh speakers can confirm or deny…
