Wednesday, May 14, 2008

ABC Wednesday - Q

Now bear with me as my photo for today's letter needs a little explanation.

I live in Wales and I'm Welsh, so here are some interesting facts about the Welsh alphabet:
a) the initial letter of one of the most common surnames in Wales isn't in the traditional alphabet;

b) it has 28 letters - although some alphabets now count the borrowed letter J (as in garej or Jones), making 29;

c) there are 6 vowels including y;

d) some consonants are two letters e.g. ll, ng, rh, but they only count as one;

e) the alphabet doesn't include K, V, X, Z or Q!

I did some searching on the web and only one site mentioned an alternative for the Q sound, which was cw. I'm not entirely convinced but I decided to go with it ...

Just up Swansea valley you'll find Cwmtawe (valley of the Tawe). If you follow the river down to the sea, you'll come to Abertawe (mouth of the Tawe). Abertawe is the Welsh name for Swansea, hence, here is my photo for ABC - Q: Swansea! (Did you follow that logic?!)


To take part in ABC Wednesday, visit mrs nesbitts place

24 comments:

XXYXX said...

As a dyslexic, it's comforting to know there is an entire nation that has a worse spelt language than even my writing on a bad day. But annoyed that I'll never ever be able to pronounce a Welsh word without the help of a native.

Jane Hards Photography said...

Well I learnt a lot coming here today
Many moons ago at school we went to what was called the mountain centre in Wales, in a valley. We were told that cwm was welsh for valley, pronouncing the cw as a q sound, just as you have stated.

Think you've dome really well on this.

Unknown said...

Very clever translation Liz - surely they'll let you off with that one (Especially as there's no Q in Welsh) - how do the Welsh form a line at the post office then??)

Thanks for visiting my blog - hope to see you there again soon.

Cheers
Gary

Juliana RW said...

beautiful place...

Will you visit mine Thanks

ArneA said...

Yes I followed you!
My daughter took a course in Cymraeg when they moved to Cymru, and Helene is singing on cymraeg at primary school.
A beautiful peninsula Gower, and we visited la Brasseria in Wind street when being there.
There we did not hear Cymraeg:)

Gerald (Ackworth born) said...

Ah cwm off it Liz - no Qs in Wales - there's quite a few in N Wales - Queensferry for a start!

I'll try and slip off quietly now but with images of you falling over while kick-boxing I might not make it.

Louis la Vache said...

"Louis" thanks you for your brief lesson in the Welch language! Clever response to "Q" Wednesday!

Anonymous said...

Da iawn, Liz !

Dragonstar said...

Liz, you can get away with anything if you talk fast enough!
Nice post.

Unknown said...

Even more things for me to learn today. I love these informative posts! Nice one.

imac said...

Interesting about your letters, also great shot.

Powell River Books said...

Very logical and thoroughly explained. Plus it is a very beautiful place.

I chose to use nearby Quadra Island for Q. It is a fun vacation destination that you can see by clicking here. – Margy

Unknown said...

Great informative Q post!

MissKris said...

I once had a Welsh pen pal many years ago and part of her address was "Bwylchyderrwen" of something like that. I never did figure out how to pronounce it. But I did call her one the phone one time and had a lovely EXPENSIVE conversation with her, long before cell phones, and international calling cost an arm and a leg. She had the loveliest, loveliest voice...I could've sat and listened to her talk all day.

CherryPie said...

Beautiful photo :-)

Anonymous said...

Huh? Love Wales, love the welsh, but I don't understand I thing you just said :) The photo is gorgeous. Such blue water....

Suburbia said...

I knew Swansea began with a Q, honest!

Pernille said...

Very nice and informative Q-post.

Neva said...

OH liz this is a hoot....my neighbor is Welsh...I will have a chat with her about all I learned here on your blog! good "cw"!!

Leslie: said...

In a roundabout way, I followed you. lol When we were kids, we used to make fun of our Nana (who was born & brought up in Llandudno) by going "KKKKKKK" from our throats when she'd speak Welsh. I'd definitely need lessons to speak Welsh. Oh! My friend Marion who grew up in Cardiff, taught me to say "Cardiff Market" with a Welsh accent! ha ha ha

Silly Goose said...

I loved your spelling/pronunciation lesson. I thought EVERYONE in the UK and the Commonwealth had at least one Q. Who else mothered the princess and princes? ;-)

kRiZcPEc said...

never knew Welsh has its own set of alphabets. Great shot, thanks for sharing.

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Yes, that seems perfectly logical to me. Lovely photo.

VP said...

That's so inventive and it made me smile Liz so I'll say:

Great Q!

Spookily your word verification for me starts with a q!