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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank those authors and publishers who kindly gave permission for copyright material to be used in the Collins Corpus. We would also like to thank Times Newspapers Ltd for providing valuable data.
E-book Edition © July 2017
ISBN 9780008204327
Version: 2017-06-22
CONTENTS
Notes on the pronunciation of Welsh
The first Spurrell Welsh-English dictionary appeared in 1848 published by William Spurrell (1813–89) the Carmarthen printer and publisher. One of his sons, Walter Spurrell (1858–1934), joined his father in the business and the family firm published a series of distinguished Welsh-English, English-Welsh dictionaries and influential Welsh grammars during the latter part of the nineteenth century and the first half of the last century. William Spurrell was advised by and well-acquainted with Daniel Silvan Evans (1818–1903), one of the father figures of Welsh lexicography, sometime lecturer in Welsh at St David’s University College, Lampeter and the first professor of Welsh to be appointed by the University of Wales.
The Collins-Spurrell Welsh Dictionary was first published in 1960 and quickly became an essential tool of general reference for Welsh learners as well as those anxious to interpret literature. It was edited by Henry Lewis, Professor of Welsh Language and Literature at University College, Swansea, with valuable contributions from the staff of the Department of Welsh Language and Literature at St David’s University College, Lampeter.
D A THORNE
NOTES ON THE PRONUNCIATION OF WELSH
VOWELS
They are sounded, long or short, as the vowels in the English words given below.
| A | palm, pat. | |
| E | gate (without diphthongization), get. | |
| I | feet, fit. | |
| O | more, not. | |
| U | (1) | North Wales: like French u or German ü without rounding lips. |
| (2) | South Wales: as I. | |
| W | cool, full. | |
| Y | (1) | In monosyllables generally, and in final syllables, as U (the ‘clear’ sound). |
| (2) | In all but final syllables, and in y, yr (the), fy (my), dy (thy), yn, yng, ym (in), the adverbial yn, the preverbal and relative particle y, yr (y’m, y’th etc), syr (sir), nyrs (nurse), as English fun, (the ‘obscure’ sound). |
DIPHTHONGS
| 1 | Falling diphthongs, in which the second sound is consonantal: the two vowels have the sound noted above: ae, oe, ai, oi, the diphthong ei as English by, aw, ew, iw, ow, uw, ŵy, yw. |
| 2 | Rising diphthongs, in which the first sound is consonantal: ia, ie,
|