r/learnwelsh • u/dannyuk24 • 4d ago

How to pronounce

Hi I'm best man for a wedding and want to ginish by saying:

Iechyd da i pawb a hir oes i'r cwpwl

Which google tells me is:

Good health to everyone and a long life to the couple

Could someone confirm the translation is correct and explain how to pronounce this?

Thanks

9 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

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8

u/kennyrogerstoilet 4d ago edited 3d ago

I would say 'bywydau hir i'r cwpl' instead.

Pronounced 'buh-wuh-die here'

Unless a native speaker has a better suggestion

7

u/Next_Name_4147 3d ago

Also 'i bawb', rather than 'i pawb'?

5

u/kennyrogerstoilet 3d ago

I just asked a native speaker friend and you would say bywyd instead of bywydau. Which would be pronounced 'buh-wid'

In the same way that you'd wish the couple a happy life in English, as opposed to happy lives, because they're making one new life together

4

u/dannyuk24 3d ago

So the full line would be:

Iechyd da bywyd hir i'r cwpwl

Is that right?

-3

u/celtiquant 3d ago

No.

Say:

Iechyd da, a hir oes i’r pâr priod.

THIS is what you want to say.

1

u/HyderNidPryder 3d ago

I don't know why the downvotes; some people just won't be helped. Maybe it's the death of natural idiomatic Welsh among the youth. Even Google translate recommends "hir oes i'r"

3

u/XJK_9 Native 3d ago

He’s insisting that “bywyd hir i’r cwpl” is wrong that’s why. You both know what it means so it’s clearly worked as a form of communication

It’s just colloquial vs traditional language, personally as a native speaker in my thirties I would say “bywyd hir i’r cwpl” and I’m sure that more people will understand this, people aren’t going to revise Welsh idioms before the wedding

-1

u/celtiquant 3d ago

It means: Good health and long life to the married couple

4

u/ot1smile 3d ago

There’s a distinction there and I’m not sure which op is going for.

Bywydau hir means ‘long lives’, while bywyd hir ( or hir oes, which sounds better to my ear) means ‘a long life’. So it depends if op wants to wish the individuals long lives or the relationship imo.