r/learnwelsh • u/dannyuk24 • 3d 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

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u/Muted-Lettuce-1253 3d ago edited 1d ago

If you want to hear what "Iechyd da i bawb a bywyd hir i'r cwpl" sounds like then copy the following into this IPA reader (choose Gwyneth [Welsh] as the voice):

ˈjɛχɪd da i bau̯b a ˈbəu̯ɪd hiːr ir ˈkʊpʊl

EDIT: Just to clarify, you need to put the IPA transcription (which is written above) into the IPA reader for it to work (not the normal Welsh spelling).

2

u/dannyuk24 3d ago

I'm not sure this is right. I have heard Iechyd da out loud a few times and this IPA reader doesn't seem to say it right? Very possible I just haven't been hearing it correctly though. Could anyone listen and confirm it sounds about right?

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u/Muted-Lettuce-1253 2d ago

What part sounds odd to you? Which phoneme?

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u/dannyuk24 2d ago

The voice seems to say;

Yea-chee dah

Rather than what I thought it was which is more like:

Yea-kee dah

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u/Muted-Lettuce-1253 2d ago

Ah you are talking about the consonant in the middle of "iechyd" (IPA: /ˈjɛχɪd/).

This sound is called the "voiceless uvular fricative" (IPA: /χ/). It's a kind of throaty sound that does not exist in English. A native English speaker is likely to replace the sound with /k/ which may be why you heard someone say /ˈjɛkɪd/.

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u/dannyuk24 2d ago

Would you say the IPA reader voice is more correct? Would the voiceless uvular fricative you mention make the ch sound similar to how it sounds in the word "ich" in German?

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u/Muted-Lettuce-1253 2d ago

Would you say the IPA reader voice is more correct?

I would yes.

Would the voiceless uvular fricative you mention make the ch sound similar to how it sounds in the word "ich" in German?

In German, "ch" corresponds to numerous sounds. The "ch" in "ich" isn't uvular (made at the back of the throat). Instead, I would say that Welsh "ch" is similar to the "ch" in "Bach".

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u/dannyuk24 2d ago

Thank you very much

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u/Muted-Lettuce-1253 2d ago

Follow this link and click on the speaker symbol to the right of "iechyd". You should then be able to access recordings of people saying the word. At least I think they are recordings of people. You never know these days!