[WELSH] Llyfrau cymraeg - books in Welsh

hefyd · Post by **hefyd** » March 6th, 2007, 1:37 am

Lle mae'r Cymry ? Does na neb sydd isio clywed swn ei [l]lais ar Librivox - lle mae'r Mabinogi ? lle mae Dafydd ap Gwilym ? I ddeud y gwir, dwy ddim isio gwneud o fy hyn achos fy mod i'n siarad Cymraeg gyda acen mor ofnadwy, ond siwr o fod mi fydd rhywun tu allan fanna gyda acen ddel [ y gogledd gobeithio !] sy'n isio bod y seren gyntaf Gymraeg ar Librivox ! Dowch o'na Cymru !

Where are the Welsh speakers ? Isn't there anyone who wants to hear their voice on Librivox ? Where are the Mabinogion ? Where is Dafydd ap Gwilym ? To tell the truth, this isn't something I want to do myself, since my accent is so terrible, but it must be the case that there's someone out there with a nice accent [ North Wales I hope !] who wants to be Librivox's first Welsh-speaking star ! Come on Wales ! Hefyd

Gesine · Post by **Gesine** » March 6th, 2007, 6:07 am

Oh, this is interesting! During my first prolonged stay in the UK, I got a Welsh language course out of the library (don't ask me why - too much time on my hands; those were the days - I wasn't even in Wales, in fact had only been to Hay-on-Wye once) and dabbled a little. It's a lovely melodic language. I wouldn't feel confident reading any, nor would I understand that much... but... well. It's interesting.

hefyd · Post by **hefyd** » March 6th, 2007, 10:45 am

Hi Gesine - yes, I hope in particular that someone will read the works of Dafydd ap Gwilym [ ca. 1320 - 1360 ] for us - he is very fine. In one of his poems he calls the snow 'white bees from heaven' 'gwenyn ap nef, gwynion ynt'. Hefyd

Cori · Post by **Cori** » March 6th, 2007, 11:08 am

If you can find a book which requires someone to read the numbers 01-10 ... I'm your person!

Otherwise, I'll just cheer on others. I'm pretty sure I remember one or two welsh folks coming through here, simply because I can recall looking on PG to see what books were available (they look quite serious, what there was there, though this would have been a while ago.)

Would be very cool to get some going, though!

Caeristhiona · Post by **Caeristhiona** » March 6th, 2007, 11:10 pm

Oh my gosh, hefyd, is there any language you do not know? You put me to shame.

Peter Why · Post by **Peter Why** » March 6th, 2007, 11:30 pm

.... and no one has yet suggested the Mabinogion in English, even, and there seem to be three different translations on Gutenberg.

Peter

Caeristhiona · Post by **Caeristhiona** » March 6th, 2007, 11:44 pm

Peter Why wrote:.... and no one has yet suggested the Mabinogion in English, even, and there seem to be three different translations on Gutenberg.

Peter

Does that count as a suggestion, Peter?

BecRah · Post by **BecRah** » March 7th, 2007, 5:25 am

I was actually just checking out Librivox and wondering if someone had completed a recording of the Mabinogion. It's been sitting on my shelf for a while already but I probably won't get around to actually reading it for years (if I'm honest with myself). Being able to listen to it would be wonderful.

And if someone could read it in English with the proper pronunciation of the Welsh names that'd be great (I don't think I've ever heard someone speak Welsh so I have no idea how things should sound).

Cheers

Peter Why · Post by **Peter Why** » March 7th, 2007, 3:55 pm

I'd never suggested the Mabinogion, partly because of the length of the work and partly because of the pronunciation difficulties.

But we have plenty of readers and some educated advice ....

Peter

hefyd · Post by **hefyd** » March 8th, 2007, 1:50 am

As word of Librivox spreads [remember 'je seme a tout vent' !] hopefully speakers of more and more minority languages will record their classics for us. A language is the ultimate 'open source project', and these recordings could be valuable documents in their own right. Welsh is very vigorous, with half a million speakers, its own TV channel and even a limited press. It has a rich medieval literature, and some strong modern writing, and walk through the streets in Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch [which is normally known as Llanfairpwll !] and you will hear children talk to each other in Welsh as they play.Hefyd

kristin · Post by **kristin** » March 8th, 2007, 2:47 am

Yes, I heard a lot of Welsh spoken in Wales. Now perhaps this was because we tended to wander around in out of the way places but even the conductors on the trains asked for tickets in Welsh, which was a bit of a surprise to me. We lived only a few miles from the border of Wales and it seems right on the border they mostly speak English but you don't have to go very far in to hear Welsh spoken. And I'd forgotten about it but I've actually been to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

alizon · Post by **alizon** » March 9th, 2007, 5:16 pm

hei hefyd, dwi'n siarad Cymraeg y gogledd a mae pobol yn deud mod i'n siarad yn dda (bobol neis, felly!). Ond dydy Cymraeg ddim yn iaith cynta i fi, sori, ond swn i'n reit hapus i trio os oes na neb arall ar gael.

hey hefyd, I speak northern Welsh and people say I speak well (obviously kind peeps!). But Welsh isn't my first language, sorry, but I'd certainly be glad to try if there's no one else available.

PS My English accent is kind of weird too and that's my first language

earthcalling · Post by **earthcalling** » March 9th, 2007, 5:32 pm

It would be great to have some Welsh readings in our Multilingual Poetry Collection!

David

kayray · Post by **kayray** » March 9th, 2007, 6:18 pm

Please, please! I'd love to hear some Welsh, or even ordinary English with a Welsh accent!

alizon · Post by **alizon** » March 10th, 2007, 9:09 am

Cool, how about we make a start on the Mabinogion in one of the English translations, at any rate? I'd love to read a chapter or several. I'm kind of new at this (just one poem and one chapter on Librivox, and still often bewildered by Audacity), and I'm not sure how this works if it's a new project, but I think it's a book that a lot of people would enjoy if they knew about it.

David, I'll look out for a nice poem, something short so I won't disgrace myself... at least, no more than usual