Тhe Welsh language

Development of Welsh-speaking population in Wales.

yearswelsh-speaking population% of total population

189191028054,4

190192982449,9

191197736643,5

192192209237,1

193190926136,8

195171468628,9

196165600226,0

197154242520,9

198150820718,9

199151092018,7

As you see from the table, the Welsh-speaking population of Wales reduces greatly on 1931-51. The main reason of it is the Second World War. And it also reduced greatly from 1961 till 1971. I don't know exactly, but it seems to me the main reason from it is the problems in the industry (mostly in coal-mining) and migration.

Also, the population of Welsh-speaking people was decreasing from 1921 to 1971, and was increasing from the beginning of the Welsh language to 1911 and from 1981 till our days. At once the question arises: "What happened in 1981?" There are a lot of factors which influenced the growing of Welsh-speaking population from the 1981. They are: development of education in Welsh, appearance of the periodical press and books in Welsh, creation of radio and TV stations in Welsh, appearance of "institutions" which protect the Welsh, and the growing of national identity. Of course all this factors were present in the 1950s and 1970s, but in 1990s they were in its heyday.It is very interesting to say that many pupils who learn Welsh think that Welsh is not a difficult language to learn and that it is easier to learn than English. Unlike English, it has the inestimable advantage of being largely phonetic; that is, the words are pronounced as they are written, with non of the confusion which arises in English over such words as cough, bough, through, though and thorough. While English has several letters (g, h and k, for example) which are often not pronounced at all, every letter in Welsh is pronounced.

The Welsh alphabet consists of twenty simple letters and eight digraphs (two letters combining to produce a different sound, as with ch and th), an unusual feature to include in an alphabet. Welsh has no j, k, q, l, x or z. Most of the simple letters present no difficulties, but it should be noted that c is always pronounced to correspond with the English k, f with v and s with ss.

The Welsh alphabet:

a b c ch d dd e f ff g ng h i l ll m n o p ph r rh s t th u w y

Pronunciation of digraphs:

ch as in lochll ch followed by l

dd as in thatph as in pharmacy

ff as in fairrh as in Rhein

ng as in singingth as in thin