Hiraeth
Welsh term for homesickness for Wales
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hiraeth (Welsh pronunciation: [hɪraɨ̯θ, hiːrai̯θ] Heer-eye-th) is a Welsh word for a specific type of longing or homesickness for Wales, particularly with a nostalgic character. With no direct English translation, it encompasses the Welsh people’s longing for a Wales before English colonisation and for what it could have become had they not been colonised. It is specifically tied to Welsh culture and traditions. [1]
Etymology
Derived from hir 'long' and -aeth (a nominal suffix creating an abstract noun from an adjective), the word is unable to be directly translated to English but is most closely related to a specific 'longing'for Wales before English colonisation. Possible, etymology is hir 'long' + aeth 'pain, grief, sorrow, longing'.
Culture
Nineteenth-century attempts to spread the English language through its exclusive use in schools at the expense of the Welsh language, following the 1847 Reports of the Commissioners of Inquiry into the State of Education in Wales (commonly known as the "Treachery of the Blue Books" in Wales), led to an increase in hiraeth.[2] Between 1870 and 1914, approximately 40% of Welsh emigrants returned to Wales, a much higher percentage than the rest of Britain, and it has been claimed that this was due to hiraeth.[2]
