Rhosllanerchrugog Welsh
Dialect of Welsh
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rhosllanerchrugog Welsh, also known simply as Rhos Welsh (Welsh: Cymraeg Rhos), is a dialect of the Welsh language spoken in Rhosllanerchrugog in Wrexham.[1] It has been stated to be spoken by 40% of the residents of Rhosllanerchrugog.[2] Census records suggest figures are lower although still above the national average;[3] the 2001 Census showed that 31.5% of the community area was Welsh speaking, declining to 24% at the 2011 census.[3] The dialect is notable for its relatively low level of intelligability with other Welsh dialects.[4] Some recordings of the dialect exist in Amgueddfa Cymru.[5]
-
Celtic
- Insular Celtic
- Brittonic
- Western Brittonic
- Welsh
- Rhosllanerchrugog Welsh
- Welsh
- Western Brittonic
- Brittonic
- Insular Celtic
| Rhosllanerchrugog Welsh | |
|---|---|
| Cymraeg Rhos (Welsh) | |
| |
| Region | Rhosllanerchrugog |
Native speakers | ~10,000 (~40% of Rhosllanerchrugog) |
Indo-European
| |
Early forms | |
| Latin Script (Welsh orthography) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | None |
Features
The dialect's features are partly a result of immigration to Rhos early in its growth as a mining village: unlike in other villages in the region, most of the immigrants came from Welsh-speaking upland agricultural areas in West Wales, giving the village a distinct linguistic identity.[6] Some features are, however, shared with other northern dialects, such as Powyseg and Gwyndodeg; the final [v] and [ð] is lost in words such as araf ('slow'), here pronounced ['ara], and the word ffordd ('road') being pronounced as [fɔr].[7]
The dialect also displays numerous distinctive consonants and examples of metathesis. Examples are amcan ('aim, notion'), rendered in Rhos as ['ankam], or ['borðə] for standard ['boðrɔ], boddro ('to bother').[8]
Vowels also differ widely from modern standard Welsh: one of its key features is the diphthongisation of vowels [e] and [o], as seen in the vowel of the name Rhos, locally [r̥əus].[9] Another typical feature is the contraction of verbal phrases, so that for example Yr oedd gennyf ('I had') is rendered as ['ogai] and Mae'n rhaid i mi ('I have to') as ['haimi].[10]
The Rhos dialect is also known for a unique vocabulary. The main example is a word that has become synonymous with the village: the demonstrative adjective nene (pronounced approximately [neːneː]), meaning 'that', or more specifically 'that over there'.[11] While the related forms ene ('that') and dene ('there is') are found in other parts of North-East Wales, nene is specific to Rhos.[11][12] Another typical feature shared with other north-eastern forms of Welsh is use of the dialectal dôl ('ago, back, in return') in place of Standard Welsh ôl.[13] These features are to an extent becoming lost in younger speakers under the influence of Welsh medium education, with younger speakers in Welsh schools showing a particular bias against dialectal nene in favour of standard hwnna or hynny.[14]