The culture of Wales (Welsh: Diwylliant Cymru) is distinct, with its own language, customs, politics, festivals, music and Art. Wales is primarily represented by the symbol of the red Welsh Dragon, but other national emblems include the leek and the daffodil.
Central to Welsh culture is the centuries-old folk tradition of poetry and music which has helped keep the Welsh language alive. Welsh intellectuals in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries wrote extensively on the subject of Welsh culture, promoting the language as the key to preserving national identity.
Wales has the most castles in one country than any other in the world. K, Q, V and Z are letters not seen in the Welsh language. Cardiff City Football team are the only non-English club to win the FA Cup (in 1927). Cardiff holds the oldest record shop in the world, opening in 1894.
If Welsh can seem complex and beautiful, it's because it's spent 4,000 years evolving. What's certain is that it's Britain's oldest language. From Indo-European and Brythonic origins, the Romans were the first to commit these words to paper, introducing elements of Latin still present today.
The Welsh language is in the Celtic language group, whereas English is in the West Germanic group; consequently the English language is further from the Welsh language in both vocabulary and grammar than from a number of European languages, such as Dutch, for example.
Welsh developed from the Celtic language known as Brythonic or Brittonic. The two most closely related languages are Cornish and Breton.
Speaking of these results, Professor Peter Donnelly, of the University of Oxford, said that the Welsh carry DNA which could be the most ancient in UK and that people from Wales are genetically relatively distinct.
The Welsh language is at the heart of our modern Welsh identity. Its history is remarkable. The fact that we, in the twenty-first century, can enjoy family life, education, work and leisure all through the medium of Welsh is testimony to the importance of the language to the people of Wales.
The Origins Of The Welsh Accent
Cymraeg originates from the ancient Celts; from around the ninth century CE, languages in the north and south of England and Wales started diverging due to geographic separation. Thus, Welsh evolved as a distinct language, retaining many features of the ancient language of the Celts.
The Welsh are especially proud of their language. When you travel you can see road signs in Welsh all over Wales. The Welsh language is an old Celtic language which is very different from English.
The Industrial Revolution was another challenge to the language, with mass migration of English speakers into Wales diluting the language and making workplaces bilingual or English. With the legal status of Welsh still inferior to English, English gradually became the default language.
Wales is famous for its stunning scenery, ancient history, and charming language. Wales is known for Mount Snowdon, its tallest mountain, and the most castles per capita in Europe. There are also plenty of famous Welsh men and women, including Roald Dahl, Anthony Hopkins, and believe it or not, Jack Daniels.
Four differing tribes settled in Wales: Demetae and Silures in the south and Deceangli and Ordovices in the north. Each tribe with their own Royal Family, priests and rituals.
• In Wales, 1.8 million people identify only as Welsh (58% of the population) and 218,000 identify as Welsh and British (7% of the population).
The English words "Wales" and "Welsh" derive from the same Old English root (singular Wealh, plural Wēalas), a descendant of Proto-Germanic *Walhaz, which was itself derived from the name of the Gaulish people known to the Romans as Volcae and which came to refer indiscriminately to inhabitants of the Western Roman ...
Perhaps one of the most well-known phrases is 'Tidy', meaning something is fantastic, great, or brilliant.
Cenedl heb iaith, cenedl heb galon. This is one of Wales' most famous proverbs and means 'a nation without a language is a nation without a heart'.
The Welsh language has influenced the way many people speak English. That influence is strongest on the west side of Wales, where the language is still widely spoken. Further east, the accents of nearby areas of England - including Merseyside and Bristol - may have affected the way we speak.
As an emblem, the red dragon (Welsh: Y Ddraig Goch) of Wales has been used since the reign of Cadwaladr, King of Gwynedd from around 655AD and is present on the national flag of Wales, which became an official flag in 1959.
“Welsh is one of the toughest Western European languages to master and is even harder than Swahili, it has been claimed in a new study. … And at 1,040 hours, learning Welsh takes nearly double the time than it does to become fluent in French, which at 550 hours is one of the easiest of languages examined.”
They wanted to improve their lives, try new working practices, or have adventures in different lands. Many people left Wales and took traditional Welsh industrial skills with them. Some helped create continuing economic success in the countries they moved to. Some made huge fortunes, finding fame.
The highest numbers of Welsh speakers are found in Cardiff (101,800) and Carmarthenshire (93,400). The lowest numbers of Welsh speakers are in Blaenau Gwent (9,700) and Merthyr Tydfil (11,200). The highest percentages of Welsh speakers can be found in Gwynedd (75.5%) and the Isle of Anglesey (63.3%).
Welsh is one of the oldest languages in Europe.
It evolved from Brythonic, the main language spoken in Wales, England and Southern Scotland when the Romans invaded in 43AD. Welsh began to emerge as a distinctive language sometime between 400 and 700 AD – early Welsh poetry survives from this period.