Welsh accent
| Welsh English | |
|---|---|
| Native to | United Kingdom |
| Region | Wales |
|
Native speakers
|
2.5 million (date missing) |
| Latin (English alphabet) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | None |
Welsh English refers to the dialects of English spoken in Wales by Welsh people. The dialects are significantly influenced by Welsh grammar and often include words derived from Welsh. In addition to the distinctive words and grammar, a variety of accents are found across Wales, including those of north Wales, the Cardiff dialect, the South Wales Valleys and west Wales.
In the east and south east, it has been influenced by West Country dialects due to immigration, while in North Wales, the influence of Merseyside English is becoming increasingly prominent.
Aside from lexical borrowings from Welsh like bach (little, wee), eisteddfod, nain and taid (grandmother and grandfather respectively), there exist distinctive grammatical conventions in vernacular Welsh English. Examples of this include the use by some speakers of the tag question isn't it? regardless of the form of the preceding statement and the placement of the subject and the verb after the predicate for emphasis, e.g. Fed up, I am or Running on Friday, he is.
In South Wales the word "where" may often be expanded to "where to", as in the question, "Where to is your Mam?". The word "butty" ("byti" in Welsh orthography, probably related to "buddy") is used to mean "friend" or "mate"
There is no standard variety of English that is specific to Wales, but such features are readily recognised by Anglophones from the rest of the UK as being from Wales, including the (actually rarely used) phrase look you which is a translation of a Welsh language tag.
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