The Straight Dope

Go Back   Straight Dope Message Board > Main > General Questions

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 01-19-2009, 12:06 AM
Northern Piper Northern Piper is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Jun 1999
Location: The Glitter Palace
Posts: 14,524
Welsh speaking Dopers - Help Me Sing Ar Hyd y Nos

So I would like to be able to sng the first verse of Ar Hyd y Nos:

Holl amrantau'r sêr ddywedant
Ar hyd y nos
Dyma'r ffordd i fro gogoniant
Ar hyd y nos.
Golau arall yw tywyllwch
I arddangos gwir prydferthwch
Teulu'r nefoedd mewn tawelwch
Ar hyd y nos.

Can any Welsh speaking Dopers help me with a phoenetic pronunciation? I've fornd a few Youtubes of people singing in the song but it goes by too fast for me.

Thanks!
Reply With Quote
Advertisements  
  #2  
Old 01-19-2009, 12:16 AM
Northern Piper Northern Piper is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Jun 1999
Location: The Glitter Palace
Posts: 14,524
and if I can't learn to sng it, at the very least I'd like to be able to sing it...
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 01-19-2009, 12:40 AM
Cat Jones Cat Jones is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Don't have time right now but I'll PM you later
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 01-19-2009, 12:31 PM
Cat Jones Cat Jones is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
PM sent - try this lass, native Welsh speaker for a model Meinir Gwilym.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 01-19-2009, 02:16 PM
fandango fandango is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Quote:
Originally Posted by Northern Piper View Post
So I would like to be able to sng the first verse of Ar Hyd y Nos:

Holl amrantau'r sêr ddywedant
Ar hyd y nos
Dyma'r ffordd i fro gogoniant
Ar hyd y nos.
Golau arall yw tywyllwch
I arddangos gwir prydferthwch
Teulu'r nefoedd mewn tawelwch
Ar hyd y nos.

Can any Welsh speaking Dopers help me with a phoenetic pronunciation? I've fornd a few Youtubes of people singing in the song but it goes by too fast for me.

Thanks!
Okay, I'll give it a shot, but I need to provide a key:
You know how to pronounce the Welsh double-L, right?
OK then.
Key :
LL = welsh double-L
DH = th in "this"
TH = th in "thin"
CH = ch in Scottish "loch"

HoLL amrantai'r saer DHywedant
Ar hud uh nos
Dumar forDH i vro gogoniant
Ar hud uh nos.
Golai araLL ew tywyLLwCH
I arDHangos gwir prudverTHooCH
Taileer nevoeDH mewn tawelooCH
Ar hud uh nos.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 01-19-2009, 02:38 PM
Dr. Drake Dr. Drake is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Quote:
Originally Posted by Northern Piper View Post
Holl amrantau'r sêr ddywedant
Ar hyd y nos
Dyma'r ffordd i fro gogoniant
Ar hyd y nos.
Golau arall yw tywyllwch
I arddangos gwir prydferthwch
Teulu'r nefoedd mewn tawelwch
Ar hyd y nos.
I, too, have pm'd, but just to add my 2¢:

Ar hyd y nos: the two [y]s are different. "Are heed uh nohss" would be closer, with rolled [r]s.
Dummar forthe i vroh go-góhn-yant
Gólay araLL iw tuh wúhLL ookh: this is harder. "Yw" is a diphthong, like "it'll do" without any of the consonants: i-oo, in one sound.
ee ar thán gohss gweer pruhd vérth ookh
táy leer név oythe mewn tau él ookhThe [ew] is another diphthong, like "Ex Foo" without the consonants. "Oedd" has the voiced (soft) th, as in English than.

Final [h]s to indicate long English vowels, not a /h/ sound.

Last edited by Dr. Drake; 01-19-2009 at 02:39 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 01-19-2009, 02:52 PM
Annie-Xmas Annie-Xmas is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 28,531
Might one of your nice Welsh People provide an English translation?

Last edited by Annie-Xmas; 01-19-2009 at 02:53 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 01-19-2009, 02:55 PM
yabob yabob is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,992
The quoted wiki article has a translation.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 01-19-2009, 02:59 PM
Annie-Xmas Annie-Xmas is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 28,531
I meant a literal English translation. I doubt that both the English and Welsh versions used to sing the song just coincidentally happen to rhyme.

Last edited by Annie-Xmas; 01-19-2009 at 03:00 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 01-19-2009, 03:10 PM
Dr. Drake Dr. Drake is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Quote:
Originally Posted by yabob View Post
The quoted wiki article has a translation.
That's not a translation, it's merely the English version. A more literal translation of the verse quoted (done rather on the fly, I'm afraid) would be:

Holl amrantau'r sêr ddywedant
All the twinkling stars* are saying
Ar hyd y nos
All night long
Dyma'r ffordd i fro gogoniant
Here's the road to the land of glory
Ar hyd y nos.
All night long
Golau arall yw tywyllwch
Darkness is another light
I arddangos gwir prydferthwch
To exhibit true beauty
Teulu'r nefoedd mewn tawelwch**
The family of the heavens (Heavenly family?) in the quiet
Ar hyd y nos.
All night long.

*Still more literally this is "stars' eyelids," but the word for "eyelid" has given words for "doze" and "twinkle," so you'll forgive the poetic license here.
** Lit., "in a quietude," but that doesn't work in English.

A lot of Welsh hymns have English versions whose lyrics are loose verse adaptations rather than direct translations, standard practice for Victorian hymn translators.

Last edited by Dr. Drake; 01-19-2009 at 03:11 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 01-19-2009, 03:16 PM
Dr. Drake Dr. Drake is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Incidentally, Wikipedia has a typo: prydferthwch should undergo soft mutation if it follows its adjective, so it should be gwir brydferthwch and pronounced accordingly. A quick google search on both confirms: i arddangos gwir brydferthwch 353 hits, i arddangos gwir prydferthwch only 3 including Wikipedia.
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 01-20-2009, 08:34 AM
chique chique is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Feb 2000
Would any of you nice Welsh speakers like to provide a phonetic translation in the thread instead of via PM? I have no idea how to pronounce fandango's "tywyLLwCH".
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 01-20-2009, 03:52 PM
Cat Jones Cat Jones is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
tuwuLLooch - to make the LL curl your tongue up so the underside of the tip touches the roo of your mouth and send the air out either side of your tongue.

THe rest of fandango's post seems straight forward - altho' for musical/dramatic purposes the title, refrain is closer to "Are heed uh norse" - remember the "o" sounds are like "top".
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:55 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.3
Copyright ©2000 - 2013, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.

Send questions for Cecil Adams to: cecil@chicagoreader.com

Send comments about this website to: webmaster@straightdope.com

Terms of Use / Privacy Policy

Advertise on the Straight Dope!
(Your direct line to thousands of the smartest, hippest people on the planet, plus a few total dipsticks.)

Publishers - interested in subscribing to the Straight Dope?
Write to: sdsubscriptions@chicagoreader.com.

Copyright © 2013 Sun-Times Media, LLC.