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This
week, Monday 2 June, in the company of humourist David Jandrell, author
of such bestselling local titles as Welsh Valleys Humour, a packed
audience listened to homely examples of the Valleys dialect being
elevated to dictionary definition. English terms familiar to us all,
like “bopa”, “cwtch”, “butt”, “jiw!” and “come by ‘ere” are included in
a new book by Cardiff author Robert Lewis: Wenglish, The Dialect of the
South Wales Valleys. Published by Y Lolfa in dictionary-format, this
title combines the practical qualities of a reference book –
alphabetical glossary, dialogue examples, grammar, exercises and all –
with a general introduction to the social and geographical context of
how we speak across the south Wales Valleys. And it’s not just those
familiar terms that are explored here. Alongside oddities like
“icelider” for a “custard slice” are loans from Welsh like “diran” for
“past its best”, and geographically-isolated strange pronunciations
such as “hool” for “whole”. Fans of writer Rachel Trezise’s literary
codifications of Valleys’ underlife speech will also be happy to
discover her coining of “gorrw”, “gerrin!” and “egsackly” have been
approved by linguistic specialists.
 Author Robert
Lewis is an impressive linguist, fluent in a dozen languages and
dialects, including Afrikaans, Breton and Urdu. He said,
“I was born and raised in the Swansea Valley and grew up hearing western forms of Wenglish and Gwenhwyseg, the south-eastern dialect of Welsh. Writing this book has let me combine my personal background with an academic interest in how people speak. Wenglish has a lot of playful touches that the audience certainly enjoyed at the launch, including a Wenglish version of Goldilocks!” Robert studied Modern and Medieval Languages at Cambridge, where he became particularly interested in dialects. He worked most recently as Head of Research at Visit Wales; most recently as Head of Research. The book can be purchased from www.y lolfa.com for GBP 9.95 ( $20 approx ) |
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NEWSt Winifred's Wellby John A. ShafferARCHIVE Reviews ArchiveArchived Book ReviewsALSO Our Library on GoogleBooksAn eclectic selection.Madoc Read Robert Southey's Madoc on iPaper. Topical in the wakeof the Madoc Plaque controversy in Mobile Bay.( a fair amount of scrolling is required) What is Anglo-Welsh Literature and Why Should Anyone Care? Read this article on Manuel Marino's Arts Weblog. Our Squidoo Page Anglo-Welsh literature on Squidoo. |
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