Why cant English people pronounce Welsh place names properly?

Pure ignorance!


Fe godwn ni eto Lloegr!Dydy ni ddim yn eich cadwynau ddim rhagor,fe godwn ni eto!


Cymru am byth!

Why cant English people pronounce Welsh place names properly?
Its not ignorance. The Welsh actually have been saying it wrong since the beginning.
Reply:Get over it!
Reply:No average English person wishes to visit let alone pronounce stupid names, close the Severn Bridge and Cardiff Airport I say, get a life, even Phil Dirtbox who we all know has problems had the sense to escape to London If you can call the English ignorant as that is your opinion without yahoo violating your question, then I can reply that I consider that the Welsh are one chromosome short of chromagnum man as that is my opinion.
Reply:It isn't a problem specific to Welsh, the same applies to all other languages and it is not limited only to English people. It is a fault common to English speakers in general.





Most English speakers get by perfectly well in English wherever they go so they never learn other languages and don't have any experience at trying to pronounce "foreign" words. At the same time a huge variation in pronunciation is tolerated in English in a way that is not acceptable in most other languages. Think of the hugely differing accents just in England not to mention the rest of the world. As it isn't terribly important in English many anglophones find it impossible to understand why it should matter in Welsh or any other language.





I live in Belgium and have many English friends who are quite fluent in French, Dutch and other languages, but many still don't get the pronunciation right and some of them are professional linguists. Once they have seen a word written down then, irrespective of the pronunciation rules of that language, they are going to treat it as if it were an English word. An added problem is the lack of diacritic marks or accents over letters in English. Most English speaking people just don't recognise them and carry on as if they didn't exist. Thus 茅, 枚, 氓 and 盲 are treated as if they were e, o, a and a.





That is the neutral explanation, but it has to be added that cultural imperialism and arrogance do play a part as well. Why do so many fail to correct themselves even when their mispronunciation is pointed out to them? A bad attitude I'm afraid.
Reply:We are only used to civilised words.


England for ever.
Reply:Some interesting responses posted, though I'm not sure our fluffy geneticist is necessarily on the right track. Pure ignorance is perhaps closer the mark (though also a little harsh I think). The answer, of course, is that many Welsh place names rightly have their root in the Welsh language. Like any language, you need to understand its rules, and this takes study or, if you are lucky enough, a protracted period of exposure. In addition, there is also the point about muscle memory. To form different sounds the muscles in your mouth and throat need to work in a variety of combinations. Combinations that simply don't exist in your first language, will prove very difficult to perform without practice. Just as any other physical act, you need to work your muscles to improve performance. It is for this reason that you will find most multilingual people capable of rapid and accurate pronunciation of previously unknown languages. Unfortunately, most English speakers are monoglot. It is indeed a shame that Britain as a whole has not capitalized on the wealth of culture and learning it already has captured within its own native languages - some of which could lay strong claim to being the true 'British'.