Well, from what I know (and that’s not a great deal, I’ll be honest), those are just guidelines - they’re not going to be identical for every baby, and some will develop different sounds at different times to other kids. I’d also hazard a guess and say that vowel sounds would be easier to produce than consonants.
1 Like
Isn’t is Slovene part of the Slavic language family?
I managed to get them through a big web based book store 
1 Like
Officially yes but latest writings suggest to be something different. Well, I’d have to dive into “ancient” Slovene though as it was quite different from what we’re using now.
1 Like
Shwmae unwaith eto @Mererid ,
Mae gen i cwestiwn bach arall rŵan. Mae o’n sut bynnag efallau rhy fach i’r blog.
I have another question now. However, it’s probably too small for the blog.
It’s about the use of the “yw” form of bod. As a learner of the Northern courses, I’d got the impression this was a southern usage only.
However, I’m now wondering whether it’s more “southern” and (so-called) “standard”.
I was quite surprised to see it in the title of the book “Hi yw fy ffrind”, since as far as I know Bethan Gwanas is from the north, and those books of hers I have read are mostly in northern dialect except for some characters who are obviously southern speakers.
So are there cases when northern speakers will use it (either in writing or in speech)?
Diolch o flaen llaw! 
Well, I shall have a look then! There’s an excellent antique/rare book shop in Aberystwyth and it has an excellent section full of currently published and out-of-print books to do with Welsh language studies. I picked up a book from there last week called ‘Welsh Word Formation’. It was £40 but it was too interesting to leave behind on the shelf, so i bought it as a birthday present for myself! I’m particularly interested in the Latin-Welsh connection, so I really appreciate your book recommendations and I’m glad that I mentioned etymology or I would never have known about those books, so diolch yn fawr iawn!
2 Likes
Funnily enough, I was searching yesterday for exactly this. I remember reading not long ago about how the word for ‘mum’ is similar in many languages.
It got me thinking of how we often make an ‘mmm’ sound, even as adults, when we say ‘hum’ without the ‘hu’ bit. When considering something we say ‘mmm’. When agreeing with something, we might make and ‘mmm’ sound before opening our mouths to speak, when something is tasty, we say ‘mmm’. It is the most effort-less and natural sound for us to make without opening our mouths but we’re still communicating without words. No wonder babies start with this mmm sound and then go to add a vowel ‘ma’. Thanks for bringing this up @henddraig
Mae hwn yn bwynt gwych - this is a fantastic point. Diolch!
I remember learning ‘da’ and already could say ‘mama’, so I’d disagree!!! Oh, OK, I suppose mothers tend to say .Ma. a lot!!..so maybe it’s just copying, but mine was very keen to teach me ‘dada’ because he was in the far east!!!
1 Like
Fair enough - just repeating what I’ve read. I’d make a guess that they’re just basing that on averages anyway…I’d assume it would be different for all kids. 
Thinking about it, feedback will kick in too!!
If a child ‘says’ something meaningful to listener, excellent feedback, if it is listener’s name (Mama or Tada or Dada), absolutely joyful feedback!! Some use ‘Papa’, some ‘Dad’, some ‘Tada’… as far as I know, ‘Mam, Mum, Mama, Mummy…’ are pretty universal. (OK M mutates to f but not in direct address)… so reinforcement of feedback to ‘m’ will be pretty universal too!! Whereas ‘dada’ less so!!
1 Like
Yes, that’s very true. Because it’s the adults that give meaning to the sounds a baby makes. In the beginning, they’re just experimenting, but when something they say gets a reaction, they’ll say it more often.
Mereid,
This complete beginner has just checked out your a/ac blog page.
You explain it so clearly - da iawn!
Diolch yn fawr!
Baruch
3 Likes
Diolch yn fawr for your response! I really appreciate your kind words. I’m so pleased that you found it to be clear. Did you read the previous blog post about the difference between 'y, yr an ‘r’ (The 3 Ways to Say ‘The’ in Welsh)? It might be useful for you as a beginner. Here’s a link to the blog home page: http://www.letstalkwelsh.com/#!blog/c3s
If there’s anything you’d like me to explain in a future blog post, please let me know.
Good luck with your Welsh adventures! You’re in the right place here on SSiW!
Hwyl,
Mer
2 Likes
I came across another way of saying ‘and’ this morning. It was ‘Ag’ When and where would you use this form?
Bore da!
Good spot!
This is on my list of blog-spot topics, but I can explain it to you here.
Ag doesn’t mean ‘and’.
Have you come across this little preposition ‘â’ before?
â means ‘with’ or ‘by the means of/by using’.
Ag is what you would say if the next word after â starts with a vowel.
Christmas pudding with brandy sauce
Pwdin Nadolig â saws brandi. (with)
Dw i’n cymysgu’r pwdin Nadolig â llwy bren
I mix the Christmas pudding with ( or using) a wooden spoon.
Ond…but…
When the next word starts with a vowel, the ‘â’ turns into an ‘ag’
Dw i wedi llenwi’r darten ag afalau o’r ardd.
I have filled the tart with apples from the garden.
Rhosyn ag arogl hyfryd
A rose with a lovely aroma
Agora’r drws ag allwedd
Open the door with ( or by using) a key ( or ‘goriad’ in some places)
Coffi ag amaretto - A coffee with amaretto (in it)
Ga i dalu ag arian parod? - May I pay by/with cash?
cash = arian parod, literally ‘ready money’
There are always exceptions, and so on, but I hope that gives you a better idea of what this ‘ag’ is all about.
Hwyl! Mererid
3 Likes
Has anyone mentioned ‘Welsh Roots and Branches’ yet? A fascinating collection of Welsh words grouped by their stem, so for example the gweld page goes through gwelediad (appearance), gweledig (visible) and so on, through to cydweld (agree with) and cyfweld (interview), and all the words deriving from those, then ymweld (to visit) and so on. These ones seem quite logical, but there are lots where I had no clue of the derivation, like gorwel (horizon). It gives some useful phrases too, like ‘gweld lygad yn llygad’ (to see eye to eye).
5 Likes
Diolch Mererid, Fy nghymraeg is basic at best at the moment, I saw it on a sign which said ‘Paidiwch ag yfed a gyrru’ which i guess would mean the literal translation would be ‘dont drive with drink’ or something.
On another note I may contact you for some lessons on your website.
2 Likes
Isn’t that literally, ‘ready silver’??? 
It could mean either from what I’m guessing. Arian can be money or silver.
1 Like