Can someone help here?
Having trouble distinguishing sounds.
Dwi wedi dechrau …but then the d is dropped with Dwi newydd echrau? sometimes it sounds to these old ears as if the d is dropped and others as if it is retained.
I am specifically refering to around minute three of challenge three.
Am I hearing it right? And as we are frequently told dont worry about it , if I am correct about dropping d how important is it in conveying the meaning?
The d isn’t dropped, but it is understandable why you hear it that way. newydd softens the following letter, so it turns dechrau into ddechrau:
Dwi newydd ddechrau - I have just started.
So one word ends with the same sound the next one starts, and if spoken quickly the sounds run into one another, making it seem like one of them disappears.
These things happen in English as well, but you are so accustomed to English that you probably don’t notice it anymore. With more exposure you will get to the same point in Cymraeg, I promise!
So its kind of like in English if I say " No I am not" I vocalize the T at the end of Not. But if I said " not talking" the T at the end of not becomes more of a stop and is carried over to talk where it is clearly vocalized?
Brings to mind a funny song and a play on words. If My Nose Was Running Money and the singer goes on “if my nose was running money buts its not” is meant to sound like " if my nose was running money but its snot"
Exactly that George - and, fair play, “it’s not” and “it’s snot” is the very best example of ‘blending’ in English I’ve heard! 