My dog, a Welsh collie, responds to nol adre, amser te , amser cinio and amser gwely by laying her ears back and going into her run/kennel, 'stedd and gorwedd get the right response if she thinks she might gain something, but the best thing is to ask her when she’s in the kitchen Pwy sy’n dod? and she runs out of the back door and waits by the gate! How does she know? My daughter says it’s because she’s Welsh and is only humouring us by responding to English.
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I did, at one time, have a house and a maisonette. However, the latter was forced upon me by the impracticality of commuting from Gower to London daily!! When I was buying the Gower cottage ready to retire to, my solicitor rang me in a panic because insurance was going to be so expensive! It turned out the words Wales and cottage caused this!! I rang my soon-to-be neighbour, whom I knew well and asked who dealt with her insurance, I rang him and was insured for a reasonable premium in no time!!
If I had been spending every available holiday with an ‘auntie’ in Pen Llyn and spoke some Cymraeg, I am sure that even in 1987, I would have had the same reaction there!!!
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I rather like “mab da” - it’s short, sweet, easy to remember and sort of rolls off the tongue! Pronounciation: is it “mabb” or “marb”?
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Yup, it’s not simple and I understand your necessity. I suppose the thing that concerns me is that I know quite a few people with second homes in N Wales and while I respect their right to do that, it can’t be good that those houses stand empty for much of the year. And while it probably brings income into the area, it also jacks up the house prices. Like any rural area, it’s jobs and a hope of some sort of future thst stops the young draining away and maybe part of that hope is the chance of a home. How do you bring that about? 'S gen i ddim syniad😗
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Ymm!! Pwynt da. Dw i 'n deud fel ‘mabb’ ond ella mae o’n deud fel ‘marb’. Rhaid i mi gwirio efo fy cymdogion (mae nhw iaith cyntaf Cymraeg) a dwad yn ol i chi.
My Jack Russell, Bill, doesn’t respond to orders in English or Welsh. If told to stop, wait, or aros for me he will simply walk a little slower, looking over his shoulder, but heaven forbade that HE should have to actually submit to my command. However, if it’s urgent that he stop, and I shout ‘biscuit’ he can stop on a sixpence!
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I adore that!!! 
Unfortunately, my current canine isn’t as food-oriented as some!!!
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Plus it’s well known that pets read their owner’s minds!
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Ha! They control your mind, you just don’t know it.
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Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. 
S’mae Gavin,
Dw i’n gwirio sut dach chi deud ‘Mab’ neithiwr efo fy twtor, Martyn, yn y ‘Countdown Cymraeg’ yng Nghricieth (Roedd o llawer o hwyl!!. Mae yr anfon ‘Marb’ felly rhaid i mi trio i ddeud o cywir yn y dyfodol!!
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S’mae John
Diolch i hwn, but I’m afraid my reading of Cymraeg is utterly hopeless. Consequently, dwi ddim wedi deall, beth naairs-ti ddweud. (excuse any phonetic spellings!)
I’ve been trying to religiously follow the SSi “rule” of learning by sound only. So although I feel I have made good progress in “siarad”, the sight of written Welsh still frightens the living daylights out of me and has me reaching for the smelling salts!
Perhaps learning to read simple Welsh will be my next project…
Pob hwyl, Gavin
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Used to frighten me too Gavin, even though theoretically I knew the main phonetic rules of the spelling. Still does occasionally, but it does gradually get easier over time.
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Thanks Mike, but I’m still interested in what you had to say in your posting. Would you mind repeating it in Saesneg, plis? Diolch!
Sorry Mike, my last posting was intended for John Sowerby - I must have had a Senior Moment! Thanks for your words of encouragement about written Cymraeg!
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S’mae Gavin,
I’ve just logged in after a very long break,nearly two years!!, and discovered that I have a message from you to which I haven’t replied. Profuse apologies for this. I hope you’re making good progress with Welsh.
You asked for a translation of my last message to you:-
"I checked how to say ‘Mab’ yesterday evening with my tutor, Martyn, at the ‘Countdown Cymraeg’ in Cricieth (It was lots of fun!!). The answer is ‘Marb’ so I must try to say it correctly in the future!!
Hwyl am a tro,
John
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Croeso nol /welcome back, John. I hope you soon get back in the swing of learning or improving your Welsh.
I note that you and many others insert an “r” when you want to indicate a long “a” in a word.
My Derbyshire wife and I often discuss (i.e. furiously argue about) the pronunciation of “bath”. She usually tells me that there’s no “r” in bath. (i) My retort is that, from a Welshman brought up in Scotland, any “r” in bath would come out loud and clear - a bit like a low-revving motorbike. 
(i) When she gets really heated about it, she adds “but there is in a*se” _
Unfortnately, I can’t offer an alternative for indicating a long “a” except with phonetic symbols (which I don’t know). Even the “aa” in biblical names like “Aaron” and “Baal” are not pronounced consistently. 
Any other ideas?
BTW pawb - Purleeeease don’t start a side thread about how to pronounce “bath” - this forum has done that and been there and I’ve had 39 years of it at home. My post is concerned only with how to indicate the sound of a long a (and welcoming John back to the forum).
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On my ipad, if I press the vowel long enough I get offered ã åāàáâäæ. On the laptop, have to use Welsh character set’ copy and pasteI Māb. But I thought mab was just mab!
I’d tend to use “ah” (since the word “ah” in English (if indeed it is a word) is normally pronounced in an elongated way). But I might stick in an extra “a” as well, which leaves your “Aaron” problem…
Good suggestion, Mike. Diolch