I´m having difficulty hearing where the stress falls when speakers use words like - gwna, na wna; wnes i, wnes i ddim - I assumed the stress would be on the first syllable (of the verb element), but sometimes, I think I hear it on the second syllable! Is this because my hearing is poor - and it is - I´m getting on a bit; or is it because w is a kind of semi vowel. Is there a rule I can learn and follow? I love following the rules!
Robert is confused. Please help.
The ‘w’ in the words you’ve mentioned often isn’t pronounced at all, so gwna sounds like “na” as the ‘g’ tends to be dropped in everyday speech as well. If the ‘g’ is there, then it sounds like “g’na” with the stress on ‘na’.
na wna sounds a bit like “na na” with just a slight ‘w’ sound in the middle, but again with the stress on ‘na’.
wnes i and wnes i ddim both just sound like “nes” - no “w” sound there at all.
So basically they are behaving like one-syllable words.
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Thank you Deborah, that helps a lot. I´ll try not to bother you too much with my nit picking! Regards from Robert.
Questions are always welcome - big or small. Often it’s those ‘little’ things that niggle away at you, so ask away 