WONTED
AN ORFUN
A NORFAN
AN ORPHEN
AN ORFFUN
AN AWPHUN
One of the gang points out that whoever reads this notice is going to think they are illiterate at least. After a prolonged argument, they decide on a plan of action which will sort out the problem. Here is the final version ...
WONTED
AN ORFUN
A NORFAN
AN ORPHEN
AN ORFFUN
AN AWPHUN
WE KNO WITCH IS RITE
As a 10-year-old kid I was pretty impressed with that . I still am.
But ... on to the present day. The truth is, whenever I write in Welsh, I always have the same feeling as they did .. the uneasy feeling that something must be wrong with whatever I have just written.
It's hardly surprising really ... when we learn our first language we learn to understand speech first, then we in turn learn to speak ...then we learn to read... and later, sometimes much later, sometimes never ...we learn to write it down. It's very much the last thing, the trickiest thing, the thing that in the past lots of people never learned to do or needed to do.
So ... no wonder we find it tricky. Writing lays bare all our inadequacies ! All those bits and bobs that we can skim past or get a little bit wrong can often be omitted, ignored or rushed through in the torrent of speech ... but on the page, you can't hide any of your glaring errors, your lack of vocabulary,noun genders, grammar, idioms, prepositions, sentence structures ..... eek ! Also, you don't get much chance to use the same tricks that you can use in conversation .... I've written a lot about those as my regular readers will no doubt know.... in many conversations you can often get away with copying a lot of what they've just said, you can fall back on a load of platitudes and stock replies, and if completely stuck you can change the subject entirely or spout out the words to "Y Teimlad" or run off down the road on the pretext of getting a bus.
So what advice can I give you, dear readers, who wish to write something in Welsh.... what balm can I offer to sooth the troubled mind ?
Well, not a lot ... writing accurate Welsh is difficult, maybe so for many welsh speakers too. All I can say is ....
Keep things simple .
Stick to what you know.
Minimise the use of adjectives, prepositions etc.
Don't go wandering off into obscure tenses.
Check up on the bits you think might be wrong.
Then check up on the bits you think might be right !
Remember. ..correcting your mistakes is a terrific boost to your knowledge.
That's what's called "putting a positive spin on things."
After all that brain work I must have lie down ... back later with some music I expect ...