Welsh orthography facts for kids

The Welsh language is written in a version of the Latin alphabet. It traditionally has of 28 letters, of which eight are digraphs treated as single letters for collation:

a, b, c, ch, d, dd, e, f, ff, g, ng, h, i, (j), l, ll, m, n, o, p, ph, r, rh, s, t, th, u, w, y

The letter "j" is now often included in the alphabet, between "i" and "l", due to its use in several loanwords from English (especially the common surname Jones ). The letters "k", "v", "x" and "z" are used in some technical terms, like kilogram , volt , xeroser and zero , but in all cases can be, and often are, replaced by Welsh letters: cilogram , folt , seroser and sero. The letter "k" was in common use until the 16th century, but was dropped at the time of the publication of the New Testament in Welsh, William Salesbury responding to critics: "C for K, because the printers have not so many as the Welsh requireth". This change was not popular at the time

The most common diacritic is the circumflex, which is used in some cases to mark a long vowel.

Images for kids

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  A 19th century Welsh alphabet printed in Welsh

See also

In Spanish: Ortografía galesa para niños