I have a bit of a soft spot for words about words – so it’s no surprise that I’m so fond of the Welsh adjective llafar.
The Welsh word llafar is best translated as spoken and can refer to something done orally, vocally, or verbally. When describing speech, it often means colloquial. In older usage, it could even imply loudness.
llafar
spoken
In general, llafar captures the essence of a living, breathing language. It’s a beautiful word to have in your vocabulary, offering insight into how Welsh speakers perceive their language and the balance between tradition and modernity, written and spoken forms, and formal and informal registers of y Gymraeg (Welsh).
In Middle Welsh, it was spelt llauar, and if you trace it all the way back, it comes from the proto-Celtic word *llabaros, meaning talkative. This means it has cousins in almost all of the Celtic languages. Where *llabaros comes from is unknown – it could even be onomatopoeic, intended to represent the sound of someone blabbering.
Since this word is both old and useful, it’s ended up with a surprising number of words derived from it, too:
- lleferydd / llafaredd = speech
- cyflafar = harmonious
- aflafar = discordant
- llafarog / llafarol / llafaredig = synonyms of llafar
- llafariad = a vowel
- llafarsain = a sound of speech or vocal music
- llafarganu = to chant
- llefaru = to speak, express or enunciate
But more important than any of these is the short phrase ar lafar. This is the adverb form of llafar which means either orally, as in a piece of work being presented orally, or colloquially.
Notice in this phrase that llafar has become lafar. This is because ar is one of the prepositions that cause a soft mutation.
Soft mutation
lafar
Nasal mutation
N/A
Aspirate mutation
N/A
And as you can see, the soft mutation is the only one that llafar responds to.
Also interesting about this phrase is that most adverbs in Welsh are formed by joining the adjective to the word yn, but this one uses ar instead. This is because llafar is technically not only an adjective, but also a masculine noun. Still, it’s only really used as such within the context of ar lafar.
So, if you learn a new Welsh word and your tutor tells you it’s mostly used ar lafar, that means that it’s used in everyday speech, rather than in formal writing. Another term using this construction is ar lafar gwlad, literally on the speech of the country. It’s synonymous with ar lafar, meaning by word of mouth or colloquially, but it’s just a little bit more poetic!
But as I mentioned, llafar is also used much more simply just to mean that something is verbal or spoken. For example, the old Welsh word for ‘talkies’, the first films to have sound, was ffilmau llafar.
Dwi’m yn cytuno, ond i bob barn ei llafar.
I don’t agree, but everyone is entitled to speak their opinion.
And any kind of spoken assessment done during ysgol (school), prifysgol
(university) or yn y gwaith (in the workplace) is called an arholiad llafar.
If you went to high school in the UK in recent years, you’ll probably remember having to do a cyflwyniad llafar unigol (individual spoken presentation) for your TGAU (GCSE) in Saesneg (English). If you go to high school in Wales, you have to do it in Cymraeg, too!
This is even the case for students in addysg iaith Saesneg (English-medium education) in Wales. In fact, I knew a girl at university who was from Wales, and despite not having spoken the iaith (language) at home or in school, she remembered a lot of ymadroddion (phrases) from her arholiad llafar.
We even managed to have a few short sgyrsiau (conversations) in Welsh, and I believe her memories of using y gair llafar (the spoken word) played a big role in that. There’s a strong argument that having to siarad (speak) aloud and use your llais (voice) makes you more likely to retain elements of a language.
There’s a strong distinction in Welsh linguistics between Cymraeg llenyddol (literary Welsh) and Cymraeg llafar (colloquial Welsh).
As you can probably guess, Cymraeg llafar is called this because it’s generally spoken as opposed to written – although in the modern age of ebost (email) and tecstio (texting), colloquial and even very informal language is often produced mewn ysgrifen (in written form).
And indeed, you could speak Cymraeg llenyddol aloud, perhaps if you were reciting a cerdd (poem) or making an araith (speech).
Mae Cymraeg llafar yn amrywio llawer ar hyd y wlad.
Colloquial Welsh varies a lot throughout the country.
Cymraeg llenyddol is generally found in historical documents. Today, it almost solely turns up in poetic or religious writing. Only in the most formal of contexts would it show up otherwise.
Cymraeg llafar is the form we use to communicate with each other in our daily lives, and the form that ordinary Welsh people would have spoken to each other hundreds of years ago, when Welsh was the default language of Wales.
It’s less formal than Cymraeg llenyddol by default, but there are still formal and informal registers of Cymraeg llafar. It’s not rude or incorrect to speak using this register of Welsh – it’s normal, whether you’re talking to your best friend or your boss. You just have to remember to use the right level of formality within it!
Did you know that whenever you speak Welsh with a friend, or even practice in our We Learn Welsh Facebook group, you’re helping keep Cymraeg llafar alive? When you think about it like that, it’s definitely something to be proud of.
