Aahoshee y sheshaght chiaullee pobble Bangor riyr lesh condughteyr noa – darree ain shenn condughteyr dys Cardiff kegeesh er dy henney dy ve rish e leggad. Ta ain condughteyr noa stiurey sheshaght chiaullee elley ayn Abergele, as t’ee cummal eddyr ayns shid as ayns shoh ayn Deganwy. Ghow shin arraneyn noa, as arrane ta shin oayllagh rish, as t’eh yindyssagh dy ve goaill arrane ayns possan mooar reesht. Er lhiam dy vee ee condughteyr mie.
The Bangor community choir started again last night with a new conductor – our old conductor moved to Cardiff a fortnight ago to be with her partner. Our new conductor leads another choir in Abergelle, and she lives between there and here in Deganwy. We sang some new songs, and a song we knew, and it’s great to be singing in a large group again. I think she’ll be a good conductor.
Va dramane ayn feie’n laa jea, as va leaumyn ayn chammah. ‘Sy voghrey ren mee arran. ‘Syn ‘astyr hie mee er son baarey fuilt, ren mee fuinney yn arran, as ren mee shuilgey smeir as ooylyn as ren mee broie ad ry-cheilley. Ren mee beggan obbyr as cliaghtey chiaullee chammah.
It drizzled all day yesterday, and there were some heavy showers as well. In the morning I made some bread. In the afternoon I had my hair cut, I baked the bread, and I picked some blackberries and apples and stewed them together. I also did a bit of work and music practice.
Cha haghyr monney jea – ren mee beggan obbyr, ren mee cliaghtey ymmodee greieyn-kiaull, as ‘syn oie hie mee dys thie oast Greagagh er son y possan coloayrtys yl-çhengagh. Agh dy meeaighar cha daink sleih erbee elley, myr shen haink mee dy valley lurg lieh oor.
Not much happened yesterday – I did a bit of work, I practised various instruments, and in the evening I went to the Greek taverna for the polyglot conversation group. Unfortunately nobody else turned up though, so I came home after half an hour.
On my train back from London on Sunday evening the train manager started someone of his announcements Welsh. For example he said, “Croeso, welcome to this train”, and when checking tickets he said, “Diolch yn fawr, thank you very much” to everyone. I think this was the first time I’d heard Welsh being used on a train, so it caught my attention. I think that announcements on trains and stations in South Wales are usually in Welsh and English, but I had never heard them any elsewhere. The departures board in London Euston also listed the final destination of the trains as ‘Holyhead Caergybi’.
In Wales most signs are bilingual, as is printed material produced by public bodies. In Gaelic-speaking parts of Scotland some signs are bilingual and token amounts of Gaelic can be heard on ferries and sometimes elsewhere. The situation is similar with Manx in the Isle of Man. In Ireland many signs and notices are bilingual, but not much Irish is to be heard on public transport.
In other regions where minority languages are spoken, how visible / audible are the languages?
Hannee mee ayns Lunnin oie Jesarn, as moghrey jea ren mee rouail mygeayrt Lunnin. Hie mee dys Covent Garden er y traen fo-halloo, agh Cha row red erbee taghyrt ayns shen. Myr shen hooil mee dys Kerrin Trafalger, rish y Mall, as shaghey Plaasagh Buckingham. Va ratçh daawheeyl ayn – paart jeh triathalon. Eisht hooil mee trooid Pairk Noo Jamys as dys awin Thames. Hooil mee rish yn awin dys Droghad Toor ny yei shen, as dee mee kirbil. Haghyr mee er carrjyn voish Kior Pobble Bangor ayns shen as hie shin dys thie bee ry-cheilley.
Eisht ghow olteynyn y kior arrane rish olteynyn ram kioryn elley voish Sostyn, Nablin, Vretin Veg as Nerin – va mysh queig cheead jeu ayn, er lhiam, er son airgid y hroggal son WaterAid. Ny bleeantyn roish shen ghow mysh arrane roo hammah, agh mleeaney ren mee reaghey dy ve ‘syn lught eaishtagh, as v’eh yindyssagh.
I stayed in London on Saturday night, and yesterday morning I went for a wander around London. I got the tube to Covent Garden, but there wasn’t much happening there. So I walked to Trafalgar Square, along the Mall and by Buckingham Palace. There was a cycle race happening – part of a triathlon. Then I walked through St Jame’s Park and to the Thames. I walked along the river to Tower Bridge after that, and had some lunch. I bumped into friends from the Bangor Community Choir and we went to a café together.
Then the members of the choir, along with members of many other choirs from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland – there were about 500 of them, I think – sang in order to raise money for WaterAid. In previous years I have sung with them as well, but this year I decided to be in the audience, and it was wonderful.
Hie mee dys Lunnin jea dys cur shilley er my vraar, my ven vraarey as m’inneen vraarey. T’ad cummal ayns arasane faggys da Droghad Lunnin as Margey Borough, agh t’ad smooinaghtyn er arraghey, as t’ad jeeaghyn er thieyn ayns Devon as ‘syn Chorn. T’ad goaill taitnys as shiaulley as by vie lhieu cummal faggys da’n cheayn.
Ansherbee, daag mee Bangor mysh leih oor lurg nuy as haink mee Lunnin mysh leih oor lurg munlaa. Hie mee dys my thie oast faggys da stashoon King’s Cross, as dys arasane my vraar ny yei shen. Dee shin kirbyl ayns shen – braddan, reise as sallaid – as haink mee ny quail rish m’inneen vraarey er yn chied cheayrt. T’ee queig meeghyn d’eash as t’ee eunyssagh.
I went to London yesterday to visit my brother, sister-in-law and niece. They live in a flat near London Bridge and Borough Market, but are thinking of moving, and are looking at houses in Devon and Cornwall. They enjoy sailing and would like to live near the sea.
Anyway, I left Bangor at about half nine and arrived in London at about half tweleve. I went to my hotel close to King’s Cross station, and to my brother’s flat after that. We ate lunch there – salmon, rice and salad – and I met my niece for the first time. She’s five months old and is delightful.
Riyr ghow mee arrane ‘syn sheshaght chiaullee corragh. Phrow mee ynsaghey ny sleih elley m’arrane mychione foillanyn as spollagyn (Spollagyn son tey), as ghow shin arraneyn eigsoylagh elley. Ta shin cur cochiaull er arraneyn dy mie er enney, as ta shin lhiassaghey arraneyn jeh hene, as ta bun feeamyn ny focklyn gyn tort, ny cooishyn cadjin rish ny arraneyn shen.
Yesterday evening I sang in the crazy choir. I tried to teach the others my song about seagulls and chips (Chips for tea), and we sang various other songs. We add harmonies to well-known songs, and also make up songs, which are based on random sounds and words, or everyday events.
I listened to an interesting programme of BBC Radio 4 this morning in which there was discussion of some of the new words that have entered the English language recently. One such word is the verb to be bangalored, which is defined on WiseGeek as follows: “To be Bangalored is to be unceremoniously replaced when one’s job is sent overseas.” Bangalore (ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು), the capital of Karnataka State in southern India, is one of the centres of outsourcing.
Another example of a place name being used like this is the expression ‘to be shanghaied’, which Wikipedia defines as ‘the practice of kidnapping men to serve as sailors by coercive techniques such as trickery, intimidation, or violence. Those engaged in this form of kidnapping were known as crimps.’ The verb ‘to shanghai’ was used from the 1850s and was a result of Shanghai being a common destination for ships with shanghaied crews.
On the programme they commented that there aren’t many place names that are used in this way. Can you think of any others, in English or other languages?
If your home town / current place of residence were to be used as a verb, what kind of action might it describe?
What could ‘to bangor’ or ‘to be bangored’ mean, I wonder? The latter might refer to the state one achieves after imbibing too many intoxicating beverages – e.g. he was completed bangored last night.
I will be londoning (visiting London) this weekend, and then rebangoring (returning to Bangor).