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I'm always interested when issues of #Welsh language reach 'mainstream' UK outlets.

Welsh government has been slow to act in this area. A change in policy would cost little but could protect our cultural heritage.

#Cymraeg #Cymru

theconversation.com/welsh-placโ€ฆ?

News article titled "Welsh place names are being erased, and so are the stories they tell" Picture is of a stone waymarker with "Yr Wyddfa Snowdon" on it

Welsh place names are being erased โ€“ and so are the stories they tell

Welsh place names often reflect local legends, fauna and topography. The coining of English names to replace them has sparked an ongoing campaign to protect them.
The Conversation
#cymru #cymraeg #welsh
in reply to David Clubb

Rita Singer
Rita Singer
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Since 2018, WG have funded the work of the Welsh Place Names Officer to compile a list of historic place names and advise on naming historic and new places to great success. But as ever, his stellar work and his successes are entirely ignored. historicplacenames.rcahmw.gov.โ€ฆ

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The List of Historic Place Names of Wales is a groundbreaking and innovative resource that contains hundreds of thousands of place names collected from historical maps and other sources.
historicplacenames.rcahmw.gov.uk
in reply to Rita Singer

David Clubb
David Clubb
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@_bydbach_ diolch Rita. An important resource which I wasn't aware of, but I'd like to see more protection for historic names
@Rita Singer
in reply to David Clubb

Rita Singer
Rita Singer
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Legislation will be really tricky because which historic spelling are we going to protect? Like will we use the 1975 spelling of Dolgellau or revert back to Dolgelley (which reflects actual pronunciation)? Will we erase a historic English name for a property/building in favour of a modern Welsh name? Can I as a German immigrant give my house (which has a number) a German name, reflecting modern immigration history in Wales?
in reply to Rita Singer

David Clubb
David Clubb
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@_bydbach_ I'd say 1900, but I take the point! And I have named my house (a Welsh name) where it previously didn't have one, so that's arguably the same issue in reverse
@Rita Singer
in reply to David Clubb

Rita Singer
Rita Singer
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I think based on conversations with the Welsh Place Names Officer, we should give people the benefit of the doubt to make the right decision. More properties get Welsh names, than have them taken off. And the OS *does* record most of Welsh names properly. On the whole, people are good. Not a lot of the public conversation around Welsh place names reflects that.
in reply to David Clubb

Rita Singer
Rita Singer
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Entirely by coincidence, this just crossed my wake. eventbrite.co.uk/e/cpat-winterโ€ฆ

CPAT Winter Lectures - Collecting Welsh Place Names

A talk on the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales' (RCAHMW) project recording the place names of Wales
Eventbrite

David Clubb reshared this.

in reply to David Clubb

CeffylTewHarry
CeffylTewHarry
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Sadly they rarely seem to be positive stories about the Welsh language. It's usually mistranslation or its erasure from the world. :(
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