Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch

For my friend Bronwen whose family, and name, are Welsh.

I found a scrap of paper among my gathered writings. From the handwriting and type of lined paper, I will guess that it is pre-college and probably pre-high school. Written on a piece torn from the bottom of a full page, kept for over fifty years, and I can only guess that it captured my imagination in some way when I wrote it down and every time I’ve seen it since.

Just a word, and an abbreviation, and a meaning, all in pencil from a young girl’s hand. I must have read it in a book, gotten it from a newspaper, or perhaps it was in my treasured World Book Encyclopedia. Maybe I was attracted by the fact that it is the village with the longest name in Britain, or so says http://www.llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.co.uk/

What the paper says:

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllandysiliogogogoch

Abreviation Llanfair P.G.

Meaning – The Church of St. Mary by the pool of the white hazel by the rapid whirlpool near the Church of St. Siliog of the red cave

Sadly, the modern ease of searching the internet finds that I had a “typo” in my writing. It is anty, not andy there in the last third of the name. And, of course, the misspelling of abbreviation. Also, it seems that it’s not St. Siliog but is St. Tyslilo. Was I interpreting it myself? Nah, can’t be!

The internet being what it is, I’ve added to my education. There is a longer word with the addition of uchaf at the end, referring to the upper and older part of the village! The website above has some other fun facts, one of which I’ve pasted here. It’s the pronunciation guide. You may want to go online to hear someone say it as referenced below.

· LLAN - To start off with, pronounce this section as you would do the Scottish word "clan". Then listen to the sound recording above taking particular notice of how the "ll" is pronounced. It is difficult to explain in words and is more easily learnt by oral example, but we will have a go here anyway. Lie your tongue flat in your mouth so that the tip is firmly touching the bridge behind your front teeth. Keeping the tip of your tongue in place, try and touch your back teeth with the sides of your tongue - now breathe out forcing the air to run strongly over the back of your tongue. This will cause a vibrating noise near your back teeth. Again, keeping the tongue in position, gently change the shape of your tongue until the sound becomes more controlled. This is the "ll" sound you are looking for. Listen to the sound file above and keep on practising.

· FAIR - Simply pronounce this section as you would the english word "fire", (not like you would expect to pronounce the word "fair" in english!) and change the "f" for a "v".

· PWLL - Now you have been practising your "ll" sound this will be a little easier to explain. The "pw" section is pronounced like the "pu" in the english word "put". Now add the "ll" on the end as described above. Now listen to the sound file again!

· GWYN - You may have heard the Welsh name "Gwyn", well this is pronounced in exactly the same way. Just say the english word "win" and put a "g" in front of it. (pronounce the "g" as you would in the word "gone"). Easy.

· GYLL - This is a bit more tricky. First say the english word "gil" (as associated with fish!"). Then change the "l" (as in "let") to "ll" as explained above. Listen to the sound file again.

· GO - Looks easy doesn't it - it is! Pronounce it as you would the "go" in "gone"

· GER - Simply say the word "care" but change the "c" for a "g".

· YCH - Like the pronunciation of "ll", this is another tricky section to explain. Think of something you don't like and say "yuck". Now take the "y" from the beginning to leave "uck". Now change the "ck" to "ch" as pronounced in the Scottish word "loch".

· WYRN - This looks more complicated that it is. Just say the english word "win".

· DROB - First say the english word "draw" and then add a "b" on the end. Easy.

· WLL - You've learnt this already. It's pronounced the same as "pwll" above but without the "p".

· LLAN - Again, this is exactly the same as the "llan" at the beginning of this section.

· TY - Simply pronounce this section as you would the "t" in "twig".

· SILIO - Just say "silly - o". The "o" is pronounced as in "cot".

· GO - As above.

· GO - As above.

· GOCH - We're almost there. Simply say "go" as above, put the "ch" after it and that's it! Put it all together and keep on practising

Then, I found a keen part of Microsoft word that I had never experienced before. When I spell-checked the name, just to be mean to the computer, a “Researcher” box popped out. It offers that it will 1. Research beyond Wikipedia 2. Add sources to [my] document and 3. That sources are “automagically cited.” I took the challenge to “Start here!” and copied the full, corrected name into the box. I succeeded in fully being “mean” to the computer as it could not succeed in the search and asked me to rephrase.

The much smarter human found the website above and learned where the village is, how to say the name, what the history is, and more! Score: Human .5 and computer 0. Why do I only get .5 instead of 1? Because I am too lazy to properly construct the citations. Had to grade myself harshly.

Oh, and the use of the word, “Keen?” What do you expect when I am reading my writings from the 60s and 70s. It’s pure retrograde language!