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Well, it turns out that Wifey and I were incorrect about the little man’s speech. Turns out he is speaking full and cogent sentences. He is waxing eloquent about philosophy and physics. He is able to prove axiomatic tautologies using a reducio ad absurdum method of argument very well. His vocabulary rivals that of a doctoral candidate in molecular biology and an art professor combined. He truly is amazing. The only issue with his speech patterning at the moment is that it happens to be in Welsh.
For those of you who do not know, Welsh is a un-intelligible Anglo-Saxon (probably a Celtic language more that A_S, but whatever…) language. This language is renowned for it over use of consonants and abundance of silent letters. All this time we have been trying to get him to use English and he has been attempting to teach his parents an older more grammatically difficult language. Silly us. Now all we have to do is 4 semesters worth of Welsh and then we will be communicating effectively in the household.
Here this whole time we were thinking that he was just being obstinate and not talking. When, in truth, he was getting exasperated at our lack of bilingual capabilities. He gets exasperated at our shortcomings very often. It is a hobby of his. We can’t help but fall short of his expectations. He is quite the taskmaster in that regard.
Just thought you would want that particular FYI, especially since I have whined about his communication ability so much.
Anyway… I am currently girding myself for a nasty battle that will occur when the parents get into town within the hour. Non one is looking forward to this, not even the parents, but, oh well.
So to recap
Yep, Welsh
prynhawn da (good afternoon)
Rydw i allan o'm dyfnder yn fy ngwaith (I am out of my depth in my work.)
No one is having fun this weekend
For those of you who do not know, Welsh is a un-intelligible Anglo-Saxon (probably a Celtic language more that A_S, but whatever…) language. This language is renowned for it over use of consonants and abundance of silent letters. All this time we have been trying to get him to use English and he has been attempting to teach his parents an older more grammatically difficult language. Silly us. Now all we have to do is 4 semesters worth of Welsh and then we will be communicating effectively in the household.
Here this whole time we were thinking that he was just being obstinate and not talking. When, in truth, he was getting exasperated at our lack of bilingual capabilities. He gets exasperated at our shortcomings very often. It is a hobby of his. We can’t help but fall short of his expectations. He is quite the taskmaster in that regard.
Just thought you would want that particular FYI, especially since I have whined about his communication ability so much.
Anyway… I am currently girding myself for a nasty battle that will occur when the parents get into town within the hour. Non one is looking forward to this, not even the parents, but, oh well.
So to recap
Yep, Welsh
prynhawn da (good afternoon)
Rydw i allan o'm dyfnder yn fy ngwaith (I am out of my depth in my work.)
No one is having fun this weekend
3 Comments:
This Welsh thing is an important discovery. Good for you.
When my son speaks Welsh, we manage to communicate perfectly. I repeatedly say, "Oh REALLY? And then what?" We continue for a good 10 minutes before he reverts to English and promises to "throw me in the fire and burn me all up." I must have inhereted bad karma :(
For those of you who do not know, Welsh is a un-intelligible Anglo-Saxon (probably a Celtic language more that A_S, but whatever…) language.
er, are you sure. I'm certain that Welsh is a Brythonic language and that English/Anglo-Saxon is a Germainc language.
This site might explain better:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/storyofwelsh/
I made the correction in my parenthetical aside. My initial gut inkling was that Welsh was an Anglo-Saxon derivative, but within 10 seconds of Internet seraching I realized my mistake and used the parenthetical to give Welsh its proper language root of Celtic. Even the website you directed me to puts Welsh firmly in the Celtic tree of languages.
I also want to make the point that I do not consider Welsh to be a childish language or even to be just "baby talk." Welsh is a beautiful language full of grace and nuance.
That being said, it is also a language that has an unusual reliance on the letters "w" and "y." It is very lyrical as well. A wonderful language to listen to.
It is the language's usage of W's and y's as well as this lyrical quality that makes what my little boy says seem to be Welsh sounding.
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