Wales
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The word "Wales" derives from the Old English "Wealys", meaning a foreigner, whereas the local name "Cymru" means "brothers". That sums up the relationship between the two countries. The Welsh language is a constant source of bemusement to people in London, who find it hard to believe that it still exists, and that it doesn't use their spelling system. English people generally believe that the Welsh only use their language when they are around, especially in public houses. | The word "Wales" derives from the Old English "Wealys", meaning a foreigner, whereas the local name "Cymru" means "brothers". That sums up the relationship between the two countries. The Welsh language is a constant source of bemusement to people in London, who find it hard to believe that it still exists, and that it doesn't use their spelling system. English people generally believe that the Welsh only use their language when they are around, especially in public houses. | ||
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| + | According to Jan Morris in ''the Spectator'', "Mocking the Welsh is the last permitted bigotry".<ref>http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/5200003/mocking-the-welsh-is-the-last-permitted-bigotry/</ref> The English expression to "To Welsh on", or "Welch on" someone means "to cheat" them by not paying up.<ref>http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/welch</ref> A popular English rhyme also has it that "Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief;/ Taffy came to my house and stole a piece of beef". Anti-Welsh prejudice is virulent in the British media, and dates from hundreds of years ago, up to the present day. For example, English wit, and car driver, [[Jeremy Clarkson]] says: "It's entirely unfair that some people are born fat or ugly or dyslexic or disabled or ginger or small or Welsh. Life, I'm afraid, is tragic." Another wit who refers to himself as A. N. Wilson wrote in the ''Evening Standard'' in 1993 that "The Welsh have never made any significant contribution to any branch of knowledge, culture or entertainment. They have no architecture, no gastronomic tradition, no literature worthy of the name." | ||
==Government== | ==Government== | ||
Revision as of 16:31, 19 January 2013
The Principality of Wales[1] is the smallest country on the island of Great Britain, and is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. It is populated by sheep, sheep-farmers, sheep-rustlers, sheep-shaggers and growers of daffodils and leeks.
It is wet.
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Wales in the United Kingdom
Wales is one of the five Celtic nations located in the British Isles.[2] Wales was annexed to become part of England with the Laws of Wales acts in the 16th century and has since then been part of the legal system of England, apart from the matters now devolved to Wales with the new Welsh Assembly. Wales became recognised as a country following the Acts of Union in 1707 which unified England, Scotland and Wales into the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
The word "Wales" derives from the Old English "Wealys", meaning a foreigner, whereas the local name "Cymru" means "brothers". That sums up the relationship between the two countries. The Welsh language is a constant source of bemusement to people in London, who find it hard to believe that it still exists, and that it doesn't use their spelling system. English people generally believe that the Welsh only use their language when they are around, especially in public houses.
According to Jan Morris in the Spectator, "Mocking the Welsh is the last permitted bigotry".[3] The English expression to "To Welsh on", or "Welch on" someone means "to cheat" them by not paying up.[4] A popular English rhyme also has it that "Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief;/ Taffy came to my house and stole a piece of beef". Anti-Welsh prejudice is virulent in the British media, and dates from hundreds of years ago, up to the present day. For example, English wit, and car driver, Jeremy Clarkson says: "It's entirely unfair that some people are born fat or ugly or dyslexic or disabled or ginger or small or Welsh. Life, I'm afraid, is tragic." Another wit who refers to himself as A. N. Wilson wrote in the Evening Standard in 1993 that "The Welsh have never made any significant contribution to any branch of knowledge, culture or entertainment. They have no architecture, no gastronomic tradition, no literature worthy of the name."
Government
Within the parliament of the United Kingdom, Wales is represented by 40 MPs from their 40 voting constituencies, making them the second smallest represented UK nation behind Northern Ireland. After a referendum in 1997 asking about devolution of power to Wales, the Welsh Assembly was created the following year, which had its powers extended following the Government of Wales Act in 2006. The Assembly contains 60 members who are elected on four year terms. The Assembly then elects a First Minister who in turn selects ministers to form a Welsh Assembly Government.
Weather
Despite the permanent waterlogged state, Welsh persons are almost exclusively non-swimmers (the descendants of the ones who could swim are now known as Irish and live in Ireland where they went in prehistoric times to escape the stigma of being Welsh). There were at one time lots of mines which produced Queen Victoria's favourite coal. There are now EistedfodsEisteddfods, rugby, Doctor Who and male voice choirs. To keep warm the native Welsh people were accustomed to burning cottages, but this practice has ceased owing to the increasing shortage of raw material.
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For those of you in the mood, RationalWiki has a fun article about Wales. |
The language
One of the few words which has migrated into English common parlance from Welsh is "Eisteddfod". By Welsh standards, that's relatively easy to pronounce and spell. This should give you some idea of what Welsh is like.
The Welsh language uses the same alphabet as the English language, but don't let that fool you. Most of the letters mean something completely different. The Welsh language consistently uses y as a vowel (as opposed to English's "A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y") and also uses w to represent a vowel sound instead of a consonant sound. 78% of Welsh jokes are about English-speakers attempting to pronounce Welsh phrases. Unlike English though, Welsh is actually written fairly phonetically, once you get the gist of it. The spelling system of the English language is even more illogical than that of Welsh.
Welsh and English have equal statuses as the official language of Wales. While English is more common in everyday conversation, over 20% of the population is fluent in Welsh, and Welsh is taught as a compulsory subject in primary schools. Welsh was eradicated from many parts of Wales, by bullying, and corporal punishment. The "Acts of Union" between England and Wales also banned it, which was inconvenient, since at the time over 90% spoke nothing else.
Gweler hefyd
- Scotland
- England
- Northern Ireland
- United Kingdom
- Fun:Wales
- Welsh Indians
- Sheep
- Australia (not in the British Isles, but boy does it have sheep! It's also the home of New South Wales, but we're not sure where New North Wales is.)
- New Zealand (also not in the British Isles, but it's close to Australia and also has a lot of sheep)
Troednodiadau
- ↑ Whence the Prince of Wales, although the person is not himself Welsh, being the son of the Queen.
- ↑ The others being Scotland, Ireland, the Isle of Man, and Cornwall. The last is Brittany in France.
- ↑ http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/5200003/mocking-the-welsh-is-the-last-permitted-bigotry/
- ↑ http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/welch