how to pronounce the Welsh name Dewi

Subject: how to pronounce the name welsh namDewi
From: GUEST,badgirl
Date: 30 Nov 05 - 04:26 PM

can anyone breakdown the name dewi for me as i have a big debate on my hands. i have had 3 different ways of saying it. the three ways being:

Dew-ee

Dow-ee

Dar-wee

Please help me out on this asap

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Nov 05 - 04:40 PM

A university friend who was a native Welsh speaker from Anglesey always say Dow-ee but dialect may vary from other parts of Wales.

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: GUEST,BanjoRay
Date: 30 Nov 05 - 05:06 PM

In South Wales, where I grew up, we say it a bit like 'dare we' - don't pronounce the 'r' and put the stress on the 'dare'
Ray

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: lady penelope
Date: 30 Nov 05 - 05:08 PM

The bloke I know pronounces it Deh wee. I think he's south wales too.

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 30 Nov 05 - 05:13 PM

I lived in the North and would say Deh wee.

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: Commander Crabbe
Date: 30 Nov 05 - 05:28 PM

I also lived in the North and had a friend in school called Dewi. He (and his sister!) pronounced it Deh Wee.

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 30 Nov 05 - 06:14 PM

Welsh speaking friend insists it's Deeyoowee. The Welsh w makes a oo sound as in pool.

LTS

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: TheBigPinkLad
Date: 30 Nov 05 - 06:36 PM

badgirl, we'd need to know where your own accent is from in order to be precise.

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: GUEST,BanjoRay
Date: 30 Nov 05 - 07:16 PM

I've spent a lot of my life in Wales, was monoglot Welsh speaking as an infant, and I've never heard a Welsh person pronounce it Deeyoowee, Liz
Ray

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: Paul Burke
Date: 01 Dec 05 - 03:56 AM

It must depend critically on area. My Welsh friend from Anglesey pronounces "Llandeusant" with the -eu- as a diphthong of e and a sound like the German u umlaut. Other Welsh friends (from IIRC mid-Wales) pronounce the same place as -die-.

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 01 Dec 05 - 04:10 AM

Didn't say Welsh speaking friend was sober did I?!

LTS

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: Gervase
Date: 01 Dec 05 - 04:13 AM

Here in far West Wales our local butcher's a Dewi, and he's a Deh-wee. (In fact he's a Dilwyn, but everyone calls him Dewi because that's what his dad was called).

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: Liath
Date: 01 Dec 05 - 04:19 AM

As folk have said, there are many regional variations in pronunciation!

However, _generally_, an 'e' in Cymraeg is said as 'eh' rather than 'ee'. So I would say 'Deh-wee' - with emphasis on the first syllable.

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: GUEST,noddy
Date: 02 Dec 05 - 04:04 AM

it cant be welsh. Its not got enough letters in it!

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: Cluin
Date: 02 Dec 05 - 04:10 AM

And you can't get a good enough quantity of phlegm behind it.

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: breezy
Date: 02 Dec 05 - 04:21 AM

David

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: sian, west wales
Date: 02 Dec 05 - 11:29 AM

DEH-wee. e = short 'e' sound, i = ee sound Emphasis on the first syllable.

Mae 'Dai' yn enw arall.
('Dai' - pr. die - is another name.)

There is very little regional variation in this, if any at all. Occasionally, I've heard names 'officially' mispronounced in areas that are heavily anglicized, like 'Hue-well' for Hywel, instead of HUH-well. But I've never heard a native Welsh person say anything but DEH-wee.

siân

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: GUEST,Bill the sound
Date: 02 Dec 05 - 08:02 PM

i would say Dow ee as in Dewi Sant (St David)

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: Liath
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 07:47 AM

Me neither Sian - but thought I'd be diplomatic, lol! Agreed that it's in the Anglicised regions that you get the odd pronunciations.

Interesting how C. Zeta Jones pronounces her son Dylan's name, isn't it ;-)

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: Ella who is Sooze
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 09:47 AM

I'd say...

deh-wee (but say it fairly fast together)

too..

diolch yn fawr iawn :-)

E. W. I. S

ee-iw-is

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: Ella who is Sooze
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 10:48 AM

Liath...

How does she say Dylan then, never heard that...

Ella who is sooze

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 05:35 PM

Well I am from gwent, south wales, but the thing is my brother lives in swindon and he seen the name ina book and he has the big debate down his end as to how to prounounce Dewi and as it is a name i have not really said myself or even tried to say then i was just trying to sort a debate out and as i can't say it(sad being welsh, tho i am not a welsh speaker....even worse) then i cannot really help my brother out.

it appears that most people say it as deh-wee

cheers guys for narrowing it all down for me i will check in again for any more replys as they are all helpful to me :-)

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: TheBigPinkLad
Date: 05 Dec 05 - 06:25 PM

dew in most of the US is pronounced the same as do in most of the UK
dew in most of the UK is pronounced the same as jew in most of the US
I'm geet posh and pronounce it dyoo in either UK or US.

So, none of this helps. How can you type a sound? It seems badgirl was just that and hasn't returned to read or reply, so let me ask if this might help: perhaps we can pick a really famous person with whose dialect everyone is familiar and put the appropriate wording into his/her mouth?

How would George Bush pronounce it, assuming he could?

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: Ella who is Sooze
Date: 06 Dec 05 - 03:18 AM

dooo eeee ah saze

doooo eeeeee aaaah leeeeesum

doooo eeeeaaaaa toooo taaaa lity ali isi umin um...

well... he does rather make up his own language and volcabulary.

:-)

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: breezy
Date: 06 Dec 05 - 05:30 AM

Hi Sian, well If St David is Dewi Sant what is Dewi if it not another Dafydd which when shortened is Dai - die ??

One cannot phonetically say Dewi in English as proved by previos posts

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: Ella who is Sooze
Date: 06 Dec 05 - 06:31 AM

you can write anything phonetically and is, I think, (own opinion) is the way that we learn a language, learn to read, and listen.

All the 'learn a language' guidebooks write down their pronounciations phonetically in the main...

Just think of a time when you have met a person from somewhere very different to where you are from. I did recently, I asked him how he'd say thankyou in Ugandan language. He said the word and then broke it up phonetically so I could say it. There for - I think the attempts to write down Dewi phonectically - above are not half bad... and greatly depends on your own dialect of Welsh language (mine would be Southern) - excepting of course, my silly and not serious attempt to write down how Bush would say it, in it's totalitarityism :-)

E. W. I. S.

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: GUEST,David Jones
Date: 19 Jul 09 - 05:50 PM

The lady that cuts my hair is about mid 50's and is Welsh. She told me David was pronounced Die-wee, and went on to say that it was a common name and so people would refer to them by their occupation. Like Dai the Dead if he was a mortician or Dai the sweep if he was a chimney sweep.

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: InOBU
Date: 19 Jul 09 - 07:20 PM

In Bretony it is Day wee...

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: Phil Edwards
Date: 20 Jul 09 - 05:24 AM

David - Dai (pronounced 'die') is short for Dafydd (pronounced DA-vith, near enough), which is the Welsh equivalent of David. Dewi is a different name - confusingly, it's also the Welsh equivalent of David. Specifically, St David was a Dewi, not a Dafydd.

Going back to the original question, in my experience both North and South Walians pronounce Dewi as "Deh-wee" if they're being polite and as "Dowie" if he's your mate. I've ever heard "Dar-wee", "Die-wee" or "De-yoo-wee".

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: Anne Lister
Date: 20 Jul 09 - 10:09 AM

What Pip said ...met a lot of Dewis, never heard anything but Deh-wee as the usual pronunciation. I'm in Gwent but have friends elsewhere in Wales.

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 20 Jul 09 - 10:15 AM

Isn't he one of Mickey Mouse's nephews along with Hewy and Lewy ?

Dave H

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 20 Jul 09 - 10:21 AM

No bugger me it was Donald Duck.

Dave H

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: GUEST,Dewi from The Netherlands
Date: 18 Sep 09 - 10:06 AM

In Indonesian, this name is a girl's name. It's also my name, although I'm not Indonesian and live in The Netherlands, I am a girl.

My name is pronounced Day-wee, don't pronounce the 'y' in 'day' though.

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: GUEST,Dewi
Date: 29 Jun 11 - 04:26 AM

DEWWWII

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: GUEST,Dez
Date: 05 Aug 13 - 04:55 AM

I got a mate from South Wales who introduces himself as "Dowie"

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: GUEST,Rahere
Date: 05 Aug 13 - 06:11 PM

I married into a family whose primary tongue is Welsh, up the Swansea Valley. The patriarch gets his full moniker Dafydd Blethyn, never contracted from respect, as he was also a senior freemason (Valley nobility) in London.
Dewi's the diminutive of Dafydd - as Davy to David. The Welsh language differs by small degrees from place to place, but the biggest difference is between North and South, and it can get a bit pointed. When you add in the anglo-Welsh forms around Cardiff, of which this is kind-of typical, you can get a fairish amount of variation, but as they're really just English with a Welsh accent they don't properly count.
Phonetically, D-e-w-i breaks down into d-eh-oow-ee, but the third phoneme elides into the second giving the deh-wee cited. Worse, in some combinations with the preceding word, the D can mutate into Dd (th).

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 05 Aug 13 - 07:00 PM

I notice the revalence of "eh" in people's versions of how to pronounce the name.

So how do people pronounce "eh"?

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 06 Aug 13 - 11:20 AM

Good question. I think it's supposed to be a naked short e, and it rhymes with the French 'le'. It also rhymes with 'feh,' the expression of disdain.

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: Mr Happy
Date: 06 Aug 13 - 11:51 AM

Revalence??

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: pavane
Date: 06 Aug 13 - 03:32 PM

As an Englishman living in Wales, it always sounds like Dowey to me. But I expect I miss the subtleties. (that doesn't look right?)

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Aug 13 - 09:28 AM

The length of Wales stretches for more than 200 miles, with a myriad of local accents positively thriving. As for trying to pinpoint how to pronounce 'Dewi' - well, it's a pretty tall order!

I lived in Ystalyfera, 13 miles up the Swansea Valley, but the Valley accent was very different from the 'Swansea Jacks' city accent. The same goes for the Llanelli accent, the Bridgend accent, the Kairdiff accent and the Newport accent; they're only 12 miles apart, but you could pick out the Cardiff contingent from the Newport residents any time! In fact, I was at a residents' meeting, when the speaker was the language expert from the National History Museum at St Fagans. By listening to their speech, he could identify which village the person had come from, and even pick out which side of the street! I later moved to Llantrisant, where I endured the South-East Valleys accent - I'm still enduring it!

I love that North-West Wales family of accents - especially the 'u', pronounced 'ee'. But a North Walian pronounces 'u' with the vowel coming from somewhere deep down in the throat, a sound which I could not possibly copy - what a gorgeous, fascinating speech it is.

My good friend Pavane, you were right in hearing 'Dowey'; but you living in Bryncoch, near the Neath Valley... which is different again. I have no problems pronouncing 'Deh-wee'. Wales is a nation with a hundred different accents, and long may it continue.

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: GUEST,Dr Price, cookieless
Date: 07 Aug 13 - 09:31 AM

Sorry - the 'guest' was me... where have my cookies gone?

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the name welsh name Dewi
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Nov 14 - 04:31 PM

dare we

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the Welsh name Dewi
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 19 Nov 14 - 04:00 AM

Oh hell just call him Doc.

Dave H

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the Welsh name Dewi
From: GUEST,Rahere
Date: 19 Nov 14 - 03:25 PM

Anyway, you know you're in when it's Dai.
Headed for Clydach, Swansea Friday.

Subject: RE: how to pronounce the Welsh name Dewi
From: GUEST,Rahere
Date: 20 Nov 14 - 02:26 PM

The Welsh have some strange names, though - what do you make of parents by the name of Leyshon who name their firstborn Dai? Must have been a big baby. Anyway, the said Dai spent most of his life working for Meirion, the local undertaker, when he wasn't working somewhere else. As a result, he earned the nickname Dai the Death (but never to his face, though).