More Here - dysgwr2014

I remember as a schoolboy being introduced to palindromes. My history teacher chalked the immortal sentence 'Able was I ere I saw Elba' on the board in the course of a lesson on Napoleon and his exile in 1814. I've loved them ever since and was delighted to discover many years ago during one of my frequent attempts to learn Welsh that the word for 'now' in Welsh is 'nawr' or 'rwan' .

There is a graphic which goes some way toward explaining this on this page:-

http://caterpillarandredpostboxes.tumblr.com/post/23497124939/nawr-v-rwan

'Nawr' is used in south Wales and 'rwan' in the north. I remember hearing the word used many years ago on a walking trip in north Wales. I was at the breakfast table at the Inn where I was staying when I heard the landlord announce to his wife - "Dwi'n mynd i siopa rwan".

Of course whether you adopt the north or south Walian pronunciation neither can be enunciated without rolling the 'r'....nawrr or rrwan.

I cant help wondering how this situation arose? Is there anyone with a knowledge of Cymric etymology who can offer an explanation? Is there an explanation?

Anyway, in pursuance of my new years resolution, which is to master basic conversational Welsh by the end of 2014, I am looking forward to John Good's AmeriCymraeg class tomorrow evening at 5.00pm ( Pacific Time ). This will be the first class that I have attended as a student rather than as an administrative overseer and I will be blogging my progress throughout the year in my series of dysgwr2014 blog posts. I hope to be composing the blog in both Welsh and English by the end of the year so keep checking back for daily updates. Better still click the graphic below to join AmeriCymraeg and make 2014 the year that you learn Welsh