Welsh toponymy is the study of the place-names of Wales, most of which are derived from the Welsh language, though others reflect linguistic contact with the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Anglo-Normans and modern English. Toponymy in Wales reveals significant features of the country's history and geography, as well as the development of the Welsh language. Its study is promoted by the Welsh Place-Name Society ().
History
During the 4th to 11th centuries, while Anglo-Saxons and other migrants from continental Europe settled adjoining areas of Britain, Wales developed as a distinctive entity, developing its language, culture, legal code, and political structures. By stages between the 11th and 16th centuries, Wales was then subdued, conquered and eventually incorporated into the Kingdom of England while still retaining many distinct cultural features, most notably its language. Since then, there has been a mixing of cultures in Wales, with the English language dominant in industry and commerce, but with Welsh remaining as a living language, particularly in its stronghold, y Fro Gymraeg or "Welsh language country" in northwest, mid- and west Wales. Welsh culture and political autonomy has been reasserted increasingly since the mid 19th century.
Language characteristics
The Welsh language is a Western Brittonic language descended from the Common Brittonic spoken throughout Britain in the centuries before the Anglo-Saxon and Viking invasions that led to the creation of England. Many place-names in Britain, particularly of natural features such as rivers and hills, derive directly from Common Brittonic. Obvious examples of place-names of Welsh origin include Penrith ("headland by the ford") and the numerous Rivers Avon, from the Welsh afon ("river").
Place-names from the Western Brittonic-speaking Hen Ogledd occur in Cumbria and the Scottish Lowlands. These include the name of Edinburgh, from Cumbric Din Eidin "Eidin's Fort".
The Cornish language is a Southwestern Brittonic language and many place-names in Cornwall and to a lesser extent neighbouring Devon, Somerset and Dorset therefore have similar origins to names in Wales, such as the River Avon, Devon. The settlement name Tre- is identical to that used in Welsh and is among the most common placename elements in both Wales and Cornwall equating to English -ton, alongside Lan- equating to Welsh Llan- combined with the name of a Saint. In Devon the prevalent use of -combe reflects an early English borrowing of Cornish/Welsh cwm.
Welsh remains a living language, spoken by over 20% of the country's population. Like all languages, it has changed over time and continues to do so, for instance by accepting loan words from other languages such as Latin and English. The Welsh language itself has many characteristics unfamiliar to most English speakers that can make it difficult to understand its place-names. For example, it uses a number of initial consonant changes (called "mutations") in different grammatical circumstances. In relation to place-names, this means that, for example, a parish (llan) dedicated to one of the saints Mary (Mair) becomes Llanfair – the initial m of Mair changes to f (pronounced /v/) for grammatical reasons. Other changes can apply to internal vowels.
There are also differences between Welsh and English spelling standards, which have affected how place-names are spelled in the two languages. For instance, a single f in Welsh is always pronounced /v/ (or is silent), while ff is pronounced /f/; thus, the Welsh word for river, afon, is pronounced with a v-sound and so often spelled "Avon" when it appears in English place-names and river names.Hywel Wyn Owen, The Place-names of Wales, 1998,
Development of place-names in Wales
Early inhabitants of Wales gave names first to noteworthy natural features, such as rivers, hills, mountains, harbours and shores. Before the Roman occupation in the first century, there does not seem to have been a coming together in organised settlements, and therefore little reason to give names to such places. The Roman towns which were established were generally fortified and were given the generic name of castra, which in Welsh became caer, originally with the meaning of "fortified enclosure". Many of these continued as towns after the Romans left, including Caernarfon, Carmarthen (Caerfyrddin), Caerleon, and Caerwent.
Elsewhere, many villages and later towns took their names from natural features. For example, Abergele refers to the "mouth of the [river] Gele", Harlech means "fair rock", Rhuddlan "red bank", and Porthcawl "harbour with sea-kale". Aberystwyth means "mouth of the Ystwyth", a river a mile or so away from the town centre, and was apparently so named as a result of confusion by the English over the different castles in the area.
Many others took their name from religious settlements and clasau (monasteries) established from the fifth century onwards. These generally use the prefix llan, roughly equivalent to "parish". Most of them are dedicated to their founders,Baring-Gould, Sabine. The Lives of the Saints, Vol. 16, "The Celtic Church and its Saints", p. 67. Longmans, Green, & Co. (New York), 1898. who hailed from local dynasties and were venerated as patron saints.Baring-Gould, pp. 39–40. Examples include Llandudno ("Saint Tudno's"), Llanelli ("Saint Elli's"), and Llantwit ("Illtud's"). Following the Norman invasion of Wales, some were rededicated to more generic saints:Baring-Gould, pp. 78. Llanilar ("Saint Hilary's"), Llanfoist ("Saint Faith's"). A few—usually by mistake—include other elements or none at all: Llan, Powys, Llanharry, Llangefni ("Parish by the Afon Cefni"). Other religious place-names include merthyr ("martyr") and eglwys ("church").
Over the centuries, Welsh place-names have been variously affected by social and economic changes in the country. The Industrial Revolution saw the development of many new towns and villages, particularly in south Wales. Some of these used already existing place-names, while others acquired new names. For example, the towns of Port Talbot and Tredegar took the names of their main landowners and developers. In north Wales, Porthmadog was originally named "Portmadoc" by its developer William Madocks, to commemorate both his own name and that of the possibly mythical sailor Madoc. An early example of a publicity stunt saw the village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyll ("St Mary's church beside the hollow with white hazels") renaming itself in the 1860s with an even longer title, in an attempt to keep its railway station open.
Common elements of Welsh place-names thus include both words for topographical features and words reflecting human influence. Some of the most frequently encountered place-name elements in Wales are shown in the table below. The Welsh version shown is the original, unmutated reference form.
Welsh Englishaber confluence of water bodies,'outpouring' of waterafon riverallt hillside, woodardd hill/upland, gardenbach littlebedd gravebetws chapel, oratoryblaen, blaenau source(s) of stream, uplandbrovale, lowlandbronhillside, breast (of hill)bryn hillbwlch gap in hills, passcae field, enclosurecaer fort, strongholdcapel chapelcarn, carnedd cairn (a heap of stones)cas, castell castlecefn ridgecei quaycil corner, nook, recessclog, clogwyn steep cliffcoedforest, woodcors bogcraigrockcroescross, crossroadscrug hillockcwm valleycymer confluencedin hill fortdinas citydol meadowdwfr, dŵr waterdyffryn valleyeglwys churcherw acreffin boundaryffordd roadffosditch, dikeffridd mountain pastureffynnon springgarth a ridge, also an enclosureglan bank of river, shoreglyn deep valleygwaun moorlandhafod summer farmsteadhafn ravinehendre winter farmsteadllan parish, parish churchllannerch clearingllech covert, slatellyn lakemaen stonemawr bigmelin millmerthyr martyriummoel bare hillmôrseamorfa salt marshmynydd mountain, moorlandnant brook, small valleynewydd newogof cavepandy fulling millpant hollow, valleyparc park, fieldpen head, endpenrhyn promontorypentre homestead, villagePîl, Pill tidal area of a waterway, used as a harbourpistyll well, spoutplas hall, mansionpont bridgeporth harbour, gatewaypwll poolrhaeadr waterfallrhiw hill, sloperhos moor, promontoryrhyd fordsarn causewaysircounty, shirestryd streettafarn inn, tavernton leatraeth beachtref village, towntŷ housey, yr, 'r theynys island, river-meadowysbyty hospitalysgol schoolystrad valley (floor)
Relationship between Welsh and English place-names In the majority of cases in Wales, the Welsh and English names for a place are identical, almost always because the Welsh name is used. So, for example, Aberystwyth, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Bangor, Machynlleth and Llandudno all have the same spelling in Welsh and English, although it is also often the case that many English people do not pronounce the name in the same way as the Welsh.
There are also many instances where the Welsh and English names are very similar, both in spelling and pronunciation. Examples are Caerphilly (Caerffili), Raglan (Rhaglan), Treorchy (Treorci), Barry (Y Barri) and Merthyr Tydfil (Merthyr Tudful). In most of these cases, English usage adopted and anglicised the Welsh name, although there are some cases, especially close to the English border, where the English name was adopted by the Welsh. Examples are Flint (Y Fflint) and Wrexham (Wrecsam) in north east Wales, and Caldicot (Cil-y-coed) in south east Wales. A related case is the Norman French foundation of Beaumaris (Biwmares). In a few cases, such as Prestatyn (originally "priest's town", which elsewhere became "Preston") and Mostyn, the original name was wholly English but has gradually taken on a Welsh appearance. In some cases this in fact results from Welsh having preserved an earlier stage of English pronunciation; as is the case in Prestatyn (Old English Preostatun /'pre:əstɑtu:n/) or the mountain Cnicht ("knight"), Old/Middle English pronunciation /knɪɕt/. This also occurs in reverse; eg English Severn preserves the Proto-Celtic [s] which became [h] in modern Welsh (Hafren). In one or two others, such as Caergwrle, the name combines Welsh (caer) and English elements – the village was originally the English settlement of Corley.
In some cases, the spelling formerly used in English has, over the past few decades, ceased to be accepted – examples are Caernarfon (formerly, in English, Ca(e)rnarvon), Conwy (formerly Conway), and Llanelli (formerly Llanelly). Most of these examples are in predominantly Welsh-speaking areas of Wales. There are also places where there are ongoing disagreements over whether the Welsh spelling should be used exclusively or not, such as Criccieth (Cricieth), Rhayader (Rhaeadr), and Ruthin (Rhuthun).
In other cases, the Welsh and English names clearly share the same original form, but spellings and pronunciation have diverged over the years. One obvious example is Cardiff (Caerdydd). The medieval Welsh form was Caerdyf (with a final ) from which are derived the modern English Cardiff (with a final ) and the modern Welsh Caerdydd (with a final ). Some examples of the anglicisation of place-names are the towns of Denbigh and Tenby, both derived from the Welsh name Dinbych ("little fort"); Pembroke (from Penfro, literally "land's end"); Lampeter (from Llanbedr, in full Llanbedr Pont Steffan); Skenfrith (from Ynysgynwraidd); and Barmouth (in modern Welsh Y Bermo, but originally Aber-mawdd, meaning "mouth of the [river] Mawdd(ach))".