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In this column in the last two issues you found information for creating your own house or place name.
Perhaps, rather than creating a place name, you’d like to figure out what the name of a place in Wales means. The book review in the last newsletter gave you a resource for working on that (Welsh place-names and their meanings by Dewi Davies) and below is more information.
Mary Ellen Morgan says:
Ever wonder how Aberaeron or Aberystwyth got their names? Or what Betws-y-Coed means? Welsh place and house names are very descriptive.
Aber means “the mouth of a river,” so Aberaeron is the mouth of the Aeron River and Aberystwyth is the mouth of the Ystwyth River. Put betws (house of prayer or peace) and coed (forest or trees) together and you have a house of peace in the forest or among the trees. The popular Welsh water in the cobalt blue bottles, Ty Nant, gets its name from a house by a brook.
The taable below should help you decipher place names as you read about Wales.
(Editor’s note: To hear some place names pronounced, visit the Sounds of Wales website: http://www.jlb2005.plus.com/wales/sounds/index.htm)
|
Element |
Meaning |
Element |
Meaning |
|
aber |
estuary or confluence |
allt |
hillside, hill slope, wood |
|
afon |
river |
bach/fach |
lesser, little or small |
|
ban |
bare hill, beacon or peak |
bedd |
grave |
|
bedwen |
birch |
betws |
house of prayer, chapel of peace |
|
blaen |
end., head, head of valley, river source, upland |
borth/porth |
gate, harbor or port |
|
bro |
region |
bron |
hill-breast, hill side, hill slope |
|
bryn |
hill |
bwlch |
gap or pass |
|
cae |
enclosure or closed field |
caer |
camp, fort, fortress or stronghold |
|
carn |
cairn, mountain, prominence or rock |
carreg/cerrig |
rock(s) or stone(s) |
|
castell |
castle |
cefn |
ridge |
|
clwyd |
gate |
coch/goch |
red |
|
coed |
forest, trees or wood |
cors |
bog or marshy ground |
|
craig |
rock |
croes/groes |
cross or crossroads |
|
cwm |
coombe or valley |
cymer |
confluence or junction |
|
dinas |
city |
dol |
meadow |
|
du |
black |
dwr |
water |
|
dyffryn |
vale |
efail |
smithy |
|
eglwys |
church |
esgair |
long ridge |
|
felin/melin |
mill |
fferm |
farm |
|
ffordd |
road or way |
ffynnon |
spring or well |
|
gelli |
grove |
glan |
bank, hillock or river bank |
|
glyn |
deep valley or glen |
gwaun |
common land, moor or mountain pasture |
|
gwern |
bog, alder grove, swamp |
hafod |
summer dwelling |
|
hendre |
winter dwelling |
hir |
long |
|
isaf |
lower or lowest |
llan |
church or enclosure |
|
llwyn |
bush or grove |
llyn |
lake |
|
llys |
court, hall or mansion |
maen |
stone |
|
maes |
open field or plain |
mawr/fawr |
big |
|
melin |
mill |
mool |
bare hill |
|
mynydd |
moorland or mountain |
nant |
brook |
|
neuadd |
hall |
newydd |
new |
|
pandy |
fulling mill |
pant |
hollow or valley |
|
pen |
end, head or top |
pistyll |
water spout or waterfall |
|
plas |
hall or mansion |
pont |
bridge |
|
pwll/pil |
pool |
rhaeadr |
waterfall |
|
rhiw |
hill or slope |
rhos |
moor or marshland |
|
rhyl |
ford |
sarn |
causeway |
|
ton |
grassland or lea |
traeth |
beach, shore or strand |
|
tref/tre |
hamlet, homestead or town |
troed |
base or foot |
|
ty |
house |
uchaf |
higher, highest, upper |
|
ynys |
holm, island or water-meadow |
ystrad |
low flat land, vale or valley floor |
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