0:12:25 > 0:12:30- Croeso i Gymru, Sion - welcome to Wales.- Diolch.- Da iawn!
0:12:30 > 0:12:33Our mission is twofold - firstly,
0:12:33 > 0:12:37to pursue Seosamh Mac Grianna's hike,
0:12:37 > 0:12:39try to find the places that he visited,
0:12:39 > 0:12:43but equally to savour Welsh culture, tradition, heritage,
0:12:43 > 0:12:47language etc, and you're the expert who's going to introduce it.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51I'm not sure about that, but congratulations on coming to Wales.
0:12:51 > 0:12:55You won't regret this, it's a beautiful country
0:12:55 > 0:12:57as I'm sure you'll find out soon.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59Now, perhaps I should start by saying
0:12:59 > 0:13:01that Wales isn't called "Wales" in Welsh.
0:13:01 > 0:13:05It's called Cymru, and that comes from...
0:13:05 > 0:13:09If you look at the etymology of the word, two parts - kom-brogos,
0:13:09 > 0:13:14which we can say means people sharing the same land, kom-brogos -
0:13:14 > 0:13:18- a shared land, if you like. - A lovely concept.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21It is lovely, and it's very different from the word Wales,
0:13:21 > 0:13:25which I think the Romans called all the tribes beyond -
0:13:25 > 0:13:29the Celts and those areas,
0:13:29 > 0:13:34and it has come to mean in the Anglo-Saxonic, Germanic languages,
0:13:34 > 0:13:37Welsh has come to mean "foreign",
0:13:37 > 0:13:40so that's a little bit odd, calling yourselves foreigners
0:13:40 > 0:13:43in your own country, so I think Cymru
0:13:43 > 0:13:45is closer to what it really means.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49Regrettably, Seosamh Mac Grianna was better prepared
0:13:49 > 0:13:51for his trip than I am.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55He had learned a little bit of basic Welsh. I know none, Mererid.
0:13:55 > 0:14:00- Please teach me a few basic survival phrases.- Right.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03Well, survival Welsh - you'll want to be polite and make friends,
0:14:03 > 0:14:07I'm sure, so let's think about how you'll greet people.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10- In the morning, you could say, "Bore da."- Bore da.
0:14:10 > 0:14:14Right, so "morning good" - this is the way we do it.
0:14:14 > 0:14:18And then in the evening, before you go to sleep, "Nos da."
0:14:18 > 0:14:20- Nos da.- Perfect!
0:14:20 > 0:14:25- And then, in south Wales, you'd say "shwmai" for "How are you?"- Shwmai.
0:14:25 > 0:14:27Well done.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30But then, once you cross the middle and go towards north Wales,
0:14:30 > 0:14:33that comes to "sut dach chi."
0:14:33 > 0:14:35Ooh, that's tricky!
0:14:35 > 0:14:37- Stay in south Wales! - I think I might!
0:14:37 > 0:14:40The trick with Welsh, if you're learning to speak Welsh
0:14:40 > 0:14:43as an Englishman - I'm not sure as an Irishman -
0:14:43 > 0:14:47but unless your jaw hurts by the end of the lesson,
0:14:47 > 0:14:51you're not doing it right, because we do tend to use it quite a lot.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55We don't close our mouths at the end, so the vowels are very open.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55We commence in Caerdydd.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58That's right - Caerdydd, the capital city of Wales.
0:15:59 > 0:16:05Cardydd in English is Cardiff, and that "diff" is quite interesting
0:16:05 > 0:16:12because that is Taf - Caer ar Daf, the fort on the river Taf,
0:16:12 > 0:16:14and Taf is an interesting word,
0:16:14 > 0:16:17because if you look at the other rivers in Wales -
0:16:17 > 0:16:20Tywi, Tawe, Teifi -
0:16:20 > 0:16:24even in London, Tafwys is the old word for Thames.
0:16:24 > 0:16:29It's the same word, it's the Celtic old word for water,
0:16:29 > 0:16:31maybe even a goddess.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34So it just goes to show that this Celtic language was spoken once
0:16:34 > 0:16:40all over these isles, and you need to find the River Taf.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42That's where Seosamh Mac Grianna commenced -
0:16:42 > 0:16:44on the banks of the Taf, walking north.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46And I think it's that way so,
0:16:46 > 0:16:49- siwrnai saff i ti. Dim o gwbl. Hwyl fawr.- Diolch.