The Corpse with the Sapphire Eyes (35 page)

Welsh is a living language, but it's also a very ancient one, so it's not unusual to hear Welsh speakers using borrowed English words when they speak Welsh. I was queuing (standing in line!) in the Marks and Spencer store in Carmarthen, South Wales, recently, and the lady in front of me was returning some items. The entire process was conducted in Welsh, with the odd interpolation of English words and phrases like “credit card” and “
PIN
number.” This is quite normal. Indeed, in many parts of South Wales, especially in and around Swansea and the Swansea Valley areas, a specific “dialect” is heard, which has been labeled “Wenglish.” As you'd expect it's a mix of Welsh and English, but no one can agree if it's a dialect of Welsh, or English, so it's really a hybrid. It's what I grew up speaking, though, of course, I didn't know that at the time.

It was quite normal for me, or anyone else in my family, to say things like, “Don't be twp now, 'ew. Silly mochen, she is. Don't take no notice of 'er. Come over and sit by here, and we'll have a nice cup of tea and a cwtch, is it. Tidy like.” Yes, I know it makes little sense, but to those who grew up in South Wales, especially in Swansea in the 1960s as I did, it's perfectly normal. It means: “Don't be so stupid. She's a silly pig (horrible person). Ignore her. Sit next to me and we'll share some tea and a cuddle. It'll be fine.”

As television, with its Standard English and American accents, proliferated, so many of my generation began to “speak properly.” However, as with most aspects of one's childhood, the language I used to speak is bubbling just under the surface.

I grew up in an English- (or Wenglish-) speaking family, but studied Welsh at school until I was sixteen. Although I have forgotten most of my Welsh vocabulary, the accent, and often the syntax, remain with me. What also remains is my ability to read the Welsh language aloud, using the correct pronunciation of the twenty-nine letters and diphthongs in the Welsh alphabet. I rather take it for granted that when anyone sees a Welsh name or word on the page they know what it sounds like, even if they don't know what it means—which is really not true. With that in mind, here we go!

Below is a list of the Welsh words from
The Corpse with the Sapphire Eyes
, along with their phonetic pronunciation (the italics show what to emphasize).

Main characters:

Siân: Shan
“Si” is pronounced like “sh” as in “shape”; this word is pronounced with a long “a” as in “arm,” as signified by the mark above the letter “â”. (English: Jane.)

Cadwallader: Kad-
wol
-u-dur
“C” is always pronounced hard, as in “can,” and the rest of the word is this way because it's an Anglicized name.

Mair:
My
-r
It sounds like the word “my,” followed by “rrrrr,” so it doesn't rhyme with the word “hair,” even though it looks similar. (English: Mary.)

Owain:
Owe
-eye-n
“Ai” is pronounced like the word “eye.” (English: Owen.)

Idris:
Id
-riss
“I” here as in the word “in.” (Welsh name, so no English version, though it is also a Muslim name.)

Eirwen:
Eye
-rr-when
“Ei” is also pronounced like “eye.” (Welsh name, no English version.)

Dilys:
Dill
-iss
In this case the “y” is pronounced like an “i” as in “in.” (Welsh name, no English version.)

Rhian:
Rh-ee
-ann
“Rh” is a specifically Welsh sound, and is one of the diphthongs referred to as a “letter” in the Welsh alphabet. You need to try to pronounce the “h” almost before the “r” if you're to make it sound correct! The “r” is so soft it almost disappears. Rhian originated as a short version of the name, Rhiannon, but it now stands alone as a name in its own right.

Names of other characters mentioned, but not appearing in person:

Gryffudd:
Gri
-ffith
“Y” can be pronounced like “u” in “under,” or like “i” as in “win.” In this case it's like “win.” “Ff” is pronounced like “ff” in “fluff”; “dd” is pronounced like “th” in “the.”

Ieuan:
Y-eye
-an
“I” is a “y” as in “yellow”; “eu” is like “eye.” (English: Ian.)

Hywel:
How
-el
It sounds just like “vowel” but with an “H.” (English: Howell.)

Eleri: El-
airy
Here the “eri” is pronounced like the word “airy.” (Welsh name, no English version.)

Elena:
Ell
-en-a
Due to where the emphasis is put in Welsh, this is Ell-e-na, not El-ai-na. (English: Eleanor.)

Teilo:
Tie
-low
(Welsh saint's name, so no English version.)

Some other Welsh words found in the book:

Castell Llwyd:
Kas
-tel L-
oi-d
“Ll” is a tough sound for most non-Welsh, or Arabic, speakers to make. It's the sort of noise Donald Duck might make. You shove your tongue behind your top teeth, smile, and try to make a hard “chchch” sound in your cheeks. Yes, odd. Most non-Welsh pronounce “ll” as “l,” and we put up with that! “Wy” sounds a bit like “Oi!”

Swansea:
Swan
-zee
The Welsh name for Swansea is Abertawe, which means “the mouth of the River Tawe,” so Swansea is an anglicized word. But so many people mispronounce it that I thought it should get a mention. The second “s” isn't soft like the first one, it's hard, like a “z” sound.

Bwca: Boo-ca
“Bw” sounds like “boo” as in jumping out and frightening someone, as opposed to “book,” and “ca” has a short “a,” like “ha” in “hat,” not like the word “car.”

Mabinogion: Mab-in-
og
-yon
Compiled from texts found in two late-medieval manuscripts (the Red Book of Hergest and the White Book of Rhydderch), this collection was compiled, edited, and translated by antiquarians William Pughe and Lady Charlotte Guest in the early nineteenth century. Although overlaid, some would say, with nineteenth-century intellectual input, the original texts, from the eleventh to fourteenth centuries, clearly captured much of the mythological lore that had been handed down through the spoken word for many centuries. If you have the time, and are interested in medieval mythologies, the Mabinogion will not disappoint.

Teisen lap: Tea-shun lap
This is a traditional moist cake, with fruit, and it's cooked on a low heat on a plate. Yes, really!

LlÅ·r: Ll-
ee
-r
Once again here's the challenging “ll” sound, this time followed by a long “ee” for the pronunciation of the “y.”

Chapters and numbers:

I thought it would be fun to “translate” the chapter numbers. Here are some pronunciation points, which you can apply as the numbers increase.

Un: Een
This sounds like “seen” without the “s.”

Dau: Die
This sounds like the word “die” as in the opposite of live.

Tri: Tree
Just like the trees that grow.

Pedwar: Ped-waar
In this case “war” is not pronounced like the English word for a series of battles, but like “far” with a “w.”

Pump: Pimp
Just as in “pimple.”

Chwech: Ch-
wé
-ch
“Ch” is another challenging sound. Make a noise at the back of your throat as though you're trying to make spit, or clear something that's stuck there—that's about it! Here the “we” is pronounced like the “e” in “café.”

Saith: S-
eye
-th
Again, “ai” is as in “eye.”

Wyth:
Oi
-th

Naw: N
ow

Deg:
Dé
-g
This is the same “é” as in café.

Ar: Are
Say it like a pirate would!

Ddeg: Thég

Pymtheg:
Pim
-thég

Bymtheg:
Bim
-thég

Deunaw: Die-now
Not a threat, but the word for eighteen.

Ugain:
Ee
-g-en
Here the “u” is pronounced as a long “e,” as in “each,” the “g” is hard, as in “get,” and the “ain” is pronounced “en” as in “when.”

Hugain:
H-ee
-gen
As above, with an “h.”

WITHOUT THE SUPPORT OF MY
ever-patient husband, my mum, and my sister—who give me rapid, and sometimes challenging, feedback—I would probably never finish any book I begin to write. My dogs are my faithful writing companions, understanding every word I share with them, but never judging. Thank you to them all.

Special thanks go to Liz Jarvis, Superintendent Registrar for the City and County of Swansea. Despite her warning words, I have taken complete liberty and hope that the extenuating circumstances that prevail in this book do not encourage anyone to think they can get away with what Bud and Cait did!

I didn't migrate to Canada until I was forty years of age. That means I am not “of Welsh heritage,” but am, in fact, Welsh. It is impossible for me to thank everyone who, over the decades, has helped me understand what that means, if, indeed, I do. Of course I must thank my mum and my sister, again, but I must also mention my late father. He would drive us all around the Gower Peninsula in our little Ford Anglia from my earliest days. I spent a happy childhood playing on the beaches, clambering among ruined castles, picking wild flowers (sorry!), and ambling across endless sand dunes. Visiting relatives near Slade Cross was always special, and camping trips, spring days plopping about in rock pools, or just singing “Ten Green Bottles” for the umpteenth time as we weaved between tall hedges, avoiding oncoming cars by a hair's breadth, are all ingrained in my soul. I love Wales; it never leaves me. As I know I have written before—always Welsh, always becoming Canadian.

Finally, I don't know how you found, or found out about, this book, but I very much hope you enjoy/enjoyed it. The team at TouchWood Editions, headed by my publisher, Taryn Boyd, is fabulous. My editor, Frances Thorsen of Chronicles of Crime—a wonderful bookstore in Victoria,
BC
—is patient and understanding. Bloggers, reviewers, readers-who-review, bookstore staff, librarians, printers, distributors, and sales people are all also critical to this book's existence, and its success. Thank you all.

Welsh Canadian mystery author
CATHY ACE
is the creator of the Cait Morgan Mysteries, which include
The Corpse with the Silver Tongue
,
The Corpse with the Golden Nose
,
The Corpse with the Emerald Thumb
, and
The Corpse with the Platinum Hair
. Born, raised, and educated in Wales, Cathy enjoyed a successful career in marketing and training across Europe, before immigrating to Vancouver, Canada, where she taught in
MBA
and undergraduate marketing programs at various universities. Her eclectic tastes in art, music, food, and drink have been developed during her decades of extensive travel, which she continues whenever possible. Now a full-time author, Cathy's short stories have appeared in multiple anthologies, as well as on
BBC
Radio 4. She and her husband are keen gardeners, who enjoy being helped out around their acreage by their green-pawed Labradors. Cathy's website can be found at
cathyace.com
.

The Corpse with the Diamond Hand
A Cait Morgan Mystery
by Cathy Ace

Coming Fall 2015

Dark Moon Walking
A Dan Connor Mystery
by R.J. McMillen

It's been more than eight years since ex-cop Dan Connor put a troubled criminal named Walker behind bars, and a year since he handed in his badge after losing the woman he loved. The remote islands off the Pacific Northwest coast seem like the perfect destination for his retirement. That is until a wave of increasingly sinister events disrupts his peace.

When a mysterious boat drives Connor from his anchorage and a marine biologist working in the area goes missing, Connor is forced to team up with his former nemisis, Walker, who has been released from jail and is struggling with his own demons. They have little in common, but when a life hangs in the balance and others are threatened, the knowledge and skills of these two men from very different cultures are the perfect mix.

With an eclectic cast of characters and a riveting plot, the first Dan Connor Mystery,
Dark Moon Walking
, is a fast-paced, suspenseful thriller that will keep you turning the pages until its explosive conclusion.