For an American, I'm pretty good at UK dialects. I can immediately tell an Irish or Scottish accent from a typical (educated, Londoner) English accent. But I'm on shaky ground with Welsh accents, which I hear are also distinctive.
- What phonological characteristics are distinctives of a Welsh accent?
- Are there any good recordings I can listen to in order to hear the difference between Welsh and English accents?
Edit: To clarify, I'm not asking about the Welsh language, but about the English language as pronounced by people from Wales.
Best Answer
If you're into phonetics, Omniglot's Welsh language, alphabet and pronunciation guide seems like a good place to start. IDEA's Dialects and Accents of Wales has some thorough recordings. The text transcriptions are particularly useful as they mention features of that specific accent sample.
From a more pop-culture perspective (read: American), Catherine Zeta-Jones is Welsh and sometimes uses her Welsh accent in interviews and such. It is sometimes possible to detect the Welsh coming through when she speaks with an intentional American accent in movies.
From my experiences speaking with my UK friends about accent stereotypes, a Welsh accent could be considered the cultural equivalent of what a "country" accent is here in America. But we'd probably need a real, live Brit to corroborate or elaborate further.
As an aside, detecting the difference between an Irish and Scottish accent qualifies as pretty good? Come back when you're picking out Liverpool from Leeds. Okay I kid, but only slightly. :)