THE DERIVATION AND MEANING OF PLACE-NAMES<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019ll now look at some common elements in Welsh Place-names.<\/span><\/p>\n LLAN<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The most common element by far in Welsh place-names is the word \u2018llan\u2019<\/strong>. If you were to look at a book of place-names, you would see that there are over 400 places in Wales which begin with the element \u2018Llan\u2019 <\/strong>– an incredible number, I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll agree, in a country the size of Wales!<\/p>\n The original meaning of \u2018llan\u2019 <\/strong>was an enclosed piece of land on which produce was grown. It is derived from the Brythonic word \u2018llann\u2019 and the earlier Celtic form \u2018landa\u2019. By the 12th Century it had developed to mean an enclosed piece of consecrated land – often surrounding a religious building. It developed further to convey the extended land around a religious building – much like a small parish. Nowadays, the word \u2018llan\u2019 <\/strong>refers to the religious building itself – the church. You\u2019ll also find many place-names containing this element in Scotland, Cumbria, Cornwall, Brittany and over Offa\u2019s Dyke, in Herefordshire for example – evidence of the widespread existence of the Celtic language.<\/p>\n In most of the \u2018llan\u2019 <\/strong>place-names, this element precedes the name of the saint <\/strong>to whom the church is dedicated. It is a feminine noun and the rules of Welsh grammar dictate that words following a feminine noun will undergo a Soft Mutation – i.e. the initial consonant softens. We see this phenomenon in such place-names as Llandudno <\/strong>(Tudno), Llanberis <\/strong>(Peris), Llangadog <\/strong>(Cadog), Llangollen <\/strong>(Collen), Llandeilo <\/strong>(Teilo).<\/p>\n Only 9 consonants undergo this softening – all others are used in their original form Llanisien <\/strong>(Nisien), Llansadwrn <\/strong>(Sadwrn), Llanidloes <\/strong>(Idloes), Llanelli <\/strong>(Elli).<\/p>\n Not all \u2018llan\u2019 place-names include a saint\u2019s name. As there are so many places in Wales based on this element, it can be useful to include a geographical element – as in Llandaf <\/strong>(on the river Taf), Llangefni <\/strong>(on the river Cefni), Llanfaes <\/strong>(in a \u2018maes\u2019 – meadow), Llangoed <\/strong>(in the \u2018coed\u2019 – wood), Llanuwchllyn <\/strong>(uwch – above, llyn – lake), Llanfynydd <\/strong>(on a \u2018mynydd\u2019 mountain), Llangwm <\/strong>(in a \u2018cwm\u2019 – valley).<\/p>\n Some names include a number rather than the name of one saint – Llantrisant <\/strong>(three saints), Llanddeusant <\/strong>(two saints), Llanpumpsaint <\/strong>(five saints).<\/p>\n The next time you\u2019re travelling around Wales perhaps you can work out the meaning of the \u2018llan\u2019 villages through which you drive.<\/p>\n Next month: Aber, Bryn, Cwm, Pont.<\/p>\n Ann M. Jones<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n THE DERIVATION AND MEANING OF PLACE-NAMES We\u2019ll now look at some common elements in Welsh Place-names. LLAN The most common element by far in Welsh place-names is the word \u2018llan\u2019. If you were to look at a book of place-names, you would see that there are over 400 places in Wales which begin with the element \u2018Llan\u2019 – an incredible […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[334,228],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-3ln","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12750,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=12750","url_meta":{"origin":12857,"position":0},"title":"Place-Names Derivation – Llwyneliddon \/ St Lythans","author":"Alan Williams","date":"5th January 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"THE DERIVATION AND MEANING OF PLACE-NAMES LLWYNELIDDON \/ ST LYTHANS The Welsh name is made up of two elements - \u2018llwyn\u2019 and \u2018Eliddon\u2019. \u2018Llwyn\u2019 is the Welsh word for \u2018grove\u2019 or \u2018copse\u2019 and the second element \u2018Eliddon\u2019\u2019 is the name of the saint to whom an earlier church was dedicated.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Readers Articles of Interest"","block_context":{"text":"Readers Articles of Interest","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=228"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12644,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=12644","url_meta":{"origin":12857,"position":1},"title":"Place-Names Derivation – Fawr \/ Llantwit Major","author":"Alan Williams","date":"9th December 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"THE DERIVATION AND MEANING OF PLACE-NAMES LLANILLTUD FAWR \/ LLANTWIT MAJOR The name Llanilltud is made up of two elements - \u2018llan\u2019 and \u2018Illtud\u2019 (\u2018Illtyd\u2019). The first element is an old Celtic word, which I will discuss in detail at a later date. Suffice to say at this stage that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11844,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=11844","url_meta":{"origin":12857,"position":2},"title":"The Meaning And Derivation Of Place-Names","author":"Alan Williams","date":"7th July 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"THE MEANING AND DERIVATION OF PLACE-NAMES Many people are fascinated by the meaning and derivation of place-names - so we\u2019ll look at the names that are local to us in this area - before moving on to look at some further afield. The obvious place to start is at our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12140,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=12140","url_meta":{"origin":12857,"position":3},"title":"Place Name History -Y BARRI","author":"Alan Williams","date":"31st August 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"3. THE MEANING AND DERIVATION OF PLACE-NAMES Y BARRI \/ BARRY We know that the name Barri was in existence before the Twelfth Century because the de Barri family, the family of the well-known historian and Archdeacon of Brecon, Gerallt Gymro - Giraldus Cambrensis, Gerald the Welshman - who was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12022,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=12022","url_meta":{"origin":12857,"position":4},"title":"Place Name History -BRO MORGANNWG","author":"Alan Williams","date":"4th August 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"THE MEANING AND DERIVATION OF PLACE-NAMES BRO MORGANNWG - VALE OF GLAMORGAN There are two patterns in English which convey a Welsh place-name such as Bro Morgannwg - namely \u2018Vale of Glamorgan\u2019 and \u2018Glamorgan Vale\u2019 (cf Ogmore Vale, Ebbw Vale, Merthyr Vale etc). This second pattern is the exact equivalent\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10650,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=10650","url_meta":{"origin":12857,"position":5},"title":"Cutting Back The Roses","author":"Alan Williams","date":"22nd November 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"VILLAGE ENVIRONMENT GROUP On a beautiful autumn morning the team set about cutting back the roses on the village green. Ieuan brought along his new cordless hedge trimmer and demonstrated its effectiveness. Team member Brian was absent due to being summoned to Switzerland to work on the Hadron Collider. Have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Environment Group"","block_context":{"text":"Environment Group","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=47"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Picture7-e1637576468198.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12857"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12857"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12857\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12858,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12857\/revisions\/12858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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