h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Could the bit
few of the humans...learned a ..sheepish dialect
be changed to
some of the humans inhab..ts still speak a sheepi........
The welsh would much prefer that wording

about the sheepish dialect. My babel fish seems to be encountering some difficulties on the few occasions in has to translate. Can anyone help?

I can speak Geordie

Speak Geordie? Keenyareelieman?

Actually, Welsh is closer to original British than English. English has learnt a lot of its words off sheep.. oops.. foreigners.. (bit similar)
SCWoody

As I learn my subjects through welsh, and must therefore speak it fluently, its hard enough to understand physics in any language I can say its an easier language than English. On the subject of its being an older language than english this is supported by the fact that in welsh England is Lloegr and its inhabitants Saeson (which basically means enemy) whereas most peoples get to keep their land as their name e.g. Yr Alban (Scotland), Albanwyr (Scots).

Speaking of all things language - shouldn't this very commendable page about Wales (Cymru) be duplicated twice, once in the Welsh tongue & once in Ovine (or the vulgar Sheepish)?

I'm sure that's the law for all official publications in the Principality, you know! His Highness Chuck may get a weeny bit upset & we wouldn't want that, would we? He may set the sheep on us!

If you want a welsh dictionary in order to translate the site I can send you one in just over a week by snail mail.

I thought Lloegr literally meant 'Lost Land' and Saeson had something to do with the Sai (saxons, enemy, whatever) to whom the land was lost.

Am learning. I can give no satisfactory reason for this, but I have found that it's great for insulting the local Townies.

Hmmm, I hate to be pedantic (no, I don't) but I always thought that Wenglish, and not sheepish, was the 'official' language especially in the S.Wales area. It's a language rich in idiosyncratic nonsense and sometime complete rubbish but we treasure it in a way that would please those who came before us. Or perhaps not. See a book called 'Talk Tidy' by author unknown (not much of a researcher, huh?) which will teach you how to has a meaningful conversation with a woolly-back.

Yes, 'Wenglish' is the language of dominance, particularly in the Valleys areas (where i live, funnily enough....) and while being 'nothing to do with accent' is still very baffling to gthe 'foreigner', as well as the 'Foreigner'.
BTW, the author was John Edwards, and the best way to appreciate the dialect is by listening to the three 'Talk Tidy' tapes....

While the literal meaning of Saeson (Saesneg,Saes etc.) is debatable, it is the root word for the Scots gaelic word "sassenach" literally "barbarian" which I would submit as the more acceptable translation. Especially considering the difference in lifestyles between the bloody Saxons, Angles etc who invaded the Western lands from the south and East of England and the relatively peaceful Celts.

Well ... "sais" and "sassunach" are most likely derived from "Saxon", and used as an ethnic label in origin rather than "barbarian", which is a meaning it might have picked up later. Keep in mind that Wales itself is derived from "wealas", the Anglo-Saxon term for foreigner, which later picked up the meaning "slave" by the tenth century. The word "Celt" itself probably means "barbarian" - it was used in origin in Greece c.500BC.
As for the Celts being peace-loving - there is no evidence that they were any more or less war-like than the Anglo-Saxons. One of the most common summer activities was cattle-raiding. Warfare was a fairly usual social activity in Celtic society. Have a look at any of the Irish mythologicial cycles and the Mabinogion.