Wednesday 31 May 2023

why giving a welsh park a welsh name is problematic - or not

Recently, one of the national parks of Wales changed its name:

Brecon Beacons: Park to use Welsh name Bannau Brycheiniog - BBC News

And this is why:

Brecon Beacons: Bannau Brycheiniog rebrand shows why names matter - BBC News

Here's a bit of help with the pronunciation:

Bannau Brycheiniog is pronounced: ban-eye bruck-ein-iog. It’s derived form the plural of “ban”, meaning “peak”, and “Brycheiniog” referring to the old kingdom of King Brychan. Its English translation means “The Peaks of Brychan’s Kingdom”.

Brecon Beacons name change explained: How to pronounce the National Park’s new Welsh name Bannau Brycheiniog

But not everyone likes it:

Business chiefs call for Brecon Beacons' English name to be reinstated over tourism fears | Daily Mail Online

Brecon Beacons National Park: Tories criticise renaming as 'symbolic' attempt to look 'trendy' | UK News | Sky News

Why associate a rapist with Brecon Beacons? | cambrian-news.co.uk

Unfortunately, this has become part of the so-called 'culture wars':

The new name, which took effect yesterday, has been imposed without consulting any of the thousands of local residents (or 4 million annual visitors) who so enjoy this breath-takingly beautiful landscape. It is purely the brainchild of an unholy alliance of virtue-signalling politicians and civil servants who appear to be prepared to spend taxpayers' money on the most lame of initiatives, as long as they can be passed off as contributing in some way to the sunlit uplands of 'net zero'.

HARRY MOUNT: Renaming the Brecon Beacons is a victory for woke philistines | Daily Mail Online

There’s nothing that imperialists hate more than Welsh people (or Irish people, or Scottish people) doing Welsh (Irish/Scottish) things in their own country. Throw in concern about the environment and you basically have what amounts to a genius marketing strategy, and right before the coronation of the former “Prince of Wales” as King. Note my use of quotation marks, because the last true Prince of Wales – that’s literally his name – Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf, died in 1282. These sorts of union-flag-waving English jamborees can make even the mildest Welsh person feel a bit queasy...

Bannau Brycheiniog: is this Welsh national park where Tory culture warriors will meet their Waterloo? | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett | The Guardian

As covered by the EL Gazette:

Just when we thought it was safe to go back down the pub, the language wars have again broken out. This time it is the mighty ire of the English directed against a Welsh National Park...
The most common complaint is that it is “anti-English”. “The Welsh just want to have a laugh at us because we can’t pronounce it,” spluttered one commentator. Certainly the Welsh might enjoy the spectacle, just as English people collapse in giggles every time we hear an American trying to pronounce the word Worcestershire.

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