localize-cy
Localize: Welsh (cy → Cymraeg) — High-Fidelity Skill
Scope & Variants
Welsh (Cymraeg) is the Celtic language of Wales. The default and primary target for product localization is Welsh Standard Written — the unified literary/professional written register used across Wales for government, education, broadcasting, and software UI.
| Locale | Notes |
|---|---|
cy / cy-GB |
Welsh (Wales). Default and primary target. Welsh Standard Written form covers all UI work. |
| Northern Welsh (Gogledd) | Colloquial spoken variant — does NOT diverge in written/UI contexts. |
| Southern Welsh (De) | Colloquial spoken variant — does NOT diverge in written/UI contexts. |
Practical reality: Welsh has a strong written standard (sometimes called Cymraeg safonol or Cymraeg llenyddol) that is used uniformly across Wales for UI, government, broadcasting, and education. Northern and Southern Welsh diverge in spoken pronunciation, lexicon (e.g., llefrith North vs llaeth South for "milk"), and some verb forms (e.g., dwi'n North vs rwy'n South for "I am"), but these regional differences are largely absent from the written standard used in software localization.
The defining quality concern in Welsh localization is correct application of initial consonant mutations. Mutations are not optional or stylistic — they are mandatory orthographic changes triggered by specific grammatical environments. A Welsh translation with missing or wrong mutations reads as fundamentally broken to a native speaker, even if the rest of the text is correct.
Welsh is a Celtic Brittonic language
Welsh is one of the four surviving Celtic languages, in the Brittonic (Brythonic, P-Celtic) branch: