Typing Hero App typingheroapp.com
How to Type in Welsh (Cymraeg) — Welsh Touch Typing

How to Type in Welsh (Cymraeg) — Welsh Touch Typing

· 2 min read · by Robin Érsek-Obádovics

Welsh (Cymraeg) is one of Europe's oldest living Celtic languages, spoken by ~890,000 people in Wales and the diaspora. It uses the QWERTY-UK keyboard (since Wales is part of the UK). Welsh-specific characters: ŵ, ŷ (w and y with circumflex) and digraphs ll, dd, ff, ch, ng, ph, rh, th.

Welsh character set

  • Standard A-Z
  • Â â, Ê ê, Î î, Ô ô, Û û — vowels with circumflex (long vowels)
  • Ŵ ŵ, Ŷ ŷ — w and y with circumflex (Welsh-specific)
  • Á á, É é, Í í, Ó ó, Ú ú — vowels with acute (rare)
  • Digraphs: ll, dd, ff, ch, ng, ph, rh, th — treated as single letters in Welsh alphabet

QWERTY-UK layout for Welsh

Uses standard QWERTY-UK with dead-key access to circumflex:

  • ŵ: Shift+6 (^) then w
  • ŷ: Shift+6 then y
  • â, ê, î, ô, û: ^ then vowel

Practice the Welsh layout at /cy/qwerty_uk/.

Common Welsh typing patterns

  • a, y, yr, yn — common short words
  • bore da, diolch, croeso — politeness (good morning, thank you, welcome)
  • Cymru, Cymraeg, Cymro — proper nouns
  • Caerdydd, Abertawe, Wrecsam — city names (Cardiff, Swansea, Wrexham)
  • llyfr, lle, llaw — common ll words

Welsh digraphs

Welsh treats certain letter pairs as single letters in alphabet:

  • ll (lh sound) — like in "Lloyd"
  • dd (voiced th) — like English "this"
  • ff (f sound)
  • ch (kh sound, like German "ach")
  • ng (ng sound)
  • rh (aspirated r)
  • th (voiceless th)
  • ph (f sound — rare)

These are typed as two separate keystrokes but treated as single letters in Welsh.

Touch typing tips

  1. Master ^ dead key for circumflex vowels (â ê î ô û ŵ ŷ)
  2. Practice ll specifically — very common in Welsh
  3. Drill ch and dd — frequent Welsh digraphs
  4. Same as QWERTY-UK for letter positions

Target: 45-55 WPM in 4-6 weeks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are ŵ and ŷ unique to Welsh?

Almost — these letters with circumflex are extremely rare elsewhere. Welsh uses them frequently for distinguishing long vs short w/y vowels.

Why does Welsh use circumflex on w?

In Welsh, w is a vowel (not just a consonant). The circumflex marks long w sound vs short. Same logic for ŷ.

Are digraphs like "ll" really single letters?

In Welsh alphabet: yes. They're sorted as single letters. But typed as two keystrokes.

Can I type Welsh on QWERTY-US?

Possible via US-International for accents. QWERTY-UK is more natural for Welsh-speaking Wales.

Is Welsh hard to learn for English speakers?

Famously yes — different grammar, mutations, pronunciation. But typing-wise, it's relatively straightforward.

How is the keyboard set up for Welsh in Wales?

Standard UK keyboards with Welsh language pack installed. Same physical keys, different IME for ŵ/ŷ.

Practice Welsh typing

Practice Welsh on Typing Hero App — 19 lessons using QWERTY-UK with Welsh focus.

For more: QWERTY-UK layout, How to type in Irish, How to type special characters.