Welsh in Caernarfon: Cofis, Pen Deitsh and the names on the signs

You will hear Welsh in Caernarfon on the Maes, in the shops and at the bar. Nobody expects a visitor to speak it, and everybody will switch, but it helps to know what you are hearing and reading, because a lot of the town's names only make sense in Welsh.

Cofis

People from Caernarfon are Cofis. The BFI's archive notes describe it as the colloquial name for the town's people, and the town has its own Welsh dialect to go with it, with words and expressions found nowhere else; the same notes mention the famous Caernarfon deadpan. Amgueddfa Cymru, the national museum, holds a recording of the Caernarfon dialect and titled its page with a phrase from it, 'Cofi 'lly ia?'. You will not pick it up in a weekend. You will notice it.

Names on the map

Start with the town. Caer is a fort, and the fort in question is Roman: Cadw says Welsh legend called Segontium Caer aber Seint, the fort at the mouth of the Saint, in the Mabinogion tale The Dream of Macsen Wledig. Y Maes is the square, and the word means field. Cei Llechi is the Slate Quay, where the slate from the Nantlle quarries went out.

Then the street names, which come in pairs on the signs and are not always translations of each other. Castle Ditch is Pen Deitsh, and so, to locals, is the pub on its corner: North Wales Live said in 2023 that the Palace Vaults is better known as Pen Deitsh, head of the ditch. Northgate Street is, according to the Black Boy Inn, Stryd Pedwar a Chwech, Four and Six Street, after what a room and company once cost there. Hole in the Wall Street is Twll yn y Wal. The Black Boy's own sign reads Tafarn y Bachgen Du.

Places that work in Welsh

Galeri, the arts centre on Doc Victoria, puts its site in Welsh first, with an English version, and runs a cinema and a theatre. Gŵyl Fwyd Caernarfon, the food festival, publishes in Welsh and is back on 8 May 2027 after a year off. Bar Bach calls itself Tafarn Lleiaf Cymru, the smallest pub in Wales, which is its claim and a good opening line. Cadw's own pages for the castle say it welcomes calls in Welsh.

A few words to have ready

Diolch is thank you, and it is the one to learn; diolch yn fawr is thank you very much. Bore da is good morning, and iechyd da is cheers. Croeso is welcome, and you will see it on doors. Ar agor and ar gau are open and closed, which matters on a Sunday. Ffordd is road, stryd is street, and allanfa is exit. The Black Boy keeps a page of simple Welsh terms on its site for visitors.

How to use it

Try the diolch. Read the Welsh half of the street sign. If someone answers in Welsh and you are lost, say so in English and nobody minds; the point is that you noticed whose town it is. The Welsh Highland Railway's own name, Rheilffordd Eryri, is painted on its station on St Helen's Road, and Yr Wyddfa is the name the railway uses for Snowdon.