It has been stated to be spoken by 40% of the residents of Rhosllanerchrugog.[2] Census records suggest figures are lower although still above the national average:[3] the 2001 Census showed that 31.5% of the community area was Welsh speaking, declining to 24% at the 2011 census.[3] The dialect is notable for its relatively low level of intelligability with other Welsh dialects.[4]
The dialect's features are partly a result of immigration to Rhos early in its growth as a mining village: unlike in other villages in the region, most of the immigrants came from Welsh-speaking upland agricultural areas in West Wales, giving the village a distinct linguistic identity.[6] Some features are, however, shared with other northern dialects, such as Powyseg and Gwyndodeg; the final [v] and [ð] is lost in words such as araf ("slow"), here pronounced ['ara], and the word ffordd ("road") being pronounced as [fɔr].[7]
The dialect also displays numerous distinctive consonants and examples of metathesis. Examples are amcan, "aim", "notion", rendered in Rhos as ['ankam]; or ['borðə] for standard ['boðrɔ], boddro ("to bother").[8]
Vowels also differ widely from modern standard Welsh: one of its key features is the diphthongisation of vowels [e] and [o], as seen in the vowel of the name Rhos, locally ['r̥əus].[9] Another typical feature is the contraction of verbal phrases, so that for example Yr oedd gennyf ("I had") is rendered as ['ogai] and Mae'n rhaid i mi ("I have to") as ['haimi].[10]
The Rhos dialect is also known for a unique vocabulary. The main example is a word that has become synonymous with the village: the demonstrative adjectivenene (pronounced approximately [neːneː]), meaning "that", or more specifically "that over there".[11] While the related forms ene ("that") and dene ("there [...] is") are found in other parts of North-East Wales, nene is specific to Rhos.[11][12] Another typical feature shared with other north-eastern forms of Welsh is use of the dialectal dôl ("ago", "back", "in return") in place of Standard Welsh ôl.[13] These features are to an extent becoming lost in younger speakers under the influence of Welsh medium education, with younger speakers in Welsh schools showing a particular bias against dialectal nene in favour of standard hwnna or hynny.[14]
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