Ceinwen Thomas

Ceinwen Hannah Thomas (1911–2008) was a Welsh academic and linguist. Together with her mother Catherine Margretta Thomas and Doris Freeman, she recorded and transcribed the Nantgarw dance tradition. Thomas was also an important linguist in the study of the Gwenhwyseg dialect of South East Wales, especially the traditions, folk-culture and linguistics of her home village of Nantgarw.

Early life Thomas was born in the village of Nantgarw and attended Nantgarw infant school, where she is said to have complained about the lack of local history being taught. Thomas would later recall that her family (especially her mother and maternal uncles) loved to discuss the slawar dydd (days of long ago).

Thomas would remain resident in Nantgarw during her secondary education at Caerphilly and her undergraduate and Masters degrees at Cardiff. Only leaving in 1937 to obtain her doctorate from the University of Ireland.

Work in education Thomas returned to Wales in 1940 and took teaching positions, first at Ebbw Vale and then Brynmawr. Having joined Plaid Cymru as a student in Cardiff, Thomas remained active in the party throughout the 1940s and 50s and fought to promote more Wales-focused history in Welsh schools and for the use of the Welsh language in education.

As part of her academic life, Ceinwen Thomas met Walter Dowding of the Welsh Folk Dance Society, Dowding put Thomas in touch with Doris Freeman and together, the three worked to notate the dance steps from the traditional dances.

Later work In 1993, the culmination of her life long study of the phonetics and grammar of Welsh saw the University of Wales Press publish a two volume description of the Welsh dialect as spoken at Nantgarw. This is one of the most comprehensive works on the dialect.