Not really a matter of opinion, is it? The i in Welsh at the beginning of a word, before another vowel is equivalent to the english y. Yan-toe, bordering on yahn-toe.
Is it, though? I've had GDL reading The Sin Eaters on my ipod lately and it sounds like he runs the I-A together so that it sounds like a Y but is really a sped up I-A. /o\
Consensus seems to be with my beta on two syllables, though - I'm coming around.
That's because the welsh y sound is slightly further at the back of the throat. Linguistically, there's not a lot of difference between YA and IA, just like there's not really a lot of difference, in your mouth, between WAA and OOAA. W is a vowel in welsh, the vowel-consonant designation is a pretty arbirary one that differs per language.
Sorry, my background is actually in linguistics and phonetics, I do go on sometimes.
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Consensus seems to be with my beta on two syllables, though - I'm coming around.
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Sorry, my background is actually in linguistics and phonetics, I do go on sometimes.
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This is a good thing - more syllables left over for other words. \o/