Bach or bach

A FEW years ago, I used to live in

Wales. There is a word in Welsh, ‘‘bach’’ (pronounced like the name of the composer, but with a short ‘‘a’’).

It means ‘‘small’’.

Perhaps a settler of Welsh origin wanted to differentiate between his large, ‘‘main’’ house and weekend/ holiday getaway and so called his little house ‘‘bach’’, meaning ‘‘the small one’’. Then it caught on?

Just a thought. Mrs Ilona Pfeifer

Dunedin