The Languages of Wales and Scotland

1
The Languages ofWales and Scotland

• Cymraeg and Gaidhlig
• Sarah Martin Sandra Tsung
• December 8, 2003

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Welsh Cymraeg

• Pronounced Kumrige
• Over half a million speakers in Wales
• some in Britain, and in Welsh colony located in
  Patagonia region of Argentina
  
• 2001 20.5 of population, although English is
  predominately the day-to-day language
  
• Western and Northern regions of Wales

3
The Language

• Indo-European language
• Brythonic branch of Celtic
• Close brother to Breton Cornish
• Distant cousin to Irish Scots Gaelic
• Not dialect of English

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History of Language

• Early Welsh 6th century
• Old Welsh 9th to 11th centuries
• Middle Welsh 12th to 14th centuries (reasonably
  intelligible by modern-day speakers)
  
• Modern Welsh
• Early 14th to 16th centuries
• Late began with the publication of William
  Morgan's translation of the Bible in 1588

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Orthography

• Spelling is entirely regular and phonetic
• 28 letters in alphabet
• Similar to English alphabet
• Except no J, K, Q, V, X, Z

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Survival of the Language

• Support grew in 2nd half of 20th century
• Coincided with rise of nationalist political
  organizations
  
• Plaid Cymru (political party)
• Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (Welsh Language
  Society)
  
• 1982, S4C Welsh TV channel
• Use in local governments Welsh Assembly,
  official literature publicity, all road signs
  in Wales in English and Welsh

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Scottish Gaidhlig

• Scots Gaelic spoken by roughly 60,000 people in
  Scotland
  
• Highlands and Islands to the west
• Gaelic brought to Scotland from Ireland at end of
  Roman Empire in Britain (500 A.D.)

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The Language

• Indo-European language
• Goidelic branch of Celtic
• Closely related to Irish Gaelic and Manx
• Distantly related to Brythonic languages

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Orthography

• 18 letters in alphabet
• A B C D E F G H I L M N O P R S T U
• Traditional Gaelic orthography
• quality of consonants is partially indicated by
  surrounding vowels
  
• use of grave accents
• regularized in 1970s
• History of Irish functioning as written language
  for some Scottish Gaelic speakers

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Survival of Language?

• Has not enjoyed official recognition from British
  government as with Welsh
  
• Scot Gaelic broadcasts on BBC ITV
• Radio na Gàidheal BBC
• Gaelic Bill now before Scottish Parliament
• Recognize Gaelic as language of Scotland
• Establish Gaelic governmental body
• National Gaelic Language Plan
• Columba Initiative promote link with Irish
  speakers