Re: Alternative history - a plea!

[raybrown@macline.co.uk (Raymond A. Brown)]

At 17:26 20/4/98, Padraic Brown wrote:
[....]
>
>Dead            Critical                Alive
>
>Celtiberian     Nova Scotian            Welsh ?

Welsh is certainly alive - no need for the question mark. It is a
requirement by law that all children in Wales learn Welsh either as a first
or second language in school.  All official documents must be available in
both Welsh and English.  There are Welsh radio & TV chanels.  It is
virtually impossible to be employed in a public position in Wales without
some knowledge of & ability in the language.  It remains strong in the the
Welsh heartlands of the North & Carmarthenshire in the south; but has been
increasing in the more traditionally anglicised areas of the south.  Have
no doubt Welsh will enter the 21st century very much alive.

>Gaulish         Irish G.
>Galatian        Scots G.
>Cornish         Revived C.
>Manx G.         Revived Manx G. ?
>Brittenbergish  Chubut Welsh
>Brythonic
>Cumbrian
>Pictish (if Celtic)
>other Gaelic that went to Australia, NZ, Can. (my ancestors), USA (my
>boss's ancestors) etc.

I'm told that Gaelic did survive in Nova Scotia till this century.  Has it
died there?

But you've omitted the most widely spoken of the Celtic langs - BRETON.
Despite the efforts of French centralization & the post-war stigma of
supposed Breton-collaboration, the language has survived & is now
experiencing a revival; so much so that the French government now allow it
to be taught and there are radio & TV broadcasts in Breton.  Though it
hasn't achieved the official status that Welsh has in Wales, the signs are
that Breton will enter the 21st century alive & well & with more speakers
than Welsh.

>Not a pleasant list.  Some of the criticals could be "alive", I suppose,
>but having seen the six or eight "dots" on the map of Irish speaking areas
>in Ireland, I don't honestly hold out much hope.

I don't know much about the Irish position, but certainly Gaelic is
presently experiencing quite a revival in the highland regions of Scotland.

So it's not all doom & gloom even *here*.

Ray.

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Written in Net English        Humor not necessarily marked

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