Actually here's a thread on the rare native languages of the UK for #EuropeanDayofLanguages because a lot of people don't know how many native languages are in the UK!
How many spoken native languages are there in the UK + Channel Islands?
How many spoken native languages are there in the UK + Channel Islands?
There are 11! English, (Ulster) Scots, Welsh, Manx Gaelic, Irish Gaelic, Angloromani, Scottish Gaelic, Cornish, Shelta, Jerràis and Dgèrnésias. There are also 3 non spoken languages - BSL, ISL and NISL.
English we all know about. English has a vast vocabulary and an interesting history drawing from the many many different groups of people who invaded the isles. In English, there are about 4 different archiaic words for hill; tor, penn, howe etc. from different languages
Scots is a tricky one because whilst some people consider it a dialect of English, other people argue it's a closely related language to English in the same way Norwegian and Danish are! A lot of people from England won't be able to understand a strong Scots 'dialect'
Welsh (Cymraeg) is one of the 5 Celtic languages of the UK, part of the Brittonic branch and closely related to Breton and Cornish. In Wales, Welsh and English are given the same treatment and most signs are bilingual! There's even an all Welsh TV channel - S4C
Welsh sports teams sing their own national anthem - Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau - in Welsh and there's a growing language revival movement. In fact, it's compulsory to study Welsh in Wales until the age of 16.
Manx (Gaelg) is another Celtic language - this time Goidelic - and is spoken on the Isle of Man, which is between Scotland and Ireland. The last native speaker died in 1974, but since then there has been a language revival and it's gone from extinct to critically endangered!
Irish Gaelic (Gaeilge) is Celtic and closely related to Manx and Scots Gaelic. Sadly, the Irish language has become a political flashpoint in Northern Ireland and only c.6% of the population of Northern Ireland can speak it. Gaeilge has been heavily suppressed by the English
and there is only 1 Irish medium school in Northern Ireland. The overwhelming majority of Gaeilge speakers are Catholic and many republican prisoners during The Troubles learned Gaeilge. Sadly in Unionist communities Gaeilge is seen as a 'terrorist language' post 1921 ☹️
Some local councils in NI have been producing bilingual materials in an attempt to politically neutralise the use of Gaeilge but it sadly remains as an incredibly tense political point in present day Northern Ireland
Angloromani is a language spoken by Romani people in the UK. The earliest mention of it is in the C17th and notes how Angloromani differs from other languages spoken by Romani people (e.g. Gurbet) in that it picked up English grammatical structures. About 90,000 people speak it.
Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) is our final Goidelic language. About 57,000 people speak it fluently - mostly in the Highlands and Islands. Like Gaeilge it was heavily suppressed by the English. However, the use of Gàidhlig is picking up, with bilingual signs being introduced
There is also now Gàidhlig medium TV (BBC Alba), radio (Radio nan Gàidheal) and an upswing in Gàidhlig medium education. There is also Gàidhlig on our passports - Cead-siubhail is the Gàidhlig word for passport.
Cornish (Kernowek) is a Brythonic Celtic language that is critically endangered with fewer than 1000 speakers. The first Cornish language crèche opened in 2010 and there is a movement to revitalise use of the language. Many common surnames are Cornish - e.g. Chenoweth, Penrose
Shelta (the Cant/Gammon) is a mixed Germanic & Celtic language spoken by members of the Traveller community in the UK and Ireland. The English word 'bloke' is actually from Shelta (either Ploc or Loak). There is no standard spelling in Shelta and a lot of variation between them.
Jèrrais, Dgèrnésiais and the dialect Sercquiais are spoken in the Channel Islands. They are Romance languages, closely related to Norman French but with English and Old Norse influence. However, a version of French is used for all Government and legal texts
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