67-485: Monmouthshire County Council (or simply Monmouthshire Council ) ( Welsh : Cyngor Sir Fynwy ) is the governing body for the Monmouthshire principal area – one of the unitary authorities of Wales . The current unitary authority was created in 1996 and covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county of Monmouthshire . The county council is based at County Hall in the hamlet of The Rhadyr, near Usk . Since
134-441: A Welsh Language Scheme, which indicates its commitment to the equality of treatment principle. This is sent out in draft form for public consultation for a three-month period, whereupon comments on it may be incorporated into a final version. It requires the final approval of the now defunct Welsh Language Board ( Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg ). Thereafter, the public body is charged with implementing and fulfilling its obligations under
201-586: A Welsh-language edge inscription was used on pound coins dated 1985, 1990 and 1995, which circulated in all parts of the UK prior to their 2017 withdrawal. The wording is Pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad (Welsh for 'True am I to my country'), and derives from the national anthem of Wales, " Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau ". UK banknotes are in English only. Some shops employ bilingual signage. Welsh sometimes appears on product packaging or instructions. The UK government has ratified
268-647: A census glossary of terms to support the release of results from the census, including their definition of "main language" as referring to "first or preferred language" (though that wording was not in the census questionnaire itself). The wards in England with the most people giving Welsh as their main language were the Liverpool wards of Central and Greenbank ; and Oswestry South in Shropshire . The wards of Oswestry South (1.15%), Oswestry East (0.86%) and St Oswald (0.71%) had
335-414: A decentralised system of administration, with four area committees : Although the council is described as a "unitary authority", there is in fact a second tier of government, with the entire area being divided into communities , all of which has either a town or community council. Welsh language Welsh ( Cymraeg [kəmˈraːiɡ] or y Gymraeg [ə ɡəmˈraːiɡ] )
402-542: A large extension to it which was built in 1991. Between 1996 and 2012, the council also used the six-storey former Gwent County Hall at Croesyceiliog , Cwmbran , sharing the building with Monmouthshire County Council . County Hall closed because of " concrete cancer " and was later demolished, with the council consolidating its offices at the Civic Centre in Pontypool. The roles of mayor and deputy mayor were removed from
469-479: A single discourse (known in linguistics as code-switching ). Welsh speakers are largely concentrated in the north and west of Wales, principally Gwynedd , Conwy County Borough , Denbighshire , Anglesey , Carmarthenshire , north Pembrokeshire , Ceredigion , parts of Glamorgan , and north-west and extreme south-west Powys . However, first-language and other fluent speakers can be found throughout Wales. Welsh-speaking communities persisted well into
536-995: Is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people . Welsh is spoken natively in Wales , by some in England , and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province , Argentina ). It is spoken by smaller numbers of people in Canada and the United States descended from Welsh immigrants, within their households (especially in Nova Scotia ). Historically, it has also been known in English as "British", "Cambrian", "Cambric" and "Cymric". The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 gave
603-632: Is available throughout Europe on satellite and online throughout the UK. Since the digital switchover was completed in South Wales on 31 March 2010, S4C Digidol became the main broadcasting channel and fully in Welsh. The main evening television news provided by the BBC in Welsh is available for download. There is also a Welsh-language radio station, BBC Radio Cymru , which was launched in 1977. Torfaen County Borough Council Torfaen County Borough Council ( Welsh : Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Torfaen )
670-667: Is considered to have lasted from then until the 14th century, when the Modern Welsh period began, which in turn is divided into Early and Late Modern Welsh. The word Welsh is a descendant, via Old English wealh, wielisc , of the Proto-Germanic word * Walhaz , which was derived from the name of the Celtic people known to the Romans as Volcae and which came to refer to speakers of Celtic languages, and then indiscriminately to
737-539: Is the governing body for Torfaen , one of the Principal Areas of Wales . The borough council was created in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 as a lower-tier district council with borough status . Gwent County Council provided county-level services for the area. The county council was abolished in 1996 and Torfaen became a principal area with county borough status, with the council taking over
SECTION 10
#1732895447012804-505: Is the label attached to the Welsh of the 12th to 14th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This is the language of nearly all surviving early manuscripts of the Mabinogion , although the tales themselves are certainly much older. It is also the language of the existing Welsh law manuscripts. Middle Welsh is reasonably intelligible to a modern-day Welsh speaker. The Bible translations into Welsh helped maintain
871-704: The Cynfeirdd or "Early Poets" – is generally considered to date to the Primitive Welsh period. However, much of this poetry was supposedly composed in the Hen Ogledd , raising further questions about the dating of the material and language in which it was originally composed. This discretion stems from the fact that Cumbric was widely believed to have been the language used in Hen Ogledd. An 8th-century inscription in Tywyn shows
938-494: The 2016 Australian census , 1,688 people noted that they spoke Welsh. In the 2011 Canadian census , 3,885 people reported Welsh as their first language . According to the 2021 Canadian census , 1,130 people noted that Welsh was their mother tongue. The 2018 New Zealand census noted that 1,083 people in New Zealand spoke Welsh. The American Community Survey 2009–2013 noted that 2,235 people aged five years and over in
1005-461: The 2021 census , 7,349 people in England recorded Welsh to be their "main language". In the 2011 census, 1,189 people aged three and over in Scotland noted that Welsh was a language (other than English) that they used at home. It is believed that there are as many as 5,000 speakers of Patagonian Welsh . In response to the question 'Does the person speak a language other than English at home?' in
1072-415: The 2022 elections the council has been under no overall control , with Labour the largest party. The leader of the council since the 2022 elections has been Mary Ann Brocklesby of Labour. The current Monmouthshire County Council is the second body of that name. The first Monmouthshire County Council was created in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888 , taking over the local government functions of
1139-499: The 2022 elections , Labour became the largest party, with 22 seats, and the Conservatives lost their overall majority, winning 18 of the 46 seats. The final result was decided by the toss of a coin after a tie between Conservative and Labour candidates in the ward of Llanfoist Fawr and Govilon ; the seat was taken by the Conservatives. After the election, Labour formed a minority administration, with Mary Ann Brocklesby appointed as
1206-525: The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in respect of Welsh. The language has greatly increased its prominence since the creation of the television channel S4C in November 1982, which until digital switchover in 2010 broadcast 70 per cent of Channel 4's programming along with a majority of Welsh language shows during peak viewing hours. The all-Welsh-language digital station S4C Digidol
1273-727: The Polish name for Italians) have a similar etymology. The Welsh term for the language, Cymraeg , descends from the Brythonic word combrogi , meaning 'compatriots' or 'fellow countrymen'. Welsh evolved from Common Brittonic , the Celtic language spoken by the ancient Celtic Britons . Classified as Insular Celtic , the British language probably arrived in Britain during the Bronze Age or Iron Age and
1340-618: The United States spoke Welsh at home. The highest number of those (255) lived in Florida . Sources: Calls for the Welsh language to be granted official status grew with the establishment of the nationalist political party Plaid Cymru in 1925, the establishment of the Welsh Language Society in 1962 and the rise of Welsh nationalism in the later 20th century. Of the six living Celtic languages (including two revived), Welsh has
1407-475: The quarter sessions . That council was based in Newport , initially meeting at the town hall and later building itself headquarters at Shire Hall in 1902. In 1891, Newport was made a county borough , removing it from the administrative area of the county council, although the council continued to be based there. The first Monmouthshire County Council was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 , when
SECTION 20
#17328954470121474-573: The "hugely important role", adding, "I look forward to working with the Welsh Government and organisations in Wales in developing the new system of standards. I will look to build on the good work that has been done by the Welsh Language Board and others to strengthen the Welsh language and ensure that it continues to thrive." First Minister Carwyn Jones said that Huws would act as a champion for
1541-589: The 1880s identified a small part of Shropshire as still then speaking Welsh, with the "Celtic Border" passing from Llanymynech through Oswestry to Chirk . The number of Welsh-speaking people in the rest of Britain has not yet been counted for statistical purposes. In 1993, the Welsh-language television channel S4C published the results of a survey into the numbers of people who spoke or understood Welsh, which estimated that there were around 133,000 Welsh-speaking people living in England, about 50,000 of them in
1608-522: The 1993 Act nor secondary legislation made under it covers the private sector, although some organisations, notably banks and some railway companies, provide some of their information in Welsh. On 7 December 2010, the Welsh Assembly unanimously approved a set of measures to develop the use of the Welsh language within Wales. On 9 February 2011 this measure, the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 ,
1675-481: The Assembly which confirms the official status of the Welsh language; which creates a strong advocate for Welsh speakers and will improve the quality and quantity of services available through the medium of Welsh. I believe that everyone who wants to access services in the Welsh language should be able to do so, and that is what this government has worked towards. This legislation is an important and historic step forward for
1742-594: The Council" was broadcast in February 2012, after being filmed with Monmouthshire County Council over a period of seven months, in the lead up to their office move. The new county hall cost £6 million and was opened in 2013. For the purposes of electing councillors, the principal area is divided into forty-two electoral divisions, each returning one councillor, except Llanelly , known as Llanelly Hill , which has two councillors. These divisions date from 2004. The council operates
1809-539: The Greater London area. The Welsh Language Board , on the basis of an analysis of the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study, estimated there were 110,000 Welsh-speaking people in England, and another thousand in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In the 2011 census , 8,248 people in England gave Welsh in answer to the question "What is your main language?" The Office for National Statistics subsequently published
1876-489: The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, all new signs have Welsh displayed first. There have been incidents of one of the languages being vandalised, which may be considered a hate crime . Since 2000, the teaching of Welsh has been compulsory in all schools in Wales up to age 16; this has had an effect in stabilising and reversing the decline in the language. Text on UK coins tends to be in English and Latin. However,
1943-673: The Welsh Language Scheme. The list of other public bodies which have to prepare Schemes could be added to by initially the Secretary of State for Wales, from 1993 to 1997, by way of statutory instrument . Subsequent to the forming of the National Assembly for Wales in 1997, the Government Minister responsible for the Welsh language can and has passed statutory instruments naming public bodies who have to prepare Schemes. Neither
2010-641: The Welsh language official status in Wales. Welsh and English are de jure official languages of the Welsh Parliament, the Senedd , with Welsh being the only de jure official language in any part of the United Kingdom, with English being merely de facto official. According to the 2021 census , the Welsh-speaking population of Wales aged three or older was 538,300 (17.8%) and nearly three quarters of
2077-515: The Welsh language, though some had concerns over her appointment: Plaid Cymru spokeswoman Bethan Jenkins said, "I have concerns about the transition from Meri Huws's role from the Welsh Language Board to the language commissioner, and I will be asking the Welsh government how this will be successfully managed. We must be sure that there is no conflict of interest, and that the Welsh Language Commissioner can demonstrate how she will offer
Monmouthshire County Council - Misplaced Pages Continue
2144-481: The Welsh of the 16th century, but they are similar enough for a fluent Welsh speaker to have little trouble understanding it. During the Modern Welsh period, there has been a decline in the popularity of the Welsh language: the number of Welsh speakers declined to the point at which there was concern that the language would become extinct. During industrialisation in the late 19th century, immigrants from England led to
2211-606: The Welsh-speaking heartlands, with the number dropping to under 50 per cent in Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire for the first time. However, according to the Welsh Language Use Survey in 2019–20, 22 per cent of people aged three and over were able to speak Welsh. The Annual Population Survey (APS) by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated that as of March 2024, approximately 862,700, or 28.0 per cent of
2278-613: The area was absorbed into the new county of Gwent . Gwent County Council moved its headquarters to a new County Hall at Croesyceiliog on the outskirts of Cwmbran , which was already under construction at the time of the 1974 reforms. The current Monmouthshire County Council was created in 1996 under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 , which abolished Gwent County Council and the area's five district councils , creating new unitary authorities. The new authorities in Gwent were based on
2345-456: The census. In terms of usage, ONS also reported that 14.4 per cent (443,800) of people aged three or older in Wales reported that they spoke Welsh daily in March 2024, with 5.4 per cent (165,500) speaking it weekly and 6.5 per cent (201,200) less often. Approximately 1.7 per cent (51,700) reported that they never spoke Welsh despite being able to speak the language, with the remaining 72.0 per cent of
2412-470: The composition of the council was: Of the independent councillors, five sit together as the 'Independent Group', three sit together as the 'Torfaen Independent Group', and three more did not belong to a group until August 2024 when they joined Reform UK and became the party's first councillors in Wales. The next election is due in 2027. The council is based at the Civic Centre on Hanbury Road in Pontypool, comprising Pontypool Town Hall , built in 1856, and
2479-461: The council since 2002 have been: Following the 2022 election , the composition of the council was: Four of the independent councillors sit together as the "Independent Group", the other sits with the Green councillor as the "Green Independent Group". The latter group forms the part of the council's administration with Labour. The next election is due in 2027. Elections take place every five years. In
2546-1532: The council in May 2018 as part of the 2018/19 budget. Instead, the council created the post of Presiding Member and Deputy Presiding Member to chair council meetings. From May 2018, the roles and functions undertaken by a mayor have been undertaken by the leader of the council and cabinet members. The mayors of Torfaen from 1974 until the post's abolition in 2018 were: 1974–1974: G M Day 1974–1975: D B Richards 1975–1976: M L Lee 1976–1977: D W Puddle 1977–1978: G S R Powell 1978–1979: S E A James 1979–1980: A J Davies 1980–1981: G S Evans 1981–1982: K Morgan 1982–1983: P Roberts 1983–1984: G I Davies 1984–1985: C Little 1985–1986: H J Rosser 1986–1986: C G Thomas 1986–1988: D J Lloyd 1988–1989: W M Howell 1989–1990: B J Cunningham 1990–1991: S Richards 1991–1992: D J Rex 1992–1993: T Davies 1993–1994: F H Bacon 1994–1995: M H Morgan 1995–1996: D Miller 1996–1997: S Smith 1997–1998: S J Brooks 1998–1999: K Edmunds 1999–2000: B I Ryan 2000–2001: G R Clark 2001–2002: C Thomas 2002–2003: Jack Everson 2003–2004: Doug Davies 2004–2005: Yvonne Warren 2005–2006: Lyndon Irwin 2006–2007: Mary Barnett 2007–2008: Bill King 2008–2009: Nye James 2009–2010: Bob Jones 2010–2011: Tom Huish 2011–2012: Philip Seabourne 2012–2013: Wayne Tomlinson 2013–2014: Neil Mason 2014–2015: Mandy Owen 2015–2016: Giles Davies 2016–2017: Veronica Crick 2017–2018: Jessica Powell The county borough
2613-471: The council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been held by the following parties: Lower-tier borough County borough The leaders of the council since 1984 have been: Following the 2022 election and a by-election in February 2023 and changes of allegiance in April 2023 and August 2024,
2680-414: The course of the 20th century this monolingual population all but disappeared, but a small percentage remained at the time of the 1981 census. Most Welsh-speaking people in Wales also speak English. However, many Welsh-speaking people are more comfortable expressing themselves in Welsh than in English. A speaker's choice of language can vary according to the subject domain and the social context, even within
2747-489: The creation of Old Welsh, Davies suggests it may be more appropriate to refer to this derivative language as Lingua Britannica rather than characterising it as a new language altogether. The argued dates for the period of "Primitive Welsh" are widely debated, with some historians' suggestions differing by hundreds of years. The next main period is Old Welsh ( Hen Gymraeg , 9th to 11th centuries); poetry from both Wales and Scotland has been preserved in this form of
Monmouthshire County Council - Misplaced Pages Continue
2814-470: The decline in Welsh speakers particularly in the South Wales Valleys. Welsh government processes and legislation have worked to increase the proliferation of the Welsh language, for example through education. Welsh has been spoken continuously in Wales throughout history; however, by 1911, it had become a minority language, spoken by 43.5 per cent of the population. While this decline continued over
2881-412: The first female leader of the council. Party with the most elected councillors in bold. Coalition agreements in notes column. From 1996 until April 2012, the council's administrative headquarters were at the six-storey former Gwent County Hall at Croesyceiliog , Cwmbran – outside its own administrative area in the neighbouring borough of Torfaen and shared with Torfaen County Borough Council . It
2948-485: The following decades, the language did not die out. The smallest number of speakers was recorded in 1981 with 503,000 although the lowest percentage was recorded in the most recent census in 2021 at 17.8 per cent. By the start of the 21st century, numbers began to increase once more, at least partly as a result of the increase in Welsh-medium education . The 2004 Welsh Language Use Survey showed that 21.7 per cent of
3015-412: The functions previously performed by the county council. Borough status allows Torfaen to give the chair of the council the title of mayor. However, the council discontinued the role of mayor in 2018. A presiding member role has been created instead to chair meetings. In 2024 the council agreed to share a chief executive with neighbouring Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council . The first election to
3082-463: The highest number of native speakers who use the language on a daily basis, and it is the Celtic language which is considered the least endangered by UNESCO . The Welsh Language Act 1993 and the Government of Wales Act 1998 provide that the Welsh and English languages be treated equally in the public sector, as far as is reasonable and practicable. Each public body is required to prepare for approval
3149-469: The highest percentage of residents giving Welsh as their main language. The census also revealed that 3,528 wards in England, or 46% of the total number, contained at least one resident whose main language is Welsh. In terms of the regions of England , North West England (1,945), London (1,310) and the West Midlands (1,265) had the highest number of people noting Welsh as their main language. According to
3216-451: The history of Welsh, with rather indistinct boundaries: Primitive Welsh, Old Welsh, Middle Welsh, and Modern Welsh. The period immediately following the language's emergence is sometimes referred to as Primitive Welsh, followed by the Old Welsh period – which is generally considered to stretch from the beginning of the 9th century to sometime during the 12th century. The Middle Welsh period
3283-587: The language already dropping inflections in the declension of nouns. Janet Davies proposed that the origins of the Welsh language were much less definite; in The Welsh Language: A History , she proposes that Welsh may have been around even earlier than 600 AD. This is evidenced by the dropping of final syllables from Brittonic: * bardos 'poet' became bardd , and * abona 'river' became afon . Though both Davies and Jackson cite minor changes in syllable structure and sounds as evidence for
3350-496: The language, its speakers and for the nation." The measure was not welcomed warmly by all supporters: Bethan Williams, chairman of the Welsh Language Society, gave a mixed response to the move, saying, "Through this measure we have won official status for the language and that has been warmly welcomed. But there was a core principle missing in the law passed by the Assembly before Christmas. It doesn't give language rights to
3417-546: The language. As Germanic and Gaelic colonisation of Britain proceeded, the Brittonic speakers in Wales were split off from those in northern England, speaking Cumbric, and those in the southwest, speaking what would become Cornish , so the languages diverged. Both the works of Aneirin ( Canu Aneirin , c. 600 ) and the Book of Taliesin ( Canu Taliesin ) were written during this era. Middle Welsh ( Cymraeg Canol )
SECTION 50
#17328954470123484-610: The modern period across the border in England. Archenfield was still Welsh enough in the time of Elizabeth I for the Bishop of Hereford to be made responsible, together with the four Welsh bishops, for the translation of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer into Welsh. Welsh was still commonly spoken there in the first half of the 19th century, and churchwardens' notices were put up in both Welsh and English until about 1860. Alexander John Ellis in
3551-448: The number of Welsh-language speakers to one million by 2050. Since 1980, the number of children attending Welsh-medium schools has increased, while the number going to Welsh bilingual and dual-medium schools has decreased. Welsh is considered the least endangered Celtic language by UNESCO . The language of the Welsh developed from the language of Britons . The emergence of Welsh was not instantaneous and clearly identifiable. Instead,
3618-464: The people of Wales in every aspect of their lives. Despite that, an amendment to that effect was supported by 18 Assembly Members from three different parties, and that was a significant step forward." On 5 October 2011, Meri Huws , Chair of the Welsh Language Board , was appointed the new Welsh Language Commissioner. She released a statement that she was "delighted" to have been appointed to
3685-534: The people of the Western Roman Empire . In Old English the term went through semantic narrowing , coming to refer to either Britons in particular or, in some contexts, slaves. The plural form Wēalas evolved into the name for their territory, Wales. The modern names for various Romance-speaking people in Continental Europe (e.g. Walloons , Valaisans , Vlachs / Wallachians , and Włosi ,
3752-436: The population in Wales said they had no Welsh language skills. Other estimates suggest that 862,700 people (28.0%) aged three or older in Wales could speak Welsh in March 2024. Almost half of all Welsh speakers consider themselves fluent, while 20 per cent are able to speak a fair amount. 56 per cent of Welsh speakers speak the language daily, and 19 per cent speak the language weekly. The Welsh Government plans to increase
3819-471: The population not being able to speak it. The National Survey for Wales, conducted by Welsh Government, has also tended to report a higher percentage of Welsh speakers than the census, with the most recent results for 2022–2023 suggesting that 18 per cent of the population aged 3 and over were able to speak Welsh, with an additional 16 per cent noting that they had some Welsh-speaking ability. Historically, large numbers of Welsh people spoke only Welsh. Over
3886-502: The population of Wales aged 3 and over, were able to speak the language. Children and young people aged three to 15 years old were more likely to report that they could speak Welsh than any other age group (48.4 per cent, 241,300). Around 1,001,500 people, or 32.5 per cent, reported that they could understand spoken Welsh. 24.7 per cent (759,200) could read and 22.2 per cent (684,500) could write in Welsh. The APS estimates of Welsh language ability are historically higher than those produced by
3953-407: The population of Wales spoke Welsh, compared with 20.8 per cent in the 2001 census , and 18.5 per cent in the 1991 census . Since 2001, however, the number of Welsh speakers has declined in both the 2011 and 2021 censuses to about 538,300 or 17.8 per cent in 2021, lower than 1991, although it is still higher in absolute terms. The 2011 census also showed a "big drop" in the number of speakers in
4020-418: The previous districts, with the new Monmouthshire authority covering the pre-1996 Monmouth Borough plus the community of Llanelly from Blaenau Gwent district. The first election to the new council was held in 1995, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its powers on 1 April 1996. Political control of the council since 1996 has been held by the following parties: The leaders of
4087-409: The required fresh approach to this new role." Huws started her role as the Welsh Language Commissioner on 1 April 2012. Local councils and the Senedd use Welsh, issuing Welsh versions of their literature, to varying degrees. Road signs in Wales are in Welsh and English. Prior to 2016, the choice of which language to display first was the responsibility of the local council. Since then, as part of
SECTION 60
#17328954470124154-627: The shift occurred over a long period, with some historians claiming that it had happened by as late as the 9th century , with a watershed moment being that proposed by linguist Kenneth H. Jackson , the Battle of Dyrham , a military battle between the West Saxons and the Britons in 577 AD, which split the South Western British from direct overland contact with the Welsh. Four periods are identified in
4221-518: The use of Welsh in daily life, and standardised spelling. The New Testament was translated by William Salesbury in 1567, and the complete Bible by William Morgan in 1588. Modern Welsh is subdivided into Early Modern Welsh and Late Modern Welsh. Early Modern Welsh ran from the 15th century through to the end of the 16th century, and the Late Modern Welsh period roughly dates from the 16th century onwards. Contemporary Welsh differs greatly from
4288-547: Was closed because of " concrete cancer " and later demolished. In 2010 the authority had decided to relocate its headquarters functions to new offices at The Rhadyr in the community of Llanbadoc , just outside the town of Usk . Planning permission for the new building was granted in September 2011. The council moved to temporary offices in Magor while the new building was under construction. A BBC television documentary "Carrying On at
4355-608: Was complete by around AD 550, and labelled the period between then and about AD 800 "Primitive Welsh". This Primitive Welsh may have been spoken in both Wales and the Hen Ogledd ('Old North') – the Brittonic-speaking areas of what are now northern England and southern Scotland – and therefore may have been the ancestor of Cumbric as well as Welsh. Jackson, however, believed that the two varieties were already distinct by that time. The earliest Welsh poetry – that attributed to
4422-518: Was passed and received Royal Assent, thus making the Welsh language an officially recognised language within Wales. The measure: The measure required public bodies and some private companies to provide services in Welsh. The Welsh government's Minister for Heritage at the time, Alun Ffred Jones , said, "The Welsh language is a source of great pride for the people of Wales, whether they speak it or not, and I am delighted that this measure has now become law. I am very proud to have steered legislation through
4489-399: Was probably spoken throughout the island south of the Firth of Forth . During the Early Middle Ages the British language began to fragment due to increased dialect differentiation, thus evolving into Welsh and the other Brittonic languages. It is not clear when Welsh became distinct. Linguist Kenneth H. Jackson has suggested that the evolution in syllabic structure and sound pattern
#11988