117-566: English is by far the most spoken, and the "de facto" national language of Northern Ireland ,; it occurs in various forms, including Ulster English and Hiberno-English . Irish is an official language of Northern Ireland since 2022, and the local variety of Scots , known as Ulster Scots , has official minority status, with services in the language provided by public authorities. Northern Ireland Sign Language and Irish Sign Language have also been recognised with minority status since 29 March 2004. Before legislation passed in 2022 that allowed
234-708: A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) by one Suresh Kachhadia. The Supreme Court of India uses English in its proceedings and objects to use Hindi. The Union Government uses Hindi and English as official languages, such as for parliamentary proceedings and texts of federal laws. Communications between the Union Government and state governments are in Hindi with Region A and Region B states and in English with Region C states. State governments use their own native languages in official communications. They may adopt one or more of
351-452: A nation . The term is applied quite differently in various contexts. One or more languages spoken as first languages in the territory of a country may be referred to informally or designated in legislation as national languages of the country. National languages are mentioned in over 150 world constitutions. C.M.B. Brann , with particular reference to India, suggests that there are "four quite distinctive meanings" for national language in
468-559: A "mother tongue" corresponding to the student's ethnicity. Malay is only offered to non-Malay students as an optional third language in secondary schools. As a result, English has displaced Bazaar Malay as the common language among Singaporeans. Therefore, despite the status of Malay as the national language, the majority doesn't speak it as a first language. Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( / ˈ ɡ æ l ɪ k / , GAL -ik ; endonym : Gàidhlig [ˈkaːlɪkʲ] ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic ,
585-524: A "nation", these two languages may be considered two equal national languages of the nation of Canada, or the national languages of two nations within one state, English Canada and French Canada . Quebec nationalists consider Quebec French the language of the Quebec nation and is that province's official language (and recognized minority in Ontario , Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador ). Acadian French ,
702-442: A 19% fall in bilingual speakers between the 1911 and 1921 Censuses. Michelle MacLeod of Aberdeen University has said that there was no other period with such a high fall in the number of monolingual Gaelic speakers: "Gaelic speakers became increasingly the exception from that point forward with bilingualism replacing monolingualism as the norm for Gaelic speakers." The Linguistic Survey of Scotland (1949–1997) surveyed both
819-515: A central feature of court life there. The semi-independent Lordship of the Isles in the Hebrides and western coastal mainland remained thoroughly Gaelic since the language's recovery there in the 12th century, providing a political foundation for cultural prestige down to the end of the 15th century. By the mid-14th century what eventually came to be called Scots (at that time termed Inglis ) emerged as
936-805: A challenge to revitalization efforts which occur outside the home. Positive engagements between language learners and native speakers of Gaelic through mentorship has proven to be productive in socializing new learners into fluency. In the 2022 census, 3,551 people claimed Gaelic as their 'main language.' Of these, 1,761 (49.6%) were in Na h-Eileanan Siar, 682 (19.2%) were in Highland, 369 were in Glasgow City and 120 were in City of Edinburgh; no other council area had as many as 80 such respondents. Gaelic has long suffered from its lack of use in educational and administrative contexts and
1053-565: A dialect known as Canadian Gaelic has been spoken in Canada since the 18th century. In the 2021 census , 2,170 Canadian residents claimed knowledge of Scottish Gaelic, a decline from 3,980 speakers in the 2016 census . There exists a particular concentration of speakers in Nova Scotia , with historic communities in other parts of North America , including North Carolina and Glengarry County, Ontario having largely disappeared. Scottish Gaelic
1170-540: A full range of language skills: speaking, understanding, reading and writing Gaelic. 40.2% of Scotland's Gaelic speakers said that they used Gaelic at home. To put this in context, the most common language spoken at home in Scotland after English and Scots is Polish, with about 1.1% of the population, or 54,000 people. The 2011 UK Census showed a total of 57,375 Gaelic speakers in Scotland (1.1% of population over three years old), of whom only 32,400 could also read and write
1287-427: A further seven more (totalling eleven official languages): Cree , Dënesųłiné , Gwich’in , Inuvialuktun, North and South Slavey and Tłı̨chǫ . As these official languages are legislated at a territorial (sub-federal) level, they can be construed as national languages. Besides these there many Indigenous languages of Canada , which are the national languages of one or more First Nations , Inuit or Métis peoples;
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#17330931774671404-577: A language ideology at odds with revitalization efforts on behalf of new speakers, state policies (such as the Gaelic Language Act), and family members reclaiming their lost mother tongue. New learners of Gaelic often have a positive affective stance to their language learning, and connect this learning journey towards Gaelic language revitalization. The mismatch of these language ideologies, and differences in affective stance, has led to fewer speaking opportunities for adult language learners and therefore
1521-523: A large component from the British family of sign language (which also includes Auslan ) with many borrowings from ASL. It is described as being related to Irish Sign Language at the syntactic level while much of the lexicon is based on British Sign Language (BSL) and American Sign Language. As of March 2004 the British Government recognises only British Sign Language and Irish Sign Language as
1638-682: A mixed language spoken by Irish Travellers (Rilantu Mincéirí), is also native to Ireland. The dialect of English spoken in Northern Ireland shows influence from the lowland Scots language . There are supposedly some minute differences in pronunciation between Protestants and Catholics, the best known of which is the name of the letter h , which Protestants tend to pronounce as "aitch", as in British English , and Catholics tend to pronounce as "haitch", as in Hiberno-English . However, geography
1755-786: A national centre for Gaelic Language and Culture, based in Sleat , on the Isle of Skye . This institution is the only source for higher education which is conducted entirely in Scottish Gaelic. They offer courses for Gaelic learners from beginners into fluency. They also offer regular bachelors and graduate programs delivered entirely in Gaelic. Concerns have been raised around the fluency achieved by learners within these language programs because they are disconnected from vernacular speech communities. In regard to language revitalization planning efforts, many feel that
1872-655: A native English speaker, "[Ulster Scots] is comparatively accessible, and even at its most intense can be understood fairly easily with the help of a glossary." Along with the Irish language, the Good Friday Agreement recognised the dialect as part of Northern Ireland's unique culture and the St Andrews Agreement recognised the need to "enhance and develop the Ulster Scots language, heritage and culture". The language
1989-834: A number of First Nations and Inuit homelands at the Indigenous government level legislate their language as an official language of the Nation, such as the Nisg̱a’a language by Nisg̱a’a and Inuvialuktun by Inuvialuit . Notably the Cree language is spoken (with variations) from Alberta to Labrador, Anishinaabemowin is spoken across central Canada, and Inuktitut is spoken across the Arctic, northern Quebec and Labrador. There are many languages spoken across China , with most people speaking one of several varieties of Chinese . During successive imperial dynasties,
2106-513: A polity: " Regional language " ( choralect ) The last is usually given the title of official language . In some cases (e.g., the Philippines ), several languages are designated as official and a national language is separately designated. "National language" and " official language " are best understood as two concepts or legal categories with ranges of meaning that may coincide, or may be intentionally separate. Stateless nations are not in
2223-600: A proportion of Gaelic speakers greater than 65% (the highest value is in Barvas , Lewis , with 64.1%). In addition, no civil parish on mainland Scotland has a proportion of Gaelic speakers greater than 20% (the highest is in Ardnamurchan , Highland , with 19.3%). Out of a total of 871 civil parishes in Scotland, the proportion of Gaelic speakers exceeds 50% in seven parishes, 25% in 14 parishes, and 10% in 35 parishes. Decline in traditional areas has recently been balanced by growth in
2340-536: A situation where new learners struggle to find opportunities to speak Gaelic with fluent speakers. Affect is the way people feel about something, or the emotional response to a particular situation or experience. For Gaelic speakers, there is a conditioned and socialized negative affect through a long history of negative Scottish media portrayal and public disrespect, state mandated restrictions on Gaelic usage, and highland clearances . This negative affect towards speaking openly with non-native Gaelic speakers has led to
2457-465: A survey in 1999, 1% of respondents said they spoke it as their main language at home. The dialect generally spoken in Northern Ireland, Ulster Irish or Donegal Irish, is the one closest to Scottish Gaelic (which developed into a separate language from Irish Gaelic in the 10th century). Some words and phrases are shared with Scots Gaelic, and the extinct dialects of east Ulster – those of Rathlin Island and
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#17330931774672574-605: A translation of the New Testament. In 1798, four tracts in Gaelic were published by the Society for Propagating the Gospel at Home, with 5,000 copies of each printed. Other publications followed, with a full Gaelic Bible in 1801. The influential and effective Gaelic Schools Society was founded in 1811. Their purpose was to teach Gaels to read the Bible in their own language. In the first quarter of
2691-530: Is Lebanese Arabic . French and English are also widespread in Lebanon. Luxembourg uses three official languages: Luxembourgish , French, and German. Previously Luxembourgish had no official status, but following a constitutional revision a law was passed on 24 February 1984 making Luxembourgish the national language. Furthermore, this law recognised the three languages of Luxembourg (Luxembourgish, French and German) as administrative languages. The Malay language
2808-515: Is Northern Ireland Sign Language (NISL). However, since, in the past, Catholic families tended to send their deaf children to schools in Dublin where Irish Sign Language (ISL) is commonly used. ISL is still common among many older deaf people from Catholic families. Irish Sign Language (ISL) has some influence from the French family of sign language, which includes American Sign Language (ASL). NISL takes
2925-458: Is Urdu , and arrangements shall be made for its being used for official and other purposes within fifteen years from the commencing day." Although Urdu has been declared an official language, so far all government documents, legislation, legal orders, and other official records are written in Pakistani English . Most higher education instruction is in English. The National Language Authority
3042-694: Is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family ) native to the Gaels of Scotland . As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as both Irish and Manx , developed out of Old Irish . It became a distinct spoken language sometime in the 13th century in the Middle Irish period, although a common literary language was shared by the Gaels of both Ireland and Scotland until well into
3159-468: Is a much more important determinant of dialect than religious background. The Irish language ( Irish : an Ghaeilge ), or Gaelic , is a native language of the island of Ireland. It was spoken predominantly throughout what is now Northern Ireland before the Ulster Plantations in the 17th century and most place names in Northern Ireland are anglicised versions of a Gaelic name. Today, the language
3276-490: Is a significant step forward for the recognition of Gaelic both at home and abroad and I look forward to addressing the council in Gaelic very soon. Seeing Gaelic spoken in such a forum raises the profile of the language as we drive forward our commitment to creating a new generation of Gaelic speakers in Scotland." Bilingual road signs, street names, business and advertisement signage (in both Gaelic and English) are gradually being introduced throughout Gaelic-speaking regions in
3393-573: Is an organization established to make arrangements to promote Urdu since 1979. Filipino is the national language of the Philippines . The current 1987 constitution designated the Filipino language , which is based on Tagalog with the inclusion of terms from all recognized languages of the Philippines , as the national language. It also designated both Filipino and English as the official languages for purposes of communication and instruction, and designated
3510-515: Is associated with Irish nationalism (and thus with the Catholic community). However, in the 19th century, the language was seen as a common heritage, with Ulster Protestants playing a leading role in the Gaelic revival . In the 2021 census, 12.4% of the population (from age 3 up) of Northern Ireland claimed some knowledge of Irish, up from 11% in 2011. 0.3% claimed to use it at home, up from 0.2% in 2011. In
3627-607: Is classed as an indigenous language under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages , which the UK Government has ratified, and the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 established a language-development body, Bòrd na Gàidhlig . The Scottish Parliament is considering a Scottish Languages Bill which proposes to give the Gaelic and Scots languages official status in Scotland. Aside from "Scottish Gaelic",
Languages of Northern Ireland - Misplaced Pages Continue
3744-430: Is deprecated. Bengali , the sole official language of Bangladesh , is also the de jure and de facto national language of the country. Establishing Bengali as a national language was one of the key reason for the independence of Bangladesh. Bosnia and Herzegovina de jure has three national languages - Bosnian , Croatian and Serbian - which are de facto varieties of one language, Serbo-Croatian . It
3861-532: Is designated as the national language. This is due the recognition of ethnic Malays (approximately 14% of the population ) as the indigenous peoples of Singapore. Traditionally, the lingua franca among the different ethnic groups in Singapore was Bazaar Malay , a Malay-based creole . Since independence, the government has been promoting English as the main language of Singapore. The bilingual education policy requires students to study two languages: English and
3978-411: Is no evidence that Gaelic was ever widely spoken. Many historians mark the reign of King Malcolm Canmore ( Malcolm III ) between 1058 and 1093 as the beginning of Gaelic's eclipse in Scotland. His wife Margaret of Wessex spoke no Gaelic, gave her children Anglo-Saxon rather than Gaelic names, and brought many English bishops, priests, and monastics to Scotland. When Malcolm and Margaret died in 1093,
4095-625: Is not officially classified as a minority language but equal to Finnish. Both national languages are compulsory subjects in school (except for children with a third language as mother tongue) and a language test is a prerequisite for governmental offices where a university degree is required. The constitution also grants the Sami and the Roma peoples the right to maintain and develop their languages: The Sami have partial right to use Sami languages in official situations according to other laws. Hindi and English are
4212-577: Is nowadays the culture of Italy . Furthermore, Italian was often an official language of the various Italian states before unification , slowly replacing Latin, even when ruled by foreign powers (such as the Spaniards in the Kingdom of Naples , or the Austrians in the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia ). While English and Swahili are official languages, Swahili also has a special status as national language. None of
4329-537: Is officially defined under the three names, corresponding to the country's constituent nations . The Latin and Cyrillic alphabets both have official and equal status. Bulgarian is the sole official language in Bulgaria . Canada 's official languages since the Official Languages Act of 1969 are English ( Canadian English ) and French ( Canadian French ). Depending on one's views of what constitutes
4446-478: Is officially recognised as a minority language in Northern Ireland, and public authorities must provide services in the language. Approximately 2% of the population claim to speak Ulster Scots. The number speaking it as their main language in their home is low, with only 0.9% of 2011 census respondents claiming to be able to speak, read, write and understand Ulster-Scots. 8.1% professed to have "some ability" however. The most common sign language in Northern Ireland
4563-405: Is one of the few sign languages in the world to have such status. Besides official English ( Nigerian Standard English ), Nigeria recognizes three 'majority', or national, languages. These are Hausa , Igbo , and Yoruba , each with some 20 million speakers or more. Article 251(1) of the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan , titled National language , specifies: "The National language of Pakistan
4680-564: Is resisted by some unionists who claim that it creates a "chill factor" and thus harms community relationships. Before the intervention of Westminster in 2022 to make Irish an official language, efforts by members of the Northern Ireland Assembly to legislate for some official uses of the language failed to achieve the required cross-community support. Ulster Scots comprises varieties of the Scots language spoken in Northern Ireland. For
4797-505: Is the Romanian language . The Russian language is the only national language of Russia and had federal official status, but 27 other languages are considered official in different Federal subjects of Russia . Singapore has four official languages: English ( Singapore English variety), Chinese ( Singaporean Mandarin variety), Malay and Tamil . Although English is the primary language of business, government, and education, Malay
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4914-455: Is the de jure and de facto official language of Italy . Italian is also referred to as national language for historical and cultural reasons, because since the 15th century, Italian became the language used in the courts of nearly every state in Italy and in general among educated Italians (scholars, writers, poets, philosophers, scientists, composers and artists) who contributed to what
5031-639: Is the national language of Malaysia in accordance with Article 152(1) of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia . Dhivehi is the national language of Maldives per the Maldivian constitution. The Maltese language is the national language of Malta. It is also the official language of the island, together with English . Maltese only is recognised as "national" in Chapter 1 of the Laws of Malta. Although English
5148-460: Is the official language of The Netherlands. In the province of Friesland , Frisian is also spoken and is recognized as the second official language there. While the population of New Zealand is predominantly English-speaking , the language of the indigenous Polynesian people is the Māori language . Both these languages have official status in the country, along with New Zealand Sign Language , which
5265-502: Is the only nationwide official language in Namibia , there are also 20 national languages , which are each spoken by more or less sizeable portions of the population and are considered Namibia's cultural heritage. All national languages have the rights of a minority language and may even serve as a lingua franca in certain regions. Among Namibia's national languages are German , Afrikaans , Oshiwambo , Otjiherero , Portuguese , as well as
5382-503: Is used to issue driving licenses and report tax income, making it not a national language but official language of the government. Finland has two national languages: the Finnish language and the Swedish language . The Constitution of Finland guarantees the right to use Finnish and Swedish in courts and other state institutions. Despite the large difference in the numbers of users, Swedish
5499-567: The Constitution of Ireland as the national language and first official language of Ireland, and the English language is recognised as a second official language. Hebrew was identified as the national language of the State of Israel with the adoption of the Nation-State Bill in 2018, with Arabic recognized as a language with "special status" used in state institutions. The Italian language
5616-626: The Glens of Antrim – were very similar to the dialect of Argyll , one of the parts of Scotland nearest to Northern Ireland. Use of the Irish language in Northern Ireland today is politically sensitive. Since 2022 the languages holds official status in a manner similar to the Welsh-English bilingual status in Wales , though the erection by some district councils of bilingual street names in both English and Irish, invariably in predominantly nationalist districts,
5733-634: The Good Friday Agreement , Irish and Ulster Scots (an Ulster dialect of the Scots language , sometimes known as Ullans ), are recognised as "part of the cultural wealth of Northern Ireland". Two all-island bodies for the promotion of these were created under the Agreement: Foras na Gaeilge , which promotes the Irish language, and the Ulster Scots Agency , which promotes the Ulster Scots dialect and culture. These operate separately under
5850-548: The Outer Hebrides , accommodation ethics exist amongst native or local Gaelic speakers when engaging with new learners or non-locals. Accommodation ethics, or ethics of accommodation, is a social practice where local or native speakers of Gaelic shift to speaking English when in the presence of non-Gaelic speakers out of a sense of courtesy or politeness. This accommodation ethic persists even in situations where new learners attempt to speak Gaelic with native speakers. This creates
5967-478: The Republic of China . In order to promote a sense of national unity and enhance the efficiency of communications within the nation, the government decided to designate a national language. The Beijing dialect of Mandarin and Guangzhou dialect of Cantonese were each proposed as the basis for a national language for China. In the beginning, there were attempts to introduce elements from other Chinese varieties into
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#17330931774676084-659: The Scottish Lowlands . Between the 2001 and 2011 censuses, the number of Gaelic speakers rose in nineteen of the country's 32 council areas. The largest absolute gains were in Aberdeenshire (+526), North Lanarkshire (+305), the Aberdeen City council area (+216), and East Ayrshire (+208). The largest relative gains were in Aberdeenshire (+0.19%), East Ayrshire (+0.18%), Moray (+0.16%), and Orkney (+0.13%). In 2018,
6201-759: The significant increase in pupils in Gaelic-medium education since that time is unknown. Gaelic Medium Education is one of the primary ways that the Scottish Government is addressing Gaelic language shift. Along with the Bòrd na Gàidhlig policies, preschool and daycare environments are also being used to create more opportunities for intergenerational language transmission in the Outer Hebrides. However, revitalization efforts are not unified within Scotland or Nova Scotia, Canada. One can attend Sabhal Mòr Ostaig ,
6318-472: The 17th century. Most of modern Scotland was once Gaelic-speaking, as evidenced especially by Gaelic-language place names. In the 2011 census of Scotland , 57,375 people (1.1% of the Scottish population aged over three years old) reported being able to speak Gaelic, 1,275 fewer than in 2001. The highest percentages of Gaelic speakers were in the Outer Hebrides . Nevertheless, there is a language revival , and
6435-537: The 19th century, the SSPCK (despite their anti-Gaelic attitude in prior years) and the British and Foreign Bible Society distributed 60,000 Gaelic Bibles and 80,000 New Testaments. It is estimated that this overall schooling and publishing effort gave about 300,000 people in the Highlands some basic literacy. Very few European languages have made the transition to a modern literary language without an early modern translation of
6552-404: The 2011 Census. The 2011 total population figure comes from table KS101SC. The numbers of Gaelic speakers relate to the numbers aged 3 and over, and the percentages are calculated using those and the number of the total population aged 3 and over. Across the whole of Scotland, the 2011 census showed that 25,000 people (0.49% of the population) used Gaelic at home. Of these, 63.3% said that they had
6669-437: The 22 languages listed in the Indian constitution 's eighth schedule — Assamese , Bengali , Bodo , Dogri , Gujarati , Hindi , Kannada , Kashmiri , Konkani , Maithili , Malayalam , Marathi , Meitei , Nepali , Odia , Punjabi , Sanskrit , Santali , Sindhi , Tamil , Telugu and Urdu . The Supreme Court of India uses English as its sole official language; high courts in some states use other languages spoken in
6786-494: The Bible; the lack of a well known translation may have contributed to the decline of Scottish Gaelic. Counterintuitively, access to schooling in Gaelic increased knowledge of English. In 1829, the Gaelic Schools Society reported that parents were unconcerned about their children learning Gaelic, but were anxious to have them taught English. The SSPCK also found Highlanders to have significant prejudice against Gaelic. T. M. Devine attributes this to an association between English and
6903-469: The Czech Republic. Amharic was the national language in Ethiopian Empire . The country is composed of at least 80 different ethnic nationalities. Its people altogether speak over 80 different languages. Amharic , Oromo , Tigrinya , Somali , and Afar are the official working languages of Ethiopia. But courts, and legislations work in Amharic and the constitution of the country is written in Amharic in an official capacity. And in day-to-day basis, Amharic
7020-498: The EU's institutions. The Scottish government had to pay for the translation from Gaelic to other European languages . The deal was received positively in Scotland; Secretary of State for Scotland Jim Murphy said the move was a strong sign of the UK government's support for Gaelic. He said; "Allowing Gaelic speakers to communicate with European institutions in their mother tongue is a progressive step forward and one which should be welcomed". Culture Minister Mike Russell said; "this
7137-484: The Forth–Clyde line and along the northeastern coastal plain as far north as Moray. Norman French completely displaced Gaelic at court. The establishment of royal burghs throughout the same area, particularly under David I , attracted large numbers of foreigners speaking Old English. This was the beginning of Gaelic's status as a predominantly rural language in Scotland. Clan chiefs in the northern and western parts of Scotland continued to support Gaelic bards who remained
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#17330931774677254-415: The Gaelic Act falls so far short of the status accorded to Welsh that one would be foolish or naïve to believe that any substantial change will occur in the fortunes of the language as a result of Bòrd na Gàidhlig 's efforts. On 10 December 2008, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , the Scottish Human Rights Commission had the UDHR translated into Gaelic for
7371-582: The Gaelic aristocracy rejected their anglicised sons and instead backed Malcolm's brother Domnall Bán ( Donald III ). Donald had spent 17 years in Gaelic Ireland and his power base was in the thoroughly Gaelic west of Scotland. He was the last Scottish monarch to be buried on Iona , the traditional burial place of the Gaelic Kings of Dàl Riada and the Kingdom of Alba. However, during the reigns of Malcolm Canmore's sons, Edgar, Alexander I and David I (their successive reigns lasting 1097–1153), Anglo-Norman names and practices spread throughout Scotland south of
7488-442: The Highland and Island region. In 1616, the Privy Council proclaimed that schools teaching in English should be established. Gaelic was seen, at this time, as one of the causes of the instability of the region. It was also associated with Catholicism. The Society in Scotland for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge (SSPCK) was founded in 1709. They met in 1716, immediately after the failed Jacobite rising of 1715 , to consider
7605-416: The Highlands and Islands, including Argyll. In many cases, this has simply meant re-adopting the traditional spelling of a name (such as Ràtagan or Loch Ailleart rather than the anglicised forms Ratagan or Lochailort respectively). Some monolingual Gaelic road signs, particularly direction signs, are used on the Outer Hebrides , where a majority of the population can have a working knowledge of
7722-426: The Inner Hebridean dialects of Tiree and Islay, and even a few native speakers from Western Highland areas including Wester Ross , northwest Sutherland , Lochaber and Argyll . Dialects on both sides of the Straits of Moyle (the North Channel ) linking Scottish Gaelic with Irish are now extinct, though native speakers were still to be found on the Mull of Kintyre , on Rathlin and in North East Ireland as late as
7839-493: The Republic of China. Since then, the Beijing dialect has become the main standard for pronunciation, due to its prestigious status during the preceding Qing dynasty . Still, elements from other dialects do exist in the standard language, which is now defined as reflecting the pronunciation of Beijing, the grammatical patterns of Mandarin dialects spoken in the northern parts of China, and the vocabulary of modern vernacular Chinese literature. The People's Republic of China renamed
7956-428: The UK Government as Welsh . With the advent of devolution , however, Scottish matters have begun to receive greater attention, and it achieved a degree of official recognition when the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act was enacted by the Scottish Parliament on 21 April 2005. The key provisions of the Act are: After its creation, Bòrd na Gàidhlig required a Gaelic Language Plan from the Scottish Government. This plan
8073-581: The Western Isles (−1,745), Argyll & Bute (−694), and Highland (−634). The drop in Stornoway , the largest parish in the Western Isles by population, was especially acute, from 57.5% of the population in 1991 to 43.4% in 2011. The only parish outside the Western Isles over 40% Gaelic-speaking is Kilmuir in Northern Skye at 46%. The islands in the Inner Hebrides with significant percentages of Gaelic speakers are Tiree (38.3%), Raasay (30.4%), Skye (29.4%), Lismore (26.9%), Colonsay (20.2%), and Islay (19.0%). Today, no civil parish in Scotland has
8190-589: The Western Isles. The Scottish Qualifications Authority offer two streams of Gaelic examination across all levels of the syllabus: Gaelic for learners (equivalent to the modern foreign languages syllabus) and Gaelic for native speakers (equivalent to the English syllabus). An Comunn Gàidhealach performs assessment of spoken Gaelic, resulting in the issue of a Bronze Card, Silver Card or Gold Card. Syllabus details are available on An Comunn's website. These are not widely recognised as qualifications, but are required for those taking part in certain competitions at
8307-403: The aegis of the North/South Language Body , which reports to the North/South Ministerial Council . The British government in 2001 ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages . Irish (in Northern Ireland) was specified under Part III of the Charter, with a range of specific undertakings in relation to education, translation of statutes, interaction with public authorities,
8424-503: The annual mods . In October 2009, a new agreement allowed Scottish Gaelic to be formally used between Scottish Government ministers and European Union officials. The deal was signed by Britain's representative to the EU, Sir Kim Darroch , and the Scottish government . This did not give Scottish Gaelic official status in the EU but gave it the right to be a means of formal communications in
8541-581: The bill be strengthened, a revised bill was published; the main alteration was that the guidance of the Bòrd is now statutory (rather than advisory). In the committee stages in the Scottish Parliament, there was much debate over whether Gaelic should be given 'equal validity' with English. Due to executive concerns about resourcing implications if this wording was used, the Education Committee settled on
8658-625: The census of pupils in Scotland showed 520 students in publicly funded schools had Gaelic as the main language at home, an increase of 5% from 497 in 2014. During the same period, Gaelic medium education in Scotland has grown, with 4,343 pupils (6.3 per 1000) being educated in a Gaelic-immersion environment in 2018, up from 3,583 pupils (5.3 per 1000) in 2014. Data collected in 2007–2008 indicated that even among pupils enrolled in Gaelic medium schools, 81% of primary students and 74% of secondary students report using English more often than Gaelic when speaking with their mothers at home. The effect on this of
8775-549: The cities and professors of Celtic from universities who sought to preserve the language. The Education (Scotland) Act 1872 provided universal education in Scotland, but completely ignored Gaelic in its plans. The mechanism for supporting Gaelic through the Education Codes issued by the Scottish Education Department were steadily used to overcome this omission, with many concessions in place by 1918. However,
8892-496: The concept of 'equal respect'. It is not clear what the legal force of this wording is. The Act was passed by the Scottish Parliament unanimously, with support from all sectors of the Scottish political spectrum, on 21 April 2005. Under the provisions of the Act, it will ultimately fall to BnG to secure the status of the Gaelic language as an official language of Scotland. Some commentators, such as Éamonn Ó Gribín (2006) argue that
9009-465: The country's biggest languages ( Gikuyu , Luo , Kamba , Kalenjin , etc.) have any explicit legal status on the national level, but the 2010 constitution enjoins the state to "promote and protect the diversity of language of the people of Kenya." In Lebanon , the Arabic language is the "official national" language. Modern Standard Arabic is used for official purposes, while the everyday spoken language
9126-494: The dialect of the Scottish Gaelic language, and also mixed use of English and Gaelic across the Highlands and Islands. Dialects of Lowland Gaelic have been defunct since the 18th century. Gaelic in the Eastern and Southern Scottish Highlands, although alive until the mid-20th century, is now largely defunct. Although modern Scottish Gaelic is dominated by the dialects of the Outer Hebrides and Isle of Skye, there remain some speakers of
9243-480: The early modern era . Prior to the 15th century, this language was known as Inglis ("English") by its own speakers, with Gaelic being called Scottis ("Scottish"). Beginning in the late 15th century, it became increasingly common for such speakers to refer to Scottish Gaelic as Erse ("Irish") and the Lowland vernacular as Scottis . Today, Scottish Gaelic is recognised as a separate language from Irish, so
9360-496: The early dating of the traditional accounts and arguing for other interpretations of the archaeological evidence. Regardless of how it came to be spoken in the region, Gaelic in Scotland was mostly confined to Dál Riata until the eighth century, when it began expanding into Pictish areas north of the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde. During the reign of Caustantín mac Áeda (Constantine II, 900–943), outsiders began to refer to
9477-608: The eighth century. For the first time, the entire region of modern-day Scotland was called Scotia in Latin, and Gaelic was the lingua Scotica . In southern Scotland , Gaelic was strong in Galloway , adjoining areas to the north and west, West Lothian , and parts of western Midlothian . It was spoken to a lesser degree in north Ayrshire , Renfrewshire , the Clyde Valley and eastern Dumfriesshire . In south-eastern Scotland, there
9594-545: The first time. However, given there are no longer any monolingual Gaelic speakers, following an appeal in the court case of Taylor v Haughney (1982), involving the status of Gaelic in judicial proceedings, the High Court ruled against a general right to use Gaelic in court proceedings. While the goal of the Gaelic Language Act was to aid in revitalization efforts through government mandated official language status,
9711-479: The initiatives must come from within Gaelic speaking communities, be led by Gaelic speakers, and be designed to serve and increase fluency within the vernacular communities as the first and most viable resistance to total language shift from Gaelic to English. Currently, language policies are focused on creating new language speakers through education, instead of focused on how to strengthen intergenerational transmission within existing Gaelic speaking communities. In
9828-622: The language may also be referred to simply as "Gaelic", pronounced / ˈ ɡ æ l ɪ k / GAL -ik in English . However, "Gaelic" / ˈ ɡ eɪ l ɪ k / GAY -lik also refers to the Irish language ( Gaeilge ) and the Manx language ( Gaelg ). Scottish Gaelic is distinct from Scots , the Middle English -derived language which had come to be spoken in most of the Lowlands of Scotland by
9945-495: The language. Compared with the 2001 Census, there has been a diminution of about 1300 people. This is the smallest drop between censuses since the Gaelic-language question was first asked in 1881. The Scottish government's language minister and Bòrd na Gàidhlig took this as evidence that Gaelic's long decline has slowed. The main stronghold of the language continues to be the Outer Hebrides ( Na h-Eileanan Siar ), where
10062-639: The languages of the Himba , Nama , San , Kavango and Damara . Nepali is the official language in the federal government of Nepal. Over 123 languages are spoken in Nepal, all of which are granted constitutional status as rāṣṭrabhāṣā ( राष्ट्रभाषा ), officially translated as 'languages of the nation' (the word rāṣṭrabhāṣā also simply means 'national language'). Some of the languages include: Nepal Bhasa , Tamang , Sherpa , Rai , Magar , Gurung , Maithili , Awadhi , English , Limbu , Bhojpuri , etc. Dutch
10179-453: The members of Highland school boards tended to have anti-Gaelic attitudes and served as an obstacle to Gaelic education in the late 19th and early 20th century. Loss of life due to World War I and the 1919 sinking of the HMY Iolaire , combined with emigration, resulted in the 1910s seeing unprecedented damage to the use of Scottish Gaelic, with a 46% fall in monolingual speakers and
10296-723: The mid-20th century. Records of their speech show that Irish and Scottish Gaelic existed in a dialect chain with no clear language boundary. Some features of moribund dialects have been preserved in Nova Scotia, including the pronunciation of the broad or velarised l ( l̪ˠ ) as [w] , as in the Lochaber dialect. The Endangered Languages Project lists Gaelic's status as "threatened", with "20,000 to 30,000 active users". UNESCO classifies Gaelic as " definitely endangered ". The 1755–2001 figures are census data quoted by MacAulay. The 2011 Gaelic speakers figures come from table KS206SC of
10413-532: The modern era. Some of this was driven by policy decisions by government or other organisations, while some originated from social changes. In the last quarter of the 20th century, efforts began to encourage use of the language. The Statutes of Iona , enacted by James VI in 1609, was one piece of legislation that addressed, among other things, the Gaelic language. It required the heirs of clan chiefs to be educated in lowland, Protestant, English-speaking schools. James VI took several such measures to impose his rule on
10530-576: The national language 普通话 (Pinyin: Pǔtōnghuà, literally "common speech"), without otherwise changing the definition of the standard national language. The Croatian language is the official language of Croatia. "The Croatian language and the Latin script shall be in official use in the Republic of Croatia" in Article 12 of the Croatian Constitution. The Czech language is the national language of
10647-557: The national language in addition to those from the Beijing dialect; this was reflected in the first official dictionary of the national language, given the name 國語 ( Pinyin : Guóyǔ , literally "national language"). But this artificial language had no native speakers and was difficult to learn, so it was abandoned in 1924. Ultimately, the Beijing dialect was chosen as the national language and it continued to be referred to as 國語 in Chinese in
10764-617: The national language of Acadians , is an official language of New Brunswick (and recognized minority in Quebec , Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island ). Newfoundland English dialects differ substantially from other Canadian English ones. English and French are official in Canada's three territories ; two legislate a variety of Indigenous languages in addition. Nunavut and the Northwest Territories (N.W.T.) have as official languages Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun , with N.W.T. also have
10881-434: The number of speakers of the language under age 20 did not decrease between the 2001 and 2011 censuses. In the 2022 census of Scotland , it was found that 2.5% of the Scottish population had some skills in Gaelic, or 130,161 persons. Of these, 69,701 people reported speaking the language, with a further 46,404 people reporting that they understood the language, but did not speak, read, or write in it. Outside of Scotland,
10998-687: The official language of government and law. Scotland's emergent nationalism in the era following the conclusion of the Wars of Scottish Independence was organized using Scots as well. For example, the nation's great patriotic literature including John Barbour's The Brus (1375) and Blind Harry's The Wallace (before 1488) was written in Scots, not Gaelic. By the end of the 15th century, English/Scots speakers referred to Gaelic instead as 'Yrisch' or 'Erse', i.e. Irish and their own language as 'Scottis'. A steady shift away from Scottish Gaelic continued into and through
11115-509: The official language(s). Further, they may enjoy recognition as a language used in compulsory schooling and treasury money may be spent to teach or encourage adults in learning a language which is a minority language in a particular area to restore its understanding and spread its moral stories, rhymes, poems, phrases, songs, and other literary heritage which will promote social cohesion (where other languages remain) or will promote nationalist differentiation where another, non-indigenous language
11232-483: The official languages in India, according to Article 343(1) of the Constitution of India . Gujarat High Court has stated that while a majority of people in India have accepted Hindi as a national language, there is no official record or order declaring Hindi as the national language of the country. The observation was made by division bench of Chief Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya and Justice A.S. Dave recently while rejecting
11349-408: The official sign languages used in Northern Ireland. At the 2001 census , Chinese was the most widely spoken immigrant language in Northern Ireland, with Arabic and Portuguese also spoken by a significant number of people. However, an influx of people from recent EU accession states significantly increased numbers of speakers of languages from these countries. In the 2011 census , Polish
11466-459: The outcome of the act is distanced from the actual minority language communities. It helps to create visibility of the minority language in civil structures, but does not impact or address the lived experiences of the Gaelic speaker communities wherein the revitalization efforts may have a higher return of new Gaelic speakers. Efforts are being made to concentrate resources, language planning, and revitalization efforts towards vernacular communities in
11583-551: The overall proportion of speakers is 52.2%. Important pockets of the language also exist in the Highlands (5.4%) and in Argyll and Bute (4.0%) and Inverness (4.9%). The locality with the largest absolute number is Glasgow with 5,878 such persons, who make up over 10% of all of Scotland's Gaelic speakers. Gaelic continues to decline in its traditional heartland. Between 2001 and 2011, the absolute number of Gaelic speakers fell sharply in
11700-846: The position to legislate an official language , but their languages may be sufficiently distinct and well-preserved to be national languages. Some languages may be recognized popularly as "national languages", while others may enjoy official recognition in use or promotion. In many African countries, some or all indigenous African languages are officially used, promoted, or expressly allowed to be promoted (usually taught in schools and written in important publications) as semi-official languages whether by long-term legislation or short-term, case-by-case executive (government) measures. To be official, spoken and written languages may enjoy government or federalised use, major tax-funded promotion or at least full tolerance as to their teaching and employers' recognition in public education , standing on equal footing with
11817-459: The prosperity of employment: the Highland economy relied greatly on seasonal migrant workers travelling outside the Gàidhealtachd . In 1863, an observer sympathetic to Gaelic stated that "knowledge of English is indispensable to any poor islander who wishes to learn a trade or to earn his bread beyond the limits of his native Isle". Generally, rather than Gaelic speakers, it was Celtic societies in
11934-519: The putative migration or takeover is not reflected in archaeological or placename data (as pointed out earlier by Leslie Alcock ). Campbell has also questioned the age and reliability of the medieval historical sources speaking of a conquest. Instead, he has inferred that Argyll formed part of a common Q-Celtic -speaking area with Ireland, connected rather than divided by the sea, since the Iron Age. These arguments have been opposed by some scholars defending
12051-454: The reform and civilisation of the Highlands, which they sought to achieve by teaching English and the Protestant religion. Initially, their teaching was entirely in English, but soon the impracticality of educating Gaelic-speaking children in this way gave rise to a modest concession: in 1723, teachers were allowed to translate English words in the Bible into Gaelic to aid comprehension, but there
12168-526: The region as the kingdom of Alba rather than as the kingdom of the Picts. However, though the Pictish language did not disappear suddenly, a process of Gaelicisation (which may have begun generations earlier) was clearly under way during the reigns of Caustantín and his successors. By a certain point, probably during the 11th century, all the inhabitants of Alba had become fully Gaelicised Scots, and Pictish identity
12285-657: The regional languages as auxiliary official languages in the regions to serve as auxiliary media of instruction therein. More than 170 languages are spoken in the Philippines and almost all of them belong to the Philippine subgroup of the Austronesian language family. In September 2012, La Union became the first province in Philippine history to pass an ordinance proclaiming a local language. It declared Ilocano as an official language . This move aims to protect and revitalize
12402-528: The spoken language of the capital city served as the official spoken language and was used across the country by government officials who traveled to communicate with one another. Dialects used for this purpose in different eras included those of Xi'an , Luoyang , Nanjing , Beijing , and other historical capital cities . After the Xinhai Revolution in 1911, the Kuomintang (Chinese nationalists) founded
12519-399: The state in addition to English. The official and national language of Indonesia is Indonesian . Indonesia has more than 700 living languages, making it the second most linguistically diverse country after Papua New Guinea. These 700+ languages, however, are without official status, and some are in danger of extinction . The largest local language is Javanese . Irish is recognised by
12636-589: The use of Ilocano in various government and civil affairs within the province. The Filipino Sign Language is designated as the "national sign language of the Filipino deaf" as well as the official sign language for transactions of the Philippine government. Article 27 of the Constitution states: "Polish shall be the official language in the Republic of Poland". Portuguese is the sole official language of Portugal . The official and national language of Romania
12753-514: The use of Irish in courts, the Administration of Justice (Language) Act (Ireland) 1737 also officially prohibited the use of languages other than English in legal proceedings, though this act is now repealed. The Irish used in Northern Ireland is primarily of the Ulster Irish dialect, with An Caighdéan (the standardised written Irish of the Republic of Ireland ) rarely encountered. Under
12870-580: The use of placenames, media access, support for cultural activities and other matters. A lower level of recognition was accorded to Ulster Scots, under Part II of the Charter. The earliest linguistic records from what is now Northern Ireland are of Primitive Irish , from about the 5th century AD. Languages spoken in Iron Age Ireland before then are now irretrievable, although there are some claims of traces in toponymy , including in Northern Ireland. Shelta ,
12987-481: The word Erse in reference to Scottish Gaelic is no longer used. Based on medieval traditional accounts and the apparent evidence from linguistic geography, Gaelic has been commonly believed to have been brought to Scotland, in the 4th–5th centuries CE, by settlers from Ireland who founded the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata on Scotland's west coast in present-day Argyll . An alternative view has been voiced by archaeologist Ewan Campbell , who has argued that
13104-399: Was accepted in 2008, and some of its main commitments were: identity (signs, corporate identity); communications (reception, telephone, mailings, public meetings, complaint procedures); publications (PR and media, websites); staffing (language learning, training, recruitment). Following a consultation period, in which the government received many submissions, the majority of which asked that
13221-664: Was forgotten. Bilingualism in Pictish and Gaelic, prior to the former's extinction, led to the presence of Pictish loanwords in Gaelic and syntactic influence which could be considered to constitute a Pictish substrate. In 1018, after the conquest of Lothian (theretofore part of England and inhabited predominantly by speakers of Northumbrian Old English ) by the Kingdom of Scotland , Gaelic reached its social, cultural, political, and geographic zenith. Colloquial speech in Scotland had been developing independently of that in Ireland since
13338-492: Was long suppressed. The UK government has ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in respect of Gaelic. Gaelic, along with Irish and Welsh, is designated under Part III of the Charter, which requires the UK Government to take a range of concrete measures in the fields of education, justice, public administration, broadcasting and culture. It has not received the same degree of official recognition from
13455-506: Was no further permitted use. Other less prominent schools worked in the Highlands at the same time, also teaching in English. This process of anglicisation paused when evangelical preachers arrived in the Highlands, convinced that people should be able to read religious texts in their own language. The first well known translation of the Bible into Scottish Gaelic was made in 1767, when James Stuart of Killin and Dugald Buchanan of Rannoch produced
13572-450: Was the most widely spoken immigrant language, followed by Lithuanian . None of these languages were spoken by a majority of the population, but are of historical interest, giving loan words to Ulster Scots, Irish and Hiberno-English. Latin was introduced by the early Christians by c.500. It remained a church language, but also was the official language after the Norman conquest in 1171. It
13689-661: Was used by the Roman Catholic church for services until the Vatican II reforms in 1962–65. Norman settlers introduced the Norman or Anglo-Norman language during the Norman invasion of Ireland of 1169. From it derived "Law French" , that continues to be used today for certain legal purposes in both jurisdictions on the island. National language A national language is a language (or language variant , e.g. dialect ) that has some connection— de facto or de jure —with
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