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14 - Cornish and Manx

from Part II - Multilingualism in Britain and Ireland: The Celtic Languages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 October 2024

By
Merryn Davies-Deacon  and
Dave Sayers
Edited by
Susan Fox
Susan Fox
Affiliation:
Universität Bern, Switzerland
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Summary

This chapter provides a brief sociolinguistic description of two Celtic languages that have experienced language death and revival: Cornish and Manx. First, their distinctive sociolinguistic position as revived languages is reviewed. There follows a structured discussion of the factors contributing to each language’s historical decline and more recent revival movement, followed by an overview of the current position of each language in terms of demographics and language policy provisions. We note that while both languages are revived, differences in timescale have left speakers with different concerns regarding reconstruction as a spoken vernacular, although both Cornish and Manx are affected by similar debates around purism and authenticity. More broadly, we emphasise that the fate of both languages is inextricably linked with the wider political landscape, and that the efforts of volunteer activists at a grassroots level are currently paramount in ensuring their visibility, in a context where more official sources of support are often unreliable.

Keywords

CornishManxnew speakerslanguage policystandardisationlanguage revival
Type
Chapter
Information
Language in Britain and Ireland , pp. 357 - 370
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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