Out of all the web inquiries we receive, most of them have to do with the Gaelic language revival. In light of this fact, I thought I would finally write a brief overview on the subject. First and foremost, when I use the term Gaelic in this article, I am generally referring to the unified concept of the three Goidelic languages, which are Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Irish is generally called Irish in Ireland, and occasionally Irish Gaelic, whereas Scotland's Goidelic tongue is commonly called Scottish Gaelic, and finally the Isle of Man's native tongue is called simply Manx, or Manx Gaelic. These three languages make up the bulwark of the Goidelic language family, however there are numerous other offshoots which are much smaller, such as Newfoundland Gaelic or Newfoundland Irish, Canadian Gaelic, and many others. In addition all of these languages have their own regional dialect differences as well.
To get right down to it, Irish Gaelic, being officially declared Ireland's first language, is in by far the best shape out of the three, yet native use of the language is still in steep decline. Scottish Gaelic is also currently undergoing more official governmental backed revival efforts in Scotland, but it is much closer to extinction than Irish. And sadly, Manx Gaelic has been officially categorized as an extinct language, having lost it's last native speaker in 1974. If you hadn't already guessed it by now, the sole culprit in destroying these unique languages, is the spread and prominence of the English language in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. If you just scratch the surface of the individual history for all three of these languages, you will find that they were each brutally suppressed by the British, with the sole intention of eradicating them, and increasing more British leaning regional cultural continuity.
There are extremely comprehensive government backed revival efforts under way for all three languages, and Manx has even declared itself to have several first language native speakers again, however the goals of any of these revival efforts seem to vary depending on who you talk to. There are obviously Gaelic enthusiasts in each respective country that dream of seeing them return to a prominent first language status again, but as things stand the languages are all in such steep decline, that shoring up a second language user base is probably the most commonly accepted goal, in addition to outright extinction prevention. According to consensus reports, the populations of each country all have strong enthusiasm in learning the languages and much public support, however getting past the second language status would be extremely difficult at this point, as English still continues to be the language used in every part of life.
What really remains the most important issue for Irish and Scottish Gaelic, is preserving the declining native speaker base of each language. Obviously once the native speakers die out for any language, the flame that was passed for thousands of years gets put out, even if native language speakers are some how able to pick up the language later on in the future. It's sort of like a break in the chain, you can weld it back to together, but some of the language's intricate structure can get lost or damaged in the lapse, and sadly it will not be able to be brought back to the full stature it had prior, or it might encompass certain errors in it's revival that only a true native speaker would have the ability to correct. I hope that we do not see this happen to Irish and Scottish Gaelic, but sadly the rate of native language decline seems to indicate strongly that this may be an eventuality in the very near future.
What is sad about any language extinction, is that not just a language is lost or a unique way of speaking and verbal expression, but a perspective on life and the world is lost as well. Gaelic, whether it be Scottish, Irish, or Manx, has thousands of years of cultural and historical treasures inseparably interwoven into the very fabric of it's essence. The concepts and mental imagery that Gaelic words invoke in the mind's eye of a native speaker, would be difficult to revive once they vanish from the earth. Second language speakers often speak a non native tongue with a first language mind. Where this loss of first language perspective can be seen particularly present, is in the arts such as music, literature, poetry, painting, etc. When one digs further into what is truly lost in the wake of an extinct language, you come to realize that both the host culture and the world lose something of vital importance.
Just to run through the official statistics, Manx Gaelic is currently spoken by 2.2% of the Isle of Man's eighty thousand inhabitants, with varying degrees of proficiency. In Scotland there are about sixty thousand Scottish Gaelic speakers, which is about 1.2% of the total population. Above that figure there many more people with a little knowledge of the Scottish Gaelic language, but not enough to be considered speakers. And finally with Irish or Irish Gaelic, there are over half a million speakers with varying levels of proficiency. Out of that half a million, roughly two thirds are able to speak Irish fluently. With regard to native first speakers of Irish Gaelic, there are thought to be roughly twenty to thirty thousand, mostly confined to the westernmost fringes of the island. Last I checked many of these native speakers were of the older generation, with far fewer of their offspring and kin adopting it as a first tongue.
Despite falling figures for all three of the languages, there is still much optimism and hope to be had in the long term survival of Gaelic. What government statistics won't show you, is the existing passion and interest in learning the language in all three respective regions, particularly among the younger generations. Many of the revival efforts are fairly new, especially in Scotland and the Isle of Man, so turning the tide is certainly not out of the question. One sign of a strong Gaelic revival, can be seen in the accredited Irish Gaelic language courses that are now available all across Europe, sparking interest in the language as far away as Poland and Russia. There is also much interest in the language amongst the Irish and Scottish diaspora in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. That concludes this brief article, please stay tuned for further more in depth information on the Gaelic revival subject.
