A Three Voiced Country
The grassroots activist groups for Scots and Gaelic, Oor Vyce and Misneachd, have called on Humza Yousaf and the Scottish Government to appoint a Minister for Scottish Languages to address the pressing concerns around preserving and developing Scotland’s unique linguistic heritage.
In a statement they argue: “As a new Government team is now in place, we see no clear accountability for Scots or Gaelic, and this lack of clarity does not provide our communities with confidence that concerns around preserving and developing our unique linguistic heritage in Scotland will be sufficiently addressed.
While we heard some warm words around Scots and Gaelic and a lot about protecting minority rights during the SNP leadership campaign, we now need those words backed up with action and the rights of Scotland’s linguistic minorities advanced. Both languages require immediate action to prevent further decline.
The Scottish Government consultation report on future support for Gaelic and Scots, and on a promised Scottish Languages Bill is due in the coming months, and it is vital that this report brings together groups from across the two communities to provide Scots and Gaelic a louder voice within Government. We need a Minister for Scottish Languages who can provide accountability and work with wider Scottish society to help advance the rights of Scotland’s minority language communities.”
The groups continue saying: “Oor Vyce and Misneachd are committed to promoting and protecting the use of Scots and Gaelic in Scotland, and we believe that the appointment of a Minister for Scottish Languages is a crucial step in ensuring that our linguistic heritage is preserved for future generations.”
It’s certainly a positive thing to see Gaelic and Scots campaigners organising together, as Iain Crichton Smith says “Let our three voiced country sing in a new world”, but the appointment of a Minister for Scottish Languages would need to coincide with a Scottish Languages Bill with real bite, and with the clout of having a substantially increased budget to deliver from. We are welcoming pitches and organising commissions on how to do more than ‘protect’ Scots and Gaelic in the coming weeks.
Ideas we are looking at include: radical rural housing reform; mandatory gaelic immersion in the Gàidhealtachd; dedicated Scots radio output; much greater resources and funding for the provision of adult Gaelic courses; greater support in place for those raising children with Gaelic as their home language, including regular grants for Gaelic-speaking families; integration of Scots curriculum into schools including Higher Scots.
Good luck with the mandatory Gaelic immersion in the Gàidhealtachd! I can hear the squealing noises already.
Let them squeal
Genuine question from a Gaelic supporter, why should folk in the Gàidhealtachd (not exactly sure where that is by the way) be cajoled into Gaelic when the native speakers are voting with their feet as it were and abandoning the language? Intergenerational transfer of Gaelic is shuddering to a halt. It is this generation of native speakers who are delivering the coup de gras to the language. The way things are going Gaelic will be a musical and literary medium deployed by the better off in Glasgow and Edinburgh, or be confined pretty much to the sphere of an academic curiosity.
It is very sad but once the native speakers have given up on it, that’s it. I realise I’m making a sweeping generalisation here and there are many individual native speakers committed to it but as a community language, vibrant in the next generation? That ship seems to have already sailed. See Conchúr Ó Giollagáin’s ‘The Gaelic Crisis in the Vernacular Community’.
Yeah we’ve published on Conchúr Ó Giollagáin’s ‘The Gaelic Crisis in the Vernacular Community’ so I’m well aware of it, but its precisely that crisis that needs a radical response. You do where the Gàidhealtachd is.
Native speakers haven’t given up they’ve been abandoned. Gaelic won’t be a static language it will evolve and morph and already is. The need for massive support for housing and jobs in the Highlands and Islands is a central part of this challenge as social cleansing is what is driving cultural cleansing. Everyone knows this.
‘Native speakers haven’t given up, they’ve been abandoned’.
I’m sorry (and I so wish it were different)but Ó Giollagáin demonstrates that native speakers ARE giving up in droves and in the most telling way possible: ensuring the language is not passed on to their offspring. If you ignore that fact and concentrate on all the beastly things that have been inflicted on the Gaelic speaking community since the statutes of Iona then you are contributing to the problem. The language will die as a vibrant community language but will eke out an existence in academia and via initiatives such as the Cultúrlann (for Irish Gaelic).
People ‘giving up’ doesn’t happen in a social or economic vacuum
A big part of the problem is that the people best positioned to help have largely ignored Conchúr Ó Giollagáin’s ‘The Gaelic Crisis in the Vernacular Community’.
Well, that’s a big part of this debate, yes, but I think some of the divisions are misplaced imho
Another big part of the problem is that Conchúr Ó Giollagáin has ignored and alienated the people best positioned to help!
There is so much that can be done and yes part of the problem is they raise problems but offer no practical solutions.
Agree with what Ruaraidh T. has written.
Where are the practical solutions to all the problems raised and there are solutions to each one of them.
Well, absolutely – but sadly I think those divisions were pre-existing…
It’s digital or die-out. Get Gaelic and Scots into games or say goodbye. None of the other ventures, however useful, will amount to anything unless these languages are used online and for amusement.
A good example of the one-player minority-language game I have been playing is Tchia (a game inspired by New Caledonia):
“The characters are voiced by local talent in traditional languages, and subtitled in many languages including English, French, Russian, Chinese, German, Spanish, and more.”
https://www.awaceb.com/tchia
It’s impressively slick, employs many modern gameplay techniques well, and rewards exploration of geography, culture, flora, fauna and storyline. I believe that the main language used by the local characters is Drehu. The game is currently included in the PlayStation Plus Extra game catalogue (so free to play if you already have that level of subscription).
Obviously having those foreign languages in translation (subtitled dialogue and in-game descriptions/instructions) makes the game commercially viable. If it works for New Caledonia…
I am trying to work out how this could work for families trying to learn Gaelic while trying to learn Gaelic while raising their families and the language and conversation they require to have with their young children that are between 2 and 5 years of age or even between 5 and 8 years of age.
@Finlay Macleoid, for this particular game, the FAQs say:
“Although Tchia is rated T [Teen: 13+], within the game settings you can activate ‘FAMILY MODE’ which will remove blood and some of the more graphical cinematics in the game! Obviously it’s still up to the responsible adult :)”
https://www.awaceb.com/tchia-faq
I think the larger point is that young children looking for a reason to use a language will be influenced by what their older peers are doing. If their older siblings (and parents etc.) are playing games in Gaelic, I suggest that may be significant encouragement. Games designed for younger children can of course incorporate minority languages too.
Abertay University is possibly the most obvious starting point for asking about Gaelic in gaming, since their staff led the Kilted Otter Initiative, but there’s little I can find online about this year’s event from March. They should be able to answer questions about games and language development, from simple vocabulary building upwards.
What happened to the third language recognised as a minority language, Doric?
Nothing happened to it, it’s Scots.
A valid point. Which Scots tongue are we talking about? The Doric, Glaswegian, Dundonian, or all shades and local words and intonation.
I’m of the age where I’d get a skelp across the lug for using Scots. And one of the effects of that has been to create a language barrier and distrust between myself and others born in the same place. I’m not authentic.
@Doug, I am afraid that Scots will have to be standardised to survive in the digital world, as technology and cultural production (such as human-produced voice-acting) stands today, not least for predictive text (which is an accessibility requirement, not just a convenience). Or let it be (re)absorbed into English.
I am not a linguist, but this article seems pertinent:
Standardisation of languages – life or death?
“There are four processes usually involved in the standardisation of a language: selection, elaboration, codification, and acceptance.”
https://thehistoricallinguistchannel.com/454-2/
If you want to see a vibrant Gaeltacht community, look up Cultúrlann in Belfast and Derry.
Nice website at Cultúrlann, loads of ‘cutural events’ seemingly funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. No doubt all very enjoyable. But is this establishing Gaelic as a living language there on the street as it were? I genuinely don’t know but ah hae ma doots. What would happen if the arts council stopped funding it?
I would say yes, the Irish language is vibrant in NI at the moment. Not just at the theatrical/literary/artistic level, but at the street level too. It’s going from strength to strength. Look at the Dream Dearg protest movement too. The seeds sown in the Jailtacht are beginning to flower. I was at a short language course in Co. Donegal recently (ROI) and most of the people there were from the North. Raises questions about lumping and splitting the Gaelic languages/dialects – if they’re all minority why not band together more? I don’t have the linguistic knowledge to answer this. I suspect the grammar is more different between Irish and Scottish than people often let on.
i.e – Can Scotland piggy back on this ?
No absolutely not they are far too different. Often the same words have very different meanings plus the accents are different. There are at least 9 different dialects in Scottish Gaelic and very different to the extent they cannot understand each other very well such as the Gaelic of Islay and Lewis.
Albainn can absolutely piggy back on this a charaid.
Not viable and certainly not needed as what is happening in Ireland is at least 40 years behind the leaders in the revitalisation of minority languages. Indeed Ireland is often a case to be avoided and not copied.
Off course Albainn can absolutely piggy back on this a charaid.
Yes, the 2021 census included data about Irish speakers and their numbers. When you look at the number of speakers in NI, where only a minority of schools even teach Irish as a Modern Language and an even smaller majority teach through the medium of Irish, compared to ROI it is clear there is a revival ongoing in the North and Belfast is the epicentre of it. For reference/analysis Ciarán Dunbar has written several articles and been interviewed on RnaG re his analysis of it.
https://www.independent.ie/seachtain/le-13110-duine-ag-labhairt-gaeilge-go-laethuil-i-mbeal-feirste-ta-an-chathair-ag-croilar-na-gaeltachta-domhanda-42407231.html
There are many different kinds of communities and situations. We have started to develop them in Scotland through what is called Networked Gaelic Communities as our situation is very different from both the Northern Irish situation and also what is in the Repulic of Ireland as they simply wouldn’t work in Scotland. We need to start at the very beginning with only a few interested people spread over a large area. This is not the same as in Belfast or in other areas of Ireland. The fact is we are not in Conflict mode and so the same set up does not work. Also we need to be flexible as Scottish people move a lot from one community to another and this would put any development in danger if we were to use the Northern Ireland model. Plus it is important to develop the 18 new facilities and services required for developing Gaelic communities in Scotland. Gaelic Lifestlye Centres are crucial to developing Gaelic communities and the first two information sessions will take place in September this year.
No afore time! We need support fer the Scots auncient leid afore it dwynes away tae be supplanted by the BBC English.
Really excellent week so far.
It has been a great week so far with a number of people coming forward who want to see both full time and part time Gaelic courses plus at least one Gaelic lifestyle Centre set up in Central Scotland.
Over and above this it was a delight to hear about the pre-school children who have come to conversing in Gaelic over the past week.
Also the new Gaelic medium nurseries who also want to participate in bringing their nursery children to conversing in Gaelic at least one year before they enter the Gaelic primary school system.
This time span can easily be shortened through training and in other ways as well which are all thoroughly enjoyable.
Much more on this news item will most like come into the public arena over the next month or so.
Lots of people are coming forward in the Perth area who want to see a Networked Gaelic Community locally and it is our aim to set up an Information Session at the beginning of September to discuss both social language courses and their importance and the setting up of a Gaelic Lifestyle course in the area.
A number of people have come forward in other parts of Scotland who are interested in helping to develop and grow Networked Gaelic Communities in their area and are looking at how they can set up Gaelic facilities and services so they don’t have to re-invent the Wheel each time and every year. Instead permanent facilities and services are available to anyone who needs them in Gaelic.
If you would like to help grow these facilities be they in Perth or Glasgow or anywhere else in Scotland we ask you to contact [email protected] and tell us which area of Scotland you live in and your interest as well, be you a Gaelic learner or a fluent or native Gaelic speaker.
I have always found it so odd that so many people seem to know how to destroy
Gaelic communities but few seem to know how to build them up or grow them.
I wonder why this should be.
For anyone who truly cares about Gaelic and Scots, the government is at best an irrelevance and at worst a distraction. Gaelic will not be ‘saved’ by any number of civil servants spending any amount of public money to implement any number of language acts. Unless by ‘saving Gaelic’ you want an artificial situation where people speak Gaelic at work and school and English at home and at play (reverse diglossia). The same goes for whatever it is that Scots activists want ‘done about’ Scots (once they finally get round to doing the necessary ideological clarification).
What’s your solution Am Maoilean?
For Gaelic – energetic, bottom-up, local, grassroots initiatives, with local authority support where necessary. More Gaelic enthusiasts getting practical things done and fewer ‘activists’ looking for excuses to not do anything. Better use of crowdfunding and less reliance on government subsidy. As Wilson McLeod wrote 22 years ago now – “The ‘welfare state’ mentality means that governmental refusals to make provision for Gaelic tend to result in acquiescence and paralysis, rather than the decision to take independent action outside the scope of government control.” True dat.
For Scots – the same thing, but with a strong focus on ideological clarification in the short term, i.e. figuring out what it is that Scottish people actually want to do about Scots, what domains they want to use it in (and what domains they don’t), etc. For example, I have a strong impression that Scots speakers (aside from a small handful of semi-professional language activists) have little desire for the codification of any kind of high-register national written standard for Scots (‘Higher Scots’ my arse!), though they might well be supportive of local vernaculars being promoted by specific local authorities (as has happened very successfully in Shetland). Prove me wrong!
Thanks, mostly agree
Naturally you will want to cut down on the funding grants and subsidies being given to the English language which is a foreign and colonial language as well.
Me thinks you don’t know how to develop a minority language in Scotland or even know where to start.
Finlay – back in the day, you yourself were heavily involved in the kind of grassroots, community initiatives I am referring to. Have you changed your mind?
In any case, what I want is not important. We need to be asking English/Gaelic bilinguals, English/Scots bilinguals, and even English/Gaelic/Scots trilinguals what it is that THEY want. What Fishman called ‘risk-free’ language planning comes from working WITH the dominant language ideology, not AGAINST it.
Why are you hiding behind another name? Is your own name good enough or are you frightened of the authorities as so many people in Scotland seem to be these days.
In terms of Higher Scots (‘my erse’ I think you’ll find) – I’m not sure a standardisation is required.
If you could study Higher English or A Level English and study Chaucer, Ursula Le Guin, Shakespeare, Charles Bukowski and Zadie Smith – why couldn’t you study Higher Scots and cover James Kelman, Hugh Macdiarmid, Liz Lochhead and Robert Burns?
What you are suggesting already happens – the Higher English curriculum already includes study of stories and poems written in Scots. But if you want pupils to write reflective, persuasive or critical essays IN Scots then you are going to need a codified written standard. Far better to reform the Higher English curriculum, rename it ‘Language & Literacy’, and let pupils choose which modules they want to specialise in, including study of local varieties of Scots where relevant.
Surely “meh erse”? (Dundonian, I know, but it seems more appropriate.)
Living in central Highland “air a’ Gàidhealtachd” and interested in learning Gàidhlig, I do find it extraordinarily difficult to find Gaelic resources. My wife and I attended a Gaelic Course run by Fèis Spè. With all credit to the course leader, working from obsolete materials at a cost of £60 a head for 6 weeks of evening classes, simply put, proved untenable.
One of the commentators mentioned “nice words” a sentiment I can identify.
I know from local conversation that there is an enthusiasm for the language. There is dire need for coordinated and accessible language learning resources in the heart of the Highlands. None exist. If the language cannot be revtalised here, it is a dead parrot. Duolingo will Americanise, at least Canadianise, Scottish Gaelic and impose language usage that does not reflect the vernacular.
The language will die without meaningful support as indeed “kind words butter no parsnips”
There are plenty of good resources out there.
https://speakgaelic.scot/ – new free website and TV show
I personally like https://www.celtic-languages.org/Main_Page and their Discord servers.
Misneachd have also got a Youtube playlist for learners: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLn0WmInAh5RjZ-WNraXzw41mbnqR2hFve
Try to make Gaelic friends and learn from them or learn together.
Find a way, not an excuse.
Aontaim leat le sin a Sgot. Tá ceart agad faoi sin.
I certainly hope not, as I started using it (Duolingo) a few weeks ago, and am enjoying it immensely.
Those involved with Pre-school education will see immediately the enormous effect the full time 30 hours per week is having on the Doric and Scots language in Scotland. Now earlier than ever the children some at two years or earlier are only hearing standard English from the staff in the nurseries. A friend who lives inthe Turriff area of Aberdeenshire says that very few children coming into the schools in Aberdeenshire today speak any doric other than Aye by the time they reach Primary one.
Maybe an opportunity for Oor Vyce to set up and run a Doric-medium pre-school in Aberdeen?
But of course.
Hi Finlay, a response to your point on the 9 dialects within Scottish Gaelic.
I’m sure there are many more than 9 dialects within Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish and Arabic – to say nothing of English – and yet educators manage to teach these languages with great success.
Why are people are holding onto dialectal differences in Gaelic/Irish? Speaking a mish-mash of dialects would probably much better help bring about a climate where the language can thrive.
How often is it said that Scottish Gaelic is closer to Ulster Irish, than Ulster Irish is to Munster Irish? And yet in truth (I am told), some Scottish dialects are closer to Munster/Connacht than they are to Ulster.
What is the priority? Surely the language flourishing overall must be prioritised over simply preserving dialects. I would therefore advocate dropping the narcissism of small differences.
Scott if you feel that way go ahead and do it. I just don’t see how it can be done. But if you can do it.
There is a lot of dialects in Gáilig a charaid, agus it is important that we promote agus encourage them, but what your saying is absolutely correct for Gáilig in Albainn a charaid. The revival of Gaeilig in na Sé Chonndae is massive as it is incredible agus it can agus should be copied in Albainn agus the rest of An Seann Ghaidhealtachd (Albainn, Éireann, Mannain) agus An Gáidhealtachd Ùr (communities of Gáidheil in North America, Eóraip agus across the world).
Also there is not the division that some make out there is regarding speakers understanding each other across Albainn, Éireann, Mannan agus An Gáidhealtachd Ùr. You are 100% correct about the fact that Gàilig from Taobh Tuath na h-Albainn is very close to Gaeluinn na Mumhain. This is also true for other dialects also.
We really do need to band together a charaid agus encourage the use of any agus all Gáilig. Regional diversity is also vital as I’ve found that people tend to be more passionate about the dialects that are/ were spoken in their home areas agus by their ancestors.
If your interested in working with myself agus other like minded people you are welcome to reach out to me on Facebook a charaid. I look forward to hearing from you.
The situation in Scotland and Ireland is so different and I cannot see how they can come together to make anything work productively. But please go ahead and show us how it can be done.
@Finlay Macleoid,
When I checked today, there were 342 products with listed ‘Irish’ language support on the Steam platform, and 335 for ‘Scots’, although I think this might be mistakenly used for Scottish Gaelic sometimes. There was a petition for adding Scots and Scottish Gaelic to the platform’s recognised languages but it hasn’t been updated for 7 months (I’ve linked to this before):
https://www.change.org/p/valve-itch-gamejolt-gog-add-scots-and-gaelic-as-supported-languages-on-your-platforms
There was also the case of the Scots version of Wikipedia being updated by a well-meaning youngster in North America, I think.
These cases are not a feature of each language, they are a sign of more or less effective organisation, effort, interest, skillset, possibly age of activists is a factor too, and userbase. If people lobby effectively, if volunteers put high-quality translations and voice work into open source projects, if influential organisations get behind such efforts, language support can be (and often is) added to digital works. It’s a dynamic: the more you can show demand, the more successful the lobbying should be; the more successful lobbying, the more games or other digital products supporting the language should be made, the better the chance that people will play in those languages *which will be recorded and used for evidence of demand*.
I cannot stress this enough. Online digital resources are exceptionally well-keyed to produce objective evidence of variant preferences, in this case for languages (language preference is often the first step and choice users/readers encounter, partly because of licence-acceptance requirements). This is the hardest of hard evidence of demand for language, especially here if English is the default-but-rejected option.
A problem I see in the literature is that Scots (a member of the English language group) is often confused with Scottish Gaelic. I would say that looks like a promising joint endeavour for cheerleaders for both languages to get that distinction out there, and in the process promote each. Perhaps Irish (Gaeilge) does not suffer so much from confusion.
This is quite an interesting article on video which is more about a range of approaches to encourage language on the games people play, often together (online multiplayer particularly), although with some caveats and notable problems (does Irish really have no words for ‘yes’ and ‘no’?!):
https://www.nintendolife.com/features/why-was-among-us-translated-into-irish
Since translations kills minority languages and the need to learn them. I fail to see how this helps. We are interested in building and growing viable language communities in different parts of Scotland. Translations kills and creates hybrides such as dialects and we don’t need any more hybrids. Thank you.
@Finlay Macleod, I fail to see how translations into minority languages kills minority languages. Can you explain how that works? Do you object to Asterix and Tintin being translated into Scottish Gaelic and Scots? Do you think it is irrelevant to the living preservation of minority languages that these are available to players of games, readers and writers of online encyclopedias, and options for connecting speakers through social media platforms?
The Irish developer of game Dicey Dungeons writes:
“I really wanted to make the game available in Irish, and since that was happening, I kind-of just took an interest in supporting other minority languages. Among other languages, we’ve translated Dicey Dungeons into Irish, Welsh, Catalan and Silesian. We’re lucky to have a bunch of great translators working with us on it.”
and explains the reason for writing an Irish version for his game in this interview:
https://www.fanbyte.com/games/features/why-dicey-dungeons-wants-to-teach-you-irish/
There are two very different kinds of Gaelic that are involved in building up or growing any Gaelic community the formal and the informal language and they are very different. Also you have the social Gaelic of the home family and community and the academic Gaelic of the school and other formal language situations then you have other situations as well when growing a Gaelic community. The situation in Ireland in particular is 40 to 50 years behind the leading coountries such as the Maori community in New Zealand and the Hawaiian language Community in Hawaii where in 1982 there were only 600 people left who could speak Hawaiian fluently and only 18 children under the age of 16 years mostly on one island. In 2022 in Hawaii they have 33,000 families who use Hawaiian as a family language and expect to have 100,000 families Hawaiian speaking by 2050. Scotland and Ireland are both 50 years behind what the leaders are doing at this stage of development.
Scotland in particular are years behind what is happening in language learning worldwide and mostly pig ignorant of what is happening at the same time as well.
This is interesting. Do you have any references for successful language policy for Māori and Hawaiian?
There is so much out there on the internet Simply look for Hawaiian language pre-school groups and also Maori Language Pre-school groups. It will probably take you 3 or 4 weeks to go through it all.
Another vanity project. I thought tokenism and virtue signaling had gone with Sturgeon…and a stack of cash!
Did you get lost on your way to MailOnline, Alan?
12 Gaelic Networked Communities in 2023
It is good to be able to tell people that the Moray Language Centre are planning the establishment of 12 Gaelic Networked Communities to be located around Scotland. Four of which are already in the preparatory stage in Glasgow, East Dunbartonshire, Lanarkshire and Perth. The other eight will be located in Stirling, Lochaber, Renfrewshire (2), Inverness, a second one in Glasgow, Stornoway and Skye.
A primary objective for Gaelic Networked Communities is enabling learners, fluent speakers or anyone in between, to come together and as a team to grow such facilities and services into eventually becoming fully comprehensive Gaelic communities.
One of the most important topics on the agenda for all the information sessions will be in highlighting the absolute essentialness of Gaelic Lifestyle Centres and their pivotal role in the creation of Gaelic Networked Communities, as well as their place in moving them into becoming fully developed Gaelic communities by way of Gaelic language courses and activities.
Another pressing matter that will be raised at the information sessions is the need for many fluent Gaelic speakers to come forward and take on tutor, trainer and helper roles.
For anyone living in or close to any of the aforementioned places and is interested in what is being proposed here, they really ought to keep an eye on dates, times and venues that will be announced throughout this year.
Although you may not be thinking about Gaelic that much, no matter, just come along to one of the sessions, in which case you may surprise yourself and end up thinking about Gaelic quite a lot and how best to get involved.
More information about these sessions can be had by contacting Finlay Macleod at [email protected] or telephone …01542-836322, who will be pleased to discuss any aspect of what is being proposed here.
Time to start building and growing Gaelic Communities in Scotland.
Sadly, I don’t see much of this happening at present.
It is as if many people have no idea how to make it happen
Only very, very empty talk.
Unfortunately.
A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds.
Does wearing Tartan and the Kilt make you more British if you live in Scotland?