Library Research Guide for Celtic Languages and Literatures

Welsh

Welsh is recognized as an official language in Wales, and government and business in Wales are carried out in both Welsh and English. Until the twentieth century, the majority of people in Wales solely spoke Welsh, and there are still areas, such as the northwestern region of the country, where Welsh is still the primary language. Today, Nearly one-third of the population can speak some Welsh, with a little less than one-fifth of the population speaking it daily. As well, there are Welsh-speaking communities in Argentina, Australia, Canada, and the United States. All students in Wales are required to study Welsh, and one-fourth of the schools in Wales teach completely in Welsh. Welsh language abilities are highly preferred, and are even required, for some jobs in Wales. 

The oldest extant text in Old Welsh (c. 800 C.E. - c. 1100 C.E.) is from an inscription on a stone cross in St Cadfan's Church, Tywyn, Gwynedd, and is believed to date to the eighth or ninth century C.E. Other surviving examples of Old Welsh are notes, and even legal transactions, written in the margins of manuscripts. There also survives a body of poetry in Old Welsh, preserved largely in manuscripts from the Middle Welsh period (c. 1100 C.E. - 1400 C.E.), such as the Book of Aneirin and the Book of Taliesin. Many early Welsh poems, prose tales, and laws were written down between the twelfth and the fourteenth century. They were recorded in Middle Welsh and were collected together in manuscripts; some of the most famous are the Black Book of Carmarthen, the Red Book of Hergest, and the White Book of Rhydderch. With the translation of the Bible into Welsh in the sixteenth century C.E. the language became more standardized and developed into Modern Welsh. 

The traditions of poetry and prose narrative in Wales have continued into the modern day, and Wales continues to produce a number of influential poets and writers, as well as a good amount of Welsh-language art and media. Wales has its own Welsh-language media industry, which produces films, television programs, news broadcasts, radio stations, stage performances, concerts, and pop music in Welsh. There are lively Welsh-speaking communities across the country, as well as Welsh-language cultural events, such as choral concerts and eisteddfods. Welsh stories, poetry, and music have influenced, not only culture in Wales, but literature and arts in the Western world. For example, the texts which make up the famous collection of Welsh prose tales known as the Mabinogion, some of the earliest Arthurian legends, come from Middle Welsh manuscripts.

Scottish Gaelic
 

The Gaelic language of Scotland is considered an indigenous language, and is spoken primarily in communities of the West Highlands of Scotland and the Hebrides, a group of islands off the west coast of Scotland, as well as on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia. In Scotland, around two percent of the total population speak Scottish Gaelic, but in areas where it is spoken, it is spoken by up to half the populace. Scottish Gaelic is taught in a small number of schools and in several university programs across the country. The language is beginning to be introduced into certain aspects of government administration, such as signage and official communications with the European Union. 

The oldest Scottish Gaelic writing to have survived dates to the twelfth century C.E. and is found in the margins of a manuscript. A number of early heroic Gaelic ballads were written down in the sixteenth-century C.E. in The Book of the Dean of Lismore, some of which were composed by female poets. There is a body of poetry by seventeenth-century poets in Scottish Gaelic, again including a number of compositions by women, which was preserved in the seventeenth century C.E. in the Black Book of Clanranald, the Red Book of Clanranald, and the Fernaig manuscript. In the eighteenth century C.E., Scottish Gaelic became more standardized with the publication of various religious works into Scottish Gaelic and the production of a Scottish Gaelic vocabulary. Many medieval Scottish Gaelic poems, which had survived for centuries in oral form, were written down in the eighteenth century. Likewise, Scottish Gaelic poetry continued to be composed into the eighteenth-century by Scottish poets. 

Today, there are poems, short stories, and essays written in Scottish Gaelic. There is both a Gaelic-language radio station, Radio nan Gàidheal, and a Gaelic-language television channel, BBC Alba, in Scotland; and programs in Scottish Gaelic are frequently aired on other channels. The oral tradition of Scottish Gaelic poetry persisted for centuries in Scotland and both commented on and influenced its culture.

Manx
 

The Manx language is considered a regional language and is spoken on the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea. Until the nineteenth century, the majority of inhabitants spoke Manx. By the twentieth century, a third of the populace still spoke the language; the last native speaker dying in 1974. Currently, about two percent of the population on the island have learned and practice the language. Manx is taught as a secondary language in schools on the Isle of Man and there is one Manx medium school on the island, as well as a few Manx language courses. Though Manx is not officially used by the government, Manx phrases are sometimes used in ceremonies and in court, as well as on some signs.

The earliest written works in Manx date to the sixteenth century C.E. and are translations of religious works, including the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. From the seventeenth century to modern times, several works famous in other languages have been translated into Manx. At the same time, folklore, ballads, and a distinctly Manx type of carol known as "carvels", which had long been passed down orally, were recorded. 

A handful of short films have been produced in Manx since the 1980s. There are two radio programs in the Manx language and Manx is used in several others. The first full-length, original novel in Manx was published in 2006 and literature in the language continues to be produced, or translated from other languages, as the number of Manx learners grow. Historically, the language was intertwined with Irish and Scottish Gaelic and speakers of Manx interacted with speakers of, not only these other Celtic languages, but also with speakers of Norse. The inhabitants on the Isle of Man had interactions with the Vikings. All of these interactions led to cultural exchanges between these different cultures, and study of Manx is important to both understanding the culture on the Isle of Man, but also aspects of other languages and cultures in Northwestern Europe. 

Cornish

Cornish is a revived language and is recognized as a minority language spoken in Cornwall in England. Cornish speakers have relocated all around the world, including Australia, Mexico, South Africa, Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean. Today, the language is spoken by somewhere between three hundred and two thousand individuals in Cornwall, less than one percent of the population of the region. Cornish is taught in fifty schools across the region and at a few universities. 

The earliest evidence of Old Cornish (c. 800 C.E. - 1200 C.E.)  is a gloss from a ninth century C.E. manuscript. There also survives a glossary from the twelfth century which contains vocabulary in Old Cornish. The largest amount of works written in Cornish were written in Middle Cornish (c. 1200 C.E. - c. 1600 C.E.), and many were religious works, the most famous a cycle of three mystery plays known as the Ordinalia. There are a few prose texts dating to the seventeenth century C.E.; however, the language did not develop a standard orthography and, by the eighteenth century the language had become extinct. Linguistics began producing works, often poetry, in Cornish again in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. They also attempted to reconstruct and standardize the language, beginning with the publication of the Handbook of the Cornish Language in 1904.  

There is one radio program broadcast and several television programs in Cornwall which includes content in Cornish. There are a handful of Cornish periodicals, and articles in Cornish appear in several newspapers. Some Cornish-language podcasts and music are produced. Three original novels have been written in Cornish in modern times, and there are a handful of contemporary poets who compose in the language. Some works written in other languages have been translated into Cornish, and Cornish language and culture have been included in some English works. The Bible was translated into Cornish and a feature length film made in the language in the 2000s. The language is closely related to Welsh and Breton and both the place, its place names, and its legends are central to literature in numerous European countries related to King Arthur. Understanding of Cornish improves understanding of the culture of Cornwall, aspects of other Celtic languages, and some of the influences on Western European literature.