Welsh
Welsh is a member of the Celtic branch of the Indo-European family of languages,
its nearest cousins being Cornish and Breton. The language as spoken today is
descended directly from Early Welsh, which emerged as a distinct tongue as early
as the sixth century AD. It is thus the oldest living language of Great Britain
and among the oldest in Europe.. The term 'Welsh' derives from a Germanic name
for foreigners but Welsh speakers themselves refer to their language as Gymraeg.
At the start of the 20th century, the Welsh language was spoken by almost
half the population of Wales, however, since then, the number of speakers has
decreased steadily According to the 1991 census, there were still about 500
thousand speakers of Welsh, but this represented just 18.7 per cent of the population.
However, the 1991 Census did see an increase in the number and percentage of
young people who spoke Welsh. This trend is likely to continue in part due to
the Welsh Language Act of 1993 which put Welsh and English on an equal basis
in public life in Wales. Today, nearly one-third of all primary school children
in Wales are receiving their education in Welsh-languageor bilingual schools.
Sources:
History
of Welsh
The
Welsh Language
Information on writing system:
Independent Study Courses Available at UCSD:
Other Local Resources: