The Welsh language

Abstract

'Languages do not die natural deaths', as Daniel Corkery, the distinguished Irish scholar has observed, 'they are murdered, and their murderers are those who would destroy t.he soul of the nation'. The truth of this observation becomes plain if we glance at those communities troubled by a 'Language Problem'. Language problems are in fact a disease, of which imperialism is the carrier, and they trouble communities which are, or until relatively recently were, subject to the political domination of an imperialist state. This is certainly true of the Welsh language, whose survival is in question for the second time in five centuries. In the nineteenth century, over 90% of the population of Wales was Welsh speaking, many of them monoglot; by the recent Census the number had dropped to under 30%,1 while the monoglot speakers had all but disappeared. It is true that the rate of decrease has slowed down, so we seem to be reaching a turn of the tide, but the danger is so great that Welsh patriots are rousing them- selves to a determined effort to save the language and to recover lost ground.