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🌐 Nationality & Language - Tell us and Get the Badge! 🌐
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Hello everyone! My nationality is Welsh as I'm from Wales and I speak the languages Welsh and English.
Origins and History
The language of the Welsh developed from the language of Britons. Welsh evolved from Common Brittonic, the Celtic language spoken by the ancient Celtic Britons. Classified as Insular Celtic, the British language probably arrived in Britain during the Bronze Age or Iron Age and was probably spoken throughout the island. During the Early Middle Ages the British language began to fragment due to increased dialect differentiation, thus evolving into Welsh and the other Brittonic languages. Four periods are identified in the history of Welsh, with rather indistinct boundaries: Primitive Welsh, Old Welsh, Middle Welsh, and Modern Welsh. Primitive Welsh may have been spoken in both Wales and the 'Old North' - which is now northern England and southern Scotland.
In the later 19th Century Wales being under the British Government, the English Governors forbid the use of the Welsh language in schools. Some schools in Wales used the Welsh Not, a piece of wood, often bearing the letters "WN", which was hung around the neck of any pupil caught speaking Welsh. The pupil could pass it on to any classmate heard speaking Welsh, with the pupil wearing it at the end of the day being punished! The punishment being a cane, a thin stick slapped hard on the palm of an out stretched hand! Towards the beginning of the 20th century this policy slowly began to change, partly owing to the efforts of Wales born, O.M. Edwards when he became chief inspector of schools for Wales in 1907. Welsh is now widely used in education, with children and young people in Wales receiving their education in Welsh medium, primary and secondary schools.
A greeting in Welsh is one of the 55 languages included on the Voyager Golden Record chosen to be representative of Earth in NASA's Voyager programme launched in 1977. In 2004, for the first time the Welsh language has been spoken in the European Parliament becoming one of the EU's 23 official languages. In 2017, parliamentary rules were amended to allow the use of Welsh when the Welsh Grand Committee meets at Westminster, England.
Around the World
It is believed that there are about 5,000 Welsh (Patagonian Welsh) speakers in Argentina!
In response to the question 'Does the person speak a language other than English at home?' in the 2016 census of Australia, 1,688 people noted that they spoke Welsh!
In the 2011 census of Canada, 3,885 people reported Welsh as their first language. Whilst 1,130 people noted that Welsh was their mother tongue!
The 2018 New Zealand census noted that 1,083 people in New Zealand spoke Welsh!
The American Community Survey 2009–2013 noted that 2,235 people aged five years and over in the United States spoke Welsh at home. The highest number of those (255) lived in Florida!
The Welsh language is rich in history and for that reason I could go on and you could be reading this for a good couple of days! But I think I managed to give, I don't know if it could be known as concised, the origins of my language. Welsh might be one of the oldest languages to be used in the UK, but it remains one of the most vibrant. Our literature, arts, festivals and great tradition of song all find expression through our language. And this in my opinion, is a powerful demonstration of how our culture, all cultures around the world, are the very essence of who we are, is expressed through language.
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