Europe Mapped by Language

[Frostbite]

I found this pretty interesting. It's basically a map of Europe, overlaid with the distribution of languages throughout the continent:

http://www.bookofjoe.com/2008/11/europe-mapped-b.html

 

[Tez3]

Oh dear! There's a bit missing! On the toe of Great Britain where cornwall is it should be colour green for the Celtic language! It has Brittany in France marked green correctly, cornish and Breton is almost the same language. Also in the Provence region of France they speak Provencal, not the same as French.

 

[jarrod]

very interesting, thanks! of course tez is correct about the shortcomings. it's hard to include polyglot regions on a color coded map. i wonder if cornish was omitted since it's a revived language?

jf

 

[exile]

Oh dear! There's a bit missing! On the toe of Great Britain where cornwall is it should be colour green for the Celtic language! It has Brittany in France marked green correctly, cornish and Breton is almost the same language. Also in the Provence region of France they speak Provencal, not the same as French.

Cornish, alas, is extinct—the last speaker died shortly before 1800—the name of the last speaker is known, I believe. So historically, in spite of various revival efforts, it's a bit too late to have Cornwall in the Celtic grouping...

 

[Tez3]

Cornish, alas, is extinct—the last speaker died shortly before 1800—the name of the last speaker is known, I believe. So historically, in spite of various revival efforts, it's a bit too late to have Cornwall in the Celtic grouping...

The last monoglot Dolly Pentreath died yes but the Cornish were by then bilingual.As are Scots, Welsh and Bretons. The language has never actually died out, in 1904 a revival began. Kernewek is still spoken today for everyday things depending on where you go in the country and is in fact taught in schools. KERNOW BYS VYKEN!

http://www.cornish-language.org/english/Default.asp

 

[exile]

The last monoglot Dolly Pentreath died yes but the Cornish were by then bilingual.As are Scots, Welsh and Bretons. The language has never actually died out, in 1904 a revival began. Kernewek is still spoken today for everyday things depending on where you go in the country and is in fact taught in schools. KERNOW BYS VYKEN!

http://www.cornish-language.org/english/Default.asp

Ah, I didn't realize that—so there are still people learning Cornish from the cradle? Do you have any idea what percentage of the population actually has 'native speaker' ability in the language? If you go to North Wales, you can hear teenagers chattering away in rapid-fire Welsh in pizza places and so on—is it like that there?

Best news I've heard all day!

 

[Tez3]

Ah, I didn't realize that—so there are still people learning Cornish from the cradle? Do you have any idea what percentage of the population actually has 'native speaker' ability in the language? If you go to North Wales, you can hear teenagers chattering away in rapid-fire Welsh in pizza places and so on—is it like that there?

Best news I've heard all day!

It's a small proportion, not as big as Wales but Cornwall has a large 'English' population who retire down there to sail ( and try to take over the place some of them are insufferable!) Out of a population of 50,000 in Cornwall just under 10% can speak Cornish. This number is rising with the teaching in schools and more Cornish people looking to stamp their identity on the world. It took Wales a long time to get their language spoken in everyday usage, I know that in some cases Welsh was beaten out of children in schools in Victorian and Edwardian times. I think in a few years we will see Cornish being spoken more and more. There are under 30s now who have been bilingual from birth.
The assertion that the last native speaker died was always incorrect, the language has never gone away but was spoken regularly by fishermen in the 1940s and early 50s. It was just that everyone also spoke English. The Cornish national identity is becoming stronger and stronger. It has been recognised as a language under the European Treaty on European Languages and there's been government funding to aid the teaching of it. it's all promising!
This is from 1999 Hanserd, the parliamentary record.

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199899/cmhansrd/vo990223/debtext/90223-35.htm

 

[arnisador]

I love it!

 

[exile]

It's a small proportion, not as big as Wales but Cornwall has a large 'English' population who retire down there to sail ( and try to take over the place some of them are insufferable!) Out of a population of 50,000 in Cornwall just under 10% can speak Cornish. This number is rising with the teaching in schools and more Cornish people looking to stamp their identity on the world. It took Wales a long time to get their language spoken in everyday usage, I know that in some cases Welsh was beaten out of children in schools in Victorian and Edwardian times. I think in a few years we will see Cornish being spoken more and more. There are under 30s now who have been bilingual from birth.

Outstanding!

The assertion that the last native speaker died was always incorrect, the language has never gone away but was spoken regularly by fishermen in the 1940s and early 50s. It was just that everyone also spoke English. The Cornish national identity is becoming stronger and stronger. It has been recognised as a language under the European Treaty on European Languages and there's been government funding to aid the teaching of it. it's all promising!
This is from 1999 Hanserd, the parliamentary record.

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199899/cmhansrd/vo990223/debtext/90223-35.htm

I love it. Let's hope it continues and accelerates. Things also are very promising for Welsh.

The one that is in trouble, apparently, is Scots Gaelic. The current 'homeland' of Scots Gaelic, from what I've heard, is the the Western Isles. But on the mainland, it's taken some big hits over the past half century. My impression is that Manx, which was a separate language of the Gaelic (as vs. Welsh/Cornish/Breton) subfamily, is really and truly gone... is this the case, do you know?

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Cool!

 

[Rich Parsons]

I found this pretty interesting. It's basically a map of Europe, overlaid with the distribution of languages throughout the continent:

http://www.bookofjoe.com/2008/11/europe-mapped-b.html

Nice Link.

I wish I could see shades of color better or if you highlighted an area or moused over it it told you what shade it was.

 

[MA-Caver]

Nice Link.

I wish I could see shades of color better or if you highlighted an area or moused over it it told you what shade it was.

Agreed... as well as say a white outline of each border to help more readily identify where languages have overlapped.
Though the U.S. is primarily (Americanized) English speaking it'd be interesting to see where isolated pockets of Euro/Asian/Latin speaking dominance still resides. Same with the South American and Asian continents.

Nice find there Frostbite.

 

[jarrod]

Outstanding!



I love it. Let's hope it continues and accelerates. Things also are very promising for Welsh.

The one that is in trouble, apparently, is Scots Gaelic. The current 'homeland' of Scots Gaelic, from what I've heard, is the the Western Isles. But on the mainland, it's taken some big hits over the past half century. My impression is that Manx, which was a separate language of the Gaelic (as vs. Welsh/Cornish/Breton) subfamily, is really and truly gone... is this the case, do you know?

i'm currently studying scots-gaelic & loving it! although it's it major trouble in scotland, it's still used quite a bit in cape breton, canada so i've heard. manx, if i understand correctly is dead as a household language, but is being revived. it's somewhere between irish & scots, with more norse borrowings.

there is an interesting book i'm reading right now called "the last of the celts" by marcus tanner. he visits every celtic-speaking region in the world & reports on the history & current status of the language there. it's really, really fascinating.

gaidhlig go bragh!

jf

 

[Tez3]

i'm currently studying scots-gaelic & loving it! although it's it major trouble in scotland, it's still used quite a bit in cape breton, canada so i've heard. manx, if i understand correctly is dead as a household language, but is being revived. it's somewhere between irish & scots, with more norse borrowings.

there is an interesting book i'm reading right now called "the last of the celts" by marcus tanner. he visits every celtic-speaking region in the world & reports on the history & current status of the language there. it's really, really fascinating.

gaidhlig go bragh!

jf

Well done on 'having the Gaelic'! In Scotland it's prounounced 'Gallic' as opposed to 'Gaylick' elsewhere.
The Gaelic in Scotland has only ever been spoken in the Highlands and Islands areas which are in population decline. After the Clearances they have never recovered not even after all this time. In the North East of Scotland around Aberdeen they have the Doric, elsewhere in Scotland it's Lallans. These are dialects that are designated languages. The Shetlands have their own dialect which is a mixture of English, Norse and Scots, though they had their own language Norn before the English as in Wales, Scotland,Cornwall etc actively set out to destroy it. They have always been more Norse than Scots and speak English with barely a Scottish accent. Ties with Norway are strong.
I don't know anything really about Manx other than the fact the Isle of Man is Celtic but found this which is pleasing! Seems it's being taught in schools as well!
http://www.iomguide.com/manxlanguage.php

 

[Tez3]

I just had a thought which should have struck me earlier ( I have flu so am more woolly headed than usual lol).
Another place where Welsh is spoken is Argentina! there is a Welsh enclave there and to help them remain Welsh speakers the Welsh send teachers over! http://www.britishcouncil.org/argentina-education-edu_cooperation-welsh.htm

 

[Sukerkin]

I remember seeing a documentary about that but I'm darned if I can remember where - one of Mr. Palin's perhaps?

 

[Tez3]

I remember seeing a documentary about that but I'm darned if I can remember where - one of Mr. Palin's perhaps?

Sounds like one of his doesn't it, I remember the people had names like Diego Evans and Manuel Jones!

 

[Sukerkin]

Shades of "Fawlty Towers" meets "Hi-Dee-Hi" there :lol:

 

[Tez3]

Shades of "Fawlty Towers" meets "Hi-Dee-Hi" there :lol:

Makes the Argentinian rugby team a good un though lol!

coming off another thread where we mentioned Gypsies/Romanies, they have languages of their own in Europe, not here though I think? certainly in europe though.

 

[Sukerkin]

This looks to be a useful 'jumping off' point on such matters:

http://www.gypsy-jib.com/romany.htm