http://www.gaelport.com/index.php?page=clippings&id=627

quote:

JACK McConnell is being asked to back a bid to put Alba, the Gaelic word for Scotland, on the back of the national football strip, writes Jonathan Lessware.
Highland council hopes the first minister will support its attempt to raise the profile of the language, currently only spoken by 60,000 people.



Campaigners — who want the Gaelic title adopted before the Year of Highland Culture in 2007 — hope it will be used on coins, notes and stamps celebrating the event.

That was done for the Irish soccer team not so long ago - -
There was a petition at petitiononline.com

English sport. English language. Peil Gaelach (fíor spórt) Teanga na Gaeilge.

I think it says a fair bit about Irish language policy since Independence, that after 80 years of 'promoting' and 'supporting' Irish, it has roughly the same amount of speakers as Scots Gael, which got no such support.

I think it says a fair bit about Irish language policy since Independence, that after 80 years of 'promoting' and 'supporting' Irish, it has roughly the same amount of speakers as Scots Gael, which got no such support.


Reply: actually this is not true. Scottish Gaelic is not taught in every school in Scotland, and you won't find 100,000 fluent speakers in Scotland plus 1.5 million more who can speak some Gaelic. Scottish Gaelic just has 60,000 native speakers and nothing else.

And is Irish really much better of with the million and a half people who 'know' it.

P.s. where'd you get the 100,000 figure out of curiosity. The census says 350,000 people use it daily, so I'd assume that'd be the number of fluent people. Plus there's more who use it less often who I'd imagine have at least some fluency in it too. Though where these people reside is beyond me, I have encountered too many.

If you want another objective measure of the difference in status of the two languages, look at publishing. There is vastly more to read in Irish.

And, if I might add to Dennis' comment, there is vastly more to read in Irish precisely because of government support for the Irish language. You wouldn't have a publishing house like An Gúm lasting very long -- even as a non-profit -- without the support of the Irish government.

"look at publishing."

Good idea.

http://www.ur-sgeul.com/press_g.php

https://id403.van.ca.siteprotect.com/gaelicbooks.net/merchantmanager/v3_5/
http://www.an-gaidheal-ur.co.uk/

«Tha leabhar Gàidhlig a chaidh a sgrìobhadh bho chionn ghoirid air ainmeachadh mar aon de na deich leabhraichean Albannach as fheàrr a chaidh a sgrìobhadh ariamh.

Tha “An Oidhche Mus Do Sheòl Sinn” air a sgrìobhadh le Aonghas Pàdraig Caimbeul agus tha an sgeulachd sònraichte stèidhichte ann an Uibhist a Deas, an sgìre dom buin an t-ùghdar.

Tha e a’ ciallachadh gu bheil obair-cruthachaidh Mhgr Chaimbeul air fhaicinn aig an aon ìre ri leithid “Sunset Song” bho Lewis Grassic Gibbon agus “Kidnapped” bho Raibeart Louis Stevenson.

Chaidh an clàr a chur ri chèile leis an iris “The List” agus iad airson faighinn a-mach dè an leabhar Albannach as fheàrr a chaidh a sgrìobhadh a-riamh. Nochd “An Oidhche Mus Do Sheòl Sinn” bhon t-sreath “Ur-sgeul”, iomairt a chaidh a chur air dòigh le Comhairle nan Leabhraichean airson nobhailean ùra Gàidhlig a thoirt a-mach.

Thuirt Iain Storey, oifigear na sgeama: “Tha seo ag innse gu faod leabhar Gàidhlig a tha sgrìobhte anns an 21mh linn a bhith a cheart cho math is a cheart cho tarraingeach ri leabhar sam bith — ann am Beurla no ann an cànan sam bith eile.”»

http://www.an-gaidheal-ur.co.uk/iuchar05.pdf

http://www.bertramlibraryservices.com/cypher/pdf/tenscot.pdf

(Message edited by Peadar Ó Gríofa on October 07, 2005)

quote:

Tha leabhar Gàidhlig a chaidh a sgrìobhadh bho chionn ghoirid air ainmeachadh mar aon de na deich leabhraichean Albannach as fheàrr a chaidh a sgrìobhadh ariamh.

Tá fadhb amháin leis an ngradam sin: is de bharr vóta oscailte ar an idirlíon a bronnadh é. Bhí deis ag daoine nár léigh an leabhar sin riamh a vóta a thabhairt dó. Féach:

http://www.list.co.uk/bestbooks/bestbookslist.html

Ach deirtear gur maith an t-úrscéal é mar sin féin. An bhfuil sé léite agat fós, a Pheadair? Tá cóip de agam, ar mo "charn"!

Thoisigh mé dhá léaghamh bliadhain nó dhó ó shin, agus tá fúm leanamhaint dó...

http://www.creativescotland.org.uk/media/2001/campbell/extract.doc

http://www.transcript-review.org/sub.cfm?lan=en&id=2286

http://www.whfp.com/1642/misc.html

http://ww1.sundayherald.com/38035

http://www.word-power.co.uk/catalogue/1900901102

http://www.hi-arts.co.uk/oct03_feature11.htm

http://www.hi-arts.co.uk/nov03_interview1.htm

Publishing is all well and good, but it doesn't change that the fact that the language in its real existence, that is, people who speak it daily as the first language, is only slightly better off than English. If a language is dead but there's 100 books coming out in it every year, does that mean it's faring well?

Aontáim le Dalta about 1/3 million people use Gaeilge on a daily basis.. The govt always had the right ideas but failed at implementing them for whatever reasons..
Change the government - change the state of play 4 Gaeilge

True, language is speech, and its written representation is secondary. It's language, not "plumage."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/networks/nangaidheal/aod.shtml?nangaidheal/leabha r

"Strì gu Sìth: 1939-1945"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/alba/radio/strigusith/index.shtml