Britain & Ireland: The varying significance of language for nationalism

• UK (England, Scotland, & Wales) provides political structure
• Britain provides national identity
• But many citizens of UK (N.
Ireland) consider their nationality to be Irish, not British

• Territorial languages -- were once majority languages in a given territory; these are the languages that lay claim to nationhood, and they include Germanic, Celtic, and Romance (French)
• Non-territorial languages -- have never dominated any territory, and all except Romani arrived since
1800; include Indian languages, Cypriot Greek &
Turkish, Cantonese, Caribbean Creoles, etc.

Celtic languages in
Ireland & UK
• Gaelic languages in Ireland and northwest
Britain (Scotland) include: Irish, Scottish
Gaelic, and Manx (last native speaker died in 1970s)
• Brythonic languages in Wales and
Cornwall include: Welsh, Breton (exported to Brittany), Cornish (dead since 18th c, but being revived)

• English not widely spoken until 19th c
• Derives from lang of
Anglo-Saxon invaders from Netherlands, N.
Germany, Denmark in 5th c
• Norse invasions reduced non-Germanic languages, thus favoring English, and
Old Norse had strong influence on English

• 1066 Norman Conquest -- French replaced
English for the aristocracy for 250 years, resulting in strong French influence on English
• Unification of English has resulted due to political unification; there has been some linguistic leveling of English, but class and regional differences persist
• Only 3% of population uses standardized
Received Pronunciation

• State level --
British national identity
• Local level --
Welsh, Scottish,
English identities

• Lallans (Lowland language) is spoken by the
Lowland Scots, aka Scots
English (see sample on our webpage)
• Generally not comprehensible to other
English speakers
• EU gives Lallans status of a minority language, recent renewed nationalist interest in Lallans

• Poverty and out-migration caused population reduction in 18 th & 19 th centuries
• Strong sense of Highland identity persists, legacy of clan/feudalist system
• Gaelic undergoing recent revival, used in schools,
TV and radio
• No move for independence

• Historically there was an
Irish-speaking underprivileged majority vs. English-speaking elite
• Plantation system was designed to weaken dominance of Irishspeaking Catholic majority
• Irish desire for independence for entire island

• Britain granted independence to Republic of
Ireland in 1922, but retained N. Ireland
• Irish nationalists are often indifferent to the fate of the language
• Famine, emigration, and English education have depleted the number of speakers
• Ulster Protestants are Irish but identify themselves as British (due to Protestantism)

• Welsh is the only living continuation of a Celtic language in Great Britain
• Welsh speakers are in the majority in most of the area
• Welsh was associated with poverty and banned in schools
• Welsh suffered a decline in 19 th & 20 th centuries but is undergoing revival

• Nationalism is linked to many things (especially religion), not just language
• Nationalism/regionalism is now often linked to local varieties of
English

“sometimes the memory that ancestors spoke a distinct language may suffice, given the marginal position in many regions of the traditional languages in everyday life”