Manx language
Manx
,
also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Gaelic language of the insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family. Manx is the heritage language of the Manx people.
Although few children native to the Isle of Man speak Manx as a first language, there has been a steady increase in the number of speakers since 1974, when Ned Maddrell, considered the last speaker to grow up in a Manx-speaking community environment, died. Despite this, the language has never fallen completely out of use, with a minority having some knowledge of it as a heritage language, and it is still an important part of the island's culture and cultural heritage.
Manx is often cited as a good example of language revitalization efforts; in 2015, around 1,800 people had varying levels of second-language conversational ability. Since the late 20th century, Manx has become more visible on the island, with increased signage, radio broadcasts and a Manx-medium primary school. The revival of Manx has been made easier because the language was well recorded, e.g. the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer had been translated into Manx, and audio recordings had been made of native speakers.
Names
In Manx
The endonym of the language is /, which shares the same etymology as the word "Gaelic", as do the endonyms of its sister languages: Irish and Scottish Gaelic. Manx frequently uses the forms y Ghaelg/y Ghailck, as do Irish and Scottish Gaelic.To distinguish it from the two other forms of Gaelic, the phrases Gaelg/Gailck Vannin "Gaelic of Mann" and Gaelg/Gailck Vanninnagh "Manx Gaelic" are also used. In addition, the nickname Çhengey ny Mayrey, lit. "the mother's tongue" is occasionally used.
In English
The language is usually referred to in English as "Manx". The term "Manx Gaelic" is often used, for example when discussing the relationship between the three Goidelic languages or to avoid confusion with Manx English, the form of English spoken on the island. A feature of Manx English deriving from Gaelic is the use of the definite article, e.g. "the Manx", "the Gaelic", in ways not generally seen in standard English.The word "Manx", often spelled historically as "Manks", means "Mannish" and originates from Old Norse *manskr. The Isle of Man is named after the Gaelic god Manannán mac Lir, thus Ellan Vannin.
History
Manx is a Goidelic language, closely related to Irish and Scottish Gaelic. On the whole it is partially mutually intelligible with these, and native speakers of one find it easy to gain passive, and even spoken, competency in the other two.It has been suggested that a little-documented Brythonic language may have been spoken on the Isle of Man before the arrival of Christian missionaries from Ireland in the early Middle Ages. However, there is little surviving evidence about the language spoken on the island at that time.
Manx is descended from Primitive Irish. The island either lends its name to or takes its name from Manannán, the Brythonic and Gaelic sea god who is said in myth to have once ruled the island. Primitive Irish is first attested in Ogham inscriptions from the 4th century AD. These writings have been found throughout Ireland and the west coast of Great Britain. Primitive Irish transitioned into Old Irish through the 5th century. Old Irish, dating from the 6th century, used the Latin script and is attested mainly in marginalia to Latin manuscripts, but there are no extant examples from the Isle of Man.
Latin was used for ecclesiastical records from the establishment of Christianity in the Isle of Man in the 5th century AD. Many words concerning religion, writing and record keeping entered Manx at this time.
The Isle of Man was conquered by Norse Vikings in the 9th century. Though there is some evidence in the form of runic inscriptions that Norse was used by some of these settlers, the Vikings who settled around the Irish Sea and West Coast of Scotland soon became Gaelic-speaking Norse–Gaels. During the 9th century AD, the Gaelic of the inhabitants of the Isle of Man, like those of Scotland and the North of Ireland, may have been significantly influenced by Norse speakers. While Norse had very little impact on the Manx language overall, a small number of modern place names on the Isle of Man are Norse in origin, e.g. Laxey and Ramsey. Other Norse legacies in Manx include loanwords and personal names.
By the 10th century, it is supposed that Middle Irish had emerged and was spoken throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man.
The island came under Scottish rule in 1266, and alternated between Scottish and English rule until finally becoming the feudal possession of the Stanley family in 1405. It is likely that until that point, except for scholarly knowledge of Latin and courtly use of Anglo-Norman, Manx was the only language spoken on the island. Since the establishment of the Stanleys on the Isle of Man, first Anglo-Norman and later the English language have been the chief external factors in the development of Manx, until the 20th century, when Manx speakers became able to access Irish and Scottish Gaelic media.
17th to 19th centuries
Manx had diverged considerably from the Gaelic languages of Scotland and Ireland between 1400 and 1900. The 17th century Plantation of Ulster, the decline of Irish in Leinster and the extinction of Galloway Gaelic led to the geographic isolation of Manx from other dialects of Gaelic. The development of a separate orthography also led Manx to diverge from Irish and Scottish Gaelic.In the 17th century, some university students left the Isle of Man to attend school in England. At the same time, teaching in English was required in schools founded by governor Isaac Barrow. Barrow also promoted the use of English in churches; he considered that it was a superior language for reading the Bible; however, because most ministers were monolingual Manx speakers, his views had little practical impact.
Thomas Wilson began his tenure as Bishop of Mann in 1698 and was succeeded by Mark Hildesley. Both men held positive views of Manx; Wilson was the first person to publish a book in Manx, a translation of The Principles and Duties of Christianity, and Hildesley successfully promoted the use of Manx as the language of instruction in schools. The New Testament was first published in Manx in 1767. In the late 18th century, nearly every school was teaching in English. This decline continued into the 19th century, as English gradually became the primary language spoken on the Isle of Man.
In 1848, J.G. Cumming wrote, "there are... few persons who speak no English." Henry Jenner estimated in 1874 that about 30% of the population habitually spoke Manx. According to official census figures, 9.1% of the population claimed to speak Manx in 1901; in 1921 the percentage was only 1.1%. Since the language was used by so few people, it had low linguistic "prestige", and parents tended not to teach Manx to their children, thinking it would be useless to them compared with English.
According to Brian Stowell, "In the 1860s there were thousands of Manx people who couldn't speak English, but barely a century later it was considered to be so backwards to speak the language that there were stories of Manx speakers getting stones thrown at them in the towns."
Revival
Following the decline in the use of Manx during the 19th century, Yn Çheshaght Ghailckagh was founded in 1899. By the mid-20th century, only a few elderly native speakers remained, but by then a scholarly revival had begun and a few people had started teaching it in schools. The Manx Language Unit was formed in 1992, consisting of three members and headed by Manx Language Officer Brian Stowell, a language activist and fluent speaker, "which was put in charge of all aspects of Manx language teaching and accreditation in schools." This led to an increased interest in studying the Manx language and encouraged a renewed sense of ethnic identity. The revival of Manx was aided by the recording work done in the 20th century by researchers. Most notably, the Irish Folklore Commission was sent in with recording equipment in 1948 by Éamon de Valera. Also important in preserving the Manx language was work conducted by the late Brian Stowell, who is considered personally responsible for the current revival of the Manx language. The Manx Language Strategy was released in 2017, outlining a five-year plan for the language's continued revitalisation. Culture Vannin employs a Manx Language Development Officer to encourage and facilitate the use of the language.In 2009, UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger declared Manx an extinct language, despite the presence of hundreds of speakers on the Isle of Man. Historian and linguist Jennifer Kewley Draskau reacted to this declaration, saying that saying that "Unesco ought to know better than to declare Manx a dead language. There are hundreds of speakers of Manx and while people are able to have productive conversations in the language then it is very much alive and well." Since then, UNESCO's classification of the language has changed to "critically endangered".
In the 2011 census, 1,823 out of 80,398 Isle of Man residents, or 2.27% of the population, claimed to have knowledge of Manx, an increase of 134 people from the 2001 census. These individuals were spread roughly uniformly over the island: in Douglas 566 people professed an ability to speak, read or write Manx; 179 in Peel, 146 in Onchan, and 149 in Ramsey.
Traditional Manx given names have experienced a marked resurgence on the island, especially Moirrey and Voirrey, Illiam, Orry, Breeshey/Breesha, Aalish/Ealish, Juan, Ean, Joney, Fenella, Pherick and Freya remain popular.
Estimated number of speakers by year
Status
Manx is not officially recognised by any national or regional government, although its contribution to Manx culture and tradition is acknowledged by some governmental and non-governmental bodies.The Standing Orders of the House of Keys provide that: "The proceedings of the House shall be in English; but if a Member at any point pronounces a customary term or sentence in Manx Gaelic or any other language, the Speaker may call upon the Member for a translation." An example was at the sitting on 12 February 2019, when an MHK used the expression boghtnid, stated to mean "nonsense".
Manx is used in the annual Tynwald ceremony and Manx words are used in official Tynwald publications.
For the purpose of strengthening its contribution to local culture and community, Manx is recognised under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and in the framework of the British-Irish Council.
The Isle of Man comprised the one site for the Manx language in the Atlas Linguarum Europae, a project that compared dialects and languages across all countries in Europe.
Manx is taught as a second language at all of the island's primary and secondary schools. The lessons are optional and instruction is provided by the Department of Education's Manx Language Team which teach up to A Level standard.
The Bunscoill Ghaelgagh, a primary school at St John's, has 67 children, as of September 2016, who receive nearly all of their education through the medium of the language. Children who have attended the school have the opportunity to receive some of their secondary education through the language at Queen Elizabeth II High School in Peel.
The playgroup organisation Mooinjer Veggey, which operates the Bunscoill Ghaelgagh, runs a series of preschool groups that introduce the language.
Bilingual road, street, village and town boundary signs are common throughout the Isle of Man. All other road signs are in English only.
Business signage in Manx is gradually being introduced but is not mandated by law; however, the 1985 Tynwald Report on the use of Manx states that signage should be bilingual except where a Manx phrase is the norm.