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Welsh (Cymraeg, y Gymraeg), not to be confused with the Welsh dialect of English, is a Brythonic branch of Celtic spoken natively in the western part of Britain known as Wales ( Cymru), and in the Chubut Valley, a Welsh immigrant colony in the Patagonia region of Argentina.
There are also some speakers of Welsh in England, the United States and Australia, and throughout the world.
| Welsh (Cymraeg) | |
|---|---|
| Spoken in: | Wales, Argentina, England, United States of America, Canada, Australia, New ZealandFor alternative meanings, see New Zealand (disambiguation). New Zealand is a country formed of two major islands and a number of smaller islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. A common Mori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa popularly translated as Land |
| Total speakers: | 580,000 |
| RankingThis page tries to present a list of languages by total native speakers . Note, however, that lists such as this may vary somewhat depending upon the definition given to certain terms. In particular, the exact difference between " dialect" and " language": | Not in top 100 |
| GeneticLanguages Most languages are known to belong to language families ("families" hereforth). An accurately identified family is a phylogenetic unit, i. all its members derive from a common ancestor. The ancestor is very seldom known to us directly, since mos classificationLanguages Most languages are known to belong to language families ("families" hereforth). An accurately identified family is a phylogenetic unit, i. all its members derive from a common ancestor. The ancestor is very seldom known to us directly, since mos: | Indo-European |
| Official status | |
| Official language of: | Wales |
| Regulated by: | - |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | cy |
| ISO 639-2(B) | wel |
| ISO 639-2(T) | cym |
| SIL | WLS |
The 2001 census gives a figure of 20.5% of the population of Wales as Welsh speakers (up from 18.5% in 1991), out of a population of about 3 million; however, it appears that about a third of the population of Wales has immigrated within the last 30 years.
Even among the Welsh-speakers, few residents of Wales are monolingual in Welsh. However, a large number of Welsh speakers are more comfortable expressing themselves in Welsh than in English. A speaker's choice of language can vary according to the subject domain (known in linguistics as code-switching).
Although Welsh is a minority language, and thus threatened by the dominance of English, support for the language grew during the second half of the twentieth century, along with the rise of nationalist political organisations such as the political party Plaid Cymru and Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (the Welsh Language Society).
Welsh as a first language is largely concentrated in the less urban north and west of Wales, principally Gwynedd, Merioneth, Anglesey (Môn), Carmarthenshire, North Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion, and parts of West Glamorgan, although first-language and other fluent speakers can be found throughout Wales.
Welsh is very much a living language. It is used in conversation every day by thousands and seen in Wales everywhere. Local government (including the Welsh Assembly) uses Welsh as its official language, public bodies issue official literature and publicity in Welsh versions (e.g. letters to parents from schools, library information, and council information) and all road signs in Wales are in English and Welsh, including the Welsh versions of place names (although some of these are recent inventions based on the English names).
The UK government has ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in respect to Welsh.
The language has greatly increased its prominence since the creation of the television channel S4C in November 1982, which broadcasts exclusively in Welsh during peak viewing hours. The main evening television news provided by the BBC can be found here (Real Media).
Given the British Government's current plans (December 2001) to ensure that all immigrants know English, it remains to be seen if Welsh will be considered a separate case. At present, a knowledge of either Welsh, English or Scottish Gaelic is sufficient for naturalisation purposes and it is believed that this policy will be continued in any proposed changes to the law.