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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 10060
[Culture]
Date Posted:
5/31/2004
9:46:57 am EDT
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Views: 6,046
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Comments: 4
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Gaelic Disappearing In Cape Breton
Author: CP Source: The Globe and Mail (CA)
Title: GAELIC DISAPPEARING IN CAPE BRETON
Cape Breton may be promoted in tourism brochures as a hotbed of the Celtic music revival, but the Gaelic language that underpins the culture is dying, a new study expected to be released today says.
The report on the state of the Scottish Gaelic culture in Nova Scotia estimates there are fewer than 500 native Gaelic speakers left on the island, most of them seniors living in several small villages.
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Community Thoughts: There are 4 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Yeeees...... | May 31st. at 8:14:38 pm EDT |
by William (Nova Scotia, Canada) - wc_xemail
The report on the state of the Scottish Gaelic culture in Nova Scotia estimates there are fewer than 500 native Gaelic speakers left on the island, most of them seniors living in several small villages.
But what they fail to say is that the weakening economic condition in Cape Breton has caused a lot of younger Gaelic speaking 'capers' to move away. Also, as was mentioned, St FX University in Antigonish ( not on Cape Breton Island) has one of the most comprehensive Gaelic language programs anywhere and there has be a resurging interest in Nova Scotia in reviving the ancient gaelic tongue and breathing new life into it. Gaelic has long been dying out, but I think it has a better chance of surviving when attention is brought to the fact it is in peril. I have even heard that many Scots come to Nova Scotia to learn Gaelic. Unfortunately, once a language no longer exists in wide use, or has any real practical application... it will die.... most of those who learn it do it for purely cultural purposes and not for any real practical reason, so the numbers who speak Gaelic will always be limited..
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| News Flash... | May 31st. at 3:01:36 pm EDT |
by Green Man (USA, Planet Earth) - wc_xemail
This has been going on for a while now. Scots Gaelic is, sadly, a disapearing language. It's sad, but...cycles and whatnot, it's difficult to do much about it. Learn it yourself and teach it to your kids, that's just about it. But I imagine people who even attempt this are few and far between--it's not the easiest language to learn.
It is a beautiful sounding language though, and it'd be great if it had some sort of revival. Every little bit counts. It and the Scottish-Celtic culture seem to be fading away with the mists of the Highlands, despite the "revivals" and whatnot.
So, do this: learn a little Gaelic, visit the Homeland, and don't get caught in these tourist traps that often ruin the sights.
Mar sin leat.
Winter Knight
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| News To Me! | May 31st. at 2:36:03 pm EDT |
by Dancewitch (Eastern Passage, NS, Canada) - wc_xemail
Many of the singers of Cape Breton speak Gaelic and there is a Chair of Gaelic Studies at St Francis Xavier University on the mainland of Nova Scotia. As well, I can assure you that the language is not dying in its native land. I have just returned from Scotland and signs on the Isle of Skye are in both Gaelic and English with the Gaelic predominant. On the streets of the small towns, I also heard people speaking Gaelic.
No, the language is not dying. I don't think that would be permitted by the Scots. They are just too proud for that.
BB,
Dancewitch
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| I'm Not Sure What To Think About This. | May 31st. at 11:08:01 am EDT |
by Amhrán (Halifax, Nova Scotia) - wc_xemail - Web
I've had the privelige of meeting with or knowing of more than two dozen individuals who are my age, or younger, who grew up speaking Scottish Gaelic - due to not only their parents - but their grandparents as well. One can even study the language at specific schools in the area, or so I've been told, by an Irish Gaelic classmate who is from that region.
As a linguist, I find news like this depressing - as I consider any language precious, and worthy of keeping well alive. However, as a person who lives in the province, and has been exposed to people from that region, and speakers of other forms of Gaelic as well, I would like to know where the reporter is getting his/her information on this matter. And what 'report' he/she is referencing.
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