How has the Welsh language survived?

Welsh is a Celtic language native to Wales. Even though Wales was annexed by England over 700 years ago, today the Welsh language not only has survived, but remains the second most widely spoken language in the UK. The language boasts upwards of 900,000 speakers, roughly 30% of the Welsh population, and is the only Celtic language not considered endangered, despite Wales being the first territory outside England to fall under English rule. This sparks the question: How has the Welsh language survived?
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Sources:
www.visitwales.com/info/langu...
omniglot.com/writing/welsh.htm
www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK...
www.gov.wales/welsh-language-...
www.languagesoftheworld.info/...
www.britannica.com/topic/Celt...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2....
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[@Henrodful]

Welsh/Cymraeg is the language of Britain, the true native language of the land.

[@MrRolandgent]

Except there was no nation state of Britain when that was the predominant language

[@neilog747]

Welsh is an invader language like English. The Britons were an earlier wave of invaders who came to Britain in the first millenniun BC.

[@catintheoven]

@@neilog747 true but we dont have access to anything that it displaced

[@catintheoven]

@@MrRolandgent Britain can also mean Great Britain or the British Isles, a concept predating the UK by over 2000 years

[@MrRolandgent]

@@catintheoven King James I of England The term Great Britain was first used during the reign of King James I of England (James VI of Scotland) in 1603, to refer to the separate kingdoms of England and Scotland. on the same landmass, that were ruled over by the same monarch. Despite having the same monarch, both kingdoms kept their own parliaments.

[@Gilboy63]

The Welsh language is thriving in Newport. My daughters speak Cymraeg. It’s awesome!

[@tudordumitrache4644]

If somebody speak the language ,cant they make their children to be native speakers ?

[@Gilboy63]

@@tudordumitrache4644 Yes! And it’s natural. However, many English speakers send their children to Welsh language schools these days.

[@tudordumitrache4644]

So its posible that number of native speakers will grow

[@Gilboy63]

@@tudordumitrache4644 Absolutely. And it is growing. Very quickly.

[@starinvader5969]

I am going to be a film director when I’m older, am planning on having all my films in the Welsh language, and will not influence the English language, unless I’m making a dub. I like my country and I want to help it.

[@Pining_for_the_fjords]

I love the Welsh language, it sound so pretty and poetic, and I love the music of Cerys Matthews.

[@gwynwilliams4222]

Welsh is a native language to Britain not just Wales it was spoken in England and Scotland

[@patbutcher5836]

I'm dysgu siarad cymraeg, only half gwaed but drawn more to my welsh heritage. So thankful to one set of great grandparents for their economic choices and for the others sacrifice of sight due to an accident in the mines. Pride in heritage has always been a source of the survival of the language, and I can feel why even though I'm a londoner. Cymru am byth, one day I hope to settle our family back in the rhondda and fulfill their dreams

[@lucamatthewfry2328]

Don’t bother, it’s a shit hole here 😅 from Ton Pentre

[@catintheoven]

Gaelic was only briefly the majority language in Scotland taking over from Brythonic/Cumbric (like old welsh), Pictish and Scots (old English offshoot) in different areas and it was supplanted politically before the UK formed. Scotlands story is an incoming irish language replacing two brythonic languages in terms of political prestige but being beaten by a germanic laguage that arrived about the same time. Welsh/Brythonic replacement in england was also sometimes about integrating into the new saxon society, theres accounts of people still speaking it in the fens after the norman conquest. Farmers still count sheep in Cumbric (like old welsh) in northern england.

[@GeographyLore]

Fascinating!

[@CuFhoirthe88]

There was no Pictish or Cumbric in Western Scotland, especially in that area today corresponding to Argyll.

[@DylanSargesson]

4:45, it it isn't called the Welsh Assembly, its called the Welsh Parliament, or (in Welsh) Yr Senedd Cymru. Its former name was the National Assembly for Wales (Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru).

[@MAR72132]

I grew up knowing I had some English and Irish but found out I am also Welsh.

[@nicholasjones7312]

Yma o hyd 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@Capybarrrraaaa]

Er gwaetha pawb a phopeth, fymrawd.

[@yizhou5903]

I'm not that optimistic about the 900,000 speakers. Probably, a lot of students in Wales learned Welsh and passed their GCSE, then stopped learning and using Welsh, and then they gradually forgot how to speak Welsh. I tend to think fluent Welsh speakers are about 600,000-700,000 (Wales+England+Patagonia+other places). The Welsh government still seems worried about its goal of 1 million speakers by 2050. I'm learning Welsh now. One day, I'll be fluent. Dw i'n hoffi Cymraeg!

[@DuineDenFhine15]

Either way that’s a pretty good situation and I doubt they’re in much danger of extinction, unlike other Celtic languages like Irish or Scottish Gaelic

[@enkor9591]

@@DuineDenFhine15 I think the final goal should be to reinstate it, one day, as a national language, and not just prevent it from being totally extinct, but they should still be glad that their situation is better than that of other celtic languages.

[@timphillips9954]

@@enkor9591 It is Wales, is a bilingual country

[@homoerectus6953]

I just moved to Ruabon, on the Welsh side of the Border, in Wrexham and as someone Born English (though of Polish and Irish immigrant family due to WWII), im trying my best to learn the pronunciation. The language is challenging but I do think us trying our damn best to learn what we can as non native speakers is a good thing. F = V, LLan = CLAN with a CCLL sound etc....

[@GeographyLore]

That's really cool. Welsh is a fascinating language worth preserving!

[@bujin1977]

Croeso, neighbour. I'm just up the road in Rhos! 😁

[@homoerectus6953]

@@bujin1977 diolch......

[@drychaf]

Can I help? Ll absolutely has no 'c' sound in it. It's easy to make the sound of 'll' though. Say the letter 'l', then stop the voicing it but keep the shape/position of the tongue as it is. Then, instead of voicing, just blow. The air goes either side of the tongue. That is the 'll' sound. You can blow harder or softer, as you wish. The harder you blow, the more likely it is that some spit will become involved! That can be confused with the 'c' sound if you're unfamiliar with what's going on. Traditionally, the south would pronounce this more lightly, and the north more forcefully, but this has been muddied by now. No 'c'. I'm so glad you're learning to pronounce the sounds. Many many do not. Da iawn, a phob lwc!

[@Inquisitor_Vex]

@@drychafI think it’s a teaching aid. The c to l sound is close enough for a non native speaker to be able to say the word and move on.

[@anultragreatsword926]

argentina moment

[@SusanReeves-ft1sg]

Thank You. This is very interesting. I am from Wales but I didn't learn Welsh.

[@Spacey7]

I grew up in North Devon just across the sea from Cardiff & we had welsh television programs like news called Y DYDD i think that's how its spelt?

[@GeographyLore]

Very interesting.

[@HeatherMyfanwyTylerGreey]

The Day , yes that is right.

[@Spacey7]

@@HeatherMyfanwyTylerGreey thank you 😊 For some reason I enjoyed it even though I only knew a few Welsh words?

[@user-73421]

While most of us in South Wales were trying to get CH4 from Mendip, because we couldn’t understand it either.

[@isitwasit8756]

The oldest traceable dna of Britain is welsh…. Don’t forget only as recently as the 1960s the English gov attempted a bill to ban the welsh language again.. welsh are the true indigenous people yet the least considered by parliament in London

[@DAILARNER]

When did the Government draft legislation to ban the Welsh language in the 1960s? Only legislation I recall was the Welsh Language Act of 1967 which removed restrictions on the use of the language

[@isitwasit8756]

@@DAILARNER The fact you mention removal of restrictions placed on a people's language in their own country speaks volumes.. the eng gov have not been a friend to Wales and it's people considering Wales was forced under their umbrella obviously many years ago..

[@DAILARNER]

@@isitwasit8756but you said that the government was considering legislation to ban Welsh. That's nonsense. I am Welsh and I was born in the 60s. Ry'n ni yma o hyd🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@isitwasit8756]

@@DAILARNER Its not nonsense at all there were serious restrictions and bans put in place for people of Wales speaking their own language by the English.. a language that is one of the oldest across all of Europe.. kidsbinbschool were forbidden for speaking Welsh and were actually punished if caught speaking their native language.. I guess I'm wrong about that also am I? Restrictions were eventually lifted only as recently as the 60s.. it's disgusting that these restrictions and bans were put in place and it wasn't Welsh citizens who wanted an end to their own language being spoke was it..

[@phyllisbiram5163]

Stuff and nonsense.

[@DoctorCymraeg]

1:48 Quick note that Pentreath was the last Cornish-only speaker, and Madrell was the last native speaker of Manx. They are nowhere near being the “last” speakers of their respective languages.

[@leviway8874]

Mae'n wir nad pentreath oedd y person olaf i siarad Cernyweg ond roedd hi'n siarad Saesneg yn rhugl hefyd.

[@neilkennedy6334]

Bu farw'r siriadwyr traddodiodol olaf tua 1890, e.g. John Davy.

[@cymro6537]

Dolly Pentraeth was allegedly the last person able to speak Cornish ,but the last person who could _only_ speak Cornish and had no English was one Chesten Marchant ,from Gwthien in Cornwall .She died in 1676, predeceasing Dolly Pentreath by a hundred and one years.As for Ned Mandrel,the last native speaker of Manx, at his funeral in 1974 ,not _one_ word of Manx was spoken in his honour and memory. So tragic.

[@davythfear1582]

@@leviway8874 Dell hevel ny wrug DP dyski Sowsnek kyns bos ugens bloodh po moy, ytho ny wodhon mars o hi frosek.

[@seosamhodubhghaill1619]

Highly informative - much I did not know. Well done!

[@hunterluxton5976]

To correct you aout so called "angliciseation", Welsh people feel separate and their culture is different on so many levels to the English. The idea of separateness involves embracing your mother tongue and this has been a prime factor together with the large number of rural communities who do not wish to (to use a borg term)be assimilated.

[@CaveRescueMedic]

Yma o hyd! Dan ni angen annibyniaeth i Gymru!

[@darkrider5636]

Not a bad video here’s a sub ❤

[@shauna9401]

Just one thing to note. It’s not an assembly anymore. It’s the Welsh Parliament (Senedd Cymru)

[@matthewprice2626]

The Welsh language is growing as are the number of people in Wales wanting independence away from the UK. Hopefully Ireland can be unified one day and the three countries in GB can be independent. A lot of English people say they hate us Welsh and Scots so just let us go. (Wales and Scotland would then charge for the water and electricity though...and you'd need to pay Scotland for the oil.)

[@debbywilliams9172]

If only I hate England

[@meadi6510]

Quality video.

[@GeographyLore]

Thank you!

[@thewelshknight7112]

Thank you

[@GeographyLore]

My pleasure!

[@rreid3990]

SO inspiring!! The land of Llewelyn Fawr!

[@plantpowered269]

In Mary Immaculate High in Cardiff children have 1 Welsh lesson in 2 weeks, taught mostly by supply teachers, as there is luck of Welsh teachers 😢. The other Welsh lessons were converted into Photography and reading in English. They have no chance to learn Welsh like this!

[@janiap5235]

It will Never die.

[@LlywelynapGruffydd]

The Welsh had far more wars than Ireland and Scotland combined :( i did a list thats now 88 pages long

[@IamKingCraig]

I am going to document myself getting to fluency in the new year as well as revealing some things which have been hidden from history.

[@alicequayle4625]

Cheers. Well done. Fyi Maddrell is pronounced MAD-rul

[@GeographyLore]

Thanks I didn't know!

[@alicequayle4625]

@@GeographyLore no worries you wouldn't know just by looking at his name

[@Inquisitor_Vex]

No dd or ll?

[@Endtherinbetween]

I never learned welsh and I feel like I’m missing a part of my heritage I’m currently trying to learn though

[@alynwillams4297]

Cymru Rydd! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@turblijura]

Speak Your Language, Red Dragon!

[@barnbersonol]

I was bored one day so started a list of the words that start gw in Welsh and have a French cognate starting with v GWIN VIN GWYDR VITRE GWYRDD VERT GWERTHU VENDRE GWENER VENDREDI GWAG VIDE GWELD VOIR GWAED VIE (possible) GWAN VAIN GWROL VIRILE I got past 50. It was a very long train ride!

[@barrythomas1336]

There are many Welsh words that have a Latin origin from the period of Roman occupation

[@robinclarke9978]

Where did you get those figures? The last I heard it was 17,000. To hear Welsh spoken today is a event to be celibrated. Pob luc I chi gud!

[@simonruszczak5563]

A dying language and people from Egypt. More foreign to Britain than the English.

[@bluebirdwales]

17,000??? There’s over 100,000 kids in Welsh medium schools so where did you get 17,000 from? www.gov.wales/schools-census-results-april-2021-html#:~:text=There%20were%20440%20Welsh%20medium,educated%20in%20Welsh%20medium%20schools.

[@timphillips9954]

Rubbish you can hear it every day in any part of the country

[@CuFhoirthe88]

@@simonruszczak5563 Claims of descent from Egyptians, Scythians, or other eastern peoples are fashionable myths medieval Europeans told themselves because of the (undeserved) prestige the church placed upon a very specific eastern national group. They are still myths.

[@timphillips9954]

@@simonruszczak5563 Idiot have you ever been to Wales / do you even know where Wales is?

[@randallkoch6215]

I hope Breton and Manx do not become dead languages

[@randallkoch6215]

I forgot Cornish.

[@janvrtielka9572]

In Argentinian Patagonia, embarrassing English liberalism

[@stevepetherick5927]

The Tudor legal changes also did for Cornish language Cumbric too and near genocide by the Anglo Saxon drove the Cornish and Welsh west separating them by Bristol Channel the story however is not as black and white as portrayed, ruling Norman elites dominated in all the British islands and intermarriage plus feudal disputes drove the occupations- as always the people in such times had no choice but to follow the ruling of the baron/lord/duke etc

[@Eagle_Princee]

Well, sorry if I hurt somebody but Welsh is of all these celtic languages the most beautiful so Long live Welsh

[@Serpentress]

Dw i’n dysgu cymraeg! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@janiap5235]

Of course Welsh will Never die. It survived because we speak out language on daily basis. Sadly we have to have an English to be called Prince of wales. The previous Prince of Wales did not learn much about Welsh history or tried to even talk, speak welsh. Both stayed on our island !!!!!i it is a joke but there we are. Sadly the REAL Prince of Wales was killed his daughter sent to England and never knew that she was the Real Princess of Wales, sadly look what we have!!!!!

[@WalesTheTrueBritons]

In reality it shouldn’t be called “Welsh” as it is native to the island, not foreign. It should be called British or its native Name Cymraeg!

[@ivandinsmore6217]

Pictish is just Welsh unconquered by the Romans.

[@CuFhoirthe88]

Pictish perhaps constituted a highly conservative form emerging from proto-Celtic language intermediate between the more innovating Brittonic and Goidelic forms. It is generally regarded as P-Celtic, but the Pictish Ogham stones here in Scotland attest a "maqq" or "maq" form of "son" in proper names cognate with Gaelic and Welsh words for son.

[@matvaughan8446]

Welsh should be compulsory in every welsh school 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@timphillips9954]

It is

[@gezzahd7807]

YMA O HYD🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@jamesblackshaw132]

Its like when Normans took over England only the nobility spoke French the peasants spoke English still as the 2 did not mix

[@michaelhalsall5684]

Modern English is a mixture of Norman French and Old English.

[@Motofanable]

@@michaelhalsall5684 In general vocabulary, yes. But in basic vocabulary and grammar, no.

[@educationalsolutions8208]

Cymru am byth

[@NoahNobody]

Dw i ddim yn hoffi gwisgo teits.

[@jameslavery3060]

They should change it to a Welsh Parliament rather than assembly... In formal name at the very least.

[@jameshumphreys9715]

They did.

[@welshed]

They did just that. It is now the Welsh Parliament.

[@Randomguy-kz7sk]

They did. This video has a bunch of minor inaccuracies.

[@timphillips9954]

Then did about ten years ago.

[@dlewis2446]

Bit wishy washy glossy this.

[@marcelbork92]

4:26 Ja, das sind aber keine Waliser. Beide haben englische Nachnamen und sehen aus wie Engländer.

[@janvrtielka9572]

No Welsh policy in schools

[@nigelsheppard625]

I bet more people speak Urdu or Hindi in the UK than Welsh. The English didn't invade Wales, the Normans did and they were French.

[@siarlb8115]

The Normans ( who were Vikings, not French) never conquered Wales, and in fact suffered several major defeats. When Edward 1 came to the throne 200 years after the Norman conquest we can reasonably say that he was English. As a result of Edward’s defeat of the Welsh, English settlers were encouraged to take over land in Wales, making Wales Englands first colony. The Irish will argue that they were the first English colony , but either way England and by extension the English colonised Wales in the 13thC. According to the 2021 census Urdu has 270,000 people who use it as their main language, 4th behind Punjabl 291,00 Romanian 472,000 and Polish 612,000. I

[@hunterluxton5976]

The Normans were not French. They were Scandinavians.

[@danidejaneiro8378]

@@hunterluxton5976 - they were French-speaking descendants of Scandinavians.

[@shaun30-3-mg9zs]

The English did invade Wales and annex our country, By today's standard's that is illegal. who has the right to annex a country , Thats why a lot of people want Independence and it's going to happen don't know when There were independence marches in Caernarfon and Wrexham and if it dose happen there is nothing the government in England can do . Hundreds of years ago we were invaded and they had no right to do so, and to this day England has stolen land from Wales ( Oswestry and surrounding areas ) we should have it back it's called theft ,we want what ours and have it back it's our country not there's

[@MrRolandgent]

You can call it a pre Roman language or Bretonic but no such tribe as The Celts ever existed.

[@GeographyLore]

Welsh is a Celtic language just like how English is a Germanic language and French is a Romance language.

[@MrRolandgent]

@@GeographyLore the idea of the Celts was invented in Victorian times, no such tribe as “the celts” ever existed. You’re wrong

[@GeographyLore]

@@MrRolandgent The Celtic languages are a language classification that is accepted by linguists since the 18th century. Welsh is one of six of these languages. There is no other way to refer to these six languages that would be correct. Not once in the video did I refer to a "Celtic tribe."

[@MrRolandgent]

@@GeographyLore classified incorrectly then need to learn some history to go along with your geography. No such thing as “the celts” you might as well call everyone from Donegal to Istanbul “the Europe tribe” and classify our languages as “European”

[@GeographyLore]

​@@MrRolandgent Again, I never made reference to a tribe or ethnicity. I am referencing a language family. That is how the term is correctly used. I appreciate that you understand how general the word "celt" has been used to classify ancient Europeans, but I only am using it to refer to a modern language family.

[@peteymax]

Very interesting video, then you said “British isles “ what an awful outdated, colonialist term.

[@Sir_Gerald_Nosehairs.]

An awful lot of public money spent on it, and compulsory Welsh lessons. Same as compulsory Swedish in Finland has ensured the Aland Islands is still Swedish speaking. Hasn't stopped the language declining slowly however, partly due to immigration from abroad, partly due to young people just not wanting to bother, and partly due to certain things like specialised hospitals being in England, where they aren't gong to learn Welsh just to talk to Welsh-speakers.

[@iwanthomas7145]

"Slowly declining" except it's not lmao

[@Sir_Gerald_Nosehairs.]

@@iwanthomas7145 Except it is. www.gov.wales/welsh-language-wales-census-2021-html Now apologise for being wrong.

[@paulrowe9604]

@@iwanthomas7145 The majority of people in Wales can not speak Welsh !!! 82 % of the Welsh people cannot speak Welsh !!!!

[@egbront1506]

@@paulrowe9604 Population of Wales is 3.2 million. If there are 900k Welsh speakers in Wales, that is closer to 30% rather than 18%. Someone is lying.

[@WelshSwordsman]

@@paulrowe9604 30% can speak Welsh, so you're quite a bit off with that bullshit number you came up with. Also, if you watched the video, you can see that it is increasing every year. Who cares if it is low right now, when it's gaining numbers by the month?

[@RobertRobbinsvideomarketing]

I beg to differ, the second most widely spoken language in the UK is Urdu not Welsh, who gave you those figures? Mark Drakeford perhaps?

[@DAILARNER]

I beg to differ with your statement. Polish is the second most widely spoken language in the UK. More people speak Welsh than Urdu, Panjabi, Romanian, etc.(source: ONS) Unless you have some other facts to back up your statement

[@dafydd1722]

He probably meant the second most spoken indigenous language in the UK.

[@RobertRobbinsvideomarketing]

I'm guessing you are correct. @@dafydd1722

[@timphillips9954]

In what areas of the Uk is Urdu spken as a first language?

[@simonruszczak5563]

The Welsh language came to Britain from Egypt about 1,400 years ago (the real "Exodus" of the Bible). The Welsh are more foreign to Britain than the English, the proof is in their genetics. It explains why most of them look Mediterranean, and why welsh is similar to the "ancient" Egyptian language. "welsh" means foreigner. Stephen Oppenheimer, book, "The Origins of the British".

[@gwynwilliams4222]

Ballocks I'm Welsh and my DNA can be traced back to ice age In Britain and Welsh language place names are still in England and Scotland today

[@DAILARNER]

What a load of nonsense. Welsh means foreigner in English because the Welsh were "foreign" to the Anglo-Saxon invaders (or Saesneg in Welsh). Your Egyptian theory is fascinating - you argue that Welsh came from Egypt in 500AD, funny that the Romans found a whole population of Celtic people in Europe and Britain way before that. I think you are a tad confused

[@morvil73]

“Welsh” or Old English “Wealhisc” (adj.) or “Wēalas” (pl.n.) is not some generic word for “foreigners”. It’s an ethnonym for “Celtic/Gaul” or later “romanised Celt” based on the Germanised (Germanic, not German) Latin name for the Gaulish tribe of the “Volcae”. When the West Germanic coastal tribes settled in post-Roman Britain they called the inhabitants just that, partially romanised Celts/Gauls.

[@---df5sr]

Us welsh never gave up on our heritage or language which is why it survived. I’m sorry but if your language is dead because nobody bothered to save it then i don’t see why we should waste tax payers money to pretend that it’s part of your culture. Shall we revive Latin to?? By all means speak it but let’s not diminish the struggles of the Welsh language by pretending that Cornish or Mancs is the same thing.

[@---df5sr]

Cornish and Mancs are dead. It’s like Latin, there may be people who speak it but it’s lost any value as a “native language” it’s just a gimmick now. There is no use in pretending it’s someone’s culture when it hasn’t been spoken as a first language in 100 years.

[@davythfear1582]

Stuff and nonsense. There are several families who are into their fourth generation of speaking Cornish. It's taught to several thousand primary school children.The numbers speaking the language are rising year on year. You can't even spell Manx correctly.

[@Formalll]

Can we just get one thing right it’s not scatish pls Scott-ish, Scottish there are no a’s in it