The historical diversity of languages in Scotland and their declining use

Culture

Do you communicate through the Scottish language? That's a question I often get from people who know that I am living here for my studies. Many still don`t know, but even though there are different languages in different parts of the United Kingdom, English is an official and still the most spoken language. Scottish are not an exception and use English in their everyday life, as well as the rest of the UK. Scotland is famous for being a land full of languages, such as English, Scottish Gaelic, and the Scots language, which is recognized by the UK government as a regional language and historically spoken mainly in the Northern Isles, northern Ulster, and Scottish Lowlands. After English and the Scots languages, Welsh is the third most spoken language in the UK, with almost one-third of the population speaking Welsh.

Apart from several spoken languages, there are also various dialects in different regions of Scotland, such as Doric, which is a dialect in Aberdeen, mostly known through poetry, literature, and songs. Another way to communicate for Scottish is to combine words from dialects or other two native languages with English to get a “new language” which could be considered slang, or some people even call it the Scottish language. I myself quite often hear Scottish people proudly saying that they don`t speak “proper English”, and this improper language they consider as their own. Such phrases as good las (good girl), wee thing (tiny thing), Bonnie Scotland (pretty Scotland), and others are commonly used instead of the pure English alternatives. I would even go so far as to say, that by talking this way Scottish see the representation of their nationalism and support for their country.

The Gaelic language, another spoken language in Scotland, came from the Celtic people, specifically Gaels. There is no confirmed date, but between 600 and 150 BC Gaels went to the coastlands of Ireland, and from there to Scotland around 500 AD. All six still existing Celtic Languages, including Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic, come from the Indo-European family of languages, based on the version of Latin, which the common people used to talk in Europe. For now, the main territories of the inhabitanсe of the Gaelic speakers are the north and the west of Scotland, as well as the Scottish islands.

Going deeper into the matter, I was surprised why Scottish don`t use the proper language as the Scots or the Scottish Gaelic in everyday life instead of this mixture of English and words from other languages, considering their devotion to their country. I still don`t know the answer but apart from the difficulty of learning another language itself, there are a few other possible reasons for the weakening of the Scottish Gaelic. The first reason for such a small number of people speaking Scottish Gaelic goes back to the past. The Highland Clearances occurred from the mid-eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth century, mostly by Jacobites, who supported the divine right and considered the emerging regime after 1688 wrong. As landowners pushed away workers who rented their land, these areas were “cleared” and Highlanders either died of hunger, emigrated, or moved to other Scottish lands. This way, step by step, it resulted in the declining numbers of those speaking Gaelic due to the eviction of the Gaels for over a century.

The second reason is a problem with shortages of staff and the shortage of funding for Gaelic-speaking teachers. There are not many schools that offer Scottish Gaelic, especially in central and south Scotland. As well as the low demand for this language, there is a huge problem of a shortage of staff. Even though the Scottish policy towards the development of Scottish Gaelic remains stable and moves in a positive direction, there hasn`t been any clear result yet. The National Gaelic Language Plan was passed in 2005, and every so many years the government prolongs the dates of its implementation. Due to the lack of support, and mostly the funding to provide a good salary for the teachers, there hasn`t been much done. I believe that the approach of the Scottish government is not straightforward enough. For instance, learning Gaelic in Ireland, or just Irish, was made mandatory for all state schools. One of the reasons for that is that it is considered the official language in Ireland, while in Scotland, Scottish Gaelic is just a minority language. With this difference, there is a huge gap between the level of importance and thus of pushing forward the learning and the spreading of the languages.

Even though in Scotland there are schools that offer the Gaelic language as an additional course, not every school has this option, and Scottish kids are often supposed to choose either between French, Spanish, or German languages instead. To learn Gaelic, parents need to send their children to specific schools which have this program and which are usually more expensive than other schools. Because learning the Gaelic language can be tough and additionally costly for some people, many choose just to send their children to regular school. Unfortunately, another reason for such a low level of interest could be the lack of practical use of the Gaelic language daily especially not on the islands but in other areas of Scotland. Because of all these issues, not many have a desire to learn and then teach Gaelic as there are no real prospects in developing it.

According to the research conducted by Scotland’s recent census in mid-2021, of all the population of Scotland, only 1% or over 57,000 people can speak Scottish Gaelic. For now, UNESCO classified the Scottish Gaelic language as an endangered language, with a possibility of disappearing within a decade. To make Scottish Gaelic popular again, there is a need to be a huge push from the government, and probably an increase in funding until all schools have at least one Scottish Gaelic speaking class. This way, step by step, it would be possible to slowly introduce the language to the new generation, and then in parallel to create more jobs with Scottish Gaelic as a required skill. Even though the government would need to spend a lot of money on that, if the Scottish believe that in the long run, it will revive their language and thus strengthen their national identity, I think it is a good investment. That`s why it is so important to take necessary actions to revive Scottish Gaelic now before it would be too late.