01-10-2020, 12:34 AM
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2020...-conclude/
Welsh is safe from dying out, scientists have concluded, after modelling how vulnerable languages are to extinction.
More than a third of the world’s languages are currently classified as endangered and more than half are expected to go extinct by 2100.
Researchers at Canterbury University in New Zealand, looked at the trajectory of two vulnerable languages - Welsh and Maori - to see if they could predict which would survive.
They divided the population into categories of basic, independent, and proficient in households in Wales, and worked out how the language would progress in the next few hundred years.
Recent statistics show that around 30 per cent of the population are Welsh speakers and 11 per cent are fluent, and 45 per cent of children have at least one Welsh speaking parent. The modelling showed that even with just six per cent fluent speakers, the language was safe.
In contrast, they found that Maori did not have enough proficient speakers to save it, and more intervention was needed to revive the language. Just five per cent of Maori people are able to speak the language proficiently.
Well, I'm pleasantly surprised by this. Given that Welsh isn't even spoken by a majority of people in Wales any more, and it's highly doubtful that there are any monolingual speakers left, I was worried. However, it seems it'll be around for years to come (and the percentage of Welsh people who speak it may even increase ).
The news about Māori, on the other hand, sounds rather less encouraging . I do hope there's action to save it before it's too late...
Welsh is safe from dying out, scientists have concluded, after modelling how vulnerable languages are to extinction.
More than a third of the world’s languages are currently classified as endangered and more than half are expected to go extinct by 2100.
Researchers at Canterbury University in New Zealand, looked at the trajectory of two vulnerable languages - Welsh and Maori - to see if they could predict which would survive.
They divided the population into categories of basic, independent, and proficient in households in Wales, and worked out how the language would progress in the next few hundred years.
Recent statistics show that around 30 per cent of the population are Welsh speakers and 11 per cent are fluent, and 45 per cent of children have at least one Welsh speaking parent. The modelling showed that even with just six per cent fluent speakers, the language was safe.
In contrast, they found that Maori did not have enough proficient speakers to save it, and more intervention was needed to revive the language. Just five per cent of Maori people are able to speak the language proficiently.
Well, I'm pleasantly surprised by this. Given that Welsh isn't even spoken by a majority of people in Wales any more, and it's highly doubtful that there are any monolingual speakers left, I was worried. However, it seems it'll be around for years to come (and the percentage of Welsh people who speak it may even increase ).
The news about Māori, on the other hand, sounds rather less encouraging . I do hope there's action to save it before it's too late...
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