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'Manx' ('Gaelg' or 'Gailck', pronounced //), also known as 'Manx Gaelic', is a Goidelic language spoken on the Isle of Man. It is a descendant of Old Irish, particularly similar to the old East Ulster and Galloway dialects.

Contents

History

Orthography

Initial consonant mutations

Vocabulary

Numbers

Notes

External links

History

Manx began to diverge from Middle Irish sometime between the 10th and 17th centuries, and is called ''Yn Ghaelg'' / ''Yn Ghailck'' by Manx speakers. The language sharply declined during the 19th century and was supplanted by English. In 1848, J. G. Cumming wrote that "there are ... few persons (perhaps none of the young) who speak no English", and Henry Jenner estimated in 1874 that about 30% of the population habitually spoke Manx (12,340 out of a population of 41,084). According to official census figures, 9.1% of the population claimed to speak Manx in 1901; in 1921 the percentage was only 1.1%.^[2] Since the language had fallen to a status of low prestige, owing in part to specific influences like Methodism,^[3] parents tended not to teach the language to their children, thinking that Manx would be useless to them compared with English.
Following the decline in the use of Manx during the 19th century, ''Yn Cheshaght Ghailckagh'' (The Manx Language Society) was founded in 1899.
By the middle of the 20th century only a few elderly native speakers remained (the last of them, Ned Maddrell, died on December 27, 1974), but by then a scholarly revival had begun to spread to the populace and many had learned Manx as a second language. The revival of Manx has been aided by the recording work done in the 20th century by researchers. Most notably, the Irish Folklore Commission in was sent with recording equipment in 1948 by Éamon de Valera. There is also the work conducted by language enthusiast and fluent speaker Brian Stowell, who is considered personally responsible for the current revival of the Manx language.
The first native speakers of Manx (bilingual with English) in many years have now appeared: children brought up by Manx-speaking parents. Primary immersion education in Manx is provided by the Manx government: since 2003, the former St. John's School building has been used by the ''Bunscoill Gaelgagh'' (Manx language-medium primary school). Degrees in Manx are available from the Isle of Man College, the Centre for Manx Studies and the University of Edinburgh.
Manx-language drama groups also exist, and Manx is taught as a second language at all of the Island's primary and secondary schools and also at the Isle of Man College and Centre for Manx Studies. Manx is used as the sole medium for teaching at five of the Island's pre-schools by a company named ''Mooinjer Veggey'',^[4] which also operates the sole Manx primary school – the ''Bunscoill Gaelgagh''.
In the 2001 census, 1,689 out of 76,315, or 2.2% of the population, claimed to have knowledge of Manx, although the degree of knowledge in these cases presumably varied. Manx names are once again becoming common on the Isle of Man, especially ''Moirrey'' (Mary), ''Illiam'' (William), ''Orry'' (Harry), ''Breeshey'' (also ''Breesha'') (Bridget) and ''Aalish'' (also ''Ealish'') (Alice). ''Juan'' (Jack), ''Ean'' (John), ''Joney'', ''Fenella'' (Fionnuala), ''Pherick'' (Patrick) and ''Freya'' (from the Norse Goddess) remain popular.
Manx is used by Tynwald, with new laws being read out by ''Yn Lhaihder'' ('the Reader') in both Manx and English.
Manx is recognised under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. It is also one of the regional languages recognised in the framework of the British-Irish Council. Some controversy has resulted over the omission of Manx culture from the Columba Initiative.
Little secular Manx literature has been preserved. Arguably, no trace of written Manx survives from before the 1600s, but the Book of Common Prayer and Bible were translated into Manx in the 17th and 18th centuries. A tradition of ''carvals'', religious songs or carols, developed.

Orthography

The spelling of Manx, unlike that of Irish and Scottish Gaelic, does not represent the Goidelic etymology, and displays a degree of Welsh and English influence (seen, for example, in the use of 'y' and 'w' and in combinations such as 'oo' and 'ee'). For example, 'Isle of Man' in Irish would be written as ''Oileán Mhanainn'' or in Scottish Gaelic as ''Eilean Mhanainn'', whereas in Manx it is written as ''Ellan Vannin'' - all three variants are pronounced in more or less the same way.
If Manx was written with an orthography based on traditional Gaelic, the following sentence from the Gaelg page would be written as shown below:
"Ta'n Gaelg feer ghoan çheumooie jeh Ellan Vannin, agh fod pobble ennagh screeu ee ayns çheeryn elley."
In 'Gaelic' spelling:
Tá'n Ghaelg fíor-ghónn teabh muigh de Eilean Mhannuin, ach faod pobhal eanach scríobh í ans tíoran eile.
Compare the 'Irish' and 'Scottish' equivalents:
Tá an Ghaeilge an-ghann (fíor-ghann) taobh amuigh de Oileán Mhannanain, ach féadann daoine [pobal] éigin(each) í a scríobh i dtíortha eile.
Tha'n Ghàidhlig glé-ghann (fìor-ghann) taobh amuigh de Eilean Mhannanain, ach faodaidh daoine [pobal] igint(each) i a sgrìobh anns tìrean eile."
If any distinctively Manx written literature existed before the Reformation, it was unidentifiable or lost by the time that widespread literacy was being seriously advocated, so when attempts were made (mainly by the Anglican church authorities) to introduce a standardised orthography for the language, a new system was developed. It is commonly supposed that it was simply invented by John Phillips, the Welsh-born Bishop of Sodor and Man (1605-1633) who translated the Book of Common Prayer into Manx. However, it does appear to have some similarities with orthographical systems found occasionally in Scotland. For example, the Book of the Dean of Lismore is written in Scottish Gaelic using a similar system of spelling.

Initial consonant mutations

Like all modern Celtic languages, Manx shows initial consonant mutations, which are processes by which the initial consonant of a word is altered according to its morphological and/or syntactic environment. The only productive mutation of literary Manx is lenition, though traces of the eclipsis found in Irish can also be found. In the late spoken language of the 20th century the system was breaking down, with speakers frequently failing to use lenition in environments where it was called for, and occasionally using it in environments where it was not called for.

Lenition in Manx

Unmutated Consonant	Lenition	Nasalisation
	zero
	or
	or

Vocabulary

Manx	English	Nearest Irish equivalent	Nearest Scottish Gaelic equivalent
''Moghrey mie''	Good morning	''Maidin mhaith''	''Madainn mhath''
''Fastyr mie''	Good evening	''Tráthnóna maith''	''Feasgar math''
''Slane lhiat''. ''Slane lhiu''	Goodbye	''Slán leat'', ''Slán libh''	''Slàn leat'', ''Slàn leibh''
''Gura mie ayd'', ''Gura mie eu''	Thank you	''Go raibh maith agat'', ''Go raibh maith agaibh''
''baatey''	boat	''bád''	''bàta''
''barroose''	bus	''bus''	''bus''
''blaa''	flower	''bláth''	''blàth''
''booa''	cow	''bó''	''bò''
''cabbyl''	horse	''capall''	''capall''
''cashtal''	castle	''caisleán, caiseal''	''caisteal''
''creg''	rock	''carraig''	''carraig, creag''
''eeast''	fish	''iasc''	''iasg''
''ellan''	island	''oileán''	''eilean''
''gleashtan''	car	''gluaisteán''
''kayt''	cat	''cat''	''cat''
''moddey''	dog	''madra, madadh''	''madadh''
''shap''	shop	''siopa''
''thie''	house	''tigh, teach''	''taigh''
''eean''	bird	''éan''	''eun, ian''
''jees''	pair	''beirt, dís''	''dithis''

Numbers

Manx	English	Nearest Irish equivalent	Nearest Scottish Gaelic equivalent
''un / nane''	one	''aon (a haon) / amháin''	''aon''
''daa / jees''	two	''dó, dhá / beirt / dís''	''dà / dithis''
''tree''	three	''trí''	''trì''
''kiare''	four	''ceathair, ceithre''	''ceithir''
''queig''	five	''cúig''	''còig''
''shey''	six	''sé''	''sia''
''shiaght''	seven	''seacht''	''seachd''
''hoght''	eight	''ocht (a hocht)''	''ochd''
''nuy''	nine	''naoi''	''naoi''
''jeih''	ten	''deich''	''deich''
''nane jeig''	eleven	''aon déag''	''aon deug''
''daa yeig''	twelve	''dó dhéag''	''dà dheug''

Notes

1. There are currently (as of academic year - September 2006) - 56 students at the Manx Language School, all of whom are classed as native speakers since they have been able to speak Manx as well as English from a very young age.
2. Fourth International Conference on Minority Languages, Vol. II, Gorter et al, 1990, pages 59-60.
3. http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/mannin/v9p511.htm
4. http://www.mooinjerveggey.esmartstudent.com/

External links

★ Information about the language

★ isle-of-man.com language section

★ Gaelic Dictionaries

★ Manx-English dictionary

★ Manx Language resources

★ A short Manx-English-Japanese phrasebook