Scottish Gaelic Headed For Collapse: Research

Scottish Gaelic could die out before the end of the decade and urgent action is needed to reverse the decline of the language, according to new research published on Thursday

Edinburgh, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd Jul, 2020 ) :Scottish Gaelic could die out before the end of the decade and urgent action is needed to reverse the decline of the language, according to new research published on Thursday.

The University of the Highlands and Islands Sciences Institute and Gaelic research specialists Soillse said only 11,000 people still spoke the language, and most were aged over 50.

Authors of the study, "The Gaelic Crisis in the Vernacular Community: A Comprehensive Sociolinguistic Survey of Scottish Gaelic", said usage was "at the point of collapse".

Practice of the language was "marginal" in families, especially among teenagers, and was exacerbated by a decline in population in far northwest Scotland, its stronghold.

"Without a re-orientation of public policy and interventions focused at the community level, the present Gaelic vernacular group do not have the demographic or societal resources to sustain a communal presence in the islands beyond the next 10 years, except for isolated atypical networks of elderly speakers," they said.

Gaelic professor Conchur O Giollagain, from the university, said the challenges were "immense" to save the language from extinction.

"The Primary focus of Gaelic policy should now be on relevant initiatives to avert the loss of vernacular Gaelic," he added.

The Scottish government published an updated plan to protect Gaelic in 2017, suggesting a range of measures including using the language in social, formal and work settings.

Scotland has a Gaelic tv channel, BBC ALBA, that was launched in 2008, Railway and bus stations also use Gaelic signs.

The language is taught widely in schools, with 11 councils providing more than 7,000 pupils the opportunity to learn, according to the Scottish government.

But the research says policies need to go further rather than depending on schools, and there was "common indifference" to Gaelic among younger people.

"It is vital that we change the basis for allocating resources to protect against further decline," said Iain Caimbeul, research fellow at the university's Language Sciences Institute.

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