The Island of North Uist is about thirty miles in length and, owing to the idented nature of its coast-line, its breadth varies from eight to fourteen miles. It is bounded on the north-east by a sound about a mile broad, which separates it from the Island of Bernera, in the Sound of Harris. On the east and south-east it is separated from Skye and the main land of Scotland by the Minch. The people, who inhabit the Island, speak a dialect of Scottish Gaelic which is of much interest to the student of Gaelic dialects. It has its own distinctive characteristics in sound, diction, and idiom, and I shall endeavour to set these down on paper in the succeeding pages of this Thesis. In dealing with the North Uist Dialect I should like to show, as far as possible, how it has been influenced by the different races which from prehistoric times have been in possession of the Outer Hebrides. I realise that I must proceed with caution, as some of the best historians have blundered badly in this field, because they have failed to interpret aright the data which they obtained.

Mewnfudo, dinasyddiaeth a dysgu iaith: mae’r ddoethuriaeth yn dod â’r tair thema hon ynghyd—themâu sydd yn esgor ar ddadleuon parhaus yn sgil tueddiadau mewnfudo cynyddol mewn cenedl-wladwriaethau democrataidd. Mae’r prosiect ymchwil amlddisgyblaethol yn gyntaf yn cymhwyso damcaniaethau cyfoes ar integreiddio, megis amlddiwylliannedd a rhyngddiwylliannedd, i achos Cymru ac yn benodol ei sefyllfa ddwyieithog neilltuol. Yn hyn o beth, mae’r ddoethuriaeth yn cymharu ac yn gwrthgyferbynnu modelau o gymhwyso amrywiaeth a dinasyddiaeth er mwyn sefydlu model ffafriol ar gyfer cyd-destun y Gymraeg. Defnyddir Québec fel astudiaeth arbrofol ar gyfer yr ymchwil, drwy ddarparu modelau methodolegol ond hefyd drwy astudio ymarfer da mewn integreiddio mewnfudwyr drwy’r rhaglen francisation. Yn ail, yn sgil gwaith ethnograffig yn Québec ac yna yng Nghymru, mae’r ymchwil yn mynd i’r afael â’r berthynas rhwng dysgu Cymraeg a datblygu cysyniad o ‘ddinasyddiaeth’ a chydlyniant cymunedol ar y lefel leol, sydd yn wahanol i’w ddiffiniad swyddogol gan Lywodraeth y DG. Yn drydydd, ar sail cyfweliadau â swyddogion Llywodraethol, tiwtoriaid iaith a mewnfudwyr grwpiau ffocws ac arsylwadau cyfranogol mewn dosbarthiadau iaith, mae’r ddoethuriaeth yn gwneud casgliadau ynghylch y cyfleoedd a’r rhwystrau i ddatblygu prosiect dinasyddiaeth sydd yn cynnwys ac yn hyrwyddo dysgu Cymraeg i fewnfudwyr, ac o ganlyniad i holl ddinasyddion Cymru.

Chaidh trì Gaeltachtaí nua a sgrùdadh mar eisimpleirean de dhealbhadh-cànain ann am buidhnean beaga agus aig a' mhion-ìre: Coimhearsnachd Bhóthar Seoighe ann am Béal Feirste, Èirinn a Tuath, Scéim Chónaithe Choláiste na Tríonóide ann am Baile Átha Cliath, Poblach na h-Èireann agus Sgìre Charn Tóchair ann an Contae Dhoire a Deas, Èirinn a Tuath. Bhiodh na trì coimhearsnachdan seo coltach ri chèile anns an t-seagh gum biodh iad uile ag iomairt gus làraichean còmhnaidheach a stèidheachadh far an rachadh cleachdadh Gàidhlig na h-Èireann na ghnàths gu ìre no eile. Chaidh gnìomh an ideòlais-chànain a mheasadh anns na Gaeltachtaí nua, agus gu sònraichte, sgrùdadh mar a chaidh gnàthan-cànain Ghàidhlig a stèidheachadh agus a dhìon anns na coimhearsnachdan. An toiseach, rinneadh rannsachadh air ideòlas-cànain coiteanta a nochd anns na pàipearan-naidheachd ann am Poblachd na h-Èireann agus Èirinn a Tuath gus seòrsachadh a thrusadh de dh'ideòlasan cumanta ann an Èirinn, agus mar sin, gus dealbh a tharraing dhen àrainneachd ideòlaich far am biodh na Gaeltachtaí nua suidhichte. An uair sin, chaidh gach coimhearsnachd a sgrùdadh fa leth, le sùil air a' cheangal eadar structar nan coimhearsnachdan agus gnìomh an ideòlais nam broinn. Mu dheireadh, rinneadh triantanachadh dhe na toraidhean bho na trì làraicheanrannsachaidh eadar-dhealaichte gus ginearalachadh mu ghnìomh an ideòlais-chànain ann am buidhnean beaga, agus mheòraicheadh air cuid dhe na teamaichean coitcheann a chaidh a lorg. Gu sònraichte, shealladh mar a chuir am miann air nàdarrachd ann an labhairt bacadh air èifeachd stèidheachadh nan gnàthan-cànain Ghàidhlig ùra anns na Gaeltachtaí nua agus thaisbeineadh molaidhean dèantach a thaobh ath-leasachaidhcànain aig a' mhion-ìre a dh'èirich às an rannsachadh.

No description available.

This dissertation is a sociolinguistic study of the relationship between language ideologies and adolescents’ attitudes toward the Welsh language in secondary schools in Wales. The research, which took place in one Welsh-medium and one English-medium school in Cardiff, examined institutionalized language ideologies, adolescents’ language attitudes and motivations, and the role of educational language policy in fostering positive attitudes toward (and associations with) Welsh. Five complementary methods were employed: a language attitude and use questionnaire; a matched-guise test (Lambert et al., 1972); an Implicit Association Test (Greenwald et al., 1998); interviews with teachers, a headteacher, and members of Welsh-medium community institutions; and focus groups with pupils. Questionnaire and Implicit Association Test data indicate that pupils who attend the Welsh-medium school have significantly more positive attitudes toward Welsh than those who attend the English-medium school, even when controlling for first language, parental language, and home language factors. This suggests the type of educational institution attended plays a role not only in developing language proficiency, but in fostering attitudes as well. The data indicate that institutionalized language ideologies are both reflected in and contested by pupils at both schools. While attitudes toward Welsh are generally more positive at the Welsh-medium school than at the English-medium school, even amongst non-first-language Welsh speakers, there are indications of linguistic insecurity, precluding young people from speaking the language outside the classroom. Empirical data demonstrated low levels of both confidence and engagement with Welsh at the English-medium school. Levels of affiliation with Welshness were also significantly higher at the Welsh-medium school, indicating that many non-Welsh-speaking adolescents in Cardiff are adopting alternative national and ethnic identities. Recommendations for educational language policy reform are offered, with an emphasis on aligning policy measures with the particular motivations of young people.

No description available.

No description available.

This thesis investigates variation and change in the initial and final mutation system of Scottish Gaelic in the wider context of language shift, language contact and sociolinguistic variation and change. Gaelic in Scotland has been subject to decreasing speaker numbers since the introduction of a language question on the Census in 1881. As of 2011, the proportion of Gaelic speakers in Scotland stood at 1.1%. In Uist where this study is based, however, Gaelic is not a minority language, with 60.5% of the population of the islands returning themselves as Gaelic speakers in 2011. The presentation of Uist Gaelic as a minority language globally but a majority language locally allowed for morphosyntactic variation in this rather unusual social and demographic situation to be explored in the context of our understanding of structural changes as a result of language shift, i.e. when a minority language is not a minority language, what happens? Sixteen speakers were sampled from across North Uist, South Uist and Benbecula and each took part in a two-part interview in Gaelic in which a) English sentences were presented for verbal translation into Gaelic and b) an informal conversation following the principles of the Sociolinguistic Interview (Labov 1984) technique was conducted. The speakers involved in this study comprise a group of older fluent speakers aged approximately 60-80, a group of younger fluent speakers aged approximately 30-50, and a further group of younger probable semi-speakers. Data from these interviews were analysed to measure levels of conformity to idealised Gaelic grammatical norms in terms of the application of initial and final mutation and the results were presented in distributional terms. The social factors of age and gender, and internal factors relating to syntactic environment were analysed and their relationship to mutational variation was presented. Evidence for structural variation and change as a result of language shift was sought, and was found not to be present in the data. While variation in the application of mutation was visible in the data, the typical patterns associated with language shift were not. Specifically, an age-graded proficiency spectrum among fluent Gaelic speakers was not found in the data presented here. Although a small group of probable semi-speakers was found, it was typically members of the younger fluent speaker group who produced a higher proportion of expected forms than members of the older fluent speaker group. In addition to the lack of support found for structural changes as a result of language shift, little evidence of restructuring of Gaelic based on English grammatical patterns was found. In certain environments, such as the application of genitive marking following genitive-triggering prepositions, evidence of an internally-motivated pressure was found in the form of the use of the more common dative marking which is used with the majority of prepositions in Gaelic. Furthermore, in line with our understanding of the effect of gender on sociolinguistic variation, female speakers were indeed shown to produce a higher proportion of expected forms, i.e. to “approximate the standard” more closely, than male speakers, suggesting that minority status does not preclude a language from displaying universal patterns of variation. By approaching variation in Uist Gaelic from a sociolinguistic variation perspective rather than solely from a language shift perspective, I have been able to demonstrate that morphosyntactic variation in a minority language need not always be the result of language shift. Furthermore, I have demonstrated that minority languages in general should not be excluded from variationist research and that variationist approaches should not be excluded from the study of variation and change in minority languages.

The Gaelic movement was the general term used in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to refer to a range of diverse but interconnected activity in support of the Gaelic language and culture in Scotland, embracing educational, literary, musical and scholarly aspects. Accounts of the Gaelic cultural landscape at this time tend to focus on the leading male figures; the presence and participation of women has been largely overlooked and a number of women who were prominent and significant participants in the Gaelic movement have slipped into the shadows or disappeared completely. This study aims to reconfigure this view to foreground the contribution of women and to understand the complex dynamics of the Gaelic movement from the perspectives of the women involved. While the study importantly highlights certain individual women, the biographical focus is used as a means to uncover lesser-known women and the female friendships and networks in which they moved, as well as to explore their relationship and interaction with prominent male figures and other interconnected social groupings within the Gaelic movement and wider Pan-Celtic and Celtic Revival circles. The study examines and discusses the participation, contribution and influence of a number of women across a spectrum of Gaelic cultural activities, taking into account socio-historical, literary and cultural aspects and using gender as an analytical lens through which to examine the different challenges and tensions that individual women negotiated in a period of social and cultural change. The study shows that a number of women were actively involved with the Gaelic movement in the period between the passing of The Crofting Act and the start of the Great War; that they were innovative, ambitious and wide-ranging in their participation; and that they saw the accessibility of the Gaelic cultural sphere as an opportunity to progress both their individual aspirations as women as well as their support for the Gaelic language and culture.

Ymdrinia’r traethawd hwn â dwy wedd ar gynllunio ieithyddol i adfywio’r Gymraeg yng Nghymru heddiw, a’r berthynas rhyngddynt. Y wedd gyntaf yw Hyfforddiant Ymwybyddiaeth am y Gymraeg i staff sefydliadau cyhoeddus wedi Deddf yr Iaith Gymraeg 1993, ac yn neilltuol, esblygiad ffurf feirniadol arno. Y wedd arall yw’r model cynllunio ieithyddol cynhwysol a arddelir gan Lywodraeth Cymru ers 2003, model a bennai i’r gymdeithas sifil rôl bartneriaethol allweddol yn y prosiect adfywio ieithyddol. Olrheinir yn gyntaf ddatblygiad y mudiad ymwybyddiaeth iaith ym maes addysgeg dysgu iaith yn Lloegr yn negawdau olaf yr 20fed ganrif, ac esblygiad ei bersbectifau beirniadol. Olrheinir wedyn ddatblygiad Hyfforddiant Ymwybyddiaeth Iaith yng Nghymru, nid ym maes addysgeg iaith, ond fel ymyriad eilaidd gan gyrff is-lywodraethol i esbonio i’w staff y gofynion statudol newydd iddynt drin y Gymraeg a’r Saesneg yn gyfartal wrth ddarparu gwasanaethau cyhoeddus. Gofynnai hyn am gryn newid arferion, wedi tros 450 mlynedd o eithrio’r Gymraeg o beuoedd swyddogol. Esblygodd cyfeiriadedd beirniadol ar yr hyfforddiant i gyflwyno’r cyd-destun ehangach i hyfforddeion, sef ffurf a amlyga natur ideolegol polisïau ieithyddol. Ar sail tystiolaeth wreiddiol ac eilaidd, gan gynnwys arolwg ansoddol a meintiol o hyfforddeion, dadleuir ei fod yn borth mynediad pwysig i ddinasyddion i wybodaeth a disgwrs prin am y Gymraeg. O droi at fodel cynllunio ieithyddol y Llywodraeth, olrheinir rhethreg gynhwysol testunau polisi, a chymherir y rhethreg â’r cynhyrchion polisi a gafwyd. Cyflwynir tystiolaeth mai prin fu’r ymyriadau cynhwysol, ac y methodd y prif asiantau cynllunio ieithyddol ag adnabod potensial Hyfforddiant Ymwybyddiaeth Feirniadol fel porth mynediad arwyddocaol i ddisgwrs cynhwysol. Argymhellir y dylid cynnwys yr hyfforddiant yn yr amrediad o brif ymyriadau a ystyrir gan Lywodraeth Cymru i weithredu’r model cynhwysol, a’i brif-ffrydio mewn sawl pau gymdeithasol er cynyddu mynediad dinasyddion at wybodaeth a disgwrs ieithyddol, gan fraenaru’r tir ar gyfer ‘newid ymddygiad ieithyddol’.