Monday, November 18, 2002, 22:47 GMT
My first language is Welsh, Brythonic-British (p-Celtic), and my second language is English, Germanic (Indo-European). Here's some information on the Welsh language in general:
Welsh, called Cymraeg or Cymric (from Cymru, "Wales") by my fellow speakers, is the native language of Wales and the most flourishing of the Celtic languages. It is spoken in Wales (where the majority of its users also speak English) and in some communities in the United States and Argentina, where 150 Welsh settled in Patagonia in 1865. Organizations such as Welsh Language Society have saved the language from dying out and are working to assure its official status along with English. My school and many schools in Wales use Welsh as the medium of instruction, and television and radio broadcasts are made in the 'oldest language of Europe'.
The Brythonic Celts consist of the: Cornish 'Cornwall', Welsh 'Wales' and Breton 'Brittany, France'. The Brythonic Language group would understand each other with minimum effort, e.g., an Irish Gaelic speaker, unless he/she has learnt Welsh would not understand Welsh-Language television programs because the Irish Gaelic language, along with the Manx and Scots Gaelic belong to the Goidelic group. The same instance for a Welsh speaker would find it harder to learn any of the Goidelic Languages that it’s more closely related Brythonic Languages! In fact, it has been genetically proven that the Welsh, Cornish and (Picts) are the true, native peoples of the Island of Britain (Wales derives from a Saxon word for foreigner, although the Welsh are the native Celtic race of the isle of Britain). The Scots are genetically, native to the Northern Ireland ‘Ulster’ region, and that the ‘Anglo-Saxon’ English are more or less of Germanic-linage, although the ‘Anglo-Celts’ are a mixture of both the ‘Celtic’ and ‘Angle’ peoples, and therefore, should not be classified as ‘Anglo-Saxon’.
The Celtic/Anglo-Celtic lands of today consist of:
Wales (Cymru/Cymraeg), Brythonic-British (p-Celtic),
Cornwall (Kernow/Kernewek), Brythonic-British (p-Celtic),
Brittany (Breizh/Brezhoneg), Brythonic-British (p-Celtic),
Cumbria (Northern England/Cumbrian), Brythonic-British (p-Celtic),
Pictland (Scotland/Pictish), Brythonic-British (p-Celtic).
The Republic of Ireland (Poblacht na h'Eireann/Gaeilge na hÉireann,), Goidelic-Gaelic (q-Celtic),
Northern Ireland (Ulster), Goidelic-Gaelic (q-Celtic).
Scotland (Alba or Caledonia/Gàidhlig na h-Alba), Goidelic-Gaelic (q-Celtic).
Isle Of Man (Mannin/Manx/Gaelg Vannin), Goidelic-Gaelic (q-Celtic),
Gaul (Gaul, France/Gaulish),
Galatia (Asia Minor, Turkey/Galatian),
Galicia (Galicia, Spain/Galician),
The Iberian Peninsula (Portugal, The Basque Country, Leptonic),
Gascon (dialect of Occitan),
Scandinavia (Scandinavian), Norse/Celtic,
Iceland (Lydhveldidh Island/Icelandic), Norse/Celtic,
Asturias (Spain),
Pandania (Italy),
'Anglo-Celtic', not 'Anglo-Saxon':
Lancashire, West Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Wocestershire, Warwichshire, Lecestershire, Rutland, Cambridgeshire, Wiltshire, Somerset, Sussex (parts of), Cheshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Monmouthshire ‘Wales/Cymru’, Gloucestershire, Devon, Dorset, Northamptonshire, Huntingdomshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire.
The rest of England, derived from ‘Angle-land’ is considered purely ‘Anglo-Saxon’, they do not have any Celtic genetics as the native Celts of these areas were killed-off and replaced by the dominant Angles, Jutes, Frisians and especially Saxons of Western Germany and Southern Denmark. The other areas of England, e.g., ‘East Anglia, South East England, The Midlands are purely 'Anglo-Saxon' and should not be confused with the ‘Anglo-Celts’ of the rest of England. Calling all Englishmen ‘Saxons’, or ‘Sais’ in Welsh is not correct. Many, if not more Englishmen and women carry the ‘Anglo-Celtic’ gene, and not the ‘Anglo-Saxon’.
Celts and 'Anglo-Celts':
The United States of America,
Canada,
New Zealand,
Australia,
South Africa,
Continental Europe,
The Patagonia Peninsula of South America, etc.
There are over 40 different recognised dialects in the Welsh language. If anyone requires assistance with learning the Welsh language in general. Please contact me!
Standard Welsh has both a Northern (My Native Dialect) and Southern variety.
Kevin