Isle of Man
Man is Kemrese, politically, a province; and had always been British, since very early times (therefore a Brythonic language or a strong Brythonic substrate makes good sense). Man's position, midway between Kemr, Ireland and Gododdin (later Scotland) made it a key a position in the region. Kemr realised this early on and seized the island. Manxmen are generally left to their own devices, and their province enjoys considerable liberty in internal affairs. Manx is one of two provinces that have a sitting Parliament (Dûnein being the other). Man's rheitheir or governor is an elected minister like the governors of any other Kemrese province.
Man *there* speaks Brithenig when dealing with foreigners and tourists; but natively, speaks Manoeg, a Brythonic or P-Celtic language. I would imagine that the Brithenig influence largely comes from the Cumbrian dialect (Cumbria is part of England, but used to be Kemrese, and there are still Cumbrian speakers to be found.)
There may well be a smattering of Norse and Gaelic as well.
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From Celticonlang message 1289:
Manoeg situated in one of the Northern regions where the Brythonic population has been assimilated *here*. The Isle of Man, or Anglesey, or somewhere around Morecambe Bay.
Well, let's suppose ot was the Isle of Man (so the language will be called Manoeg, stressed manOEg, by now, i. e. Manaweg > Manöeg > Manoeg). We all know that in late 6th and early 7th century the Irish kingdoms were struggling for control of Man, which was finally overrun first by Baethan mac Cairill of Dal Fiatach and then by Aedan mac Gabrain, king of Dal Riada.
*There*, though, it received support from the Britons of Rheged, perhaps from Urien himself, and hold out their identity and language, but of course the numerous Irish settlers bring in a strong Irish influence (which means I have received my copy of Thurneysen from Dublin :-)). Later still, a Norse element is brought in, but nevertheless Manoeg holds out, and countinues its strong ties with both Brithenig and Irish. As a result, the small island is, interestingly, highly diverse dialectwise.
[Pavel Iosad]
MAN
And what about Manoeg, eh? AFAIK it is not exactly a dying language either...
I don't know much about its position. All I know is that it seems to be very much a home language...
While this is certainly true, its prestige is relatively high, and it is in a good position even in large (by Manian terms) towns, such as Llangothri [Douglas], Ty Niniain [Ramsey], Clonguchlain [Peel], Bangor Fychan [Port Erin] and An Porth [Castletown]. The youth, even though they do move from countryside to town in alarmingly large numbers, do not switch to Brithenig as they settle. In fact, the island's largest Manoeg newspaper, 'Yn hYnys, Yn Thir' ('Our island, Our land'), published in Clonguchlain, in terms of circulation, is twice as large as 'Ill Gwg', printed in Llangothri, which town is itself almost double the size of Clonguchlain.
Obviously, education, tourism and external governance is done in Brithenig. Tourism in Gaelic as well. I have the notion that Manoueg is heavily influenced by Brithenig (lexically if not grammatically); and that it's use is mostly amongst the Manoueg speaking community.
Padraic's assessment of the situation is quite correct (even though popular opinion has been pressing for at least elementary education in Manoeg lately). The level of literacy is anyway very high, thanks to the parish churches and the network of mobile schools/libraries laid by A Menynwr. The Revd. Rhigardd Llyddwig, as he was known to Kemrese authorities, was instrumental not only to the fate of Manoeg, but also to the fact that the Protestant part of the island's population (some 40% by the latest census) managed to preserve its identity. The school system he imposed, however, is used not only by Protestants, but also by the church of Cambriese rite. Little literature had been produced in Manoeg until the middle of the last century, but now literary Manoeg is on the rise, borrowing extensively from both Brithenig and Gaelic.
The grammatical influence of these languages has been rather superfluous. Early Modern Manoeg texts (17th-mid 18th century) do show some Brithenig influence, such as the tendency to use prepositional phrases rather than any of the Manoeg five cases (it is worthy of note that the form used with the preposition is that of the accusative). The tendency had however been overcome by the Bible translation (by the same priest), which still remains the standard for both written *and* spoken language.
It probably needs a small revival! It certainly needs greater publicity within Kemr!!
Well, An Yscaul Hjaiþ is just about to publish a learners' grammar of Manoeg (editions in Brithenig, Gaelic, English and Francien), and large advance orders from Castreleon, Aberddui, Aberstuith, Esca, Gwrigon, Dublin and even Llondin have arrived. The interest has in fact been rather over the expectations. The provincial government is now considering funding new branches of An Yscaul, perhaps outside the island as well (right now offices are located in Llagothri, An Porth and Ty Ninian). A recent article in 'Yn hYnys' even clamoured for an 'Aþrofa an Fenyn', but got shot down by the authorities in 'Ill Gwg'. So stay tuned.
