The Linguist

@Linguist_CIOL APRIL/MAY The Linguist 31 INSTITUTE MATTERS • Gaelic-speaking social networks are a marginal aspect of life in the islands, except in the case of older people. There is an ongoing demographic crisis characterised firstly by a diminishing social density of Gaelic speakers, and secondly by a very low level of societal and familial transmission. The proportion of active Gaelic speakers in these communities has reduced significantly, especially since the early 1980s. Various sociopolitical realities have driven the historical erasure of Gaelic communities, but Gaelic now attracts more favourable political and academic attention than most minority languages. Nevertheless, the inadequate policy response in governmental and academic circles, which prioritises the institutional position and symbolic status of Gaelic, does not address the urgency of language loss in the islands. The final chapters of the Gaelic Crisis study address the mismatch between existing Gaelic policies and the level of crisis among the speaker group. We conclude that the policy guiding public provision for Gaelic in Scotland is incompatible with the social continuity of the communal practice of Gaelic in the remaining vernacular communities. In July 2020, a research team at the University of the Highlands and Islands published the most comprehensive sociolinguistic study ever conducted on the social use of Scottish Gaelic, and on Gaelic-speaking identity in the remaining vernacular communities of the Western Isles, Staffin in the Isle of Skye and the Isle of Tiree in Argyll and Bute. The findings, recommendations and analysis were published by Aberdeen University Press as The Gaelic Crisis in the Vernacular Community: A comprehensive sociolinguistic survey of Scottish Gaelic. The primary aim was to present an in-depth analysis on the use and transmission of Scottish Gaelic as a communal language in the areas where it is spoken. We examined census demolinguistics, preschoolers' language practice, language abilities, practices and attitudes among teenagers, three indicative community surveys, and an analysis of the various speaker typologies which make up the sociolinguistic profile of these communities. This provided qualitative and quantitative information on community, family, school and individual language acquisition and practice, as well as valuable statistical analyses and findings on identity, language abilities and attitudes, gender, time-specific language geographies, migration and thresholds in Gaelic vitality. The survey indicates that within these island communities the social use and transmission of Gaelic are at the point of collapse. It found: • Low levels of Gaelic ability among the young island residents in the research area • Marginal levels of use of the language across different social contexts • Severely reduced familial and communal transmission of Gaelic due to the predominance of English • General indifference among the young regarding the place of Gaelic in their lives • Marginal presence of Gaelic in young people's experience of schooling Gaelic in crisis A survey of vernacular Gaelic communities warns of likely language erasure and recommends a dynamic language-in-society model that could revitalise the language These stark conclusions are balanced by recommendations that offer the basis for language policy interventions through community empowerment. If there is to be any hope of success in vernacular community revitalisation, a dynamic language planning model is required. If the proposed language- in-society model is successfully implemented it may provide a helpful example to other struggling language minorities. We are particularly grateful to community members in the islands who shared their insights and suggestions with us. Their voice in Gaelic affairs will be key in finding productive ways of addressing the many challenges which have been highlighted in the study. Conchúr Ó Giollagáin gave a talk on this subject for the Scottish Society; for details of their events see ciol.org.uk/events. The Gaelic Crisis in the Vernacular Community by Conchúr Ó Giollagáin, Gòrdan Camshron, Pàdruig Moireach, Brian Ó Curnáin, Iain Caimbeul, Brian MacDonald and Tamás Péterváry is available from cutt.ly/gaeliccrisis. ISLE OF TIREE One of the communities where Gaelic is spoken KROSZK@ VIA FLICKR (CC BY 2.0)

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