Description:
This volume is an interdisciplinary collection of essays on the current situation of Gaelic in Scotland, including contributions that deal with sociolinguistics and language policy, questions of identity and community, and educational, media, cultural and development issues. Their authors’ academic backgrounds range from Celtic Studies and linguistics to law, education, economics and anthropology.

The book focuses on the evolution of Gaelic policy in recent years (from the mid-1980s onwards, with an emphasis on the post-1997 period) and the diverse challenges for language planners, policy makers and students and speakers of Gaelic that lie ahead. Central to these is the ongoing – but slowing — decline of the language in sociolinguistic terms: the diminution of speaker numbers and the fragmentation of traditional communities on the one hand, and, on the other, the growth in young speaker numbers as a result of Gaelic-medium education, and increasing opportunities for using the language in work and in public life. Chapters focus on the issues that arise in strategic planning for Gaelic. An important part of this analysis involves the relationship of Gaelic to economic and social development more generally. Central to all these regeneration efforts are the perceptions, ideologies, identities and discourses that relate to Gaelic in Gaelic communities, in Scottish public life, and in media depictions and discussions.


Wilson McLeod is Senior Lecturer in Celtic at the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures of the University of Edinburgh.