The Welsh Language: A History

by Janet Davies

The existence of the Welsh-language can come as a surprise to those who assume that English is the foundation language of Britain. However, J. R. R. Tolkien described Welsh as the 'senior language of the men of Britain'. Visitors from outside Wales may be intrigued by the existence of Welsh and will want to find out how a language which has, for at least fifteen hundred years, been the closest neighbour of English, enjoys such vibrancy, bearing in mind that English has obliterated languages thousands of miles from the coasts of England. This book offers a broad historical survey of Welsh-language culture from sixth-century heroic poetry to television and pop culture in the early twenty-first century. The public status of the language is considered and the role of Welsh is compared with the roles of other of the non-state languages of Europe. This new edition of The Welsh Language offers a full assessment of the implications of the linguistic statistics produced by the 2011 Census. The volume contains maps and plans showing the demographic and geographic spread of Welsh over the ages, charts examining the links between words in Welsh and those in other Indo-European languages, and illustrations of key publications and figures in the history of the language. It concludes with brief guides to the pronunciation, the dialects and the grammar of Welsh.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Language, Linguistics, Read For School

224 pages, ebook

First published January 15, 2014

Reviews

[Hon Lady Selene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm giving this 5 stars as it was quite an accessible read; to read the history of the Welsh language is to read the history of the Welsh, to that extent this book was well structured to give a comprehensive rundown of how the Welsh language morphed into its current form. Plus I came across some good further reading source materials. I do recommend for Welsh language learners.

Digrif fu, fun, un ennyd Dwyn dan un bedwlwyn ein byd.
Cydlwynach , difyrrach fu, Coed olochwyd, cydlechu,
Cydfyhwman marian môr, Cydaros mewn coed oror,
Cydblannu bedw, gwaith dedwydd,
Cydblethu gweddeiddblu gwŷdd.
Cydadrodd serch â'r ferch fain,
Cydedrych caeau didrain.

„It was sweet, my love, a while
To live our life beneath the grove of birch,
More sweet was it fondly to embrace
Together hid in our woodland retreat,
Together to be wandering on the ocean's shore,
Together lingering by the forest's edge,
Together to plant birches – task of joy –
Together weave fair plumage of the trees,
Together talk of love with my slim girl,
Together gaze on solitary fields.“

— Dafydd ap Gwilym

[QOH · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the history of Welsh--from its probable origins through history, including the recent push to improve Welsh literacy. (It's very up to date, including mentions of Y Gwyll/Hinterland.) That the language itself is political shouldn't be much of a surprise, but I was surprised the Welsh-speaking percentage of the Welsh population was lower than I had thought (although nowhere near as low as the Irish Gaelic speaking population of Ireland).

Ms. Davies touches on the dubious linking in the early modern/early industrial period of the language/history of the bards/druids; I wish she would have explored this a little more, particularly as it relates to how the Welsh view their history today...but that really would be politically fraught.

She discusses other languages, mostly in Europe, which are not national but which a sizable minority in a region speaks (e.g. Basque in the Pyrenees) vs. national languages in which a sizable minority does speak the second language (e.g., Swedish is also a national language alongside Finnish in Finland).

While it's not exactly a page-turner (it took me about a week or so to finish off and on), it's accessible to someone who isn't a linguist but simply has an interest in the language. At the end there's a quick-and-dirty guide to Welsh grammar, which was unexpected but nice. It helped that I know a teeny-tiny bit of Welsh (for example, I knew when she was using the plural form of Welsh nouns) but it's not at all necessary.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

overall a great and extensive history of the Welsh language. you definitely need some background in British history to understand some parts. I believe I do but I still had to google a couple things because they were mentioned and never explained.. also tended to group by topic, so they tended to jump around in years sometimes, which could be a little confusing.

[Valour · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant and insightful introduction to the history of Cymraeg

I'm learning Cymraeg at the moment and I kept getting reccomendations for this book, so I decided to read it and I'm really glad I did. As someone who is Welsh but does not speak Cymraeg, has grown up mostly in England, with a Welsh speaking grandmother, I have a lot of feelings about being able to speak the language that should be my mother-tongue.

This book has not just given me a good introductory grounding on the history of Cymraeg as a language through from the early mediavel to current day, but also provided me several bits of language learning I didn't have, including some particular bits of pronunciation, the dialectical differences, and so on. I heartily reccomend it to anyone learning Cymraeg, as well as language enthusiasts.

Gwnewch bopeth yn Gymraeg!

[Judith Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I married into a warmly welcoming Welsh family as a young woman, and moved to Wales a few years back. I'm very much enjoying living here and learning the beautiful language, and found Ms Davies' book clear, accessible and informative. I'd recommend it to other Welsh learners.

[Fiona Warburton · Rating 3 out of 5]

As you'd expect, a short but fairly comprehensive history of the history of the Welsh language.
It was pretty dry in places, with lots of figures and stats, but other parts were quite readable and informative.
As a learner myself (proudly nearing fluency), I was most interested in the chapters covering the Second World War to the present, as it covered how Welsh language learning and Welsh medium education was delivered in the 1970s and 1980s, when I was at school myself.
I enjoyed the maps and other illustrations.
Interesting in places, far too dry in others, but a decent enough read.

[Hamid · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this from a small independent bookshop in Caernarfon. Whenever I travel I try to look for indie bookshops with books on local culture and history and picked this up on the Welsh language. While I've got some familiarity with Welsh history and I can speak a tiny smattering of Welsh, I didn't know much about the language from a cultural history (or a linguisted) view so this book appealed to me.

The first half of the book covers the Welsh language(s) through its earliest days up until modernity - its celtic roots and the constant tension with the Saesneg (Saxons - the English). The way Welsh developed, died in places, thrived in others is contextualised in natural cultural bleed, economic pressures and the artifices of colonial administration. Davies covers of the varieties of Welsh dialects, Welsh's place among both Celtic languages and European minority languages (eg Catalan or Occidental). It's fascinating stuff.

The second half of the book is stiffer, perhaps more academic and reflective of the changing nature of sources available as we enter the 19th and 20th centuries. There's a lot of census referencing and some (handy) maps. Davies ends on a somewhat bittersweet note on the stuttering revival of Welsh, the continued pressures on minority European languages and the possible endurance of Welsh (and Welsh culture).

Must-read if you're interested in Wales, colonialism or the history of languages.

[Lizzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, make sure you go into this knowing it is about the history and geography of the use of the Welsh language, not about the language in a linguistic sense (other than a brief final chapter). It takes you chronologically through the Welsh languages journey in terms of how many people spoke it and where, when it was written down and why, its use in culture (such as the eisteddfodau and in broadcasting, as well as at chapel and in the translated Bible historically). I found much of it really interesting, given I knew very little about the history of the language (despite the fact my mum was from South Wales), though there are sections that read pretty drily, unavoidable when quoting statistics for example I suppose.

Its greatest achievement for me personally is that it has definitely motivated me to keep up with learning Welsh and to expand my exposure to it in different ways. I've just recently started learning it on Duolingo and am a bit dismayed (thanks to the final chapter) to discover that Duolingo uses a southern word for 'girl' but a Northern one for 'milk'! I shouldn't be surprised though, I always did take Duolingo with a pinch of salt, expecting it to perhaps be a little inconsistent here & there...

[D J Rout · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sort of personal reflection on the history of Welsh, but it has little to say about the origins of the language. It is mostly concerned with the rise and fall of the language in modern times, and makes much use of census data and graphs to illustrate the point that the language was well-regarded, went into a crisis, got out of it a little way and is back in crisis again, but that there is hope for the future.

Still, if you're studying Welsh on Duolingo, it's a nice companion to that, as it provides a bit of context for why learning Welsh (and the other Celtic languages) is a good idea.

I'll avoid offending other students by not attempting to say 'This was a good book" in Welsh.

[Mike Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Welsh Language as a subject might at first sight appear to be only of interest to a small audience, however Janet Davies has produced a very readable book that covers the history of Welsh but then transitions to how, after concerns about the long term viability of Welsh, the language has been re-emphasized as a vital component of Welsh culture and business.
Broadening interest one chapter covers "Welsh and (the many) other Non-State languages of Europe" that are spoken in total by 20 million people.
Anyone interested in Languages in general and how they can die off (or be killed off) and revitalized in common life should be interested in this book.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is an excellent introduction to the history of the Welsh language. I thought reading this book would make me angry, as Welsh was downtrodden for so many years, but it's uplifting as well as informative.
There are certainly some dry sections, especially when the discussion turns to statistics and census percentages, but the section at the end about endangered and minority languages in Europe really peaked my interest. Especially how Welsh compared to some of the others.
A great, quick read if you're looking for a run through of Welsh.

[Andie Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Linguistic History of Wales (Cymru)

I found out that I am Welsh, and this book has assisted me in learning the history of the Welsh language and also the history of Wales. I was vaguely familiar with the Welsh language prior to reading this book, but it has filled in a few gaps. It has also shown me how Welsh is currently used and how many people in certain parts of the world, Wales included, use the language.

[Gill · Rating 3 out of 5]

A clear summary of the fortunes of the Welsh language, but not entirely the history of the language I had hoped for. My edition was published in 1992, which inevitably left out major developments in Welsh life and language in the last half-century. An interesting read, but not quite enough of the etymology I hoped for.

[Miriam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this a very accessible and interesting introduction to the history of Welsh. I took off one star because I felt that the final chapters relied almost entirely on statistics and did not have as many personalities and stories as the previous chapters did. On the whole, however, it is a good, reasonably-priced introduction to the language.

[May Phoenix · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,25⭐️

It was an interesting dive into the Welsh language and its history. I wish such books existed for every language. I was mostly interested in origins of Welsh, old Welsh and the medieval period so I passed quickly over anything beyond that. I only wish it had gone into more details- it seemed *too* much of an overview to my tastes.

[Mary L · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read The Welsh Language: A History for my language planning and policy class. I didn't find the book to be particularly exciting or approachable for people who are not familiar with Welsh history.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to admit I only got it for selected parts, but it was very clear and informative about what I wanted to know, and had plenty of detail, maps, comparisons to other Indo-European languages etc. Very satisfying.

[Mabon Finch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book for anyone who wants a generic overview of the history of the Welsh language.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to history of Welsh language and its culture. Interesting to anyone who is learning Welsh, or just enjoys learning about language(s).

[Tristan John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly readable, this is full of fascinating information anf highly recommended.

[Gill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but as much a history of Wales as of the language, so for general rather than linguistic use.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes a bit granular but overall an interesting read.

[David Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written for Welsh people who grew up not speaking Welsh who wish to know more about their linguistic heritage, and for interested non-Welsh.

A very clear and graceful history of the language, its literature, and its development into the 21st century.

[Elizabeth Corbett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for anyone with an interest in the Welsh language. Easy to read yet comprehensive. It gives a broad history. Doesn't avoid the shocking decline of monoglot Welsh speaking communities. Yet somehow manages to be hopeful. The challenge being not to lament to way of life that has been lost but how to anchor a bilingual Wales in modernity.

[Kubilay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read both editions. This one is a bit better.