Jackson, the Battle of Dyrham, a military battle between the West Saxons and the Britons in 577 AD, which split the South Western British from direct overland contact with the Welsh.įour periods are identified in the history of Welsh, with rather indistinct boundaries: Primitive Welsh, Old Welsh, Middle Welsh, and Modern Welsh. Instead, the shift occurred over a long period, with some historians claiming that it had happened by as late as the 9th century, with a watershed moment being that proposed by linguist Kenneth H. The emergence of Welsh was not instantaneous and clearly identifiable. The language of the Welsh developed from the language of Britons.
Main article: History of the Welsh language Welsh is considered the least endangered Celtic language by UNESCO.
Since 1980, the number of children attending Welsh-medium schools has increased, while the number going to Welsh bilingual and dual-medium schools has decreased. The Welsh government plans to increase the number of Welsh-language speakers to one million by 2050. 56 per cent of Welsh speakers speak the language daily, and 19 per cent speak the language weekly. Almost half of all Welsh speakers consider themselves fluent, while 20 per cent are able to speak a fair amount. Other estimates suggest that 891,800 people (29.2%) aged three or older in Wales could speak Welsh in September 2023. Welsh and English are de jure official languages of the Welsh Parliament, the Senedd, with Welsh being the only de jure official language in any part of the United Kingdom, with English being de facto official.Īccording to the 2021 census, the Welsh-speaking population of Wales aged three or older was 538,300 (17.8%) and nearly three quarters of the population in Wales said they had no Welsh language skills. The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 gave the Welsh language official status in Wales.
Historically, it has also been known in English as "British", "Cambrian", "Cambric" and "Cymric". It is spoken by smaller numbers of people in Canada and the United States descended from Welsh immigrants, within their households (especially in Nova Scotia). Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Welsh ( Cymraeg ⓘ or y Gymraeg ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people.