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These past few days have been a bit of a dark place for #Gaelic on social media. So I thought I would share some of the positive findings from research I've conducted over the past few years. Links to open access versions of papers. Tha mi an dòchas gum bi e a' còrdadh riubh!
My first project involved interviewing teenagers in GME in Glasgow and Lewis. Do teenagers in Glasgow sound different to island Gaelic? Yes, of course they do, they're from Glasgow. They sound wonderful, and also innovative.
We can see this as a new form of the language arising as a result of revitalisation. These young speakers simply wouldn't be speaking Gaelic and taking it to new domains without revitalisation. Link to paper: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hale1xssavsqsds/Nance%202015%20accepted.pdf?dl=0
In another project, I looked at aspects of pronunciation in fluent adults who learned Gaelic in Glasgow/Edinburgh with @WilsonMcLeod , @BernORourke and @Dun_Mor. These speakers are part of a vibrant community in the lowlands.
We showed that they develop accents associated with their identity as a Gaelic speaker. Sometimes this is aligned with Island Gaelic, sometimes aligned with their identity as an L2 speaker in the lowlands. All of these Gaelics are beautiful. https://www.dropbox.com/s/pyrix0xpgxpy0fi/Nance%20et%20al.%202016%20accepted.pdf?dl=0
I've also worked with children in GME in the islands. Again considering pronunciation, my work showed that children from non-Gaelic backgrounds can 'catchup' to those who come from Gaelic homes in aspects of pronunciation not shared with English.
Children who might not have access to Gaelic without GME can learn fast. https://www.dropbox.com/s/qzr08hr1vj38l9m/Nance%202020%20accepted.pdf?dl=0
Currently I'm working with @samkirkham on data from people working in Gaelic-essential employment in the islands who grew up with Gaelic. The data do not show a language losing its unique blas. This is a language being used and living. https://www.dropbox.com/s/vhy8z7y6vm4xhlt/Nance%20%26%20Kirkham%202020.pdf?dl=0
What I have learned so far: the diversity of range of Gaelic speakers is increasing, what it means to be a Gaelic community is changing, speakers are mobile and have lives spread across Scotland and across the world.
This is a language living, breathing and diversifying for the 21st century. Yes there is more that can be done and should be done to support and protect Gaelic. I don't wish to naively downplay this, but we must also celebrate progress forwards.
