On 26 Apr 2001, MJ Ray wrote:
I'm not sure (Scots or Irish) Gaelic is recognised. Welsh is an official language in Wales. There's also Cornish about, but nearly dead for all practical purposes.
As A Descendant Of Proud Cornish Ancestry I Resent That!! ^^^ convincing enough? ;-)
Very few people are fluent in Cornish (although a number of people are; see soc.culture.cornish... or is it a rec? or indeed http://www.kernewek.currantbun.com/) However, modernday Cornish is heavily based on Breton (fishermen from the two used to be able to meet mid-channel and discuss the weather with no problems), although it is of course a second language.
There are six surviving Celtic languages, Irish, Manx, Scottish, Breton, Cornish and Welsh. Manx and Cornish died out and are now revived languages. The URL above also adds that none of the Celtic languages are recognised as one of the UK's official languages, which is all the FSF probably needs to know.
They are in use, however; I learnt Scottish (Gaelic) at school in my childhood, and they also teach Welsh in schools- the two are of similar status in that sense. Whereas one learns Cornish for fun. I believe that schools/local government make the decision to teach these things - the UK school curriculum allows a certain amount of time per week for such pursuits(?)
Are we off-topic yet?
Most definitely.
Kemer weyth,
em
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