Abstract
In recent decades, a large number of activities have been carried out across Europe to protect, revitalize and promote minority languages. One of the major initiatives is the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML, hereinafter referred to as the Charter) promulgated by the European Council in 1998. The Charter can serve as a direct guide, provided that governments agree to provide different levels of protection and support for minority languages. As of 2015, the Charter covers 79 languages. Some languages, such as Danish, are national languages in one country, but may be classified as minority languages in another. Other languages, such as Scottish Gaelic, although a local language in Scotland, have also shown a tendency to become a minority language. This paper explores the Scottish Gaelic revitalization plan as a case study of minority language protection in Europe. Currently, there are only 57,375 people speaking Gaelic in Scotland, accounting for only 1.1% of the total population of Scotland.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 116-128 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Yangste River Academic |
| Volume | 2022 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Early online date | 31 Oct 2022 |
| Publication status | Published - Oct 2022 |
Funding
The project of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education is entitled “Research on the Characteristics of Dialects in the Transition Zone between Hunan, Hubei and Chongqing and the Construction of Database” (21YJA740032).
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Ministry of Education, China | 21YJA740032 |
Keywords
- Scottish Gaelic
- endangered languages
- European Charter for Minority Languages (ECRML)
- language protection