Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Welshy
No, I'd say it more likely occured during the time where the English decided it was illegal to speak Welsh. I'm not sure when this was brought into effect, but it was illegal until sometime in the 1950s.
|
It's never been illegal to speak Welsh. The language was, however, only given equal status in law to English in 1993.
Although there are no polyglot Welsh speakers in Wales (according to the last census) the language is spoken by 21% of the population. Judging by my own experience a far higher percentage can understand spoken Welsh even if they are unable to speak it.
As for nicking J from the English alphabet .... it is creeping in to the language where English words are 'translated' into Welsh. Garaj (garage) is a good example of this. Many modern 'Welsh' words are the same as English
Car (Car) and many others are similar enough for non-Welsh speakers to recognise them Ffrind (Friend) or Tacsi (Taxi).
Noswaith dda