Manx language

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Manx Yn Ghaelg, Yn Ghailck
Pronunciation:	ɡilk, ɡilɡ
Spoken in:	Isle of Man
Total speakers:	Extinct as a first language in 1974; subsequently revived and now with about a hundred competent speakers[1][2], including a small number of children who are new native speakers[3], and 1,689 people professing some knowledge of the language[4] (2.2% total population) (2001)
Language family:	Indo-European  Celtic   Insular    Goidelic     Manx
Official status
Official language in:	Isle of Man
Regulated by:	Coonseil ny Gaelgey (Manx Gaelic Council)
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	gv
ISO 639-2:	glv
ISO 639-3:	glv
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

Manx (Gaelg or Gailck, pronounced [ɡilk] or [ɡilɡ]^[5]), also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Goidelic language spoken in the Isle of Man. The last native speaker, Ned Maddrell, died in 1974, but in recent years it has been the object of language revival efforts, and it is now the medium of education at the Bunscoill Ghaelgagh, a primary school for four- to eleven-year-olds in St. John's, Isle of Man.^[6]

Contents 1 Classification and dialects 2 Phonology 2.1 Consonants 2.2 Vowels 2.3 Stress 3 Morphology 3.1 Numbers 3.2 Initial consonant mutations 4 Syntax 5 Vocabulary 6 Orthography 7 History 8 Examples 9 Notes 10 References 11 See also 12 External links

[edit] Classification and dialects

Manx is a Goidelic language, which means it is derived from Old and Middle Irish and is closely related to Irish and Scottish Gaelic. It shares a number of sound changes with dialects of Irish and Scottish Gaelic, but also shows a number of unique sound changes. In addition, Manx itself can be divided into two dialects, Northern Manx and Southern Manx.^[7]

Manx shares with Scottish Gaelic the loss of contrastive palatalisation of labial consonants; thus while in Irish the velarised consonants /pˠ bˠ fˠ w mˠ/ contrast phonemically with palatalised /pʲ bʲ fʲ vʲ mʲ/, in Gaelic and Manx, the phonemic contrast has been lost; these languages have only simple /p b f v m/.^[8] A consequence of this phonemic merger is that Middle Irish unstressed word-final [əvʲ] (spelled -(a)ibh, -(a)imh in Irish and Gaelic) has merged with [əw] (-(e)amh) in Manx and Gaelic; both have become [u], spelled -oo or -u(e) in Manx. Examples include shassoo ("to stand"; Irish seasamh), credjue ("religion"; Irish creideamh), nealloo ("fainting"; Early Modern Irish (i) néalaibh, lit. in clouds), and erriu ("on you (plural)"; Irish oraibh).^[9] In words such as oraibh, however, Scottish Gaelic agrees with Irish in keeping ibh.

Like northern dialects of Irish (cf. Irish phonology#Word-initial consonant clusters) and most dialects of Scottish Gaelic, Manx has changed the historical consonant clusters /kn ɡn mn tn/ to /kr ɡr mr tr/. For example, Middle Irish cnáid ("mockery") and mná ("women") have become craid and mraane respectively in Manx.^[10] The affrication of [tʲ dʲ] to [tʃ dʒ] is also common to Manx, northern Irish, and Scottish Gaelic.^[11]

Also like northern dialects of Irish, as well as like southern dialects of Scottish Gaelic (e.g. Arran, Kintyre), the unstressed word-final syllable [əj] of Middle Irish (spelled -(a)idh and -(a)igh) as developed to [iː] in Manx, where it is spelled -ee, as in kionnee ("buy"; cf. Irish ceannaigh) and cullee ("apparatus"; cf. Gaelic culaidh).^[12]

Another property Manx shares with Ulster Irish and some dialects of Scottish Gaelic is that /a/ rather than /ə/ appears in unstressed syllables before /x/ (in Manx spelling, agh), for example jeeragh ("straight") [ˈdʒiːrax] (Irish díreach), cooinaghtyn ("to remember") [ˈkuːnaxt̪ən] (Gaelic cuimhneachd.^[13]

Similarly to Munster Irish, historical [vʲ] (spelled bh and mh) has been lost in the middle or at the end of a word in Manx with compensatory lengthening or have become vocalised as u resulting in diphthongisation with the preceding vowel. For example, Manx geurey ("winter") [ˈɡʲeurə], [ˈɡʲuːrə] and sleityn ("mountains") [ˈsleːdʒən] correspond to Irish geimhreadh and sléibhte (southern pronunciations [ˈɟiːɾˠə] and [ˈʃlʲeːtʲə]).^[14] Another similarity to Munster Irish is the development of the Old Irish diphthongs [oi ai] before velarised consonants (spelled ao in Irish and Scottish Gaelic) to [eː], as in seyr ("carpenter") [seːr] and keyll ("narrow") [keːl] (spelled saor and caol in Irish and pronounced virtually the same in Munster).^[15]

Like southern and western varieties of Irish and northern varieties of Scottish Gaelic, but unlike the geographically closer varieties of Ulster Irish and Arran and Kintyre Gaelic, Manx shows vowel lengthening or diphthongisation before the Old Irish fortis and lenis sonorants. For example, cloan ("children") [klɔːn], dhone ("brown") [d̪ɔːn], eem ("butter") [iː^bm] correspond to Irish/Scottish Gaelic clann, donn, and im respectively, which have long vowels or diphthongs in western and southern Irish and in the Scottish Gaelic dialects of the Outer Hebrides and Skye, thus western Irish [klˠɑːn̪ˠ], Southern Irish/Northern Scottish [klˠaun̪ˠ], [d̪ˠaun̪ˠ]/[d̪ˠoun̪ˠ], [iːmʲ] (Central Southern Irish (Waterford/Tipperary etc.) [əim], but short vowels in northern Irish, Arran, and Kintyre, [klˠan̪ˠ], [d̪ˠon̪ˠ] and [imʲ].^[16]

Another similarity with southern Irish is the treatment of Middle Irish word-final unstressed [əð], spelled -(e)adh in Irish and Scottish Gaelic. In nouns (including verbal nouns), this became [ə] in Manx, as it did in southern Irish, in some cases in Western Irish, and a few dialects of Scottish Gaelic, e.g. caggey ("war") [ˈkaːɣə], moylley ("to praise") [ˈmɔlə]; cf. Irish cogadh and moladh, pronounced [ˈkɔɡə] and [ˈmˠɔl̪ˠə] in western and southern Irish.^[17] In finite verb forms before full nouns (as opposed to pronouns) [əð] became [əx] in Manx, as in southern Irish, e.g. voyllagh [ˈvɔləx] ("would praise"), cf. Irish mholfadh, pronounced [ˈvˠɔl̪ˠhəx] in southern Irish.^[18]

Linguistic analysis of the last few dozen native speakers reveals a number of dialectal differences between the northwestern and the southeastern parts of the island. Northern Manx is reflected by speakers from towns and villages from Maughold in the northeast of the island to Peel on the west coast. Southern Manx is used by speakers from the Sheading of Rushen.

In Southern Manx, older á and ó have fallen together as [eː]. In Northern Manx the same happens, but á sometimes remains [aː] as well. For example, laa ("day", cf. Irish lá) is [leː] in the south but [leː] or [laː] in the north. Old ó is always [eː] in both dialects, e.g. aeg ("young", cf. Irish óg) is [eːɡ] in both dialects.^[19]

In Northern Manx, older (e)a before nn in the same syllable is diphthongised, while in Southern Manx it is lengthened but remains a monophthong. For example, kione ("head", cf. Irish ceann) is [kʲaun] in the north but [kʲoːn] in the south.^[20]

In both dialects of Manx, older ua and ao have fallen together as a sound spelled eay in Manx. In Northern Manx, this sound is [iː], while in Southern Manx it is [ɯː], [uː], or [yː]. For example, geay ("wind", cf. Irish gaoth) is [ɡiː] in the north and [ɡɯː] in the south, while geayl ("coal", cf. Irish gual is [ɡiːl] in the north and [ɡyːl], [ɡɯːl], or [ɡuːl] in the south.^[21]

In both the north and the south, there is a tendency to insert a short [d] sound before a word-final [n] in monosyllabic words, as in [sle^dn] for slane ("whole") and [be^dn] for ben ("woman"). This phenomenon is known as preocclusion. In Southern Manx, however, there is also preocclusion of [d] before [l] and of [ɡ] before [ŋ], as in [ʃuː^dl] for shooyll ("walking") and [lɔ^ɡŋ] for lhong. These forms are generally pronounced without preocclusion in the north. Preocclusion of [b] before [m], on the other hand, is more common in the north, as in trome ("heavy"), which is [t̪ro^bm] in the north but [t̪roːm] or [t̪roː^bm] in the south.^[22]

Southern Manx tends to lose word-initial [ɡ] before [lʲ], while Northern Manx usually preserves it, e.g. glion ("glen") is [ɡlʲɔ^dn] in the north and [lʲɔ^dn] in the south, and glioon ("knee") is [ɡlʲuːn] in the north and [lʲuː^dn] in the south.^[23]

[edit] Phonology

[edit] Consonants

The consonant phonemes of Manx are as follows:^[24]

Manx consonant phonemes

	Bilabial		Labio- dental		Dental		Alveolar		Post- alveolar		Palatal		Palato- velar		Velar		Labio- velar		Glottal
Plosive	p	b			t̪	d̪			tʲ	dʲ			kʲ	ɡʲ	k	ɡ
Fricative			f	v			s		ʃ				xʲ	ɣʲ	x	ɣ			h
Nasal		m						n		nʲ						ŋ
Trill								r
Approximant												j						w
Lateral								l		lʲ

The voiceless plosives /p k/ are pronounced with aspiration. The dental, postalveolar and palato-velar plosives /t̪ d̪ tʲ dʲ kʲ/ are affricated to [t̪^θ d̪^ð tʃ dʒ kʲ^ç] in many contexts.

Manx has an optional process of lenition of plosives between vowels, whereby voiced plosives and voiceless fricatives become voiced fricatives and voiceless plosives become either voiced plosives or voiced fricatives. This process introduces the allophones [ð z ʒ] to the series of voiced fricatives in Manx. The voiced fricative [ʒ] may be further lenited to [j], and [ɣ] may disappear altogether. Examples include:^[25]

Voiceless plosive to voiced plosive

• /t̪/ → [d̪]: brattag [ˈbrad̪aɡ] "flag, rag"
• /k/ → [ɡ]: peccah [ˈpɛɡə] "sin"

Voiceless plosive to voiced fricative

• /p/ → [v]: cappan [ˈkavan] "cup"
• /t̪/ → [ð]: baatey [ˈbɛːða] "boat"
• /k/ → [ɣ]: feeackle [ˈfiːɣəl] "tooth"

Voiced plosive to voiced fricative

• /b/ → [v]: cabbyl [ˈkaːvəl] "horse"
• /d̪/ → [ð]: eddin [ˈɛðənʲ] "face"
• /dʲ/ → [ʒ]: padjer [ˈpaːʒər] "prayer"
• /dʲ/ → [ʒ] → [j]: maidjey [ˈmaːʒə], [ˈmaːjə] "stick"
• /ɡ/ → [ɣ]: ruggit [ˈroɣət] "born"

Voiceless fricative to voiced fricative

• /s/ → [ð] or [z]: poosit [ˈpuːðitʲ] or [ˈpuːzitʲ] "married"
• /s/ → [ð]: shassoo [ˈʃaːðu] "stand"
• /ʃ/ → [ʒ]: aashagh [ˈɛːʒax] "easy"
• /ʃ/ → [ʒ] → [j]: toshiaght [ˈt̪ɔʒax], [ˈt̪ɔjax] "beginning"
• /x/ → [ɣ]: beaghey [ˈbɛːɣə] "live"
• /x/ → [ɣ] → ∅: shaghey [ʃaː] "past"

Another optional process of Manx phonology is preocclusion, the insertion of a very short plosive consonant before a sonorant consonant. In Manx, this applies to stressed monosyllabic words (i.e. words one syllable long). The inserted consonant is homorganic with the following sonorant, which means it has the same place of articulation. Long vowels are often shortened before preoccluded sounds. Examples include:^[26]

• /m/ → [^bm]: trome /t̪roːm/ → [t̪ro^bm] "heavy"
• /n/ → [^dn]: kione /kʲoːn/ → [kʲo^dn] "head"
• /nʲ/ → [^dʲnʲ]: ein /eːnʲ/ → [eː^dʲnʲ], [e^dʲnʲ] "birds"
• /ŋ/ → [^ɡŋ]: lhong /loŋ/ → [lo^ɡŋ] "ship"
• /l/ → [^dl]: shooyll /ʃuːl/ → [ʃuː^dl] "walking"

The trill /r/ is realised as a one- or two-contact flap [ɾ] at the beginning of syllable, and as a stronger trill [r] when preceded by another consonant in the same syllable. At the end of a syllable, /r/ can be pronounced either as a strong trill [r] or, more frequently, as a weak fricative [ɹ̝], which may vocalise to a nonsyllabic [ə̯] or disappear altogether.^[27] This vocalisation may be due to the influence of Manx English, which is itself a non-rhotic accent.^[28] Examples of the pronunciation of /r/ include:

• ribbey "snare" [ˈɾibə]
• arran "bread" [ˈaɾan]
• mooar "big" [muːr], [muːɹ̝], [muːə̯], [muː]

[edit] Vowels

The vowel phonemes of Manx are as follows:^[29]

Manx vowel phonemes

	Short			Long
	Front	Central	Back	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u	iː		uː
Mid	e	ə	o	eː		oː
Open		a			aː

Manx has a relatively large number of diphthongs, all of them falling:

Manx diphthongs

	Second element is /i/	Second element is /u/	Second element is /ə/
First element is close	ui		iə • uə
First element is mid	ei • əi • oi	eu • əu
First element is open	ai	au

There is evidence that open-mid /ɛː/ and /ɔː/ were originally separate phonemes from close-mid /eː/ and /oː/, but by the twentieth century the pairs had fallen together. When stressed, /ə/ is realised as [ø].^[30]

[edit] Stress

Stress generally falls on the first syllable of a word in Manx, but in many cases, stress is attracted to a long vowel in the second syllable.^[31] Examples include:

• buggane /bəˈɡeːn/ "sprite"
• tarroogh /t̪aˈruːx/ "busy"
• reeoil /riːˈoːl/ "royal"
• vondeish /vonˈd̪eːʃ/ "advantage"

[edit] Morphology

Manx nouns fall into one of two genders, masculine or feminine. Nouns are inflected for number (the plural being formed in a variety of ways, most commonly by addition of the suffix -yn [ən]), but usually there is no inflection for case, except in a minority of nouns that have a distinct genitive singular form, which is formed in various ways (most common is the addition of the suffix -ey [ə] to feminine nouns). Historical genitive singulars are often encountered in compounds even when they are no longer productive forms; for example thie-ollee "cowhouse" uses the old genitive of ollagh "cattle".^[32]

Manx verbs generally form their finite forms by means of periphrasis: inflected forms of the auxiliary verbs ve "to be" or jannoo "to do" are combined with the verbal noun of the main verb. Only the future, conditional, preterite, and imperative can be formed directly by inflecting the main verb, but even in these tenses, the periphrastic formation is more common in Late Spoken Manx.^[33] Examples:

Manx finite verb forms

Tense	Periphrastic form (literal translation)	Inflected form	Gloss
Present	ta mee tilgey (I am throwing)	—	I throw
Imperfect	va mee tilgey (I was throwing)	—	I was throwing
Perfect	ta mee er tilgey (I am after throwing)[34]	—	I have thrown
Pluperfect	va mee er tilgey (I was after throwing)[34]	—	I had thrown
Future	neeym tilgey (I will do throwing)	tilgym	I will throw
Conditional	yinnin tilgey (I would do throwing)	hilgin	I would throw
Preterite	ren mee tilgey (I did throwing)	hilg mee	I threw
Imperative	jean tilgey! (Do throwing!)	tilg!	Throw!

The future and conditional tenses (and in some irregular verbs, the preterite) make a distinction between "independent" and "dependent" forms. Independent forms are used when the verb is not preceded by any particle; dependent forms are used when a particle (e.g. cha "not") does precede the verb. For example, "you will lose" is caillee oo with the independent form caillee ("will lose"), while "you will not lose" is cha gaill oo with the dependent form caill (which has undergone eclipsis to gaill after cha). Similarly "they went" is hie ad with the independent form hie ("went"), while "they did not go" is cha jagh ad with the dependent form jagh.^[35] This contrast is inherited from Old Irish, which shows such pairs as beirid ("(s)he carries") vs. ní beir ("(s)he does not carry"), and is found in Scottish Gaelic as well, e.g. gabhaidh ("will take") vs. cha ghabh ("will not take"). In Modern Irish, the distinction is found only in irregular verbs (e.g. chonaic ("saw") vs. ní fhaca ("did not see").

Like the other Insular Celtic languages, Manx has so-called inflected prepositions, contractions of a preposition with a pronominal direct object. For example, the preposition ec "at" has the following forms:

Inflections of ec "at"

		Singular	Plural
First person		aym ("at me")	ain ("at us")
Second person		ayd ("at you")	eu ("at you")
Third person	Masculine	echey ("at him")	oc ("at them")
	Feminine	eck ("at her")

[edit] Numbers

Manx	IPA[36]	English	Irish cognate	Scottish Gaelic cognate
un nane	[eːn], [oːn], [uːn] [neːn]	one	aon	aon
daa jees	[d̪eː] [dʒiːs]	two	dó, dhá dís	dà dithis
tree	[t̪riː]	three	trí	trì
kiare	[kʲeːə]	four	ceathair, ceithre	ceithir
queig	[kweɡ]	five	cúig	còig
shey	[ʃeː]	six	sé	sia
shiaght	[ʃaːx]	seven	seacht	seachd
hoght	[hɑːx]	eight	a hocht	ochd
nuy	[nɛi], [niː]	nine	naoi	naoi
jeih	[dʒɛi]	ten	deich	deich
nane jeig	[neːn dʒeɡ]	eleven	aon déag	aon deug
daa yeig	[d̪eiɡʲ]	twelve	dó dhéag	dà dheug

[edit] Initial consonant mutations

Like all modern Celtic languages, Manx shows initial consonant mutations, which are processes by which the initial consonant of a word is altered according to its morphological and/or syntactic environment.^[37] Manx has two mutations: lenition and nasalisation, found on nouns and verbs in a variety of environments; adjectives can undergo lenition but not nasalisation. In the late spoken language of the 20th century the system was breaking down, with speakers frequently failing to use mutation in environments where it was called for, and occasionally using it in environments where it was not called for.

Lenition and nasalisation in Manx

Unmutated consonant	Lenition	Nasalisation
/p/	/f/	/b/[* 1]
/t̪/	/h/, /x/	/d̪/
/tʲ/	/h/, /xʲ/	/dʲ/[* 1]
/kʲ/	/xʲ/	/ɡʲ/[* 1]
/k/	/x/, /h/	/ɡ/
/b/ /bw/	/v/ /w/	/m/[* 1] /mw/[* 1]
/d̪/	/ɣ/, /w/	/n/[* 1]
/dʲ/	/ɣʲ/, /j/	/nʲ/
/ɡʲ/	/ɣʲ/, /j/	/ŋ/?[* 1]
/ɡ/	/ɣ/	/ŋ/?[* 2]
/m/ /mw/	/v/ /w/	(no change)
/f/ /fw/	zero /hw/	/v/[* 1] /w/[* 1]
/s/ /sl/ /snʲ/	/h/ /l/ /nʲ/	(no change)
/ʃ/	/h/ , /xʲ/	(no change)

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Not attested in the late spoken language (Broderick 1984–86, 3:66)
2. ^ In the corpus of the late spoken language, there is only one example of the nasalisation of /ɡ/: the sentence Ta mee er ngeddyn yn eayn ("I have found the lamb"), where ng is pronounced /n/. However, it is possible that the verbal noun in this case is not geddyn, which usually means "get", but rather feddyn, which is the more usual word for "find" (Broderick 1984–86 2:190, 3:66).

[edit] Syntax

Like most Insular Celtic languages, Manx uses Verb Subject Object word order: the inflected verb of a sentence precedes the subject, which itself precedes the direct object.^[38] However, as noted above, most finite verbs are formed periphrastically, using an auxiliary verb in conjunction with the verbal noun. In this case, only the auxiliary verb precedes the subject, while the verbal noun comes after the subject. The auxiliary verb may be a modal verb rather than a form of bee ("be") or jannoo ("do"). Particles like the negative cha ("not") precede the inflected verb. Examples:

When the auxiliary verb is a form of jannoo ("do"), the direct object precedes the verbal noun and is connected to it with the particle y:

As in Irish (cf. Irish syntax#The forms meaning "to be"), there are two ways of expressing "to be" in Manx: with the substantive verb bee, and with the copula. The substantive verb is used when the predicate is an adjective, adverb, or prepositional phrase.^[43] Examples:

Where the predicate is a noun, it must be converted to a prepositional phrase headed by the preposition in ("in") + possessive pronoun (agreeing with the subject) in order for the substantive verb to be grammatical:

Otherwise, the copula is used when the predicate is a noun. The copula itself takes the form is or she in the present tense, but it is often omitted in affirmative statements:

In questions and negative sentences, the present tense of the copula is nee:

[edit] Vocabulary

Manx vocabulary is predominantly of Goidelic origin, derived from Old Irish and closely related to words in Irish and Scottish Gaelic. However, Manx itself, as well as the languages from which it is derived, borrowed words from other languages as well, especially Latin, Old Norse, French (particularly Anglo-Norman), and English (both Middle English and Modern English).^[47]

The following table shows a selection of nouns from the Swadesh list and indicates their pronunciations and etymologies.

Manx	IPA[36]	English	Etymology[48]
aane	[eːn]	liver	Goidelic; from Mid.Ir. ae < O.Ir. óa; cf. Ir. ae, Sc.G. adha
aer	[eːə]	sky	Latin; from O.Ir. aer < L. aër; cf. Sc.G. adhar
aile	[ail]	fire	Goidelic; from O.Ir. aingel "very bright"; cf. Ir., Sc.G. aingeal
ardnieu	[ərd̪ˈnʲeu]	snake	Apparently "highly poisonous" (cf. ard "high", nieu "poison")
awin	[aunʲ], [ˈawənʲ]	river	Goidelic; from M.Ir. aba < O.Ir. ab; cf. Ir., Sc.G. abhainn
ayr	[ˈeːar]	father	Goidelic; from O.Ir. athir; cf. Ir., Sc.G. athair
beeal	[biəl]	mouth	Goidelic; from O.Ir. bél; cf. Ir. béal, Sc.G. beul
beishteig	[beˈʃtʲeːɡ], [prəˈʃtʲeːɡ]	worm	Latin; from M.Ir. péist < O.Ir. bíast < L. bēstia
ben	[bedn]	woman	Goidelic; from O.Ir. ben; cf. Ir., Sc.G. bean
billey	[ˈbilʲə]	tree	Goidelic; from O.Ir. bile
blaa	[bleː]	flower	Goidelic; from O.Ir. bláth
blein	[blʲeːnʲ], [blʲidn]	year	Goidelic; from O.Ir. bliadain; cf. Ir. bliain, Sc.G. bliadhna
bodjal	[ˈbaːdʒəl]	cloud	English/French; shortened from bodjal niaul "pillar of cloud" (cf. Sc.G. baideal neòil); bodjal originally meant "pillar" or "battlement" < E. battle < Fr. bataille
bolg	[bolɡ]	belly	Goidelic; from O.Ir. bolg
cass	[kaːs]	foot	Goidelic; from O.Ir. cos, cf. Sc.G. cas
çhengey	[ˈtʃinʲə]	tongue	Goidelic; from O.Ir. tengae; cf. Ir., Sc.G. teanga
clagh	[klaːx]	stone	Goidelic; from O.Ir. cloch; cf. Sc.G. clach
cleaysh	[kleːʃ]	ear	Goidelic; from O.Ir. clúas "hearing"; cf. Ir., Sc.G. cluas
collaneyn	[ˈkalinʲən]	guts	Goidelic; from O.Ir. cáelán; cf. Ir. caolán, Sc.G. caolan
crackan	[ˈkraːɣən]	skin	Goidelic; from O.Ir. croiccenn; cf. Ir., Sc.G. craiceann
craue	[kreːw]	bone	Goidelic; from O.Ir. cnáim; cf. Ir. cnámh, Sc.G. cnàimh
cree	[kriː]	heart	Goidelic; from O.Ir. cride; cf. Ir. croí, Sc.G. cridhe
dooinney	[ˈd̪unʲə]	person	Goidelic; from O.Ir. duine
dreeym	[d̪riːm], [d̪ribm]	back	Goidelic; from O.Ir. druimm; cf. Ir. droim, Sc.G. druim
duillag	[ˈd̪olʲaɡ]	leaf	Goidelic; from O.Ir. duilleóg; cf. Sc.G. duilleag
eairk	[eːak]	horn	Goidelic; from O.Ir. adarc; cf. Ir., Sc.G. adharc
eayst	[eːs]	moon	Goidelic; from O.Ir. ésca; cf. Ir. éasca, Sc.G. easga
eeast	[jiːs]	fish	Goidelic; from O.Ir. íasc; cf. Ir. iasc, Sc.G. iasg
ennym	[ˈenəm]	name	Goidelic; from O.Ir. ainmm; cf. Ir., Sc.G. ainm
faarkey	[ˈføːɹkə]	sea	Goidelic; from O.Ir. fairrge; cf. Ir. farraige, Sc.G. fairge
faiyr	[feːə]	grass	Goidelic; from O.Ir. fér; cf. Ir. féar, Sc.G. feur
famman	[ˈfaman]	tail	Goidelic; from O.Ir. femm; cf. Ir. feam, Sc.G. feaman
fedjag	[ˈfaiaɡ]	feather	Goidelic; from O.Ir. eteóc; cf. Ir. eiteog "wing", Sc.G. iteag
feeackle	[ˈfiːɣəl]	tooth	Goidelic; from O.Ir. fíacail; cf. Ir., Sc.G. fiacail
feill	[feːlʲ]	meat	Goidelic; from O.Ir. feóil; cf. Ir. feoil, Sc.G. feòil
fer	[fer]	man	Goidelic; from O.Ir. fer; cf. Ir., Sc.G. fear
fliaghey	[flʲaːɣə]	rain	Goidelic; from O.Ir. flechud; cf. Ir. fleachadh "rainwater; a drenching"
folt	[folt̪]	hair	Goidelic; from O.Ir. folt
fraue	[freːw]	root	Goidelic; from O.Ir. frém; cf. Ir. fréamh, Sc.G. freumh
fuill	[folʲ]	blood	Goidelic; from O.Ir. fuil
geay	[ɡiː]	wind	Goidelic; from O.Ir. gáeth; cf. Ir., Sc.G. gaoth
geinnagh	[ˈɡʲanʲax]	sand	Goidelic; from O.Ir. gainmech; cf. Sc.G. gainmheach
glioon	[glʲuːnʲ]	knee	Goidelic; from O.Ir. glún; cf. Ir. glúin, Sc.G. glùn
grian	[ɡriːn], [ɡridn]	sun	Goidelic; from O.Ir. grían; cf. Ir., Sc.G. grian
jaagh	[ˈdʒeːax]	smoke	Goidelic, from M.Ir. deathach < O.Ir. dé; cf. Sc.G. deathach
joan	[dʒaun]	dust	Goidelic; from O.Ir. dend; cf. Ir. deannach
kay	[kʲeː]	fog	Goidelic; from O.Ir. ceó; cf. Ir. ceo, Sc.G. ceò
keayn	[kidn]	sea	Goidelic; from O.Ir. cúan; cf. Ir. cuan "harbor", Sc.G. cuan "ocean"
keeagh	[kiːx]	breast	Goidelic; from O.Ir. cích; cf. Ir. cíoch, Sc.G. cìoch
keyll	[kiːlʲ], [kelʲ]	forest	Goidelic; from O.Ir. caill; cf. Ir. coill, Sc.G. coille
kione	[kʲaun], [kʲoːn]	head	Goidelic; from O.Ir. cenn; cf. Ir., Sc.G. ceann
laa	[leː]	day	Goidelic; from O.Ir. lá; cf. Sc.G. là
laue	[leːw]	hand	Goidelic; from O.Ir. lám; cf. Ir. lámh, Sc.G. làmh
leoie	[løi]	ashes	Goidelic; from O.Ir. lúaith; cf. Ir. luaith, Sc.G. luath
logh	[laːx]	lake	Goidelic; from O.Ir. loch
lurgey	[løɹɡə]	leg	Goidelic; from O.Ir. lurga "shin bone"; cf. Ir. lorga
maidjey	[ˈmaːʒə]	stick	Goidelic; from O.Ir. maide
meeyl	[miːl]	louse	Goidelic; from O.Ir. míl; cf. Ir. míol, Sc.G. mial
mess	[meːs]	fruit	Goidelic; from O.Ir. mes; cf. Ir., Sc.G. meas
moddey	[ˈmaːðə]	dog	Goidelic; from O.Ir. matad; cf. Ir., Sc.G. madadh
moir	[maːɹ]	mother	Goidelic; from O.Ir. máthair; cf. Sc.G. màthair
mwannal	[ˈmonal]	neck	Goidelic; from O.Ir. muinél; cf. Ir. muineál, Sc.G. muineal
oie	[ei], [iː]	night	Goidelic; from O.Ir. adaig (accusative aidchi); cf. Ir. oíche, Sc.G. oidhche
ooh	[au], [uː]	egg	Goidelic; from O.Ir. og; cf. Ir. ubh, Sc.G. ugh
paitçhey	[ˈpetʃə]	child	French; from E.M.Ir. páitse "page, attendant" < M.Fr. page; cf. Ir. páiste, Sc.G. pàiste
raad	[reːd̪], [raːd̪]	road	English; from M.Ir. rót < M.E. road; cf. It. ród, Sc.G. ròd
rass	[raːs]	seed	Goidelic; from O.Ir. ros
rollage	[roˈleːɡ]	star	Goidelic; from M.Ir. rétlu < O.Ir. rétglu + diminutive suffix -óg; cf. Ir. réaltóg, Sc.G. reultag
roost	[ruːs]	bark	Brythonic; from O.Ir. rúsc < Brythonic (cf. Welsh rhisg(l)); cf. Ir. rúsc, Sc.G. rùsg
skian	[ˈskiːən]	wing	Goidelic; from O.Ir. scíathán; cf. Ir. sciathán, Sc.G. sgiathan
slieau	[slʲuː], [ʃlʲuː]	mountain	Goidelic, from O.Ir. slíab; cf. Ir., Sc.G. sliabh
sniaghtey	[ˈʃnʲaxt̪ə]	snow	Goidelic; from O.Ir. snechta; cf. Ir. sneachta, Sc.G. sneachd
sollan	[ˈsolan]	salt	Goidelic; from O.Ir. salann
sooill	[suːlʲ]	eye	Goidelic; from O.Ir. súil; cf. Sc.G. sùil
stroin	[st̪rudʲnʲ], [st̪raidʲnʲ]	nose	Goidelic; from O.Ir. srón; cf. Sc.G. sròn
tedd	[t̪ed̪]	rope	Goidelic; from O.Ir. tét; cf. Ir. téad, Sc.G. teud
thalloo	[ˈtalu]	earth	Goidelic; from O.Ir. talam; cf. Ir., Sc.G. talamh
ushag	[ˈoʒaɡ]	bird	Goidelic; from O.Ir. uiseóg "lark"; cf. Ir. fuiseog, Sc.G. uiseag
ushtey	[ˈuʃtʲə]	water	Goidelic; from O.Ir. uisce; cf. Sc.G. uisge
yngyn	[ˈiŋən]	fingernail	Goidelic; from O.Ir. ingen; cf. Ir., Sc.G. ionga

See Celtic Swadesh lists for the complete list in all the Celtic languages.

[edit] Orthography

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (October 2008)

The spelling of Manx, unlike that of Irish and Scottish Gaelic, does not represent the Classical Gaelic orthography, and is based on the Welsh and English orthographies. For example, is used for [ə], as in Welsh (e.g. cabbyl [ˈkaːvəl] "horse"), and and are used for [iː] and [uː] respectively, as in English (e.g. tree [t̪riː] "three", coo [kuː] "hound").

If any distinctively Manx written literature existed before the Reformation, it was unidentifiable or lost by the time that widespread literacy was being seriously advocated, so when attempts were made (mainly by the Anglican church authorities) to introduce a standardised orthography for the language, a new system based partly on Welsh, and mainly on the English of the 1700s was developed. It is commonly supposed that it was simply invented by John Phillips, the Welsh-born Bishop of Sodor and Man (1605–33) who translated the Book of Common Prayer into Manx. However, it does appear to have some similarities with orthographical systems found occasionally in Scotland, also based on English orthographical practices. For example, the Book of the Dean of Lismore and the Fernaig manuscript are written in Scottish Gaelic using a similar system of spelling. However, it must be noted that the Book of the Dean of Lismore is based on the orthography of Scots, and not Southern English.

[edit] History

Manx began to diverge from Early Modern Irish in around the 13th century and from Scottish Gaelic in the 15th.^[49] The language sharply declined during the 19th century and was supplanted by English. In 1848, J. G. Cumming wrote that "there are ... few persons (perhaps none of the young) who speak no English", and Henry Jenner estimated in 1874 that about 30% of the population habitually spoke Manx (12,340 out of a population of 41,084). According to official census figures, 9.1% of the population claimed to speak Manx in 1901; in 1921 the percentage was only 1.1%.^[50] Since the language had fallen to a status of low prestige, parents tended not to teach the language to their children, thinking that Manx would be useless to them compared with English.

Following the decline in the use of Manx during the 19th century, Yn Cheshaght Ghailckagh (The Manx Language Society) was founded in 1899. By the middle of the 20th century only a few elderly native speakers remained (the last of them, Ned Maddrell, died on 27 December, 1974), but by then a scholarly revival had begun to spread to the populace and many had learned Manx as a second language. The revival of Manx has been aided by the recording work done in the 20th century by researchers. Most notably, the Irish Folklore Commission was sent in with recording equipment in 1948 by Éamon de Valera. There is also the work conducted by language enthusiast and fluent speaker Brian Stowell, who is considered personally responsible for the current revival of the Manx language.^{[citation needed]}

The first native speakers of Manx (bilingual with English) in many years have now appeared: children brought up by Manx-speaking parents. Primary immersion education in Manx is provided by the Manx government: since 2003, the former St. John's School building has been used by the sole Manx primary school, the Bunscoill Ghaelgagh (Manx language-medium primary school). Degrees in Manx are available from the Isle of Man College and the Centre for Manx Studies, while the University of Edinburgh offers an Honours course on the Culture, History, and Language of the Isle of Man.

Manx-language drama groups also exist, and Manx is taught as a second language at all of the island's primary and secondary schools and also at the Isle of Man College and Centre for Manx Studies. Manx is used as the sole medium for teaching at five of the Island's preschools by a company named Mooinjer Veggey,^[51] which also operates the Bunscoill Ghaelgagh. The first film to be made in Manx - the 22-minute long Ny Kiree fo Niaghtey (The Sheep Under the Snow) - premiered in 1983 and was entered for the 5th Celtic Film and Television Festival in Cardiff in 1984. It was directed by Shorys Y Creayrie for Foillan Films of Laxey, and is about the background to an early 18th century folk song.

In the 2001 census, 1,689 out of 76,315, or 2.2% of the population, claimed to have knowledge of Manx,^[4] although the degree of knowledge in these cases presumably varied. Manx names are once again becoming common on the Isle of Man, especially Moirrey and Voirrey (Mary, properly pronounced similar to the Scottish Moira, but often mispronounced as Moiree/Voiree when used as a given name by non-Manx speakers), Illiam (William), Orry (from the Manx King), Breeshey (also Breesha) (Bridget) and Aalish (also Ealish) (Alice), Juan (Jack), Ean (John), Joney, Fenella (Fionnuala), Pherick (Patrick) and Freya (from the Norse Goddess) remain popular.

Although Manx is commonly used for written slogans by local businesses, and appears on departmental letterheads and promotional materials within the Isle of Man Government, it is not used as a spoken language within the business community, or spoken within the Government.

Manx is used in the annual Tynwald ceremony, with new laws being read out by Yn Lhaihder ('the Reader') in both Manx and English.

Manx is recognised under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. It is also one of the regional languages recognised in the framework of the British-Irish Council.

Little secular Manx literature has been preserved. Arguably, no trace of written Manx survives from before the 1600s,^{[citation needed]} but the Book of Common Prayer and the Bible were translated into Manx in the 17th and 18th centuries. A tradition of carvals, religious songs or carols, developed^[when?].

[edit] Examples

The following examples are taken from Broderick 1984–86, 1:178–79 and 1:350–53. The first example is from a speaker of Northern Manx, the second from Ned Maddrell, a speaker of Southern Manx.

Orthography	Phonetic transcription	Gloss
V'ad smooinaghtyn dy beagh cabbyl jeeaghyn skee as deinagh ayns y voghree dy beagh eh er ve ec ny ferrishyn fud ny h-oie as beagh ad cur lesh yn saggyrt dy cur e vannaght er.	vod̪ ˈsmuːnʲaxt̪ən d̪ə biəx ˈkaːbəl dʒiːən skiː as ˈd̪øinʲax uns ə ˈvoːxəri d̪ə biəx e er vi ek nə ˈferiʃən fod̪ nə høi as biəx əd̪ kør leʃ ən ˈsaːɡərt̪ d̪ə kør ə ˈvanax er	They used to think if a horse was looking tired and weary in the morning then it had been with the fairies all night and they would bring the priest to put his blessing on it.
Va ben aynshoh yn çhiaghtin chaie as v'ee laccal mish dy ynsagh ee dy gra yn Padjer yn Çhiarn. Dooyrt ee dy row ee gra eh tra v'ee inneen veg, agh t'eh ooilley jarroodit eck, as v'ee laccal gynsagh eh reesht son dy gra eh ec vrastyl ny red ennagh. As dooyrt mish dy jinnagh mee jannoo my share son dy cooney lhee as ren ee çheet aynshoh son dy clashtyn eh, as vel oo laccal dy clashtyn mee dy gra eh?	və ˈbɛn əˈsoː ən ˈtʃaːn ˈkai as vai ˈlaːl ˈmiʃ ði ˈjinðax i ðə ˈɡreː in ˈpaːdʒər ən ˈtʃaːrn | d̪ot̪ i ðə ˈrau i ɡreː a ˈt̪reː vai iˈnʲin ˈveːɡ ax t̪e ˈolʲu dʒaˈrud̪ətʃ ek as vei ˈlaːl ˈɡʲinðax a ˈriːʃ san ðə ˈɡreː ə əɡ ˈvraːst̪əl nə ˈrið ənax | as ˈd̪ut̪ miʃ ðə ˈdʒinax mi ˈdʒinu mə ˈʃeː san ðə ˈkunə lʲei as ˈrenʲ i ˈtʃit̪ oˈsoː san ðə ˈklaːʃtʲən a as vel u ˈlaːl ðə ˈklaːʃtʲən mi ðə ˈɡreː a	There was a woman here last week and she wanted me to teach her to say the Lord's Prayer. She said that she used to say it when she was a little girl, but she has forgotten it all, and she wanted to learn it again to say it at a class or something. And I said I would do my best to help her and she came here to hear it, and do you want to hear me say it?

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Broderick, George (1984–86). A Handbook of Late Spoken Manx (3 volumes ed.). Tübingen: Niemeyer. ISBN 3-484-42903-8 (vol. 1), ISBN 3-484-42904-6 (vol. 2), ISBN 3-484-42905-4 (vol. 3). 
• Broderick, George (1993). "Manx". in M. J. Ball and J. Fife (eds.). The Celtic Languages. London: Routledge. pp. 228–85. ISBN 0-415-01035-7. 
• Dictionary of the Irish Language based mainly on Old and Middle Irish materials. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. ISBN 0901714291. http://www.dil.ie. 
• Gunther, Wilf (1990). "Language conservancy or: Can the anciently established British minority languages survive?". in D. Gorter, J. F. Hoekstra, L. G. Jansma, and J. Ytsma (eds.). Fourth International Conference on Minority Languages (Vol. II: Western and Eastern European Papers ed.). Bristol, England: Mulitilingual Matters. pp. 53–67. ISBN 1-85359-111-4. 
• Holmer, Nils M. (1957). The Gaelic of Arran. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. ISBN 0-901282-44-8. 
• Holmer, Nils M. (1962). The Gaelic of Kintyre. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. ISBN 0-901282-43-X. 
• Hughes, Art (1994). "Gaeilge Uladh". in K. McCone, D. McManus, C. Ó Háinle, N. Williams, and L. Breatnach (eds.) (in Irish). Stair na Gaeilge in ómós do Pádraig Ó Fiannachta. Maynooth: Department of Old Irish, St. Patrick's College. pp. 611–60. ISBN 0-901519-90-1. 
• Jackson, Kenneth Hurlstone (1955). Contributions to the Study of Manx Phonology. Edinburgh: Nelson. 
• Macbain, Alexander (1911). An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language (2nd ed. ed.). Stirling: E. Mackay. Reprinted 1998, New York: Hippocrene. ISBN 0-7818-0632-1. 
• Mhac an Fhailigh, Éamonn (1968). The Irish of Erris, Co. Mayo. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. ISBN 0-901282-02-2. 
• Ó Baoill, Colm (1978). Contributions to a Comparative Study of Ulster Irish and Scottish Gaelic. Institute of Irish Studies, Queen's University of Belfast. 
• O'Rahilly, Thomas F. (1932). Irish Dialects Past and Present. Dublin: Browne and Nolan. Reprinted 1976, 1988 by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. ISBN 0-901282-55-3. 
• Ó Cuív, Brian (1944). The Irish of West Muskerry, Co. Cork. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. ISBN 0-901282-52-9. 
• Ó Sé, Diarmuid (2000) (in Irish). Gaeilge Chorca Dhuibhne. Dublin: Institiúid Teangeolaíochta Éireann. ISBN 0-946452-97-0. 
• Thomson, Robert L. (1992). "The Manx language". in Donald MacAulay (ed.). The Celtic Languages. Cambridge University Press. pp. 100–36. ISBN 0-521-23127-2. 
• Williams, Nicholas (1994). "An Mhanainnis". in K. McCone, D. McManus, C. Ó Háinle, N. Williams, and L. Breatnach (eds.) (in Irish). Stair na Gaeilge in ómós do Pádraig Ó Fiannachta. Maynooth: Department of Old Irish, St. Patrick's College. pp. 703–44. ISBN 0-901519-90-1. 

[edit] See also

• List of Celtic language media
• List of television channels in Celtic languages
• Irish language revival

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Manx language

• Manx language at Ethnologue
• Manx language, alphabet and pronunciation at Omniglot
• Information about the language
• isle-of-man.com language section
• Fockleyreen - Downloadable Manx-English & English-Manx Dictionary
• Manx-English dictionary to download or look up online
• Gaelic Dictionaries
• Manx-English dictionary
• A short Manx-English-Japanese phrasebook
• Online Manx Lessons with MP3 recordings
• Bilingual Bible in Manx and English by the Manx Language Project

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