Policies and Legislation on Autochthonous Languages in the United Kingdom
Policies and Legislation on Autochthonous Languages in the United Kingdom

Summary/Abstract: The increasing use of English as a global lingua franca and its status as the de facto official language of the United Kingdom often obscures the fact that the territory of the UK has never been a linguistically homogeneous one. On the contrary, there are numerous other tongues spoken in the country, inter alia, so-called autochthonous languages. Aspirations to build a British Empire, however, always entailed the use of one language which led to the persecution of all others. The process of linguistic colonialisation started as early as 1066 following the Norman invasions, and from that time British monarchs used various means to reach their goal. In addition to military conquest and enforced plantations, there were a series of legislative measures enhancing the process of anglicisation, completed by the introduction of universal state-supported education at the end of the 19th century. The aim of this paper is threefold. First, to introduce the history of Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Welsh; second, to present official policies and legislation dealing with them from the beginning until today; and, third, to evaluate their legal position and future prospects in the light of the historical and sociopolitical context. In addition to the common trends in the process of decline, specific differences in the histories of autochthonous languages will be highlighted.

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