Jennifer Kewley
Draskau
Contributions to journals
One effect of language contact on the system of Manx Gaelic has been the erosion of the spectrum commanded by fully functional languages. In Manx, 'Classical Manx', the highly formal and archaic written language of the Bible, occupies one end of this spectrum, the other being occupied by the fragmented, English-influenced speech of a handful of bilinguals recorded in the mid-twentieth century. Other parts of the spectrum were until recent times virtually invisible. Modern speakers look to the latter for phonological information, and to the former for syntactic, semantic and morphological information. Many factors have contributed to the muddying of the waters; however, twenty-first-century Manx is recapturing a degree of subtlety through the re-establishment of categories and functions. Gaps in the spectrum are now being filled.
One effect of language contact on the system of Manx Gaelic has been the erosion of the spectrum commanded by fully functional languages. In Manx, 'Classical Manx', the highly formal and archaic written language of the Bible, occupies one end of this spectrum, the other being occupied by the fragmented, English-influenced speech of a handful of bilinguals recorded in the mid-twentieth century. Other parts of the spectrum were until recent times virtually invisible. Modern speakers look to the latter for phonological information, and to the former for syntactic, semantic and morphological information. Many factors have contributed to the muddying of the waters; however, twenty-first-century Manx is recapturing a degree of subtlety through the re-establishment of categories and functions. Gaps in the spectrum are now being filled.
