'Banglane Twoaie', talk by Adrian Pilgim, 'Noon as noal' and Bing ny Fainey AGM
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Date(s): c.1980
Scope & Content: Adrian Pligrim gives a short talk in Manx on various sociolinguistic subjects relating to Manx Gaelic. He uses the Cornish revival as an example; parallels between the situation of Cornish in the 18th century and contemporary Manx; Dolly (Dorothy) Pentreath, the last native speaker of Cornish; William Scawen's (British MP, 1600–1689) essays, '16 Reasons for the Decline of Cornish'; issues in regulating the language and the need for a an official body to decide upon issues of uncertainty; concerns of a lack of vocabulary for modern life; praises Douglas Faragher for his proscriptive dictionary and neologisms; differences between revival Manx and classical Manx; verb forms in the Bible and John Kneen's Grammar of the Manx Language; difficulties of dating a native language; the age of English and its origins and the age of Manx; influence of English on Manx; the use of 'ren' as an auxiliary verb as a result of English 'did'; linguistic purity and biases against English loan words; danger of English to Manx in grammar rather than vocabulary and the loss of Manx idiom; attitudes towards English in Irish and Scottish Gaelic; and he finishes by quoting (in English) Thomas O'Rahilly thoughts on Manx from his Irish Dialects Past and Present (1932).
There follows a report on Bing ny Fainey AGM held in The Bowling Green Pub, Douglas, Tuesday 30 January (1979?). It begins with an explanation of the function of Bing ny Fainey, to award the Fainey (a brooch in the shape of a ring) to Manx speakers; it was decided at the meeting the award should be more difficult to obtain; assessment methods; committee members mentioned are: William Kelly, Adrian Pilgrim, William (Bill) Radcliffe and Colin Jerry; they spoke only Manx all afternoon; and the speaker says there are no Manx speakers with perfect Manx and that the Fainey ought to serve as a signal to other Manx speakers that the wearer is prepared to speak Manx.
Language: Manx Gaelic, English
Extent: 31 min. 49 sec.
Item name: cassette tape
Collection: Sound Archive
Level: ITEM
ID number: SA 0570
Access conditions: All reasonable attempt has been made by Manx National Heritage to trace and request permission (where needed) from the copyright holder(s) in this sound recording. If however you think you are a rights holder then please contact Manx National Heritage.
Subject tags : #UOSH