Manx is the historical language of the Isle of Man, the small, autonomous island in the center of the Irish Sea. Its existence can be entirely attributed to the dedication of its learners.
History of Manx
Like Irish and Scottish Gaelic, Manx Gaelic is a Q-Celtic language, derived originally from Old Irish. The Isle of Man was colonized, or inhabited, around the fifth century by Irish immigrants (1). During the Viking era, the island was obviously affected, but the language shows relatively little influence from the Norse (1). Ownership of the island after this period had an obvious impact on the language, and the island changed hands among the Irish, Scottish and English on several occasions. Currently, the Isle of Man is not a part of the United Kingdom; instead it is a Crown dependency, so that it has its own parliament, while officially the Queen of England is the Lord of Man (3).
English had been the language of the administration, while the rest of the islanders spoke Manx. Starting in the late 17th century, increased tourism and the advent of the smuggling trade both increased contact between residents and English speakers (1). Manx was still the dominant language until early in the 19th century, when English began to take precedence (1). And by the mid 19th century, English was clearly dominant, with most of the Manx speakers in the more isolated rural areas. The last native speaker was born in 1877 (1).
Interest in Manx used to be generally confined only to the native Manx, or people whose ancestors spoke Manx. Consequently, the effects of the decline of Manx during the 19th century was made even worse by significant immigration English-only speakers to the island during the middle of the 20th century, so that by 1981 just over 50% of the population was “native” Manx (3). The last native Manx speaker died in 1974 (4: Manx Gaelic).
Despite this, revival efforts were started even during the late, with the founding of the Yn Cheshaght Ghailckagh (The Manx Language Society) in 1899 (1). Several devoted learners in the 1930s were able to interact with native speakers, and they in turn taught more enthusiasts (1). This means that although the language has no native speakers, the language learners encounter has maintained its integrity. Contrast this with Cornish, where there are doubts about correct pronunciation because the language was extinct longer before the revival really got started.
