BarbaraG Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I asked my husband Tom who is Manx, what he thought and he has told me to a reply on his behalf. "I regard myself as a citizen of the earth. I just happen to have been born in this particular bit of it." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost Login Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Manx is a living language all over the Island and you're wrong, as usual - get over it. I would disagree that Manx is a living language but we may have different definition of what is a living language. I probably would not argue that it is a dead language either but rather that it is a practised language or a reviving language only. Whether long term it becomes a success waits to be seen. To me a living language is one that is used everyday in the community, even if only in a an area of that community. In nearly 20 years of living in the Island I have yet to hear Manx being spoken once in the community. Yes as a set piece somewhere or on a radio program but not naturally as a first language when out and about like I have heard Welsh, Scots and Irish Gaelic spoken when on holiday. To me Manx will only become a living language when it starts to be freely used in the community and if you are a natural Manx speaker that you can use it for 90% + of the time. i.e. it is an everyday common working language which can be used down down the shops, at work etc etc. This may only be in a part of the Island e.g Port Erin etc but you in that area in my opinion you must be able to "live" by basically speaking majority Manx before in my opinion it can be seen as a living language. At that point it may become self perpetuating in that people, children learn it naturally rather than by choice, be it there own or their parents. If Manx can get to that point then I would happily see it as a living language. Will it? Well I very much doubt it unless ther is a huge collective will, much like there was in Israel for Modern Hebrew to become a main language That is not having a go at Manx, and I applaud those who have made an effort to revive it and I would apply the same criteria to all languages. e.g I probably would not desrcibe Esperanto as a living language even though it appears to used in places throught out Europe. However until it becomes an everyday common working language I would not not readily describe it as a living language Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Old Git Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 left that little hook out just before i went out for the day .. thanks for not dissapointing old git.. No problem at all, I like making it very clear that you aren't speaking for me, or what I guess would be the majority of us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marshall_42 Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Treating people with contempt because of where they come from isn't just boorish, it severely restricts your enjoyment of all that human culture has to offer. I don't like the word 'Comeover'. The Irish call them 'Blow-overs' - seems a bit gentler somehow. 'Blow-in' actually. Makes you wonder what name you would give to a job carried out by a foreigner in Ireland! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stavros Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 A reason for the Irish to go on strike too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marshall_42 Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 A reason for the Irish to go on strike too? Thant what put me in mind of the above post.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xpert Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I am half Manx, half Scouse The Scouse in me wants to steal things Yet the Manx in me means I can't be bothered Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxman2 Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 yeah same here everytime i eventually go to lift summat a scouser has beat me to it.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilitantDogOwner Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 yeah same here everytime i eventually go to lift summat a scouser has beat me to it.. Like the Shift/Caps buttons off of your keyboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxman2 Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 no wonder you made it all the way upto corporal.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilitantDogOwner Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 no wonder you made it all the way upto corporal.. And probably earning a shit load more money than you, more qualified than you, and more travelled than you. No wonder you made it to the heady heights of village idiot. I'm sure you parent is proud of you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La_Dolce_Vita Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I do not like comeovers who immediately want to change everything. I am also very much against ghettos, and groups of foreigners who refuse to integrate. (That goes for anywhere in the world, too - when in Rome...etc...) If people do not like it here, they should not have come, and, you guessed it, there is a boat in the morning! Sorry, but no, you shouldn't get the boat in the morning. I know the Island is rather backward when it comes to politics in respect of the fact that the general atmopshere is rather conservative and conformist, with little variation of political ideology in government and in the minds of the populace. But telling people to piss off who want to change things and have different ideas of things is removing debate and new ideas. Comes across as very closeminded. People's ways of thinking, their politics, their culture, can often be in need of some very serious criticism. But sometime the last people to really reflect on the problems in society are the ones who live in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snaipyr Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Treating people with contempt because of where they come from isn't just boorish, it severely restricts your enjoyment of all that human culture has to offer. I don't like the word 'Comeover'. The Irish call them 'Blow-overs' - seems a bit gentler somehow. 'Blow-in' actually. Makes you wonder what name you would give to a job carried out by a foreigner in Ireland! My mistake - but I suppose even that sounds harsh if you put the F word in front of it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snaipyr Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 In nearly 20 years of living in the Island I have yet to hear Manx being spoken once in the community. Yes as a set piece somewhere or on a radio program but not naturally as a first language when out and about like I have heard Welsh, Scots and Irish Gaelic spoken when on holiday. I agree it's not widespread, but nor is it in Ireland or Scotland - I've been to Gaeltach areas and, as an outsider, hardly heard any because people spoke to us in English. Obviously we don't have a Gaeltach here, but again, Manx speakers talk to you in English unless they know you speak Manx! Once you become known as a Manx speaker I think you'd be surprised at how often you can converse in Manx - in the street, at parties and in the pub (in church too I guess, but I don't go there!). Then if you're the sort of person who likes to go to organised events there's plenty of Manx speakers go to ones connected to Manx music and dance. There can be up to 6 Manx speakers in the pub I go to but, for reasons of politeness, they speak English. Once they've had a few though there's some good old Manx going on! Oh, and a lot of my text messages are in Manx! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La_Dolce_Vita Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 In nearly 20 years of living in the Island I have yet to hear Manx being spoken once in the community. Yes as a set piece somewhere or on a radio program but not naturally as a first language when out and about like I have heard Welsh, Scots and Irish Gaelic spoken when on holiday. I agree it's not widespread, but nor is it in Ireland or Scotland - I've been to Gaeltach areas and, as an outsider, hardly heard any because people spoke to us in English. Obviously we don't have a Gaeltach here, but again, Manx speakers talk to you in English unless they know you speak Manx! Once you become known as a Manx speaker I think you'd be surprised at how often you can converse in Manx - in the street, at parties and in the pub (in church too I guess, but I don't go there!). Then if you're the sort of person who likes to go to organised events there's plenty of Manx speakers go to ones connected to Manx music and dance. What I be grateful to know a bit more about are the regional variances in the Manx language spoken on the Isle of Man. Did there used to be much different between a Ramsey speaker, a Peel speaker, and a Port Erin speaker? And if so, has the pronunciation been standardised, that is, has it adopted a particular pronunciation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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