European Union adding even more languages
The maze of languages recognized by the European Union has just become even more complex with an agreement to accept use of Scottish Gaelic and Welsh in certain situations. Under the new agreement, European residents can now write to the European Union’s Council of Ministers in Welsh or Scottish Gaelic, and will have the right to an answer in the same language. Interpreters in these languages will have their work cut out for them if the principle is expanded to cover more European agencies and services.
“Depending on your point of view, the move is either confirmation that the EU is turning into a latter-day Tower of Babel, adding two relatively little-used languages on the fringes of Europe to the 23 that already have official status,” writes Rory Walson for Times Online, “or it gives 580,000 Welsh and 60,000 Gaelic speakers the same rights as millions of other citizens to communicate in their native language with Brussels institutions, whose decisions increasingly affect their daily lives.”
Welsh is spoken or written by about a fifth of the population of Wales, and is characterized visually by its dense use of consonants and a high presence of the letter ‘Y.” “Sut ydych chi?” is the formal way to say “How are you?”
Scottish Gaelic is closely related to Irish, which has been an official language of the European Union since January 1, 2007.
If you find yourself in a Scottish Gaelic-speaking situation, why not just ask “‘An urrainn dhuibh sin a sgrìobhadh, ma’s e bhur toil e?’ — ‘Can you write that down please?’”
Betty Carlson
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