ABSTRACT
These are difficult times for some languages—the small ones, the stateless ones, those of lesser-used or minority status, and so on. An exchange taken from a recent conference transcript is illustrative here:
“What do you think of Gallic now—be honest!”
“Well, it’s a language that may still do you some good in the Highlands and Islands, maybe still in parts of Cape Breton, but outside those little areas, it isn’t going to take you very far …”
“Isn’t it used in any other settings, then?”
“No, it’s simple, really—no one to speak it with. Who did you have in mind?”
“Maybe Scots abroad …?”
“Listen, outside Scotland, Gallic speakers hardly use the language at all, even amongst themselves.”
“OK, but what d’you think of the language itself—is it a good sort of language, or what?”
“Actually, I’m not too keen on it, as a language per se. It has become pretty bastardised, you know, bit of a mixture really—different dialects, English borrowings …”
