This chapter provides a brief sociolinguistic description of two Celtic languages that have experienced language death and revival: Cornish and Manx. First, their distinctive sociolinguistic position as revived languages is reviewed. There follows a structured discussion of the factors contributing to each language’s historical decline and more recent revival movement, followed by an overview of the current position of each language in terms of demographics and language policy provisions. We note that while both languages are revived, differences in timescale have left speakers with different concerns regarding reconstruction as a spoken vernacular, although both Cornish and Manx are affected by similar debates around purism and authenticity. More broadly, we emphasise that the fate of both languages is inextricably linked with the wider political landscape, and that the efforts of volunteer activists at a grassroots level are currently paramount in ensuring their visibility, in a context where more official sources of support are often unreliable.

A thousand years ago, Irish Gaelic was spoken by the entire population of Ireland. Today, it is spoken by a few thousand people. The first part of this chapter discusses how this language shift came about, focusing on historical changes in population due to various waves of colonisation. The second section describes a number of linguistic features which make Irish Gaelic distinctive. At the morphophonological level, these include consonant and vowel alternations and initial mutation, and at the syntactic level, (mainly) VSO word order and the two verbs to be: the copula and the substantive verb.

This chapter investigates the identities and motivations of learners of small, endangered and minoritized heritage languages, especially adults. Our case studies are from two contexts which have both similarities and contrasts: Guernesiais, a small, highly endangered language in Guernsey, Channel Islands; and Māori, a larger minoritized language spoken in New Zealand. We compare and contrast our findings with regard to salient factors that emerge as adults decide to learn these languages: motivation, identity construction and empowerment. Established frameworks of motivation and identity did not to match our contexts and emerging findings. Many interviewees reported being motivated by a desire to reconnect with roots, or to reclaim elements of their identity or culture which they feel have been denied to them. Our new speakers of minoritized languages actively seek revitalization through language as an enrichment of their individual or group identity, rather than profit- or prestige-related orientations, or lofty yet vague aspirations to ‘save the language’. The concept of muda, or ‘act of identity’ as a pivotal stage in learning a new language, is especially salient to our findings.

This chapter examines the significance of attitudinal research in understanding the dynamics of language contact situations in multilingual societies from a cross-disciplinary perspective. This chapter provides practical guidance for the study of language attitudes and ideologies in multilingual communities by discussing issues relating to research planning and design (e.g. identifying which languages are to be explored, whose language attitudes are to be examined in the community), as well as data analysis and interpretation (e.g. quantitative data collected through questionnaires or matched-guise techniques, or qualitative data through interviews or ethnographies). Other important considerations for attitudinal research in multilingual communities are also covered (e.g. the mismatch between positive attitudes towards a language or languages and language use, or links between language policies and language attitudes in language revitalisation projects). The main points made in the chapter are illustrated by means of two case studies. The first relates to language attitudes in multilingual classrooms and the second focuses on language attitudes and ideologies amongst new speakers of minority languages with a focus on Galician in the Autonomous Community of Galicia in north-western Spain.

This chapter focuses on New Speakers of minority languages and their alignment with traditionalist and modernist ideals of standardization, authority and legitimacy. First, the relevance of the New Speaker paradigm for minority languages is outlined and associated standardization processes are analysed, particularly in the cases of Breton and Irish. It is argued that while standardization initiatives in both languages were carried out with a view to modernization, the processes nonetheless took place within value-laden, traditionalist contexts. The subsequent discussion focuses on the manner in which the language practices of New Speakers of Breton and Irish have come to be associated with the standard written varieties of the languages and perceived, at times, as oralizations of written standards. This association is a fundamental feature of the language ideological landscapes of Breton and Irish and is at the heart of debates pertaining to target language varieties. In order to illustrate these tensions, the chapter shows how New Speakers of Breton and Irish can align their linguistic practices with traditionalist and modernist discourses by identifying either with a conservative dialect of either language or by not focusing on any particular established target variety in their practices or ideologies.

What should be revitalized? This chapter considers possible targets for revitalization, taking into account factors such as available resources, whether the language is still spoken, in what domains and by whom. Different people in language revitalization movements have different aims and motivations, and choices must be made about what varieties should be prioritized (including elements of language such as topics, registers and vocabulary). The needs and desires of new and old speakers need to be balanced, with compromises between those who want to preserve a ‘pure’ variety of language and what people actually do - particularly new speakers, as the language expands into new domains and new terminology is needed. In the capsules, an activist describes his realisation that for revitalization purposes he needed to give up looking for ‘the pure Wymysiöeryś language’ and start listening to what people were actually saying. Purist attitudes to Spanish influence on Nahuatl are explored, showing how they had counter-productive effects on language survival. Some activists are now starting to encourage young people to create neologisms from within the heritage language.