«
»

Manx

To the left you can see the coat of arms of the Isle of Man.

Manx, the language of the island, which is closely related to Irish and Scots Gaelic, is apparently undergoing a revival, after being frowned upon for years. At one time, it seems, speaking Manx in public could give rise to deep disapproval, even leading to fist fights and other mayhem. The last native speaker of Manx, Ned Maddrell, died in 1974.

My friend JDL has alerted me to a site where one can listen to recordings of conversations in Manx and even download them. You can find it here.

Image in the public domain.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 3rd, 2013 at 1:17 pm and is filed under Languages. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

3 Responses to “Manx”

  1. Martin Ball says:
    February 4, 2013 at 1:59 am

    Pity the links to the book on Manx on that website all dead. However, tracked it down at Liverpool UP, and it’s now on order!!

  2. John Maidment says:
    February 4, 2013 at 3:32 pm

    I too have a copy on order.

  3. Kevin Flynn says:
    February 5, 2013 at 8:56 am

    For more opportunities to listen to Gaelg Vannin, the following Manx-language or bilingual programmes are available from Manx radio:

    http://www.manxradio.com/audiovault/Traa%20dy%20Liooar.mp3
    Traa dy Liooar (Time enough)

    http://www.manxradio.com/audiovault/Shiaght.mp3
    Shiaght Laa (Seven days)

    http://www.manxradio.com/audiovault/Moghrey-1.mp3
    Moghrey Jedoonee – 1 (Sunday morning)

    http://www.manxradio.com/audiovault/Moghrey-2.mp3
    Moghrey Jedoonee – 2

    http://www.manxradio.com/audiovault/Claare.mp3
    Claare ny Gael (The Gaels’ programme)

    To me, as someone who knows a little Irish, the most interesting thing about Manx is how much easier it is to understand by ear than by eye — the anglicized (18th century?) spelling system gets in the way!

Leave a Reply