Cornish funding to end – petition started in opposition

For more than a hundred years, Cornish (Kernowek or Kernewek) has been undergoing revitalization in the southwest area of England. The movement has resulted in children’s books, films, daycare and other Cornish-oriented institutions.

According to the Cornishman, government funding for revitalization efforts is slated to be terminated. A petition has been started. If 10,000 people sign it, the government will respond, and if 100,000 people sign, the issue will be debated in parliament. Only British citizens and UK residents are eligible to sign the petition.

• Cornish – Wikipedia
• Cornish language revival – Wikipedia

Walpiri speaker denied use of Walpiri in Australian state parliament

According to “Aboriginal minister Bess Price denied request to speak Indigenous language in NT Parliament,” a speaker of Walpiri (wbp) who stated she feels better able to express herself in her native tongue, Walpiri, was not allowed to speak Walpiri in the local parliament because it would cause disorder. The speaker is Bess Nungarrayi Price, a minister for the Northern Territory.

The article quotes Minister Kezia Purick, speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory, as stating that English is the official language of Australia, but according to Wikipedia, English is the national language, not the official language, there.

Price has requested clarification of the language policy, which has allowed non-English usage from time to time in the past.

Just two printed Gaelic words stop helicopters from operating

Well, that’s the claim that Paul Kavanagh says that he found on Twitter.

He writes that the current government in the United Kingdom does not want to fund Scottish Gaelic (gla) broadcasting in Scotland. The article is here with further details.

The Cornish an official minority

According to “More than pirates ‘n’ pasties,” the Cornish people are now an official minority of the United Kingdom, which will bring heightened protections. The article also says that the 2011 census had 84K people declaring Cornish as their ethnicity. With more than 100 years of revitalization, 557 people also claim it as their main language.

Australia releases draft framework for language learning

As part of its Year 10 Australian Curriculum: Languages program, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) has released its Draft Framework for Aboriginal Languages and Torres Strait Islander Languages.

The draft is open for suggestions and feedback through 25 July. Read more in “Schools get guide for indigenous languages” and “Consultation of the draft Australian Curriculum.”

ᓄᖃᕆᑦ

ᓄᖃᕆᑦ is “stop,” as now found on stop signs in the Canadian territory Nunavut.

This month, the Official Languages Act came into force in Nunavat. According to the text of the law:

• “The Inuit Language, English and French are the Official Languages of Nunavut,”
• “To the extent and in the manner provided under this Act, the Official Languages of Nunavut have equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in territorial institutions,” and
• Priority must be given to “the revitalization of Inuinnaqtun.”

Read more in “Nunavut Official Languages Act Comes into Force.”

Australian government opens applications for funding

The Australian government has allocated 12 million dollars (the AUD is currently approximately equivalent to the USD) over the next four years to support indigenous languages. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community groups are invited to submit applications through the end of May to receive funding from this allocation.

Emma Waterman has written an article on this opportunity with an interesting take on the need for non-computer solutions. Read “Digital Not Always the Answer.”

See also the government page “New Indigenous Languages Support funding open for applications” for information on how to apply.

Report to the Human Rights council on declining minority languages

In a report by Rita Izsak to the United Nations Human Rights Council in April, she cited various historical and other factors that are causing a decline in minority languages.

International laws covering the rights to speak a minority language that she cited include:

• the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
• the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and
• the 1992 Declaration on Minorities

Models she cited for standards are the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

She also noted that 19 out of approximately 20 languages spoken in Cambodia are endangered. (The Ethnologue gives 24 languages, of which 14 are endangered or dying.)

Read more on her report in “UN expert warns of decline in minority languages.”

Education and skills department cuts Irish language services

Citing financial restrictions and a lack of personnel skilled in Irish, the Department of Education and Skills in Ireland has greatly curtailed the services it provides in Irish.

Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge, the central steering committee for the Irish-speaking community, will be discussing this issue with the Department and others.

Read more at “Department of Education and Skills revokes Irish language services.”

Call for an English public access channel in Quebec

According to Wikipedia, 80.1% of the Quebec population is francophonic. It also says that in 2006:

1. 575,560 (7.7 percent of population) people in Quebec declared English to be their mother tongue,
2. 744,430 (10.0 percent) mostly used English as their home language, and
3. 918,955 (12.9 percent according to the 2001 Census) reported English to be their First Official language spoken.

The Gazette of Montreal today carried a special opinion piece today calling for a public access channel to be created for anglophonic artists (“CRTC should pressure Videotron…“)

Citing the figure of 8,000 people in Quebec’s anglophonic artist community plus more than a million francophones who speak English, opinion-writer Borkowsky says the government should renew the operating license of cable operator Vidéotron only if such a channel is created.