Abstract:
The Welsh and Irish languages, the indigenous languages of Wales and Ireland, respectively, have
experienced significant declines in their speaker populations since the beginning of English settlement in
their homelands. This decline has not occurred to the same extent in both languages; in the early 21st
century, Welsh is habitually spoken by a much larger population, both in absolute numbers and proportion
of its indigenous territory’s total population, than Irish. This is despite both languages having been the
subject of intense revitalization efforts since the 20th century and having official status alongside English
in their respective countries. This thesis uses historical data on economic conditions, institutional
involvement in language maintenance, and patterns of language shift to elucidate the source of this
disparity.
