- The Celtic Languages Today -
cannot be taken as having an absolute value, they nevertheless provide a valid basis
for comparative purposes. On the one hand, they reveal the extent of the progressive
decline of the language, while on the other hand they indicate the relative strength
or weakness of the language in different parts of the country. All figures and
percentages given below should be interpreted with these considerations in mind.
Wales is the area where any form of Celtic speech is best maintained both in the
sense of having (with the possible exception of Breton) the highest number of
speakers and in the sense of enjoying the greatest and most effective measure of
public support and public use.
At the turn of the century, Welsh was still spoken by 50 per cent of the total
population of Wales, including 15 per cent who claimed to speak Welsh only, and the
total number of bilingual and monolingual speakers of Welsh was well over 900,000.
Ten years later, the total had risen and was approaching a million (977,366), but,
since there had meanwhile been an increase in the total population, the proportion
of that population claiming to speak Welsh had dropped significantly, to 43.5 per
cent. Thereafter, the decline in both absolute numbers and percentages has seemed
irreversible.
By 1951, the proportion of those claiming to speak Welsh only had dropped to
2 per cent and thereafter has remained at around I per cent, but it is known that, in
reality, some bilinguals have entered themselves on the census forms as speaking
Welsh only and it can safely be assumed that all Welsh speakers, apart from
some young children who will inevitably learn English later in life, have at least an
adequate competence in English. The truly monoglot community has, in effect,
disappeared. In what follows, the term 'Welsh speakers' includes both the declared
bilinguals and those who claim to speak Welsh only. The following are the data pro-
vided (for the population aged 3 years and over) by the four post-war censuses for
which statistics are available (a further census was held in April, 1991, but, at the time
of writing, the results thereof have not been published):
Welsh-speakers % of total population
1951 71 4,686 29
1961 656 ,002 25
1971 542 ,4^25 21
(^1981 508) , 207 19
The most optimistic interpretation one can place on these figures is that, although
the decline continues, the rate of decline seems to have slowed down significantly,
perhaps as a result of positive action taken in recent decades to encourage the use of
the language.
The geographical distribution of the still largely (which does not necessarily
mean predominantly) Welsh-speaking areas also reflects the weakened state of the
language. It comes as no surprise to see! that the area where less than 50 per cent can
now speak Welsh covers the eastern zone, bordering England, and the greater part of
Glamorgan and the long-anglicized southern part of Pembroke. What is more