sparkey
Great Adventurer
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I am diverting this discussion from the "Celts of Iberia" thread, because it is only tangentially related, that thread is too long, and I was surprised to find on that thread that it is actually a contentious issue.
So... do Celts still exist today? If so, who are they? Certain ethnic groups (Welsh, Irish, Bretons, etc.)? Only components of certain ethnic groups (say, the Gaelic-speaking Scots)?
Here are some candidates:
For what it's worth, I have a broad view of who is a Celt, and believe that an ethnic group can be both Celtic and something else at the same time. So, for example, the Welsh are Celts even though most speak a Germanic language as their first language because they maintain a Celtic culture. The Scots, on the other hand, are a fusion Germanic-Celtic culture, and their ethnicity can similarly be considered Germanic-Celtic fusion.
Although ethnic identity can be as much an individual thing as a collective thing, the closest I can come to specifying how Celtic groups are goes like this:
So... do Celts still exist today? If so, who are they? Certain ethnic groups (Welsh, Irish, Bretons, etc.)? Only components of certain ethnic groups (say, the Gaelic-speaking Scots)?
Here are some candidates:
- The Welsh (Cymry). Their native tongue is Welsh (Cymru), which was spoken by 21% of them as of 2004.
- The Irish (Éireannaigh). Their native tongue is Irish (Gaeilge), which 1.66 million Irish knew some of as of 2006 (mostly academic, but there are native Irish speakers).
- The Bretons (Bretoned). Their native tongue is Breton (Brezhoneg), which has about 200,000 speakers.
- The Scots (Albannaich). One of their native tongues is Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig), spoken by 1.2% of them as of 2001.
- The Manx (Manninee). Their native language was Manx (Gaelg), which went extinct in 1974, but has been revived by reconstructionists.
- The Cornish (Kernowyon). Their native language was Cornish (Kernewek), which went extinct circa 1891, but has been revived by reconstructionists.
For what it's worth, I have a broad view of who is a Celt, and believe that an ethnic group can be both Celtic and something else at the same time. So, for example, the Welsh are Celts even though most speak a Germanic language as their first language because they maintain a Celtic culture. The Scots, on the other hand, are a fusion Germanic-Celtic culture, and their ethnicity can similarly be considered Germanic-Celtic fusion.
Although ethnic identity can be as much an individual thing as a collective thing, the closest I can come to specifying how Celtic groups are goes like this:
- The Welsh are Celts. Their language is both Celtic and Germanic, and their culture is primarily Celtic.
- The Irish are Celts. Their language is both Celtic and Germanic, and their culture is primarily Celtic.
- The Bretons (not everybody in modern Britanny, just those who identify as Bretons primarily) are Celts. Their language is both Celtic and Romance, and their culture is primarily Celtic.
- The Scots are Celtic and Germanic. Their language is mostly Germanic but sometimes Celtic, and their culture is both Germanic and Celtic.
- The Manx are Celtic and Germanic. Their language is mostly Germanic, and their culture is both Germanic and Celtic.
- The Cornish are Celtic and Germanic. Their language is mostly Germanic, and their culture is both Germanic and Celtic.