The Welsh word for Tory (‘Tori’) also means ‘to cut’ in Welsh. Now there’s a coincidence. The cuts that the ConDems are imposing on us will have a profound impact on our society for generations to come. From the extra strain on our public services to our ‘jobless generation’ it will change the face of Wales. What people do not necessarily take into consideration is how the cuts are going to threatan our identity as distinct people. After 700 years of being ruled by our big next door neighbour, what we were left with as a symbol of our identity was our language. The ConDem’s plans to hack away at public services as well as their decision to put and end to S4C as we know it could be the final blow that could kill the Welsh language.
Statisticaly, the number of Welsh speakers is on the rise. Although this is heartening, a rise in the number of speakers does not necessarily mean that the language is in a healthy state. Latin, although being spoken by many, is a 'dead' languauge. In no part of the world is Latin the community language or the language of the home and the same must be kept in mind when we look at the situation with Welsh.
