Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg

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Tafod y Ddraig (the Dragon's Tongue), the society logo

Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg ("the Welsh Language Society", often abbreviated to "Cymdeithas" or "Cymdeithas yr Iaith") is a pressure group in Wales campaigning for the future of the Welsh language.

The Society was established on 4 August 1962 in Pontardawe in Glamorgan. It was at least partly inspired by the Annual BBC Wales Radio Lecture given that year by Saunders Lewis and entitled Tynged yr iaith (The fate of the language).^{[citation needed]} Cymdeithas yr Iaith believes in non-violent direct action and in the course of their campaigns over a thousand people have appeared before the courts for their part in various campaigns, many receiving prison sentences. These campaigns have resulted in many gains for the language, including two Welsh language acts, bilingual road signs, and the establishing of S4C, the Welsh language television channel.

"Cymdeithas" is a voluntary movement entirely dependent on its members and supporters to run its campaigns. Three full-time members of staff are employed at their head office in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion.

According to the census of 1991, 18.7% of the people of Wales spoke Welsh.^[1] This percentage varies according to locality: 67.3% of the people of Gwynedd speak Welsh, whereas only 2.3% do so in Monmouthshire^{[citation needed]}. However other studies have put the figure for the percentage of people in Wales with a small degree of fluency around 24%^{[citation needed]}. No figures are available for the numbers of speakers outside Wales. Welsh is also spoken in the former Welsh settlement of Patagonia, Argentina, and an Assembly-sponsored campaign aims to encourage the language within these communities.^[2]

1 2001 Census
2 Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg today
3 Welsh as the official language of Wales
4 Is Welsh used widely?
5 Related articles
6 References
7 External links

[edit] 2001 Census

The numbers of Welsh speakers rose for the first time in the 2001 census to 21% of the population,^[1] due in part to the popularity of Welsh-medium education and the numbers of adults learning the language. However, Welsh is still declining as a community language with only 3% of Welsh children brought up in homes where both parents are Welsh-speaking.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg today

Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg are campaigning for the language in many fields: education, media and culture, planning, local authorities. At present they are calling for a new Welsh Language Act which covers the many fields ignored by previous legislation passed in 1993: e.g. telecommunications, the private sector. The society has a basis on ‘passive direct action’, which is similar to the resistance movement under Gandi. Members sometimes break the laws which such actions of direct protesting, spraying windows and other minor criminal damage. The actions of the members are completely on their own accord and are in no way forced. The society shows determined actions against what they see is the criminal damage non-bilingual organizations are doing against the language and culture of Wales

WWW.CYMDEITHAS.ORG

[edit] Welsh as the official language of Wales

Welsh is not at present the official language of Wales, in the opinion of Cymdeithas yr Iaith. The Welsh Language Act of 1993 declared that Welsh should be treated on an equal basis with English. However Cymdeithas yr Iaith argue that this falls short of what is needed, and they are calling for Welsh and English to be declared official languages in Wales. The lack of official status means that the Welsh language misses out on many crucial European grants.

The principal campaigns can be divided into six major area

Cymru 2020 (Wales 2020) This campaigns hopes to secure the future of the language by 2020 and avoid a crises where the language could be in decline.

Grwp Deddf Iaith Newydd (New Welsh language act group) This campaign is involved in the demand for a new Welsh language act. The current welsh language act does not include areas such as the private or voluntary sector, and these sectors are seen as some of the principal areas of social communication in modern Wales.

Grwp Deddf Eiddo (Property act group) The property act group calls for recognition of Welsh speaking communities with reference to legal references on ownership of property.

Grwp Addysg (Education group) Welsh language medium education is available in most areas of Wales in the secondary and primary stage of school education. Welsh language second G.C.S.Es are compulsory in English medium education although the resources available are poor. This group demands improvements and also massive expansions in further (college) and higher (university) education. This mainly includes a Welsh language federal college, which is a multi-sided college that provides courses and resources in the medium of Welsh. However, the demands have been mostly ignored by the Welsh assemble government, and British parliament.

Darlledu

Gwreiddiwch yn y Gymuned

[edit] Is Welsh used widely?

Welsh is used in every field: education at all levels, businesses, local authorities, media, publishing, health and the voluntary sector.^{[citation needed]} Both Welsh and English are spoken in the National Assembly for Wales. Cymdeithas are pressing for more politicians to use Welsh in the chamber.