Editing Welsh language (section)

{{Short description|Brittonic language spoken natively in Wales}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2020}}
{{use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Welsh
| nativename       = {{lang|cy|Cymraeg}}, {{lang|cy|y Gymraeg}}
| image            = 
| ethnicity        = [[Welsh people|Welsh]]
| pronunciation    = {{IPA|cy|kəmˈraːiɡ||Cymraeg (cropped).wav}}
| region           = United Kingdom ([[Wales]], [[England]]), Argentina ([[Chubut Province]])
| speakers         = *[[Wales]]: 538,300 (2021) <br />(17.8% of the population of Wales in 2021, including both [[First language|L1]] and [[Second language|L2]] speakers) (official statistic)
*[[England]]: 110,000 (2007, estimated)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://calls.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/4844.pdf |title= Estimation of the number of Welsh speakers in England |author=Hywel Jones|website=calls.ac.uk}}</ref>
*[[Chubut Province|Argentina (Patagonia)]]: 1,500–5,000<ref>{{cite web|title=Patagonia's Welsh settlement was 'cultural colonialism' says academic|last=Devine |first=Darren |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/patagonias-welsh-settlement-cultural-colonialism-2514111 |website=[[Wales Online]] |publisher=[[Trinity Mirror]] |location=[[Cardiff]] |date=2013-03-30 |access-date=6 May 2017 |quote=Now, though 50,000 Patagonians are thought to be of Welsh descent, the number of Welsh speakers is believed to be between only 1,500 and 5,000.}}</ref><ref name="WAG">{{cite web |title=Wales and Patagonia |url=http://www.wales.com/Patagonia  |publisher=[[Welsh Government]] |access-date=2016-05-22 |df=dmy-all |website=Wales.com |quote=Today the province of Chubut, where most Welsh immigrants settled, has a population of 550,000 people. Of these, some 50,000 can claim Welsh ancestry and 5,000 speak the Welsh language. |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180405231745/https://www.wales.com/Patagonia |archive-date=2018-04-05}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Prior |first=Neil |date=2015-05-30 |title=Patagonia 150 years on: A 'little Wales beyond Wales' |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-32919137 |access-date=2020-07-30}}</ref>
*[[Canada]]: <3,885 ([[First language|L1]])<ref>{{cite web|title=Population of immigrant mother tongue families, showing main languages comprising each family, Canada, 2011|url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/as-sa/98-314-x/2011003/tbl/tbl3_2-1-eng.cfm|website=Statistics Canada|access-date=21 August 2017}}</ref> (2011)
*[[Australia]]: 1,737<ref>{{cite web|title=Cultural diversity: Census 2021|url=https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/cultural-diversity-census/2021|website=Australian Bureau of Statistics|date=12 January 2022 |access-date=8 October 2023}}</ref>

| speakers_label   = Speakers
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Celtic languages|Celtic]]
| fam3             = [[Insular Celtic languages|Insular Celtic]]
| fam4             = [[Brittonic languages|Brittonic]]
| fam5             = [[Western Brittonic languages|Western Brittonic]]
| ancestor         = [[Common Brittonic]]
| ancestor2        = [[Old Welsh]]
| ancestor3        = [[Middle Welsh]]
| dia1             = [[Cofi dialect|Cofi]]
| dia2             = [[Gwyndodeg]]
| dia3             = [[Powyseg]]
| dia4             = [[Dyfedeg]]
| dia5             = [[Gwenhwyseg]]
| dia6             = [[Patagonian Welsh]]
| nation           = [[Wales]] ([[United Kingdom]])
| minority         = [[Argentina]] ([[Chubut Province]])
| script           = {{Unbulleted list|[[Latin script|Latin]] ([[Welsh orthography|Welsh alphabet]])|[[Welsh Braille]]}}
| agency           = {{Unbulleted list|[[Welsh Language Commissioner]] (2012–present)|[[Welsh Language Board]] (1993–2012)}}
| iso1             = cy
| iso2b            = wel
| iso2t            = cym
| iso3             = cym
| glotto           = wels1247
| glottorefname    = Welsh
| lingua           = 50-ABA
| notice           = IPA
| map              = Welsh speakers in the 2021 census.svg
| mapcaption       = [[Welsh-speaking population]] in [[Wales]] according to the 2021 census
| coordinates      = 
}}
{{Culture of Wales}}
[[File:WIKITONGUES- Sandra speaking Welsh.webm|thumb|Video of a Welsh speaker]]
'''Welsh''' ({{lang|cy|Cymraeg}} {{IPA|cy|kəmˈraːiɡ||Cymraeg (cropped).wav}} or {{lang|cy|y Gymraeg}} {{IPA|cy|ə ɡəmˈraːiɡ|}}) is a [[Celtic languages|Celtic language]] of the [[Brittonic languages|Brittonic]] subgroup that is native to the [[Welsh people]]. Welsh is spoken natively in [[Wales]] by about 18% of the population, by some in [[England]], and in {{lang|cy|[[Y Wladfa]]|italic=no}} (the Welsh colony in [[Chubut Province]], [[Argentina]]).<ref>{{cite news |last=Edwards |first=Huw |author-link=Huw Edwards (journalist) |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z9kr9j6 |title=Why do they speak Welsh in South America? |work=BBC iWonder |access-date=2017-09-16 |df=dmy-all |archive-date=9 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190709082910/http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z9kr9j6 }}</ref>

It is spoken by smaller numbers of people in Canada and the United States descended from Welsh immigrants, within their households (especially in [[Nova Scotia]]). Historically, it has also been known in English as "British",<ref>E.g. in the [[Act of Uniformity 1662]] (13–14 Chas. II, c. 55) §27: "That the Book [of Common Prayer] hereunto annexed be truly and exactly translated into the British or Welsh tongue."</ref> "Cambrian",<ref>{{cite book|last=Nolan |first=Edward Henry |title=Great Britain As It Is |year=1859 |page=47 |publisher=[[John Lane (publisher)|John Lane & Co]] |location=[[London]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=78gHAAAAQAAJ&q=%22Great%20Britain%20As%20It%20Is%22&pg=PA47 |access-date=2018-09-10 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> "Cambric"<ref>{{cite book |last=Jackson |first=John |title=Chronological Antiquities |volume=III |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_VvlAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Chronological%20Antiquities%22%20cambric&pg=PA143 |year=1752 |page=143 |publisher=J Noon |location=[[London]]}}</ref> and "Cymric".<ref>{{citation |author-last1=Walter Thomas |author-first1=Mrs D |author-last2=Hughes |author-first2=Edward |title=The Cymric Language |year=1879 |publisher=D Duncan & Sons |location=[[Cardiff]] }}</ref>

The [[Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011]] gave the Welsh language official status in Wales.<ref>{{cite web |title=Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/mwa/2011/1/contents |access-date=2016-05-30 |work=[[legislation.gov.uk]] |publisher=[[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]] |quote=The Welsh language has official status in Wales. |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Welsh and English are ''[[de jure]]'' official languages of the Welsh Parliament, the [[Senedd]],<ref>{{cite web |title=National Assembly for Wales (Official Languages) Act 2012 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2012/1 |access-date=2018-04-19 |website=www.[[legislation.gov.uk]] |publisher=[[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]] |quote=The official languages of the Assembly are English and Welsh. |df=dmy-all}}</ref> with Welsh being the only ''de jure'' official language in any part of the United Kingdom, with English being merely ''[[de facto]]'' official.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dunbar |first=R |author-link= |year=2007 |title=Diversity in addressing diversity: Canadian and British legislative approaches to linguistic minorities and their international legal context. In: Williams C (ed) ''Language and Governance'' |url= |location=Cardiff |publisher=University of Wales Press |page=104 |isbn=}}</ref>

According to the [[2021 United Kingdom census|2021 census]], the [[Welsh-speaking population]] of Wales aged three or older was 538,300 (17.8%) and nearly three quarters of the population in Wales said they had no Welsh language skills.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Welsh language in Wales (Census 2021) |url=https://gov.wales/welsh-language-wales-census-2021-html |access-date=2022-12-06 |website=GOV.WALES |date=6 December 2022 |language=en}}</ref> Other estimates suggest that 843,500 people (27.4%) aged three or older in Wales could speak Welsh in December 2024.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=2025-04-16 |title=Welsh language data from the Annual Population Survey: 2024 [HTML] {{!}} GOV.WALES |url=https://www.gov.wales/welsh-language-data-annual-population-survey-2024-html |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=www.gov.wales |language=en}}</ref> Almost half of all Welsh speakers consider themselves fluent, while 20 per cent are able to speak a fair amount.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=2022-02-17 |title=Welsh language use in Wales (initial findings): July 2019 to March 2020 (revised) {{!}} GOV.WALES |url=https://www.gov.wales/welsh-language-use-wales-initial-findings-july-2019-march-2020-revised-html |access-date=2023-12-19 |website=www.gov.wales |language=en}}</ref> 56 per cent of Welsh speakers speak the language daily, and 19 per cent speak the language weekly.<ref name=":3" /> Year upon year since 1951, the number of Welsh speakers in Wales has increased, though the percentage of those speakers within the population of Wales has decreased every decade apart from numbers reported via the 1991 and 2001 UK Census.

The [[Welsh Government]] plans to increase the number of Welsh-language speakers to one million by 2050. Since 1980, the number of children attending [[Welsh-medium education|Welsh-medium schools]] has increased, while the number going to Welsh bilingual and dual-medium schools has decreased.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.itv.com/news/2017-09-04/back-to-school-but-not-an-english-one/ |title=Almost a quarter of children in Wales are taught only in Welsh, as the language experiences a revival |publisher=ITV News |date=2017-09-04 |access-date=2020-06-01}}</ref> Welsh is considered the least endangered Celtic language by [[UNESCO]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Luain |first=Cathal Ó |title=Unesco: Status of Celtic languages outlined by atlas |url=https://abp.bzh/unesco-status-of-celtic-languages-outlined-by-atlas-20850 |access-date=2023-05-25 |website=Agence Bretagne Presse |language=fr-FR}}</ref>