Editing Manx language (section)

=== Literature ===
{{Main|Manx literature|Gaelic literature}}
Manx never had a large number of speakers, so it would not have been practical to mass-produce written literature. However, a body of oral literature did exist. The "[[Fianna]]" tales and others like them are known, including the Manx ballad {{lang|gv|Fin as Oshin}}, commemorating [[Finn MacCool|Finn MacCumhail]] and [[Ossian|Oisín]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/fulltext/mb1896/p002.htm |title=pp2/5 Manx Ballads - Fin as Oshin |publisher=Isle-of-man.com |access-date=15 November 2013}}</ref> With the coming of Protestantism, Manx spoken tales slowly disappeared, while a tradition of carvals, Christian ballads, developed with religious sanction. Even so, Bishop [[Mark Hildesley]], after his gardener overheard him discussing the ''[[Ossian]]'' poems of [[James Macpherson]] and admitted to known of Fionn and Oisin, the Bishop collected from the local [[oral tradition]] multiple lays in Manx from the [[Fenian Cycle]] of [[Celtic Mythology]], which were accordingly preserved for the future.<ref>''Mannanan's Cloak: An Anthology of Manx Literature'' by [[Robert Corteen Carswell]], London: Francis Boutle Publishers, 2010, pp. 80–86. (translation by Robert Corteen Carswell)</ref>

There is no record of literature written distinctively in Manx before the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]]. By that time, any presumed literary link with Ireland and Scotland, such as through Irish-trained priests, had been lost. The first published literature in Manx was ''The Principles and Duties of Christianity ({{lang|gv|Coyrie Sodjey}})'', translated by [[Bishop of Sodor and Man]] [[Thomas Wilson (bishop)|Thomas Wilson]].<ref name=":1" />

The ''[[Book of Common Prayer]]'' was translated by [[John Phillips (bishop of Sodor and Man)|John Phillips]], the Welsh-born [[Church of England|Anglican]] [[Bishop of Sodor and Man]] from 1605 to 1633. The early Manx script has some similarities with orthographical systems found occasionally in Scotland and in Ireland for the transliteration of Gaelic, such as the [[Book of the Dean of Lismore]], as well as some extensive texts based on English and Scottish English orthographical practices of the time. Little secular [[Manx literature]] has been preserved.

The [[New Testament]] was first published in 1767. When the [[Anglican church]] authorities started to produce written literature in the Manx language in the 18th century, the system developed by John Philips was further "anglicised"; the one feature retained from [[Welsh orthography]] was the use of {{vr|y}} to represent {{IPAslink|ə}} (e.g. {{lang|gv|cabbyl}} {{IPA|[kaːβəl]}} "horse" and {{lang|gv|cooney}} {{IPA|[kuːnə]}} "help" as well as {{IPA|/ɪ/}} (e.g. {{lang|gv|fys}} {{IPA|[fɪz]}} "knowledge"), though it is also used to represent {{IPA|[j]}}, (e.g. {{lang|gv|y Yuan}} {{IPA|[ə juːan]}} "John" (vocative), {{lang|gv|yeeast}} {{IPA|[jiːəst]}} "fish").

Other works produced in the 18th and 19th centuries include catechisms, hymn books and religious tracts. A translation of ''[[Paradise Lost]]'' was made by Rev. Thomas Christian of Marown in 1796.<ref>{{cite web |title=Shenn Recortyssyn |url=https://www.learnmanx.com/learning/recordings-archive/pargys-caillit/ |website=learnmanx.com |access-date=2 January 2024}}</ref>

A considerable amount of secular literature has been produced in the 20th and 21st centuries as part of the language revival. In 2006, the first full-length novel in Manx, {{lang|gv|Dunveryssyn yn Tooder-Folley}} ("The Vampire Murders") was published by Brian Stowell, after being serialised in the press. There is an increasing amount of literature available in the language, and recent publications include Manx versions of the ''Gruffalo'' and ''Gruffalo's Child''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.culturevannin.im/cms/publication_type_index_1475.html |title=Books - Lioaryn &#124; Culture Vannin &#124; Isle of Man |website=[[Culture Vannin]] |access-date=25 June 2017 |archive-date=2 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802203910/http://www.culturevannin.im/cms/publication_type_index_1475.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[Antoine de Saint-Exupéry]]'s ''[[The Little Prince]]'' was translated into Manx by Rob Teare in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://petit-prince-collection.com/lang/show_livre.php?lang=en&id=5326 |title=Antoine de Saint-Exupery - "The Little Prince" / Gaelic Manx / 2019, Edition Tintenfass, Neckarsteinach |website=petit-prince-collection.com}}</ref>