Editing Manx language (section)

===17th to 19th centuries===
Manx had diverged considerably from the Gaelic languages of Scotland and Ireland between 1400 and 1900. The 17th century [[Plantation of Ulster]], the decline of Irish in [[Leinster]] and the extinction of [[Galwegian Gaelic|Galloway Gaelic]] led to the geographic isolation of Manx from other dialects of Gaelic. The development of a separate [[orthography]] also led Manx to diverge from Irish and Scottish Gaelic.<ref name=":1" />

In the 17th century, some university students left the Isle of Man to attend school in England. At the same time, teaching in English was required in schools founded by governor [[Isaac Barrow (bishop)|Isaac Barrow]]. Barrow also promoted the use of English in churches; he considered that it was a superior language for reading the Bible; however, because the majority of ministers were monolingual Manx speakers, his views had little practical impact.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2"/>

[[Thomas Wilson (bishop)|Thomas Wilson]] began his tenure as Bishop of Mann in 1698 and was succeeded by Mark Hildesley. Both men held positive views of Manx; Wilson was the first person to publish a book in Manx, a translation of ''The Principles and Duties of Christianity'' ({{Lang|gv|Coyrie Sodjey}}), and Hildesley successfully promoted the use of Manx as the language of instruction in schools. The New Testament was first published in Manx in 1767. In the late 18th century, nearly every school was teaching in English. This decline continued into the 19th century, as English gradually became the primary language spoken on the Isle of Man.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2"/>

In 1848, J.G. Cumming wrote, "there are ... few persons (perhaps none of the young) who speak no English." [[Henry Jenner]] estimated in 1874 that about 30% of the population habitually spoke Manx (12,340 out of a population of 41,084). According to official census figures, 9.1% of the population claimed to speak Manx in 1901; in 1921 the percentage was only 1.1%.<ref name=":3">Gunther 1990, 59–60</ref> Since the language was used by so few people, it had low linguistic "[[Prestige (sociolinguistics)|prestige]]", and parents tended not to teach Manx to their children, thinking it would be useless to them compared with English.<ref name=":2"/>

According to [[Brian Stowell]], "In the 1860s there were thousands of Manx people who couldn't speak English, but barely a century later it was considered to be so backwards to speak the language that there were stories of Manx speakers getting stones thrown at them in the towns."<ref>{{Cite news|date=31 January 2013|title=Manx: Bringing a language back from the dead|work=BBC|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21242667|access-date=6 September 2020}}</ref>