Celtic Day 2022 — Programme of Events

Welcome

Registration

Upon arrival please register for place on the lectures and tasters you would like to attend throughout the day. Places will be allocated on a first come first serve basis.

Lecture

Introductory presentation on the Celtic languages

An introductory presentation on the Celtic languages outlining the current ideas on the development of this branch of the Indo-European language family. We will discuss characteristic features where they differ from the Romance languages and Teutonic languages for example. We will also compare and contrast the two branches (Brythonic and Goidelic) of the surviving Celtic languages.

Lecture

Native learners of Welsh

Who counts as a native speaker in Wales and is there any such thing as a native learner? In this lecture, City Lit Welsh Tutor Jack Pulman-Slater will be offering some insights to some contemporary research into how different accents of English affect pronunciation in adult learners of Welsh.

Lecture

"Ní bheidh a leithéid arís ann" (there will not be the likes again).

In the first half of the twentieth century, Gaeltacht autobiographies (the life stories of individuals living in Irish language speaking regions) achieved international fame and in some cases notoriety. These memoirs describe the harshness and difficulty of island life but also are written with rich humour and above all a commitment by the authors to commemorate a way of life that is quickly vanishing. This talk will look at the key features of Irish Language autobiographies, analysing their linguistic features and considering their ongoing legacy as a rich storehouse of language, philosophy, idioms, song and memory.

Lecture

General presentation on mutations in the Celtic languages

Celtic languages are known for their mutation systems. But what exactly is a mutation? What do they do? Where did they come from? In this lively and interactive lecture we’ll be talking all things mutations and offering some tips on how best to learn them.

Taster session

Irish Gaelic taster

By the end of the taster you will able to greet someone, tell your name and order 3 drink in a cafe.

Taster Session

Welsh taster

By the end of the taster you will able to greet someone, tell your name and order 3 drink in a cafe.

Taster session

Scottish Gaelic taster

By the end of the taster you will able to greet someone, tell your name and order 3 drink in a cafe.

Taster Session

Cornish taster

By the end of the taster you will able to greet someone, tell your name and order 3 drink in a cafe.

Lecture

Influence of the sea – sea themed Welsh song (CW)

Wales has nearly 900 miles of coastline, so its connection with the sea is undoubted, with infamous pirates, and shipwrecks aplenty, We'll have a look at some sea-themed songs, so expect to do some listening and some singing!

Lecture

Cornish Poetry

Every language has its own unique voice, its own unique combination of sounds and intonation, each of which sings to the poet’s ear. In recent years, a number of poets have emerged writing in Kernewek, the Cornish language, drawing upon a rich heritage of Medieval Cornish texts, at the same time forging distinctive new modes of expression, exploring, stretching and reshaping the boundaries of the language.

Lecture

"'Beidh a leithéid arís ann': Irish in Music and Film Today".

This talk will look at how Irish has been brought into the modern world through music and film. It will focus on the slew of recent Irish language films being released in Ireland, showing clips from some, and illustrating how effective funding schemes are transforming the language from one that has been traditionally associated with old times to one that is vibrant and rooted in contemporary lives. It will also look at how the language is being used in music, particularly—and most radically—in the music of Kneecap, a hip-hop trio from Belfast. We will look at some examples of lyrics together and follow along as we listen to songs.

Lecture

“Six things I wish I’d known when I started learning Scottish Gaelic”.

Some key principles about Scottish Gaelic grammar and pronunciation, which help you understand what’s going on. Some of it is very different from English, and other Indo-European languages.