ISLE OF MAN

ISLE OF MAN. An island in the Irish Sea. The island was ruled by the Welsh during the 6–9c, then by the Norse until Magnus King of Norway ceded it and the Hebrides to Alexander II of Scotland in 1266. Granted to the Earls of Derby in 1406, it passed to the Dukes of Atholl in 1736, and was purchased from them by the British government partly in 1765, wholly in 1832. The island has its own parliament, the Court of Tynwald, comprising the governor, the Legislative Council, and the elected House of Keys. Acts of the British Parliament do not generally apply to the Isle of Man, which has a high degree of autonomy.

Manx Gaelic

(also Manx). This Celtic language is closely related to Irish and Scottish GAELIC. It was probably introduced in the 4c by Irish settlers and may have replaced an earlier language similar in structure to Welsh. In the 10–13c, Manx was influenced by Norse, especially in its lexicon, but continued to be the main language of the island until the end of the 18c, when English began to assume a dominant role. Ned Maddrell, the last surviving speaker of Manx, died in 1974. The Manx Society has sought to sustain Manx as the second language of the island. The form now in use tends to be that of its classical literary period, the 18c, Anglicisms being replaced by coinages from Manx roots. It tends to be influenced in the spoken form by Irish Gaelic, since islanders can receive the Irish-language programmes of Radio Telefis Eireann.

Manx English

Welsh and Scandinavian influence gave way in the later Middle Ages to a distinctive Manx dialect of English that has close links, with varieties in Lancashire and shows substratum influence from Manx. Manx English is non-rhotic, has /æ/ in both glass and gas, distinguishes between wh and w as in which witch, tends to replace /ŋ/ by /n/ in -ing words, and often has a glottal plosive for /t/ (especially before syllabic n as in beaten, touting). Syntactic influence from Gaelic is found in the use of such preposition and pronoun constructions as They returned with money at them and put a sight on her (visit her). The Gaelic influence is stronger in vocabulary and includes words associated with farming (collagh a stallion), food (braghtan bread and butter), the home (chiollagh hearth), and folk traditions (crosh caoirn a cross made from twigs or rushes and placed over a door). See CELTIC LANGUAGES.