Welsh language

Welsh, known natively as *Cymraeg* or *y Gymraeg*, is a Brittonic Celtic language belonging to the Welsh people. Within Wales, roughly 18% of the population speak it as a first language, and it is also used by some communities in England and in Y Wladfa, a Welsh settlement in Argentina’s Chubut Province. English speakers have historically referred to it as British, Cambrian, Cambric, or Cymric.

The language holds official status in Wales under the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, and both Welsh and English are de jure official languages of the Senedd, the Welsh parliament. Data from the 2021 census shows that 538,300 residents of Wales aged three or older—17.8% of the population—could speak Welsh, with just over a quarter (25.1%) reporting some level of Welsh-language ability. Other surveys suggest higher figures: a 2022–2023 survey found that 34% of people aged 16 or over could speak Welsh, with 18% claiming full speaking ability and 16% some ability. By March 2026, another estimate put the number of Welsh speakers aged three or older at 843,700, or 27.3% of the population.

Nearly half of Welsh speakers consider themselves fluent, while 20% say they can speak a fair amount. Daily use is reported by 56% of speakers, and 19% speak the language weekly. Since 1951, the absolute number of Welsh speakers in Wales has risen, but the percentage relative to the total population has declined in every census except those of 1991 and 2001. The Welsh Government aims to reach one million speakers and double daily usage by 2050. Since 1980, enrolment in Welsh-medium schools has grown, while attendance at bilingual and dual-medium schools has fallen. UNESCO considers Welsh the least endangered Celtic language.

The language evolved from the speech of the ancient Britons, though the transition was gradual and not marked by a single event. Some historians place the emergence of Welsh as late as the 9th century, with a key turning point proposed by linguist Kenneth H. Jackson: the Battle of Dyrham in 577 AD, which severed direct overland contact between the South Western British and the Welsh. Welsh history is divided into four loosely defined periods: Primitive, Old, Middle, and Modern. Primitive Welsh followed the language’s emergence; Old Welsh spans roughly the early 9th to the 12th century; Middle Welsh continues to the 14th century; and Modern Welsh begins thereafter, split into Early and Late phases.

Late Modern Welsh, the form spoken today, began with William Morgan’s 1588 translation of the Bible—the first complete Welsh Bible. Because the Protestant Reformation emphasized literacy and vernacular scripture, this translation standardized the language across Wales and remains readable to most modern Welsh speakers. The first Welsh dictionary, *Antiquae linguae Britannicae*, a Welsh-Latin work, was published in 1632 by John Davies, who had assisted in translating the 1588 Bible. The first Welsh-English dictionary appeared in fifteen parts between 1770 and 1794, compiled by John Walters based on William Gambold’s earlier work.

The English word “Welsh” comes from Old English *wealh* and *wielisc*, which trace back to the Proto-Germanic *Walhaz*. That term was derived from the name of the Celtic Volcae, known to the Romans, and came to refer to Celtic speakers and, later, to people of the Western Roman Empire generally. In Old English, its meaning narrowed to Britons specifically or, in some contexts, slaves. The plural *Wēalas* became the name for their territory, Wales. Similar etymologies appear in modern names for Romance-speaking peoples on the continent, such as Walloons, Valaisans, Vlachs/Wallachians, and the Polish term for Italians, *Włosi*. The Welsh name for the language, *Cymraeg*, descends from the Brythonic *combrogi*, meaning “compatriots” or “fellow countrymen.”

Welsh originated from Common Brittonic, the Celtic language of the ancient Britons. Classified as Insular Celtic, it likely arrived in Britain during the Bronze or Iron Age and was probably spoken across the island south of the Firth of Forth. During the Early Middle Ages, increased dialect differentiation caused the British language to fragment, giving rise to Welsh and other Brittonic languages. The exact point when Welsh became distinct is unclear. Kenneth H. Jackson suggested that changes in syllabic structure and sound patterns were complete by around 550 AD, and he labeled the period from then to about 800 AD as “Primitive Welsh.” This early form may have been spoken in both Wales and the Hen Ogledd (“Old North”), the Brittonic-speaking areas of what are now northern England and southern Scotland, and could therefore be the ancestor of both Welsh and Cumbric. Jackson, however, believed the two varieties were already distinct by that time. The earliest Welsh poetry, attributed to the *Cynfeirdd* or “Early Poets,” is generally dated to the Primitive Welsh period, though much of it was supposedly composed in the Hen Ogledd, raising questions about its original language and dating.