Are there any languages that have a (relatively) small number of native speakers but a lot of people who try to learn it?
Yes, Scots. Most Scottish people attempt, sometimes embarrasingly, to speak it on Burns Night, and many but increasingly fewer at Hogmanay. But for the rest of the year, thanks to what is known as the Scottish Cringe, they are forced, or try, to speak like English people - or, worse, like Edinburgh intellectuals.
Scots is not officially supported in Scotland, I believe, yet Ulster Scots receives government grants in Northern Ireland, and Gaelic gets subsidies in both countries.
(I am not a Scot and am not taking sides.)
The issue with Scots is that linguists tend to define it as a dialect of English and more politically inclined people call it a language. Really if you see Ulster Scots written down it's little different than if I took the dialect of English spoken in the rural part of Ireland I came from and wrote it down phonetically as per the Munster accent. Some of the phrases and terms and the spelling would throw you but it's still clearly English. Gaelic and Gaeilge on the other hand have more in common with the Slavic languages than English.
Personally though I think calling Ulster Scots a language and giving it subsidies solves a lot of issues politically in the North so I'm fine with it.
paK0 wrote: Are there any languages that have a (relatively) small number of native speakers but a lot of people who try to learn it?
Latin!
There are parents (language nerds ) out there who are raising their children monolingually through Latin until school age and only then introducing the language of the country they live in. I don't think it'll work without Latin being a community language but it's interesting.
paK0 wrote: Are there any languages that have a (relatively) small number of native speakers but a lot of people who try to learn it?
Latin!
There are parents (language nerds ) out there who are raising their children monolingually through Latin until school age and only then introducing the language of the country they live in. I don't think it'll work without Latin being a community language but it's interesting.
Wow, I feel sorry for those kids, having to learn a dead language XD
I learned latin myself, but it was mandatory in school and after the 4 years I had to take it I immedeately forgot almost everything, same with my friends, I guess thats more the norm than an exception.
) out there who are raising their children monolingually through Latin until school age and only then introducing the language of the country they live in. I don't think it'll work without Latin being a community language but it's interesting.