DCMS Committee to examine health and future of minority languages

• Inquiry: Minority languages
• Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee

MPs will consider the key factors determining whether a minority language thrives, what the criteria should be for determining official status, and whether there are lessons to be learnt from other countries where there is widespread fluency in more than one language.

Terms of reference

The DCMS Committee is inviting written evidence on the following questions by 10th March 2023.

1. What are the key factors determining whether an indigenous minority language thrives?
2. What lessons can be learned from countries whose populations achieve widespread fluency in both a majority and indigenous minority language?
3. What should be the criteria for judging whether a minority language should receive official status?
4. What should be the role of the UK Government in supporting and developing indigenous minority languages?

Written evidence can be submitted in a minority language but must be accompanied with an English translation.

Chair's comments

Rt Hon Damian Green MP, DCMS Committee Acting Chair, said:

“Travellers taking a trip through the British Isles a few centuries ago would have heard a rich array of languages and dialects from Norn in the far north to Cornish in the south west. Since then we have become increasingly monoglot, but the Scots, Scottish Gaelic, Irish, Welsh, Ulster Scots and Cornish languages remain important aspects of regional culture, with others such as Cornish undergoing a process of revival. Our inquiry will examine how our minority languages are faring, whether they can survive in a world dominated by English and what the role of the Government should be in their preservation and development.”

Further information

• About Parliament: Select committees
• Visiting Parliament: Watch committees

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