Conference Record Online
November 16, 2022
An online record of the August Soillse Conference on “Rooting Minority Language Policy in the Speaker Community” has now been created. This document provides links to video recordings of many of the presentations, together with PDF versions of the slides or texts, and further links to other videos displayed throughout the conference. You can access […]
Conference Statement
September 6, 2022
The 2022 Soillse Conference: Rooting Minority Language Policy in the Speaker Community Conference Statement The Soillse conference held in Stornoway from 29-31 August 2022, advises Scottish Government, Bòrd na Gàidhlig, Local Authorities, development agencies and, importantly, individuals and families speaking and learning Gaelic to come together in a spirit of cooperation and renewal. A renewed […]
Community Projects
August 2, 2022
Projects with close community links will be on display at the Stornoway conference at the end of the month. Series of videos in Gaelic or about Gaelic will be viewable in playlists put together on the Island Voices site, including “Stòras Beò nan Gàidheal”, “Saoghal Thormoid”, “Island Voices Series 1&2” and “International MOOT”. No specific […]
Community Conference
July 11, 2022
Conference Fee Waiver for Islanders To encourage local participation in this conference we will offer free places to island residents from the Gaelic Crisis study area. We do ask islanders to register on the conference website, however, to allow the organisers to plan appropriate hospitality for the event. Follow tinyurl.com/rootedlanguagepolicy, click on Tickets, and choose […]
Conference Programme
July 5, 2022
The draft programme for the conference on Rooting Minority Language Policy in the Speaker Community has now been published. The conference will be held in Stornoway on 29th-31st August (details here: http://tinyurl.com/rootedlanguagepolicy). The draft programme (updated on 24/08/22) can be viewed here: http://www.soillse.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/Soillse-Conference-Draft-Programme-2022-Final-version.pdf You can also see the list of abstracts for presentations here: http://www.soillse.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/Gearr-chunntasan_Abstracts_Soillse_version_110822.pdf
Conference: Rooting Minority Language Policy in the Speaker Community
June 30, 2022
International Conference, 29–31 August 2022, Caladh Inn, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Scotland Soillse is delighted to announce an international sociolinguistics conference on ‘Rooting Minority Language Policy in the Speaker Community’ which will be held between 29–31 August 2022 at Caladh Inn, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Scotland. The conference is organised and sponsored by Soillse, University […]
Presentation for North Uist Historical Society
June 27, 2022
A presentation was given to Comann Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath (North Uist Historical Society) by Iain Caimbeul and Conchúr Ó Giollagáin on the Gaelic Crisis as part of the “Aire Air Sund” project in which CEUT is currently engaged. This was followed by a lively debate with members of the Society. The presentation can be […]
Seminar on Gaelic ASR
May 5, 2022
Soillse held an online seminar on “Progress Towards Accurate Automatic Speech Recognition” on 27/04/22, led by Dr Will Lamb, Senior Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh. The attendance was international with representation from Basque, Friulian, and Maltese language interests, as well as Scottish Gaelic community members. Dr Lamb’s presentation was recorded. You can view it […]
Conference: Rooting Minority Language Policy in the Speaker Community
February 21, 2022
Soillse International Conference, 29–31 August 2022, Caladh Inn, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Scotland Call for Papers Soillse is happy to announce an international sociolinguistics conference on ‘Rooting Minority Language Policy in the Speaker Community’ to be held between 29–31 August 2022 at Caladh Inn, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Scotland. The conference is organised and sponsored […]
“Talking Points” from Norman Maclean
January 18, 2022
A series of recorded discussions on Language Endangerment, Language Hierarchies, and Language Contact. In the last few weeks of the funded period for Mediating Multilingualism, international project partners in universities in Scotland, India, and Jamaica discussed themes of common interest with UK-based community language speakers, stimulated by brief extracts from the final session of Saoghal Thormoid. These […]
Gaelic Award
November 17, 2021
Congratulations to the Gaelic Algorithmic Research Group GARG at the University of Edinburgh on their Gaelic Award for the work they’ve done on Gaelic Speech Recognition! The Innovation Award is for someone who showed the most innovation and creativity using the Gaelic language or contribution to the growth or development of the language.Well done to […]
Agency and Participation Factors: the Gaelic Vernacular Community
August 24, 2021
“This research study builds on the legacy of the Gaelic Crisis in the Vernacular Community research (GCVC)[1] through exploring community agency and participation factors relevant to how Gaelic development interventions engage with the Gaelic vernacular community.” More here: https://www.uhi.ac.uk/en/research-enterprise/res-themes/humanities-and-arts/language-sciences-institute/publications/agency-and-participation-factors-the-gaelic-vernacular-community/ PDF: An exploration of agency and participation factors relevant to supporting Gaelic vernacular communities.
Gaelic Crisis Discussion Recorded
July 5, 2021
This is the recording of “One Year On: ‘The Gaelic Crisis in the Vernacular Community’”, delivered on 2nd July 2021, in which a panel of island residents discussed the impact of the book. This was followed by an open forum for follow-up questions and comments. Professor Conchúr Ó Giollagáin’s opening Powerpoint presentation can be viewed […]
UHI Debate: ‘One Year On’
June 18, 2021
Friday 2nd July, 11-12.30pm Free, open to all. Register https://tinyurl.com/knt6jzjk
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Workshop on “Urras na Gàidhlig”
April 29, 2021
Another online workshop was held on the recommendation in the Gaelic Crisis publication for the establishment of “Urras na Gàidhlig”. Iain Campbell from the Language Sciences Institute at the University of the Highlands and Islands spoke on the topic “Building Resilience in Gaelic-speaking Communities: Governance, Agency, Participation“. The presentation is written in English, but Iain spoke to […]
ASR project final report
April 16, 2021
Here is the final report on the Gaelic speech recognition project funded by Soillse. As can be seen, although the Soillse seed-funding has come to an end, the development work continues with a growing team.
Spring Sale
April 1, 2021
Special 40% discount price of £15 on this important book throughout April. From the Gaelic Books Council here: https://gaelicbooks.org/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=1688&search=gaelic+crisis
New insights
March 22, 2021
Soillse held an online workshop on “New Insights on the Vernacular Gaelic Communities in the Islands” for members and associates on 04/03/21, led by Professor Conchúr Ó Giollagáin. There was university representation from a cross-section of the network, as well as from a range of scholars outwith Scotland. Significantly, a number of Gaelic-speaking community […]
International Mother Language Day event recorded
March 3, 2021
International Mother Language Day was celebrated across the globe on 21/02/21. Among the many online events, the Digital Museum held a series of sessions with a focus from South Asia to North America. Gaelic was featured in Session 3, alongside Jamaican. Soillse Director, Conchúr Ó Giollagáin delivered the opening presentation (at 00.12.50), summarising the key […]
Gaelic Speech Recognition Update
January 29, 2021
Lucy Evans, working on the Edinburgh-led Gaelic Speech Recognition project, has produced a comprehensive report on progress so far for the Gaelic Algorithmic Research Group blog. This is supplemented with some early examples of how their work is already yielding results in relation to automatic video-subtitling. You can read it here. While the Soillse start-up […]
Minority Language Media and COVID-19
November 10, 2020
In their series on minority language media and the effects of COVID-19 pandemic, the European Centre for Minority Issues return to the British Isles for an in-depth analysis of Scottish Gaelic. Dr. Douglas Chalmers, Senior Lecturer in Media and Journalism at Glasgow Caledonian University, provides a thorough overview of the situation for that linguistic sphere, in particular by focusing on the public service […]
Gaelic Crisis: Caibideil 9
November 6, 2020
For anyone wishing to read more about the “Gaelic Crisis” in advance of the community meetings being held by Western Isles MSP, Alasdair Allan, a Gaelic translation of Chapter 9 is now available online: “A dh’ionnsaigh modail ùr airson ath-bheòthachadh coimhearsnachd na Gàidhlig”. It can be read here. And you can register for the meetings here.
“Living off the edge”: online presentation
October 30, 2020
Soillse Director, Professor Conchúr Ó Giollagáin gave an online presentation for the UHI “The Edge” seminar series on Thursday 29th October, with the title “Living off the edge: The crisis in late modern ethnolinguistic diversity from the Gaelic perspective”. It draws on findings from the “Gaelic Crisis” publication. It is now available to view on YouTube: […]
Gaelic Speech Recognition Researcher
October 5, 2020
Lucy Evans is a freshly appointed researcher at Edinburgh University, working on a Soillse-sponsored Gaelic Speech Recognition project led by Dr Will Lamb in a partnership with the University of the Highlands and Islands and Quorate Technology Ltd. Here’s her interview for GARG – the Gaelic Algorithmic Research Group: Agallamh le Lucy Evans / An […]
“The Gaelic Crisis” published
July 2, 2020
The results of Soillse’s Islands Gaelic Research Project have been published in book form. The book, ‘The Gaelic Crisis in the Vernacular Community: A Comprehensive Sociolinguistic Survey of Scottish Gaelic’, is available from the Gaelic Books Council. Evaluating the research, the authors’ main findings show that the language is in crisis, and that within remaining vernacular […]