When you think of the languages of Britain, you probably think of English. After all, it is the island where the language originates from. However, you’d be surprised to know that there are hundreds more languages spoken in the country!
Whilst the languages of Britain may not be as diverse as many other European countries, Britain is home to its fair share of strange and unique languages you can’t find elsewhere…
National Languages of Britain
According to British law, the de facto language of the United Kingdom is English. However, this isn’t English the Americans know it, but rather British English, which is stereotypically more refined than American English.
British English, otherwise known as simply “English” within the UK, is the language that everyday life is conducted in.
In British schools, unless an international one, the students are taught in English by their teachers. In British Parliament, MPs will debate legislation in English. Whilst doing business in the UK, English is the language that’s usually used…
All communication between the British government and the British people is done in British English too.
If done by the country’s leader, it is usually done in the received pronunciation accent, which is universally understood by the British people. With that being said, it is dying out, with many debating how future PMs will address the nation.
Today, the British government estimates that there are around 65 million native, or near-native English speakers in the country, or roughly 99% of the entire UK population!
Regional Languages of Britain
Whilst English may be the official language of the UK, if you travel to certain regions of the UK, there are also a number of regional languages, most of which are quite unique. These include…
Scots
Today, there’s a lot of debate as to whether Scots is merely a northern dialect of English, or an entirely separate language in its own right. As of the time of writing, most scholars are siding with the latter.
For those unaware of what Scots is, it’s a Western Germanic language, just like English. However, unlike English, Scots was never influenced by the Norman French spoken post-Battle of Hastings.
As a result, it is kind of like a time capsule language. More of a “What would English look like if the Normans never conquered England?” than anything else.
Regardless, Scots is still spoken throughout Scotland today. However, most of Scots’ 1.5 million speakers are located in the northeast of Scotland, mostly in the countryside surrounding Aberdeen.
Scots is also spoken in certain parts of Northern Ireland. These are historically the places which Scots-speaking Scottish immigrants moved to Ireland in order to anglicize the country during the reign of James I.
Scottish Gaelic
However, Scots isn’t the only regional language spoken in Scotland. Whilst they’re often confused with one another (mostly due to their similar names!), Scotland also has Scottish Gaelic, sometimes known as Scots Gaelic.
At one point, the majority of what is now Scotland spoke a Gaelic language, which we now call Scots Gaelic. Since the Union of the Crowns, between England and Scotland, Scottish Gaelic has been dying out.
Primarily this has been due to English supplanting Gaelic in everyday life. However, following a number of rebellions by the Scottish against the English, the latter made Scottish Gaelic illegal, as this was the language used by the rebels.
Due to this, Scots Gaelic almost became extinct, before it was revived during the 1970’s. Although nowhere near its former glory, Scots Gaelic is spoken by around 100,000, most of whom live in the highlands of northeastern Scotland.
Irish Gaelic
Just like Scotland, Ireland too has a rich history of fighting against the English. However, whilst Scotland joined England, the Irish were defeated by the English, before being heavily anglicized, including getting rid of Irish Gaelic.
Whilst this did work in and around the major cities, it failed completely in the countryside. At the end of the 19th and start of the 20th centuries, Irish nationalists from the countryside came to the major cities.
Here, they taught many Irish people to speak Irish to a high standard. The British, thought this would fail. But it didn’t. This led to the south becoming independent, whilst the north stayed as a part of the UK.
Whilst most Irish speakers live in the south, there is a large minority of Irish-speaking Catholics in the north.
For the most part, these Irish speakers live in the south of the north, often along the Ireland-UK border, which they’re free to cross. However, some have since moved to the mainland UK, mostly being scattered throughout the UK.
According to the British government, there are roughly 150,000 Irish Gaelic speakers in the UK, the overwhelming majority of whom are in Northern Ireland.
Welsh
It’s not just Scotland and Wales that have their own historical languages. Wales does too. Similarly to the Scottish and Irish, many in Wales are very proud of their ancestral tongue.
However, in Wales, the Welsh language has somewhat of a reverence among the Welsh people. Whilst English has supplanted other Celtic languages in the UK, it hasn’t had the same success in Wales.
Instead of dying out and becoming extinct, Welsh has flourished in many regards. The Welsh people have forever held it against the English, often being quite patriotic, having Welsh flags bedding and Welsh flags in their homes.
Welsh is one of the few minority languages in Britain still used in both politics and in education. Yes, school children in Wales have to learn at least some Welsh whilst at school!
Today, there are around one million speakers of the language dotted around the UK, with most naturally being in Wales. Welsh is also one of the two official languages of Wales, alongside English.
Cornish
However, Wales, Ireland and Scotland are all distinct “countries” inside the UK. As a result, they have a national heritage they can look back on, one where their language was used on a daily basis by their ancestors not too long ago.
Cornwall, doesn’t get this luxury. Indeed, the last time they were “independent” was before the Norman Conquest of England, almost 1000 years ago. And even then, this “independence” is disputed by scholars.
As with Welsh and other Gaelic languages, Cornish too has a long history, one often in defiance of the English. However, the Cornish too have also lost this battle, becoming nothing more than a distant memory…
Sadly, the last native speaker of Cornish died out in 1777. Since then, a number of efforts to revive the language have taken place, partially succeeding, with there being anywhere from 500 to 10,000 Cornish speakers in the UK!
Immigrant Languages of Britain
On top of this, the UK has also become a rather large destination for immigrants, who often come to the UK seeking a better life. With this, they have also brought their languages, the most spoken of which are…
Chinese
Shortly after WWII, Britain saw a large influx of Chinese immigrants, mostly from the then-British colony of Hong Kong. Here, many of them settled in London, creating London’s very own Chinatown.
Since then, Chinese and Hongkongers have continually flooded into the UK, where many of them move to London’s Chinatown. Over time, they have similarly established Chinatowns in other cities, such as Manchester and Newcastle.
As one can expect, these Chinese-speaking immigrants speak almost all of the major dialects of Chinese. However, Mandarin is by far the most spoken, with around half a million native speakers, mostly in the British Chinatowns.
However, unlike in many other countries, many younger generations of Chinese-speaking immigrants are marrying British people.
As a result, there is a new generation of half-Chinese, half-British children being born who speak both languages!
Arabic
Over the last fifty years, there has been a slow, but steady increase in Arabic-speaking immigrants to the UK. This has often caused tension between the local British population and the Arabic-speaking immigrants.
Most Arabic speakers in the UK come from former British colonies. By far the most common are immigrants from Pakistan, however, there are also Arabic-speaking immigrants from Bangladesh, Egypt as well as Oman and Yemen.
Whilst these are the most famous, the UK is also home to a large portion of Arabic speakers from North Africa, primarily Morocco and Algeria, as well as Arabic-speaking countries in the Middle East such as Iran and Afghanistan.
In total, there are an estimated 200,000 to 250,000 native Arabic speakers dotted throughout the UK.
With that being said, there are around 2.1 million Muslims in the UK, most of whom speak Arabic to a high standard in order to read the Qur’an and perform prayers etc.
However, as they’re not native speakers, they are not counted in this number.
Bengali
Starting in the 1970’s, a large amount of Bengalis began to leave Bangladesh in search of a better life. Many went to the US, to have their own “American Dream” but the majority turned to the UK, Bangladesh’s former colonizer.
Here, many of them moved to wherever there was space, most commonly just outside of major cities such as London, Nottingham and Manchester. However, they’ve moved in smaller numbers to smaller cities like Lincoln and Grimsby.
In total, there are around half a million native Bengali speakers scattered throughout the UK. However, as many Bengalis are Muslim, many of them also speak Arabic to a native or near-native level!
Sadly, many young Bengalis aren’t learning Bengali from their parents. Instead, local Bengali communities have set up Bengali schools, which teach young Bengalis their ancestral tongue, which they then use at home.
Punjabi
Yet it isn’t just Bangladeshis who have moved to the UK for a better quality of life. Others from countries within the Indian subcontinent have similarly moved abroad in search of a better life.
By far the largest of them is the Punjabi community. For many of them, this actually allows them more freedom, as the Punjabi people are divided between India and Pakistan, wanting to be a part of neither.
In the UK, however, they are mostly free to do as they please. They can have Punjabi restaurants, Sikh temples and shops, creating a mini-Punjab, all without the fears of a border skirmish/war!
As a result, Punjabi, the official language of the Punjab region, is the native language of well over 700,000 people in the UK. Whilst most live in the Southall area of Greater London, British Punjabis are located all across the UK.
Tamil
During the early 1980’s, many Sri Lankans were forced to leave Sri Lanka due to the then-ongoing civil war. Many left the country and have never returned to their homeland.
Whilst many of these Sri Lankan refugees simply went to whichever country would take them in, most went to the UK, which had previously colonized Sri Lanka (under the name Ceylon).
As refugees, most Tamil-speaking Sri Lankans had very little money, with many moving to whichever places would have them. Consequently, you can find Tamil-speaking Sri Lankans wherever you go in the UK, north, south, east or west!
With that being, the majority live in either Harrow (in Northwest London) or Tooting (in South London). Here, the culture is a mix of East Asian and British, owing mostly to the British colonial influence of Tamil culture.
As of the time of writing, there are anywhere from 150,000 to 200,000 native Tamil speakers scattered throughout the UK!
Polish
Following the admission of Poland to the EU in 2004, Polish citizens were now free to move in between member countries, both for work and for pleasure.
With this, a large number of Polish citizens left the country, moving to other EU states. Although not all of them did, a large minority chose to move to UK, mostly thanks to its strong demand for low-skill jobs, which many Poles could do.
Despite long hours and what many Brits consider “poor” pay, most Poles are better off in the UK than in Poland. As a result, more and more Polish people are moving to the UK each year, even in spite of Brexit.
Much to the dismay of some Brits, these Poles often form their own mini-Polands, often in and around the town centers, where their language is the unofficial language. They even have Polish shops and restaurants too!
In total, there are around one million native speakers of Polish spread throughout the UK.
French
Historically speaking, French has always been spoken in English, particularly by the nobility. Alas, this is not the 13th century (although the Queen does speak rather good French!) so most French-speakers are French expats.
For the most part, these are French workers, who often work for French companies operating in the UK. The second largest French-speaking group are the Belgians, who also come to the UK for the same reasons!
Once they have finished their job in the UK, or retire, many French-speakers simply return home to France or Belgium.
The UK has also become a large home for French businessmen. Here, the majority of them reside in London, where they can easily conduct business, whilst also being only a few hours away from their homeland…
According to the French consulate in London, there are roughly 300,000 native French speakers in the UK. On top of this, many British schoolchildren will also learn French at school too!
Portuguese
By the late 1970’s, Portugal was one of the poorest countries in Europe. Over the course of the next fifty years, a large portion of the Portuguese population would leave in search of a better life abroad.
This led to many moving to almost every country in the EU. The UK, proved to be one of the most popular destinations, today having well over 175,000 native Portuguese speakers in the UK.
Whilst the majority of these native Portuguese speakers are from Portugal, there are also large minorities from Brazil as well as the Portuguese-speaking regions of Macau.
For the most part, these Portuguese-speaking immigrants have moved to the same places, often just outside of major cities such as London or Manchester.
Here, they also do the same kinds of jobs, with their kids going to the same schools. In many ways, they have created their own mini-Portugals, fit with Portuguese shops and restaurants too!
Spanish
As with Portugal, Spain was similarly poor, much for the same reasons. Due to this, many Spaniards also wanted to leave Spain in search of a better life abroad.
For many of them, Britain was the obvious choice. Although most Spaniards chose the UK for differing reasons, it was often due to the relative prosperity and stability of the UK.
However, unlike the Portuguese, most Spaniards that came to the UK just lived wherever there was room. As such, Spanish culture in the UK is mostly isolated to the individual households, rather than in certain areas.
In total, there are around 125,000 Spanish-speaking immigrants in the UK. On top of this, many British schoolchildren learn Spanish at school, although French is more popular.
Which are your favorite language of Britain? Do you speak any (minus English of course!)? Tell me in the comments!