Welsh and English in the city of Bangor: A study in functional differentiation

This article considers the ways in which the Welsh and English languages are currently used in Bangor, a cathedral and university city in North Wales. The two languages carry different kinds of authority in different contexts and are acquired in different ways by children from different backgrounds. Some religious institutions have a clear commitment to one language, but others practice various forms of bilingualism. The relationship between the two languages in education and the other public services is partially determined by consciously formulated language policies but is less consistent than some official statements might suggest. The patterns of usage in commercial and domestic life are even more various and frequently involve complex forms of code-switching. (Welsh, English, Wales, bilingualism) I desgribe the usage of Welsh and English in Bangor, a city of approximately I4,000 in the county of Gwynedd, North Wales. I focus on the city of Bangor not because it can be taken as representative in any particular way of the situation in Wales, but because I have first-hand experience of its social life and educational institutions over a period of 26 years. The differing percentages of Welsh speakers throughout the country make it unwise to draw general conclusions from the situation in any one area. Both usage and policy vary widely from one county to another, and there can be large variations within a single county. The county of Gwynedd forms part of what is termed the heartland of the Welsh language, with a high proportion of Welsh speakers. Yet within Gwynedd itself the uses to which Welsh has been put vary from place to place, partly on account of the differing natures of the differing parts of the county. Caernarfon, for example, which is a town of comparable size to Bangor, is the center of local government, in which a high incidence of Welsh prevails; but it is also the site of the castle used for the investiture of the Prince of Wales - an event that was seen, by many supporters of the Welsh language and identity, as a celebration of English imperialism. Llandudno,