Letter: War of words

Were Bill Goodall and Crawford Mackie (Letters, 25 January) to check the generic Wikipedia entry on "language" they might be persuaded to step off the treadmill of animosity toward the Gaelic language in particular. Then again, perhaps not; we might be entitled to infer that their hostility demonstrates evidence of a deeper psychosis.

Mr Goodall judges a language to have value only if it is "economically useful", though he doesn't tell us how this is to be measured. Mr Mackie asserts that Gaelic "absorbs 25 million of public spending each year" but doesn't tell us how many billions English costs us.

Stepping on my own treadmill, I'd say the disgrace is that only 25m is invested in my native language, when we are entitled to many millions more in reparations for the damage done to the state of Gaelic by government policies since the 1872 Education (Scotland) Act effectively denied its existence.

Having just returned from visiting two of the growing number of schools where children are enthusiastically, and successfully, learning to discover the world, and to articulate their view of it, through the medium of Gaelic, I can assure both, and all other sceptics, that the process is the antithesis of parochialism.

And, having been invited as a Gaelic writer, I have met with hugely positive responses to the language and culture from America to Japan, and across Europe from the Arctic Circle to the Mediterranean. And it was not I but Gaelic that served in the ambassadorial role.

Its continuing existence may be a vexation to the Goodalls and Mackies of this world: go elsewhere, and the response is entirely welcoming. Visitors to Scotland are also invariably delighted to encounter physical manifestations of the language. A cause for celebration surely, and perhaps even "economically useful".

Aonghas MacNeacail

Carlops

Peeblesshire

The debate on languages seems to have descended into the usual slanging match over Gaelic. Alasdair H MacInnes (Letters, 27 January), thinks that "young children" would get "a head start" by being sent to "Gaelic-medium schools".

While the learning of any language is good as a discipline, it would do children far more good for them to learn Latin. It must be recognised that learning Latin has benefits which extend beyond that of acquiring any other language on Earth, including Gaelic.

The disciplines involved in learning Latin have a spill-over effect in understanding the rules of grammar (including that of English), the absence of which is increasingly noticeable nowadays. It is fundamental to the learning of the Romance languages.

It is one of the main languages used for medical terminology. It reflects upon the Scots system of law which is based on Roman law. It is also central to the terminology of the legal systems of most of Europe.

Having studied Latin from the age of seven, which was normal when I was a boy, I have found it an amazing asset in most areas of life.It has helped to broaden my linguistic skills and my reading of historical texts.

It has enabled me to learn French without pain and to understand, if not to speak, other European languages, as well as gaining an insight into many of the words which have enriched English over the last thousand years.

Gaelic may offer a linguistic interest. It has historical importance in much of Scotland outside the south-east, but it does not offer the benefits of Latin.

That is why a lot of the money being spent on promoting Gaelic for nationalistic reasons (especially in a part of Scotland in which it has never been spoken) is being wasted.

Andrew HN Gray

Craiglea Drive

Edinburgh