Irish is different as it was largely dead by the 19th century.
On the other hand, Mayan languages and Nauhatul remain actively spoken across Southern Mexico and Guatemala.
I remember a decade ago the USCIS went on a hiring binge for Mayan interpreters becuase there was an influx of Guatemalan undocumented immigrants due to the economic collapse following their domestic instability.
By the 20th century. The Irish language was quite alive and Irish speakers made up a majority in several major areas before the Great Famine (which obviously and not at all surprisingly disproportionally affected Irish speakers due to the pseudo-genocidal policies of the British government)
Makes sense. I thought it had died out by the early 20th century, but based on census data it didn't die out but did see a rapid decline.
That said, I was thinking post-famine.
> Irish is different as it was largely dead by the 19th century.
Absolute bollocks. Irish is still a living language in daily use today , albeit the last monoglot almost certainly died before 1950. Of the Celtic languages Cornish is at best a zombie, revived on the basis of its incredibly close relationship to Breton. Manx has been on life support or at death’s door for 70 years, but there was still at least one fluent nerve speaker when it became something more passed on in classes than in daily life. Welsh is in relatively good health and Irish and Scots Gaelic are living languages used in daily life in small, marginal areas.
> On the other hand, Mayan languages and Nauhatul remain actively spoken across Southern Mexico and Guatemala.
Yes. The Spanish spread them with their empire after the empires that first spoke them were conquered.