Thora Tenbrink and Emily-Louise Beech discuss new research from Anglesey, which suggests that Welsh is not simply a means of communication but a cultural and emotional resource that shapes how people connect with landscapes, with their heritage and with each other.
Public discussions about the Welsh language are often dominated by statistics. How many people speak Welsh? How often do they use it? Are we making progress towards the ambition of a million Welsh speakers by 2050?
These are important questions, particularly at a time when concerns about the language’s long-term future remain acute. Yet such a focus on numbers risks overlooking another question that may be just as significant: what does the Welsh language actually do in people’s lives?
Language is not merely a tool for exchanging information. It carries memory, local knowledge, cultural meaning, and ways of seeing the world. It shapes how people relate to one another and to the places they call home. In Wales, where language and landscape have evolved together over centuries, this relationship is particularly powerful.
Research undertaken as part of the Public Map project on Anglesey offers a compelling illustration of this wider role. Working with local communities, the project revealed how Welsh is not simply a language that people speak, but rather a resource through which they express belonging, engage with their communities and make sense of their environment.
Syniadau uchelgeisiol, awdurdodol a mentrus.
Ymunwch â ni i gyfrannu at wneud Cymru gwell.
Discovering the role of language
The Public Map project, a collaboration between Cambridge, Wrexham, Cardiff and Bangor universities, aims to ensure that local voices – especially those of children and young people – are included in conversations about the future of communities on Anglesey.
These observations suggest that Welsh functions as a form of cultural infrastructure: something that helps sustain relationships between people, places and communities.
While the Welsh language was not originally a central focus of the project, it quickly became impossible to ignore. Across creative workshops, public events, school activities, surveys and interviews, adding up to more than 1,700 participants, what emerged was a new understanding of Welsh. Far from being seen primarily as a policy issue or educational outcome, it stood out as a cultural and emotional resource, helping people articulate their connection to place and their sense of responsibility towards it.
Participants frequently linked the Welsh language to feelings of identity, community and place attachment. Children used it to describe landscapes they valued. Adults spoke about its connection to local history and belonging. Staff working on the project increasingly recognised that language was shaping the character of interactions in ways they had not anticipated. These observations suggest that Welsh functions as a form of cultural infrastructure: something that helps sustain relationships between people, places and communities.
The language of home
One of the most revealing findings emerged during Lle Llais, a series of outdoor community events held across the island. The events encouraged children and young people to engage creatively with their surroundings through storytelling, poetry, crafts and sensory activities. Participants were invited to reflect on what they could see, hear, smell and feel in the landscapes around them.
What stood out was the way many children used Welsh when discussing places that mattered to them.
Yet languages flourish not only because they are taught but because they are lived.
When asked about their favourite local places, children repeatedly described them using words associated with home, beauty and peace. These were not abstract responses. Children often connected places to memories, relationships and everyday experiences. A park was valued because it was somewhere they visited with family. A stretch of coastline mattered because it offered calm and familiarity. Particular locations were described not simply as attractive but as places where people felt they belonged.
The Welsh language acted as a vehicle for articulating emotional connections to place. It was not merely a means to describe the landscape; it was helping people make sense of their relationship with it.
This aligns with a growing body of research suggesting that language and place attachment are closely linked. The words available to us shape how we understand the world around us, and local languages often carry generations of accumulated knowledge, memory and meaning. In this sense, Welsh can be understood as part of the cultural infrastructure of place.
Why the outdoors mattered
The project also revealed something unexpected about the contexts in which Welsh was used.
During outdoor activities, particularly at Newborough Beach, children appeared noticeably more comfortable using Welsh than they sometimes did in classroom settings. Given the freedom to move around, explore and interact informally, many chose to speak Welsh with one another even when there was no expectation or requirement to do so. They demonstrated a confidence and naturalness in language use that is often less evident in formal educational environments.
This finding raises important questions about how language is supported and sustained. Too often, discussions about Welsh focus exclusively on formal learning. Yet languages flourish not only because they are taught but because they are lived.
The success of Welsh-medium education has been central to the language’s revival. At the same time, the Anglesey experience highlights that informal opportunities for meaningful use in outdoor settings may be equally important. When language becomes part of shared experiences, friendships and connections to place, it gains a social and emotional significance that extends beyond the classroom.
The confidence gap
At the same time, the research highlights some of the challenges facing Welsh today.
Welsh plays a crucial role in strengthening relationships between people and place. It is a means of expressing belonging, sharing experiences and engaging with community life; it functions as a bridge between identity, culture and landscape.
One of the most striking findings was a gap between linguistic ability and language choice. Many participants who identified themselves as Welsh speakers nevertheless preferred to complete surveys or read information in English. Some children reported feeling most comfortable in Welsh while still choosing English in more formal contexts.
This reflects a broader reality across Wales. Being able to speak a language, even regarding it as one’s native tongue, does not necessarily mean feeling confident using it in every situation.
Institutional habits, social expectations and peer pressure all influence language choice. Clearly, language revitalisation is not solely about increasing competence. Confidence, visibility and everyday opportunities for use are equally important.
Language, identity and belonging
Perhaps the most powerful insights came from interviews with adults reflecting on their relationship with Welsh.
Participants repeatedly described the language as inseparable from the landscape and culture of Anglesey. Speaking Welsh was frequently tied to a sense of belonging and rootedness. The language connects people not only to their communities but also to local history, traditions and the physical environment itself. For some, this also encouraged a sense of care and responsibility towards the places where they lived.
People are often motivated to protect what they feel connected to. Language can help create and sustain those connections.
Gofod i drafod, dadlau, ac ymchwilio.
Cefnogwch brif felin drafod annibynnol Cymru.
A resource for the future
Contemporary Wales faces significant challenges, from demographic change and environmental pressures to questions about community cohesion and participation. The Welsh language is intricately connected with many of these challenges. And the Public Map project suggests that it has an important contribution to make.
The findings encourage us to think differently about language policy and language planning. Beyond preserving a linguistic heritage or achieving numerical targets, Welsh plays a crucial role in strengthening relationships between people and place. It is a means of expressing belonging, sharing experiences and engaging with community life; it functions as a bridge between identity, culture and landscape.
If the future of Welsh is to be secured, these wider social and emotional dimensions deserve as much attention as census returns. The Public Map project demonstrates that Welsh remains a living language because it continues to offer its speakers meaningful ways of understanding where they are, who they are and how they belong.
That is why Welsh matters. It is, quite literally, more than words.
