Briganno

Classification and Dialects
Briganno is a Romance language spoken in Ireland by approximately 13,000 people. The language came about when Roman soldiers attempted to establish forts on the Southeastern coast of Hibernia. Though the colonies failed to be properly administrated, and fell into anarchy, the Roman civilians who settled there continued to grow and speak Vulgar Latin. The language developed as the Romans lived near the Brigantes tribe, and several dialects of Latin took shape.

In the Medieval period, the different tribes began to centralize under feudalism, and a small kingdom coalesced called Brigantia (Brigannea). The kingdom was fully Celtic in culture and technology, meaning the kings, though they spoke a Romance language, could do little to fend off Norse invaders. The kingdom was hit hard by the subsequent Norman invasions of the British Isles, and they banded with other Irish kingdoms under Ruaidhri Ua Conchubair (Roderic O'Conner). Unfortunately the alliance shattered when the High King died and soon most of Ireland was conquered by the Anglo-Normans.

As English began to replace the native languages of the island, Briganno was again affected particularly hard. The Brigantians found they could communicate more easily with the Norman-French speaking nobility, and soon it was more fashionable to speak French (and later English), as well as offering more social opportunity.

By the modern period, Briganno was an endangered language. And while Gaeilge never faced extinction (never dipping below 100,000 speakers), Briganno had fallen to a few hundred mainly elderly speakers, and a few dozen younger speakers (none of whom were monolingual). A revival effort was undertaken, at the same time as one for Irish, and the language has enjoyed protected status and has recovered somewhat. For the first time since the 18th century, there are more children who speak Briganno than elderly people. There are still no monolingual speakers.

Many Briganno (as well as Irish) speakers complain that they face marginalization and neglect from the Irish government that still favors English in all forms of society. Despite facing an uphill battle, the survival of the language seems ensured for the time being.

The language was heavily influenced by Old Irish, its phonology and a little bit of its syntax molded by the Celtic language. Famously, it is the only Romance language to have initial mutations, as well as a habitual tense, and the only Western Romance language to retain the genitive case, among other peculiarities.