I’ve just run across this article from last March - “What Makes Languages Change” - which also talks about endangered indigenous languages. They don’t get to something as ‘mainstream’ as Welsh, but it is an interesting article nonetheless.
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There’s a lot here that’s relevant to Welsh also, though:
that comparison [one language ‘winning’ over another] has nothing to do with the structure or the vocabulary of the language, it has to do strictly with social factors. It’s not as if people come into contact and one crowd says, Boy, your language is a lot more efficient than ours! It depends on who’s got the power.
[… also:]
It’s an identity-preserving thing
Fascinating stuff! Thanks for sharing 
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A really fascinating article. The part about American indigenous languages especially interested me as we read so little about them in the New World. I got some books on the subject when I was in Argentina but I haven’t read them yet.
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Thank you for sharing, Sionned, a fascinating read and food for thought
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I meant the Old World.
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I hope I’m not too late and thank you for sharing! I know 4 languages and one of them is Swedish that’s kinda endangered language too as a very little amount of people speak it so it was especially interesting for me to read this article. I also study Italian in Italian language school and it’s fabulous experience for me to study the language in its native country!
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Hello Maya,
I’ve only spent a few days in Sweden, and it’s definitely easy to go around without speaking a word of Swedish - since most people know English so well.
However Swedish is still the official language, the and as far as I know the first language all -or almost- children learn, and the one everybody speak first anywhere you go.
This of course doesn’t mean it’s not endangered, just thinking how different if would be if it was like this in Wales.
p.s. I had a look at your link and well…if I didn’t know Italian already, I would love to go to that school.
p.p.s. I don’t know how long you’ve been studying Welsh, but if you’re ever in Sanremo and would like to have a chat mixing English, Welsh and Italian…let me know! (I’m in Torino, but it’s not too far and I occasionally go to Liguria!)