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The
Gaelic Language
Gaelic,
a beautiful language, not often spoken except in the outer regions of
Scotland, Ireland and Wales. It is enjoying a revival. Today, many
people are learning to speak this old Celtic language once again, and
here are just a few links to help you. Then please read below for a
little information on Gaelic Languages.
All these links will open in a new window.
A
Web of Online Dictionaries Gaelic
Faclair
Gàidhlig - Beurla - Gaelic Dictionary
Gaelic
learners' materials online
Gramadach
Lexicon - English to Gaelic
Sabhal
Mór Ostaig
Irish,
or Irish Gaelic
Is the oldest of the Goidelic group of Celtic languages. Ancient written
examples exist in the ogham inscriptions, on about 370 gravestones
scattered through southwestern Ireland and Wales. Dating from the 5th to
the 8th century, the inscriptions consist almost entirely of proper
names. Irish can be grouped into four periods: Old (circa 1000), Early
or Early Middle (1200-1500), Middle (1200-1500), and Modern (from 1500).
Originally a highly inflected language, Irish retains essentially two
noun cases, nominative and genitive, with the dative surviving in the
singular of feminine nouns; the language has only two verb tenses in the
indicative mood. It is chiefly spoken in the western and southwestern
parts of the Republic of Ireland, where it is an official language, and
to some extent in Northern Ireland. In the past century, the number of
Irish-speaking persons has declined from 50 percent of the population of
Ireland to less than 20 percent.
Scottish
Gaelic
A form of Gaelic was brought to Scotland by Irish invaders about the 5th
century, where it replaced an older Brythonic language. By the 15th
century, with the accretion of Norse and English loanwords, the Scottish
branch differed significantly enough from the Irish to warrant
definition as a separate language. The alphabet of Irish and Scottish
Gaelic is identical, consisting of 18 letters. Scottish Gaelic employs
four cases of nouns: nominative, genitive, dative, and vocative. Like
Irish, the accent is on the initial syllable. Scottish Gaelic exists in
two main dialects, Northern and Southern, roughly geographically
determined by a line up the Firth of Lorne to the town of Ballachulish
and then across to the Grampian Mountains, which it follows. The
Southern dialect is more akin to Irish than is the Northern, and is more
inflected. The main difference is the change of the e sound, which is new
in Northern dialect and ia in Southern. Thus, the word for grass is
pronounced feur in Northern and fiar in Southern. Scottish Gaelic also
has a few thousand speakers in Nova Scotia.
Manx
The language of the Isle of Man is classed as a dialect of Scottish
Gaelic, with strong Norse influence. It began to decline in the 19th
century, and in the early 20th century it became virtually extinct. The
first written records are of the 17th century, and Manx literature,
apart from ballads and carols, is negligible.
Breton
The Breton language is spoken today in various dialects in Brittany;
most Breton speakers also speak French. Developed between the 4th and
6th centuries by Welsh and Cornish exiles fleeing invaders, it differs
from the Welsh and Cornish of their homelands in its use of nasals and
loanwords from the French.
Cornish
Once the language of Cornwall, Cornish has been extinct since the late
18th century, despite recent efforts to revive it. It survives only in a
few proper names and certain words in the English dialect spoken in
Cornwall.
Welsh
Welsh, called Cymraeg or Cymric by its speakers, is the native language
of Wales and the most flourishing of the Celtic languages. It is spoken
in Wales (where the majority of its users also speak English) and in
some communities in the United States and Argentina. Organizations such
as the Society for the Welsh Language have saved the language from dying
out and are working to assure its official status along with English.
Several schools in Wales now use Welsh as the medium of instruction, and
television and radio broadcasts are made in the
language.}\par{\f1\fs20\cf1 Like Breton, Welsh has discarded case
endings for nouns; verbs, however, are elaborately inflected. The
alternation of consonants, called mutation, plays a role, as in all
Celtic languages. Welsh spelling is phonemic, representing unambiguously
the pertinent sounds. In most cases Welsh speakers will know how to
pronounce a word they have never seen before. |
