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The history of the Irish Gaelic
language begins in Central Europe in the 5th century B.C., where
a new tribe was taking Europe by storm - the Celts. This tribe was
a hospitable group, placing much importance on family and friends
- and widely known for their strength and valor in combat, and strong
sense of culture in time of peace. Winning battle after battle,
the Celts eventually conquered most of modern Europe; occupying
lands from the Iberian peninsula in the west, to the Scottish highlands
in the north, spanning Europe to the Black Sea in the East, and
touching as far south as Central Italy. After such
long partition, a Celt in Ireland most likely could not understand a Celt
from Gaul - and a Scottish Celt would have a hard time communicating
with a Galatian Celt. It was this
lack of unity that gave the Romans a chance to steal the Celtic dominion
over Europe many centuries later. However,
the natural isolation of Ireland and the tactical advantage of the
Scottish highlander Celts made these groups virtually immune to enemy
penetration - giving the Gaels in Ireland a unique chance to continue to develop their
culture nearly undisturbed. The language that arose from the ancient
Celtic tongue is commonly called Old Irish. Eventually, the Old
Irish language took on a written form when the Ancient Gaels began inscribing
notches and strokes on the sides of their stone monuments - commonly
known today as Ogham.
(Ancient
Irish inscription writing style known as Ogham.) In the beginning
of the 6th century (A.D.), manuscript writing (using the Roman script)
came into use, and Ireland experienced a literary renaissance.
Learning and reading were promoted, and Celtic intellect flourished. Unfortunately,
after being spared of vast enemy invasion for many centuries, Ireland was
subject to the attack of the Vikings in the 8th century. With this incursion
came the introduction of other linguistic forms into Irish,
thus diluting the ancient Celtic language from its original form (this Viking influence can
still be seen today in Irish Gaelic in the numerous words of Scandinavian
origin). This Viking invasion ended the Old Irish
period, and initiated the Middle Irish period - characterized by a
shifting of the language to accommodate the new vocabularies
forcefully introduced. The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland (1169) signaled the beginning
of the Modern Irish period with its fury of political upheaval. Around
this time came the first standardized form of Gaelic, called Classical
Modern Irish. By the 17th century, with the
British Empire becoming more of an influence on the Irish way of life,
Ireland was slowly Anglicized from the top down. The English language
became the standard for business communications, and English became a necessity
for success in professional trade.
With the introduction of members of the English aristocracy into the
Irish class system, use of the vernacular Gaelic further declined in
favor of English (due to the fact that the use of English was becoming
pervasive in all areas of Irish industry - often run by British entrepreneurs). During
this time period, linguists predicted that Gaelic would die out completely
by the 19th century. Indeed, use of Gaelic continued to decline
rapidly, and by the early 18th century it was confined to the poorer
classes of Irish society. With the Irish Potato Famine in the 19th
century, families faced with economic desolation often had to abandon
Gaelic in favor of English, in order to survive in the urban cities.
Towards the end of the 19th century, many Irish were leaving their ancestral
homeland in hopes of financial stability elsewhere, and the extinction of
Irish Gaelic became a real possibility.
(A bilingual Irish street
sign) Today,
Irish Gaelic is seen as a sign of national identity, and is taught to
school children and adults across the world. Estimates vary as to how
many people still speak Irish Gaelic (as opposed to just knowing how
to speak it), however it is believed that more than 100,000 people use
Irish Gaelic on a regular basis, whereas more than 1,000,000 can speak
it with some proficiency.
Celtic languages
are all linguistically similar, and thus share a category within the
chart of Indo-European Languages (can be seen on main page). There are
two major divisions of Celtic languages, separated geographically:
Continental Celtic (those Celtic languages spoken in mainland Europe)
and Insular Celtic (Celtic languages located in the British Isles and
Brittany). Irish Gaelic is considered to be Insular Celtic. Within Insular
Celtic, there are two more divisions: Goidelic (often called "Gaelic") and
Brythonic.
Goidelic Gaelic is the first form of Gaelic to appear
in the British Isles and Ireland, being comprised of Irish, Manx
and Scottish Gaelic. Brythonic (meaning "Britain") is
the group of Celtic languages which evolved from the Irish/Scottish
Gaelic, and is mainly spoken on the west coast of Great Britain.
The Brythonic languages are Welsh, Cornish, Cumbric and Breton.
Another common means of dividing the Insular Celtic languages is
by phonetics. The Goidelic Gaelic languages (Irish and Scottish
Gaelic) frequently employ the /kw-/ sound (they became known as
Q-Celtic), whereas the Brythonic languages (Welsh, Cornish, etc...)
evolved this into a /p-/ sound (thus being called P-Celtic).
Being a Celtic language, Irish Gaelic sentences
are organized first by verb (to be), then by subject ( I ), and
finally by object (Thomas). Similar to English, the verb is not
conjugated in Gaelic. To say "My name is Thomas" or
"I am Thomas", one would have to re-arrange the sentence
to read "To be I Thomas", then proceed with translation.
Compare
the "Our Father"
prayer in this language with this prayer in other languages (found
on every Mezzofanti language article page). Note the similarities
and/or differences in structure and syntax (vocabulary) between
other languages, especially languages within its own language "family".
[We have decided to use the "Our Father" prayer throughout this site for comparison due to the universality of this prayer throughout the world, the relative maintenance of the prayer from generation to generation, and the general consistency in form throughout varying groups and subgroups of native speakers]. For more information on this language, see the selected links below:
Celtic
Web Art and Fonts - Links to dozens of sites that contain fonts
and clip art featuring the Celtic culture. Island
Ireland - Island Ireland is an Internet directory to
Irish art, culture and environment. Features an interesting section on
links to Irish Gaelic websites.
Scots
Gaelic Terminology Database - A very good searchable
dictionary of Scots Gaelic, in the Gaelic language. Enter your query
in English to see its Gaelic equivalent. Comparison
of Irish and Scottish Gaelic - A comparison of the similarities
and differences between Irish (Gaeilge) and Scottish (Gàidhlig)
Gaelic, in a comparative side-by-side format. Verb Suffixes in Irish
- A page which explains in greater clarity to the beginner the method
of the verb suffixes in the Irish Gaelic language. Gaelic
Dictionaries Online - A list of the best Irish and Scottish Gaelic
dictionaries on the Internet. It also features the ability to search
most of these dictionaries, simultaneously online. Gramadach Lexicon
- The Gramadach Lexicon is a Irish Gaelic --> English dictionary
which features the full inflections of all words within the
dictionary. Look up the first letter of a Gaelic word to see its equivalent
in English.
Learning
Irish - From The Irish People, over a hundred lessons that
focus on the pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary of the Irish Gaelic
language. Interactive
Irish Lessons - Here, you can either look through their general
phrases in English and Irish, or take eight lessons on the entire
Irish language. All lessons and phrases are accompanied by audio
files, so that you can see and hear the Irish language. Gaelic Language
Workbook & Readings - These are workbook lessons and quizzes
to accompany the textbook Learning Irish (by Mícheál Ó
Siadhail). There are some supplemental text passages in Gaelic to help
build overall fluency in the language. Daltaí na
Gaeilge - This is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting
the Irish language. Here will find short lessons covering the most
important parts of Irish Grammar, with audio files and sentence
examples to aid learning. Irish
Survival Phrases - From Transparent (a major producer of
instructional language software) is this useful site featuring basic
Irish Gaelic phrases that will help when on vacation. E-Language:
Irish - E-Language.com puts together several of their best online
resources (talking dictionary, world phrasebook, etc...) to facilitate
the Irish Gaelic learner and/or traveler. Travlang's
Irish Lessons - Here you can find more basic phrases for travel in
Ireland.
RTÉ:
Live Gaelic Radio from Ireland
- From Ireland's main radio company, RTÉ, you can listen to the
Gaelic language being spoken live from Ireland. Tune in during
different times of the day to either hear the news, talk, sports, or
music completely in Irish Gaelic! Visit the radio's main program
page to listen to specific previously recorded segments. A recent RealPlayer
is needed. BBC:
Irish Gaelic Programme - Listen to the Irish Gaelic language
being spoken in real-time with the BBC Irish Gaelic Programme. This
daily program is the BBC's main Irish language magazine program which
covers a wide variety of topics (from the Gaelic language to music).
Program information is in English and content
mostly in Irish. A recent RealPlayer
is needed to listen to the program. An
Tenga Bheo - The Gaelic section of the Irish Times newspaper
from Ireland. An
Doras - An Doras is an American journal of Gaelic culture,
with features news stories and events in Irish Gaelic. Foinse
- Foinse is a national weekly newspaper in Irish Gaelic featuring news
and stories of interest.
No instant translation yet available for Irish Gaelic! (Above flag courtesy of Flags of the World) |
