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The history of the Scottish 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.
Overall, the Romans succeeded in their objective to
overthrow the Celts. However the natural isolation of Ireland and
the tactical advantage of the Scottish highlander Celts made these
groups virtually immune to enemy penetration. Eventually, many Gaels
(a subdivision of the Celts living in Ireland, and left untouched
during the Roman conquest of Europe) migrated north to modern-day
Scotland, bringing their "Gaelic" language with them.
These people were called Scotti by the Romans, of which the
word "Scotland" derives.
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). Scottish Gaelic is considered to be Insular Celtic because
it is spoken in Scotland - part of the British Isles. 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 named P-Celtic).
Being a Celtic language, Scottish Gaelic sentences
are organized first by verb (to be), then by subject ( I ), and
finally by object (Scotland). Similar to English, the verb is not
conjugated in Gaelic. To say "I am from Scotland" one
would have to rearrange the sentence to read "To be I of Scotland",
then translate into Gaelic.
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. Scotland.org
- This is Scotland.org's page devoted to Scottish language
links.
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 (Gąidhlig)
Gaelic, in a comparative side-by-side format. School
Gaelic Dictionary - A basic Gaelic-English dictionary, covering
most common words and phrases. Click on the first letter of the word
you are looking for in Gaelic, and you will find its equivalent in
English. 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. Gaelic-English
Dictionary - Another Scottish Gaelic to English dictionary online.
Click on the first letter of the word you are looking for in Gaelic,
and you will find its equivalent in English.
Learn
Gaelic! - A good beginner's guide to learning the Scottish Gaelic
language, complete in three lessons with accompanying audio files.
Dr.
John Shaw's Scottish Gaelic Lessons - An extensive guide to the
Scottish Gaelic language, in 22 lessons; although most of the text is
in Scots Gaelic, and no English translation is offered for the Gaelic
phrases.
BBC
Scottish Gaelic Programme - Listen to the Scottish Gaelic language
being spoken in real-time with the BBC Scottish Gaelic Programme. This
daily program covers the most important features in the news in the
Scots Gaelic language (it usually lasts several minutes)! You need RealPlayer
to listen to this program. To listen to the program, click on the
blinking button in the middle of the page.
The
Scotsman Online - The Scotsman (a daily Scottish newspaper)
puts out a column in Scottish Gaelic every Friday, and on alternate
Wednesdays, which covers important events in the Scottish Gaelic
community.
No online translation available for this language yet! (Above flag courtesy of Flags of the World) |
