Scottish Gaelic (Scottish Gaelic:
Gàidhlig) is a member of the
Goidelic branch of
Celtic languages, and is distinct from the
Brythonic branch of the Celtic
languages, which includes
Welsh,
Cornish, and
Breton. Scottish, Manx and Irish Gaelic
(collectively called the "Goidelic languages") are all descended
from
Middle Irish, and share an
ancestry going back to
Old Irish and
Primitive Irish. Other common names
for Scottish Gaelic are
Scots Gaelic and
Highland
Gaelic.
Outside Scotland, it is occasionally also called
Scottish,
particularly when being compared to Irish and Manx, though Scottish
Gaelic should not be confused with the
Scots language (Lowland Scots,
Lallans), which is an
Anglic language descended from
Old English. Within Scotland, the language is
called
Gàidhlig while outside Scotland it is usually
referred to as
Gaelic .
History
Scottish Gaelic itself developed after the 12th century, along with
the other modern
Goidelic
languages.
Scottish Gaelic and its predecessors became
the language of the majority of Scotland
after it
replaced Cumbric, Pictish, Old
Norse, and in considerable places, Old
English. There is no definitive date indicating how
long Gaelic has been spoken in today's Scotland, though it has been
proposed that it was spoken in it's ancient form in Argyll
before the
Roman period,. No consensus has been reached on this
question, however, the consolidation of the kingdom of Dál Riata around the 4th century, linking the
ancient province of Ulster in the north of
Ireland
and western Scotland, accelerated the expansion of
the language, as did the success of the Gaelic-speaking church
establishment, started by St Columba, and place-name evidence shows
that Gaelic was spoken in the Rhinns
of Galloway by the 5th or 6th century. The language was
maintained by the trade empire of the
Lordship of the Isles the geographic and
cultural descendant of
Dál Riata,
which continued to control parts of Ulster until the 1500s.
From the Middle Ages to the end of Classical Gaelic
education
The Gaelic language eventually displaced
Pictish north of the
River Forth, and until the late 15th century was
known in the Scots'
English
language as
Scottis, and in England as
Scottish. Gaelic began to decline in mainland Scotland
from the beginning of the
13th
century, accompanying its decline in its status as a national
language, and by the beginning of the
15th century, the highland-lowland line
was beginning to emerge.
One interpretation of the linguistic
divide in 1400, here based on place-name evidence.
From around the early 16th century, Scottish-English speakers gave
the Gaelic language the name
Erse
(meaning
Irish in Scottish-English), and thereafter it was
invariably the collection of
Middle
English dialects spoken within the
Kingdom of Scotland, that they referred
to as
Scottis (see
Scots
language). This in itself was ironic, as it was at this time
that Gaelic was developing its distinct and characteristic Scottish
forms of the modern period.
Scottish Gaelic was called "Erse" partly because educated Gaelic
speakers in Ireland and Scotland all used the literary dialect
(sometimes called
Classical Gaelic) so that there was
little or no difference in usage. When Classical Gaelic stopped
being used in schools in both countries, colloquial usage began to
predominate, and the languages diverged.
The Modern Era
Scottish Gaelic has a rich oral and written tradition, referred to
as
beul-aithris in
Scottish Gaelic, having been the language of the bardic culture of
the Highland
clan for many years. The
language preserves knowledge of and adherence to pre-feudal
'tribal' laws and customs (as represented, for example, by the
expressions
tuatha and
dùthchas).
The language suffered
particularly as Highlanders and their traditions were persecuted
after the Battle of
Culloden
in 1746, and during the Highland Clearances, but pre-feudal
attitudes were still evident in the complaints and claims of the
Highland Land League of the
late 19th century. This political movement was successful in
getting members elected to the Parliament of
the United Kingdom
. The Land League was dissipated as a
parliamentary force by the
1886 Crofters' Act
and by the way the
Liberal Party
was seen to become supportive of Land League objectives.
An
Irish Gaelic translation of the
Bible dating from the
Elizabethan period was in use until the Bible
was translated into Scottish Gaelic. Author David Ross notes in his
2002 history of Scotland that a Scottish Gaelic version of the
Bible was published in London in 1690 by the Rev. Robert Kirk,
minister of Aberfoyle; however it was not widely circulated. The
first well-known translation of the Bible into Scottish Gaelic was
made in 1767 when Dr James Stuart of Killin and Dugald Buchanan of
Rannoch produced a translation of the New Testament. Very few
European languages have made the transition to a modern literary
language without an early modern translation of the Bible. The lack
of a well-known translation until the late 18th century may have
contributed to the decline of Scottish Gaelic.
Defunct dialects
Scottish Gaelic may be more correctly known as
Highland
Gaelic to distinguish it from the now defunct dialects of
Lowland Gaelic. Of these
Galwegian Gaelic was spoken in Galloway and
seems to have been the last dialect of Gaelic to have been spoken
in
Lowland Scotland, surviving
until the
Early Modern Period.
By the end of the Middle Ages, Lowland Gaelic had been replaced by
Middle English/
Lowland Scots across much of Lowland
Scotland, while the Brythonic language had disappeared.
According
to a reference in The Carrick Covenanters by James
Crichton , the last place in the Lowlands where Scottish Gaelic was
still spoken was the village of Barr
in Carrick (only a few miles inland to the
east of Girvan
, but at one
time very isolated). There is, however, no evidence of a
linguistic border following the topographical north-south
differences.
Similarly, there is no evidence from
placenames of significant linguistic differences between, for
example, Argyll and Galloway. Dialects on both sides of the Straits of Moyle (the North
Channel
) linking Scottish Gaelic with Irish are now
extinct.
Today, the
closest tied Irish dialect with Highland Gaelic is Ulster Irish, spoken in County Donegal - most
notably the Gaeltacht of Gaoth Dobhair (Gweedore
).
Written Ulster Irish as well as common grammatical and vocabulary
traits reflects more archaic Classical Gaelic still providing more
of a solid link between the two languages than with Official
Standard Irish, based on the dialects of southern provinces.
However, to claim that Ulster Irish is a perfect intermediate
between the Irish and Scottish forms of Gaelic still remains
perhaps an over-exaggerated statement.
Number of speakers
Current distribution in Scotland
Geographic Distribution of Gaelic
speakers in Scotland (2001)
The
2001 UK Census showed a total of
58,652 Gaelic speakers in Scotland (1.2% of population over three years old).
Compared to the 1991 Census, there has been a diminution of
approximately 7,300 people (11% of the total), meaning that Gaelic
decline (
language shift) in Scotland
is continuing. To date, attempts at
language revival or
reversing language shift have been
met with limited success.
Considering the data related to
Civil
Parishes (which permit a continuous study of Gaelic status
since the 19th century), two new circumstances have taken place,
which are related to this decline:
- No
parish in Scotland has a proportion of Gaelic speakers greater than
75% any more (the highest value corresponds to Barvas
, Lewis and
Harris
, with 74.7%).
- No
parish in Mainland Scotland has a proportion of Gaelic speakers
greater than 25% any more (the highest value corresponds to
Lochalsh
, Highland,
with 20.1%).
The main
stronghold of the language continues to be the Outer Hebrides
(Na h-Eileanan Siar), where the overall
proportion of speakers remains at 61.1% and all parishes return
values over 50%. The Parish of Kilmuir
in Northern Skye
is also over
this threshold of 50%.
Outside
of the Outer
Hebrides the only
areas with significant percentages of Gaelic speakers are the
islands of Tiree
(with
47.8%), Skye
(with
36.8%), Raasay
(with 36.1%)
and Lismore
(with 28.8%) in the Inner Hebrides
.Regardless of this, the weight of Gaelic in
Scotland is now much reduced. From a total of almost 900 Civil
Parishes in Scotland:
- Only 9 of them have a proportion of Gaelic speakers greater
than 50%.
- Only 20 of them have a proportion of Gaelic speakers greater
than 25%.
- Only 39 of them have a proportion of Gaelic speakers greater
than 10%.
Outside the main Gaelic-speaking areas a relatively high proportion
of Gaelic-speaking people are, in effect, socially isolated from
other Gaelic-speakers and as a result they have few opportunities
to use the language. Complete monolingualism is almost non-existent
except among native-speaking children under school age in
traditional Gàidhealtachd regions.
Orthography
Prehistoric (or Ogham) Irish, the precursor to Old Irish, in turn
the precursor to Modern Irish, Scottish Gaelic and
Manx, was written in a carved writing called
Ogham. Ogham consisted of marks made above or
below a horizontal line. With the advent of Christianity in the 5th
century the
Latin alphabet was
introduced to Ireland. The
Goidelic
languages have historically been part of a
dialect continuum stretching from the
south of Ireland, the Isle of Man, to the north of Scotland.
Classical Gaelic was used as a
literary language in Scotland until the 18th century. Orthographic
divergence between Scottish Gaelic and Irish is the result of more
recent orthographic reforms resulting in standardised
pluricentric diasystems.
The 1767
New Testament historically
set the standard for Scottish Gaelic. Around the time of
World War II, Irish spelling was reformed and
the Official Standard or
Caighdeán Oifigiúil introduced.
Further reform in 1957 eliminated some of the silent letters which
are still used in Scottish Gaelic. The 1981
Scottish Examinations Board
recommendations for Scottish Gaelic, the Gaelic Orthographic
Conventions, were adopted by most publishers and agencies, although
they remain controversial among some academics, most notably Ronald
Black.
Alphabet
The modern Scottish Gaelic alphabet has 18
letter:
- A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, L, M, N, O, P, R, S, T, U.
The letter
h, now mostly used to indicate
lenition of a
consonant,
was in general not used in the oldest
orthography, as lenition was instead indicated
with a dot over the lenited consonant. The letters of the alphabet
were traditionally named after trees (see
Scottish Gaelic alphabet), but this
custom has fallen out of use.
The quality of consonants is indicated in writing by the
vowels surrounding them. So-called "slender"
consonants are
palatalised while
"broad" consonants are
velarised. The
vowels
e and
i are classified as slender, and
a,
o, and
u as broad. The spelling rule
known as
caol ri caol agus leathann ri leathann ("slender
to slender and broad to broad") requires that a word-medial
consonant or consonant group followed by a written
i or
e be also preceded by an
i or
e; and
similarly if followed by
a,
o or
u be
also preceded by an
a,
o, or
u.
Consonant quality (palatalised or non-palatalised) is then
indicated by the vowels written adjacent to a consonant, and the
spelling rule gives the benefit of removing possible uncertainty
about consonant quality at the expense of adding additional purely
graphic vowels that may not be pronounced. For example, compare the
t in
slàinte with the
t in
bàta
.
The rule has no effect on the pronunciation of vowels. For example,
plurals in Gaelic are often formed with the suffix
-an,
for example,
bròg (shoe) /
brògan (shoes). But
because of the spelling rule, the suffix is spelled
-ean
(but pronounced the same) after a slender consonant, as in
taigh (house) /
taighean (houses) where the
written
e is purely a graphic vowel inserted to conform
with the spelling rule because an
i precedes the
gh.
In changes promoted by the
Scottish Examination Board from
1976 onwards, certain modifications were made to this rule. For
example, the
suffix of the
past participle is always spelled
-te, even after a broad consonant, as in
togte
"raised" (rather than the traditional
togta).
Bilingual sign at Queen Street Station
in Glasgow with English and Gaelic
Where pairs of vowels occur in writing, it is sometimes unclear
which vowel is to be pronounced and which vowel has been introduced
to satisfy this spelling rule.
Unstressed vowels omitted in speech
can be omitted in informal writing. For example:
- Tha mi an dòchas. ("I hope.") > Tha mi 'n dòchas.
Once Gaelic orthographic rules have been learned, the pronunciation
of the written language is in general quite predictable. However
learners must be careful not to try to apply English
sound-to-letter correspondences to written Gaelic, otherwise
mispronunciations will result. Gaelic personal names such as
Seònaid are especially likely to be mispronounced by
English speakers.
Scots English
orthographic rules have
also been used at various times in Gaelic writing. Notable examples
of Gaelic verse composed in this manner are the
Book of the Dean of Lismore and
the
Fernaig manuscript.
Pronunciation
Vowels
Gaelic vowels can have a
grave accent,
with the letters
à, è, ì, ò, ù. Traditional spelling also
uses the
acute accent on the letters
á,
é and
ó, but texts which follow the
spelling reform only use the grave.
Consonants
Most letters are pronounced similarly to other
European languages. The broad consonants
t and d and often n have a dental articulation (as in Irish and the
Romance and Slavic languages) in contrast to the alveolar
articulation common in English and other
Germanic languages). Non-palatal r is an
alveolar trill (like Italian or Spanish rr.)
Grammar
Official recognition
Gaelic has long suffered from its lack of use in educational and
administrative contexts and has even been suppressed in the pastbut
it has achieved a degree of official recognition with the passage
of the
Gaelic
Language Act 2005.
Media
As well as being taught in schools, including some in which it is
the medium of instruction, it is also used by the local council in
the Western Isles,
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar.
The BBC also operates a Gaelic language radio
station Radio nan
Gàidheal (which regularly transmits joint broadcasts with
its Irish
counterpart RTÉ Raidió na
Gaeltachta), and there are also television programmes in
the language on the BBC and on the independent
commercial channels, usually subtitled in English. The
ITV franchise in the north of Scotland,
STV North (formerly
Grampian
Television) produces some non-news programming in Scottish
Gaelic. The ITV franchise in central Scotland,
STV Central produces a number of
Scottish Gaelic programmes for both
BBC Alba and its own main channel.
Viewers of
Freeview, a
non-subscription digital TV service, can receive the channel
TeleG, which broadcasts for an hour every
evening. On 19 September 2008 a new Gaelic TV service launched,
broadcasting across Europe on the Astra 2 satellites, available to
Sky Digital and Freesat viewers in the UK. Despite initial
announcements to the contrary, the channel is not yet available on
digital cable television. The channel
BBC Alba is being operated in
partnership between BBC Scotland and
MG Alba
– a new organisation funded by the Scottish Government, which works
to promote the Gaelic language in broadcasting.
Geography
Bilingual road signs, street names, business and advertisement
signage (in both Gaelic and English) are gradually being introduced
throughout Gaelic-speaking regions in the Highlands, Islands and
Argyll. In many cases, this has simply meant re-adopting the
traditional spelling of a name (such as
Ràtagan or
Loch Ailleart rather than the anglicised forms
Ratagan or
Lochailort respectively).
Bilingual railway station signs are now more frequent than they
used to be. Practically all of the stations in the highland area
use both English and Gaelic, however the spreading of bilingual
station signs is become ever-more frequent in the lowlands of
Scotland.
While this has been welcomed by many supporters of the language as
a means of raising its profile, securing its future as a 'living
language' (i.e. allowing people to use it to navigate from A to B
in place of English) and creating a sense of place, recently
revealed roadsigns for Castletown in Caithness in the Highlands
indicate The Highland Council's intention to introduce bilingual
signage into all areas of the Highlands have caused some
controversy .
The
Ordnance
Survey
has acted in recent years to correct many of the
mistakes that appear on maps. They announced in 2004 that
they intended to make amends for a century of Gaelic ignorance and
set up a committee to determine the correct forms of Gaelic place
names for their maps.
Parliament
An electronic noticeboard
displaying
Fàilte gu stèisean Dùn Èideann
("Welcome to Edinburgh station")
Historically, Gaelic has not received the same degree of official
recognition from the UK Government as
Welsh.
With the advent of devolution, however,
Scottish matters have begun to receive greater attention, and the
Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act was enacted by the Scottish
Parliament
on 21 April 2005.
The key provisions of the Act are:
- Establishing the Gaelic development body, Bòrd na Gàidhlig, (BnG), on a
statutory basis with a view to securing the status of the Gaelic
language as an official language of Scotland commanding equal
respect to the English language and to promote the use and
understanding of Gaelic.
- Requiring BnG to prepare a National Gaelic Language Plan for
approval by Scottish Ministers.
- Requiring BnG to produce guidance on Gaelic Education for
education authorities.
- Requiring public bodies in Scotland, both Scottish public
bodies and cross border public bodies insofar as they carry out
devolved functions, to develop Gaelic language plans in relation to
the services they offer, if requested to do so by BnG.
Following a consultation period, in which the government received
many submissions, the majority of which asked that the bill be
strengthened, a revised bill was published with the main
improvement that the guidance of the Bòrd is now statutory (rather
than advisory).
In the committee stages in the Scottish Parliament, there was much
debate over whether Gaelic should be given 'equal validity' with
English. Due to Executive concerns about resourcing implications if
this wording was used, the Education Committee settled on the
concept of 'equal respect'. It is still not clear if the ambiguity
of this wording will provide sufficient legal force to back up the
demands of Gaelic speakers against the whims of public
bodies.
The Act was passed by the Scottish Parliament unanimously, with
support from all sectors of the Scottish political spectrum on the
21st of April 2005.
Education
| Year |
Number of students in
Gaelic medium education |
Percentage
of all students
in Scotland |
| 2005 |
2,480 |
0.35% |
| 2006 |
2,535 |
0.36% |
| 2007 |
2,601 |
0.38% |
| 2008 |
2,766 |
± 0.4% |
The Education (Scotland) Act 1872, which completely ignored Gaelic,
and led to generations of Gaels being forbidden to speak their
native language in the classroom, is now recognised as having dealt
a major blow to the language. People still living can recall being
beaten for speaking Gaelic in school.
The first modern
solely Gaelic-medium secondary school, Sgoil Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu (‘Glasgow Gaelic
School’), was opened at Woodside in Glasgow
in 2006 (61 partially Gaelic-medium primary schools
and approximately a dozen Gaelic-medium secondary schools also
exist). A total of 2,092 primary pupils are enrolled in
Gaelic-medium primary education in 2006–7.
In
Nova
Scotia
, there are somewhere between 500 and 1,000 native
speakers, most of them now elderly. In May 2004, the
Provincial government announced the funding of an initiative to
support the language and its culture within the province.
Maxville
Public School in Maxville, Glengarry
offers Scottish Gaelic lessons weekly.
In Prince Edward Island, the Colonel Gray High School is now
offering two courses in Gaelic, an introductory and an advanced
course, both language and history are taught in these classes. This
is the first recorded time that Gaelic has ever been taught as an
official course on Prince Edward Island.
Sgoil Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu
The UK government has ratified the
European
Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in respect of
Gaelic. Along with Irish and Welsh, Gaelic is designated under Part
III of the Charter, which requires the UK Government to take a
range of concrete measures in the fields of education, justice,
public administration, broadcasting and culture.
The
Columba Initiative, also
known as colmcille (formerly Iomairt Cholm Cille), is a body that
seeks to promote links between speakers of Scottish Gaelic and
Irish.
However,
given there are no longer any monolingual Gaelic speakers,
following an appeal in the court case of Taylor v Haughney
(1982), involving the status of Gaelic in judicial proceedings, the
High
Court
ruled against a general right to use Gaelic in
court proceedings.
Under the provisions of the 2005 Act, it will ultimately fall to
BnG to secure the status of the Gaelic language as an
official language of Scotland.
On 10 December 2008 to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the
Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, the
Scottish Human Rights
Commission had the UDHR translated into Gaelic for the first
time
[4807].
European Union
In October 2009, a new agreement was made which allows Scottish
Gaelic to be used formally between Scottish Government ministers
and
European Union officials. The
deal was signed by the UK's representative to the EU, Sir
Kim Darroch, and the Scottish government. This
does not give Scottish Gaelic
official status in the EU,
but gives it the right to be a means of formal communications in
the EU's institutions. The
Scottish government will have to pay
for the translation from Gaelic to other European
languages. The deal was received
positively in Scotland; Secretary of State for Scotland
Jim Murphy said the move was a strong sign of the
UK government's support for Gaelic. He said that "Allowing Gaelic
speakers to communicate with European institutions in their mother
tongue is a progressive step forward and one which should be
welcomed". Culture Minister said that "this is a significant step
forward for the recognition of Gaelic both at home and abroad and I
look forward to addressing the council in Gaelic very soon. Seeing
Gaelic spoken in such a forum raises the profile of the language as
we drive forward our commitment to creating a new generation of
Gaelic speakers in Scotland."
Church
In the
Western Isles, the isles of Lewis
, Harris
and North
Uist
have a Presbyterian majority (largely Church of
Scotland
– Eaglais na h-Alba in Gaelic,
Free Church of
Scotland and Free Presbyterian Church of
Scotland.) The isles of South Uist
and Barra
have a
Catholic majority. All these
churches have Gaelic-speaking congregations throughout the Western
Isles.
There are
Gaelic-speaking
congregations in the Church of Scotland, mainly in the
Highlands and Islands, but also in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Notable
city congregations with regular services in Gaelic are St Columba's
Church, Glasgow
and Greyfriars Tolbooth & Highland
Kirk
, Edinburgh. Leabhar Sheirbheisean –
a shorter Gaelic version of the English-language Book of Common
Order – was published in 1996 by the Church of Scotland, ISBN
0-907624-12-X.
The relationship between the Church and Gaelic has not always been
an easy one. The widespread use of English in worship has often
been suggested as one of the historic reasons for the decline of
Gaelic. Whilst the Church of Scotland is supportive today, there
is, however, an increasing difficulty in being able to find
Gaelic-speaking ministers. The Free Church also recently announced
plans to reduce their Gaelic provision by abolishing
Gaelic-language communion services, citing both a lack of ministers
and a desire to have their congregations united at communion
time.
Sport
The most notable use of the language in sport is that of the
Camanachd Association, the
shinty society, who have a bilingual
logo.
In the mid-1990s, the
Celtic League started
a campaign to have the word "
Alba" on the
Scottish
football and
rugby union tops. Since 2005, the
SFA have supported the use of
Scots Gaelic on their teams's strip in
recognition of the language's revival in Scotland. However, the
SRU is still being lobbied to
have "Alba" on the national rugby strip.
Some sports coverage, albeit at a small level, takes place in
Scottish Gaelic broadcasting.
Personal names
Bilingual roadsign
Scottish Gaelic has a number of personal names, such as Ailean,
Aonghas, Dòmhnall, Donnchadh, Coinneach, Murchadh, for which there
are traditional forms in English (Alan, Angus, Donald, Duncan,
Kenneth, Murdo). There are also distinctly Scottish Gaelic forms of
names that belong to the common European stock of given names, such
as: Iain (John), Alasdair (Alexander), Uilleam (William), Catrìona
(Catherine), Raibert (Robert), Cairistìona (Christina), Anna (Ann),
Màiri (Mary), Seumas (James), Pàdraig (Patrick) and Tómas (Thomas).
Some names have come into Gaelic from
Old Norse, for example: Somhairle (
Somarliðr), Tormod ( Þórmóðr), Torcuil ( Þórkell, Þórketill),
Ìomhair (Ívarr). These are conventionally rendered in English as
Sorley (or, historically, Somerled), Norman, Torquil, and Iver (or
Evander). There are other, traditional, Gaelic names which have no
direct equivalents in English: Oighrig, which is normally rendered
as Euphemia (Effie) or Henrietta (Etta) (formerly also as Henny or
even as Harriet), or, Diorbhal, which is "matched" with Dorothy,
simply on the basis of a certain similarity in spelling; Gormul,
for which there is nothing similar in English, and it is rendered
as 'Gormelia' or even 'Dorothy'; Beathag, which is "matched" with
Becky (> Rebecca) and even Betsy, or Sophie.
Many of these are now regarded as old-fashioned, and are no longer
used (which is, of course, a feature common to many cultures: names
go out of fashion). As there is only a relatively small pool of
traditional Gaelic names from which to choose, some families within
the Gaelic-speaking communities have in recent years made a
conscious decision when naming their children to seek out names
that are used within the wider English-speaking world. These names
do not, of course, have an equivalent in Gaelic. What effect that
practice (if it becomes popular) might have on the language remains
to be seen. At this stage (2005), it is clear that some native
Gaelic-speakers are willing to break with tradition. Opinion on
this practice is divided; whilst some would argue that they are
thereby weakening their link with their linguistic and cultural
heritage, others take the opposing view that Gaelic, as with any
other language, must retain a degree of flexibility and
adaptability if it is to survive in the modern world at all.
The well-known name
Hamish, and the recently established
Mhairi (pronounced ) come from the Gaelic for,
respectively, James, and Mary, but derive from the form of the
names as they appear in the
vocative
case: Seumas (James) (nom.) → Sheumais (voc.), and, Màiri
(Mary) (nom.) → Mhàiri (voc.).
The most common class of Gaelic surnames are, of course, those
beginning with
mac (Gaelic for
son), such as
MacGillEathain (MacLean). The female form is
nic
(Gaelic for
daughter), so Catherine MacPhee is properly
called in Gaelic,
Caitrìona Nic a' Phì. [Strictly, "nic"
is a contraction of the Gaelic phrase "nighean mhic", meaning
"daughter of the son", thus Nic Dhomhnuill, really means "daughter
of MacDonald" rather than "daughter of Donald".] Although there is
a common misconception that "mac" means "son of", the "of" part
actually comes from the genitive form of the patronymic that
follows the prefix "Mac", e.g., in the case of MacNéill, Néill (of
Neil) is the genitive form of Niall (Neil).
Several colours give rise to common Scottish surnames:
bàn
(Bain – white),
ruadh (Roy – red),
dubh (Dow –
black),
donn (Dunn – brown),
buidhe (Bowie –
yellow).
Loanwords
The majority of the vocabulary of Scottish Gaelic is native
Celtic. There are a large number of
borrowings from
Latin, (
muinntir,
Didòmhnaich), ancient
Greek,
especially in the religious domain (
eaglais,
Bìoball from
Ekklesia and
Biblia),
Norse (
eilean,
sgeir),
Hebrew
(
Sàbaid,
Aba) and
Lowland Scots (
aidh,
bramar).
In common with other
Indo-European languages, the
neologisms which are coined for modern
concepts are typically based on
Greek
or
Latin, although writtenin Gaelic
orthography;
television, for instance, becomes
telebhisean (
cian-dhealbh could also be used),
and
computer becomes
coimpiùtar
(
aireamhadair,
bocsa-fiosa or
bocsa-sgrìobhaidh could also be used). Although native
speakers frequently use an English word for which there is a
perfectly good Gaelic equivalent, they will, without thinking,
simply adopt the English word and use it, applying the rules of
Gaelic grammar, as the situation requires.
With verbs, for
instance, they will simply add the verbal suffix (-eadh,
or, in Lewis,
-igeadh, as in, "Tha mi a' watcheadh
(Lewis, "watchigeadh") an telly" (I am watching
the television), instead of "Tha mi a' coimhead air
a' chian-dhealbh". This was remarked upon by the minister who
compiled the account covering the parish of Stornoway
in the New Statistical Account of
Scotland, published over 170 years ago. It has even
gone so far as the verb Backdat
igeadh. However, as Gaelic
medium education grows in popularity, a newer generation of
literate Gaels is becoming more familiar with modern Gaelic
vocabulary.
Going in the other direction, Scottish Gaelic has influenced the
Scots language (gob) and English,
particularly Scottish Standard English.
Loanwords include:
whisky, slogan, brogue, jilt, clan, strontium (from Strontian
), trousers, as well as
familiar elements of Scottish geography like ben (beinn),
glen (gleann) and loch.
Irish has also influenced Lowland
Scots and English in Scotland, but it is not always easy to
distinguish its influence from that of Scottish Gaelic.
See
List of
English words of Scottish Gaelic origin
Source:
An Etymological
Dictionary of the Gaelic Language,
Alexander MacBain.
Common words and phrases with Irish and Manx equivalents
| Scottish Gaelic Phrase |
Irish Equivalent |
Manx Gaelic Equivalent |
Rough English Translation |
| Fàilte |
Fáilte |
Failt |
Welcome |
| Halò |
Haileo or Haigh or Dia dhuit (trad., lit.:
"God be with you") |
Hello |
Hello |
| Latha math |
Lá maith |
Laa mie |
Good day |
| Ciamar a tha thu? |
Conas atá tú? (Cén chaoi a bhfuil tú? in Connacht or Cad é mar atá tú? in Ulster) |
Kys t'ou? |
How are you? |
| Ciamar a tha sibh? |
Conas atá sibh? (Cén chaoi a bhfuil sibh? in Connacht or Cad é mar atá sibh? in Ulster) |
Kys ta shiu? |
How are you? (plural, singular formal) |
| Madainn mhath |
Maidin mhaith |
Moghrey mie |
Good morning |
| Feasgar math |
Trathnóna maith |
Fastyr mie |
Good afternoon |
| Oidhche mhath |
Oíche mhaith |
Oie vie |
Good night |
Ma 's e do thoil e
Ma's àil leat
|
Más é do thoil é
Más áil leat
|
My saillt
(= mys ail lhiat)
|
If you please |
Ma 's e (bh)ur toil e
Ma's àil leibh
|
Más é bhur dtoil é
Más áil libh
|
My salliu
(= mys ail lhiu)
|
If you please (plural, singular formal) |
| Tapadh leat |
Go raibh maith agat |
Gura mie ayd |
Thank you |
| Tapadh leibh |
Go raibh maith agaibh |
Gura mie eu |
Thank you (plural, singular formal) |
| Dè an t-ainm a tha ort? |
Cad é an t-ainm atá ort? or Cad is ainm duit? |
Cre'n ennym t'ort? |
What is your name? |
| Dè an t-ainm a tha oirbh? |
Cad é an t-ainm atá oraibh? or Cad is ainm daoibh? |
Cre'n ennym t'erriu? |
What is your name?(plural, singular formal) |
| Is mise..., Mise... |
Is mise..., Mise... |
Mish... |
I am... |
| Slàn leat |
Slán leat |
Slane lhiat |
Goodbye |
| Slàn leibh |
Slán libh |
Slane lhiu |
Goodbye (plural, singular formal) |
| Dè a tha seo? |
Cad é seo? |
Cred shoh?, Cre shoh? |
What is this? |
| Slàinte |
Sláinte |
Slaynt |
"health" (used as a toast [cf. English "cheers"] when
drinking) |
|
In the Lowlands
According to a reference in
The Carrick Covenanters by
James Crichton, the last place in the Scottish Lowlands where
Gaelic was spoken was the village of Barr on the River Stinchar in
Ayrshire. Barr was once regarded as one of the most isolated places
in that part of Scotland, though situated only a few miles from
Girvan as the crow flies. Crichton gives neither date nor
details.For further discussion on the subject of Gaelic in the
South of Scotland, see articles
Gàidhlig Ghallghallaibh agus
Alba-a-Deas ("Gaelic of Galloway and Southern Scotland") and
Gàidhlig ann an Siorramachd Inbhir-Àir ("Gaelic in
Ayrshire") by Garbhan MacAoidh, published in
GAIRM Numbers
101 and 106.
Qualifications in the language
Examinations
The
Scottish
Qualifications Authority offer two streams of Gaelic
examination across all levels of the syllabus: Gaelic for learners
(equivalent to the modern foreign languages syllabus) and Gaelic
for native speakers (equivalent to the English syllabus).
An Comunn Gàidhealach
performs assessment of spoken Gaelic, resulting in the issue of a
Bronze Card, Silver Card or Gold Card. Syllabus details are
available on
An
Comunn's website. These are not widely recognised as
qualifications, but are required for those taking part in certain
competitions at the annual
mods.
Higher and further education
A number of Scottish universities offer full-time degrees including
a Gaelic language element, usually graduating as Celtic
Studies.
St. Francis
Xavier University
and Cape Breton University
(formerly University College Of Cape Breton) both
in Nova
Scotia, Canada
also offer
a Celtic Studies degree, optionally with a large Gaelic language
element.
Courses at the UHI Millennium Institute
UHI Millennium Institute
offers a range of Gaelic courses at Cert HE, Dip HE, BA (ordinary),
BA (Hons) and MA, and offers opportunities for postgraduate
research through the medium of Gaelic. The majority of these
courses are available as residential courses at the
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. A number of other
colleges offer the one year certificate course, which is also
available on-line (pending accreditation).
Lews Castle
College
's Benbecula campus offers an independent 1 year
course in Gaelic and Traditional Music (FE, SQF level
5/6).
See also
References
Resources
- Gillies, H. Cameron (1896) Elements of Gaelic Grammar,
Vancouver: Global Language Press (reprint 2006), ISBN 1-897367-02-3
(hardcover), ISBN 1-897367-00-7 (paperback)
- Gillies, William (1993) "Scottish Gaelic", in: Ball, Martin J.
and Fife, James (eds) The Celtic Languages (Routledge Language
Family Descriptions), London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-28080-X
(paperback), p. 145–227
- Lamb, William (2001) Scottish Gaelic, Munich: Lincom
Europa, ISBN 3-89586-408-0
- MacAoidh, Garbhan (2007) Tasgaidh - A Gaelic
Thesaurus, Lulu Enterprises, N. Carolina
- McLeod, Wilson (ed.) (2006) Revitalising Gaelic in
Scotland: Policy, Planning and Public Discourse, Edinburgh:
Dunedin Academic Press, ISBN 1-903765-59-5
- Robertson, Charles M. (1906–07). "Scottish Gaelic Dialects",
The Celtic Review, vol 3 pp. 97–113, 223–39,
319–32.
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