Scottish Gaelic language
Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig, pronounced "Gah-lick") is a Celtic language. It is commonly called just Scots Gaelic in Scottish English. It is a sister language of Irish Gaelic and Manx Gaelic; all three are Goidelic languages. These are related to the Welsh language, Cornish language and the Breton language (these three are Brittonic or Brythonic languages).
| Scottish Gaelic | |
|---|---|
| Scots Gaelic | |
| Gàidhlig | |
| Pronunciation | [ˈkaːlikʲ] |
| Native to | United Kingdom, Canada, United States, Australia, New Zealand |
| Region | Scotland, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and Glengarry County, Canada |
Native speakers | 58,552 in Scotland.[1]92,400 people aged three and over in Scotland had some Scottish Gaelic ability in 2001[2] with estimates of additional 500[3]–2000[4] in Nova Scotia, 1,610 speakers in the United States in 2000,[5] 822 in Australia in 2001[6] and 669 in New Zealand in 2006. |
Indo-European
| |
| Gaelic alphabet (Roman alphabet) | |
| Official status | |
Official language in |  Scotland |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | gd |
| ISO 639-2 | gla |
| ISO 639-3 | gla |
| ELP | Scottish Gaelic |
| Linguasphere | 50-AAA |
History
In past times, Scottish Gaelic was spoken across all of Scotland except for the Northern Islands (Orkney and Shetland).[7] In the later part of the Middle Ages, the kings of Scotland began to speak Scottish English and looked down on the Scottish Gaelic. After the union of England and Scotland, Scottish Gaelic was snubbed and looked down on even more, and Scottish English took over.
Today
Scottish Gaelic today is basically spoken in the Outer Hebrides and on Skye. Generally speaking, Scottish Gaelic spoken across the Western Isles is similar enough to be classed as one major dialect group, but there is some regional variation.
A census in the United Kingdom in 2001 showed that a total of 58,652 (1.2% of the Scottish population aged over three years old)[8] in Scotland could then speak some amount of Scottish Gaelic. Only the Western Isles have more people who can speak the Scottish Gaelic than not (61% of the people there speak Scottish Gaelic). The place in Scotland with the largest percentage of speakers is a village called Barvas on the Isle of Lewis, where, 74.7% of the people there speak Scottish Gaelic.
Children in Scotland do not have to learn Scottish Gaelic in schools, but it is becoming a more popular subject as Scottish Gaelic is an important part of their Scottish culture.
Scottish Gaelic is also used overseas. It is estimated that 1,000–2,000 in Nova Scotia, Canada, can speak some Scottish Gaelic.
References
