Scottish Gaelic language

Scottish Gaelic
Scots Gaelic
Gàidhlig
Pronunciation[ˈkaːlikʲ]
Native toUnited Kingdom, Canada, United States, Australia, New Zealand
RegionScotland, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and Glengarry County, Canada
Native speakers
58,552 in Scotland. 92,400 people aged three and over in Scotland had some Scottish Gaelic ability in 2001 with estimates of additional 500–2000 in Nova Scotia, 1,610 speakers in the United States in 2000, 822 in Australia in 2001 and 669 in New Zealand in 2006.
Gaelic alphabet (Roman alphabet)
Official status
Official language in
 Scotland
Language codes
ISO 639-1gd
ISO 639-2gla
ISO 639-3gla
ELPScottish Gaelic
Linguasphere50-AAA
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Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig, pronounced "Gah-lick") is a Celtic language that is commonly called just Scots Gaelic in Scottish English. It is a sister language of Irish and Manx, all of which are Goidelic languages. They are related to Welsh, Cornish and Breton, which are Brythonic languages. All of them are Celtic languages.

History

Scottish Gaelic was once spoken across all of Scotland except for the Northern Islands (Orkney and Shetland). In the Late Middle Ages, the kings of Scotland began to speak Scottish English and looked down on the Scottish Gaelic. After the 1707 union of England and Scotland to form Great Britain, Scottish Gaelic was looked down on even more, and its speakers changed to Scottish English.

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. The 2001 census in the United Kingdom showed that in Scotland, 58,652 (1.2% of the Scottish population aged over three years old) could then speak some amount of Scottish Gaelic. Only the Western Isles have more people who can speak Scottish Gaelic than not since 61% of the people speak it. Barvas, on the Isle of Lewis, has 74.7% of its residents speaking Scottish Gaelic, the largest percentage of speakers in Scotland.

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 Scottish culture. Scottish Gaelic is also used overseas. It is estimated that 1,000 to 2,000 in Nova Scotia, Canada, can speak some Scottish Gaelic.

Also, there is a dialect called "Canadian Gaelic" outside Scotland with thousands of speakers.

References

  1. ↑ Census 2001 Scotland: Gaelic speakers by council area Archived 2006-09-25 at the Wayback Machine from Comunn na Gaidhlig (cnag.org.uk).
  2. ↑ "News Release – Scotland's Census 2001 – Gaelic Report" Archived 2013-05-22 at the Wayback Machine from General Registrar for Scotland website, 10 October 2005. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
  3. ↑ "Nova Scotia Museum's Curatorial Report No. 97" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2013-03-06.
  4. ↑ Gaelic in Nova Scotia Archived 2008-10-29 at the Wayback Machine from gov.ns.ca.
  5. ↑ "Language by State – Scottish Gaelic" Archived 2012-01-11 at the Wayback Machine on Modern Language Association website. Retrieved 27 December 2007
  6. ↑ "Languages Spoken At Home" Archived 2007-06-21 at the Wayback Machine from Australian Government Office of Multicultural Interests website. Retrieved 27 December 2007
  7. ↑ Orkney and Shetlands spoke Old West Norse because they were so long part of the Norse overseas settlements.
  8. ↑ Kenneth MacKinnon (2003). "Census 2001 Scotland: Gaelic Language – first results". Archived from the original on 2006-09-04. Retrieved 2007-03-24.
  9. ↑ "Census Profile, 2016 Census". 2016 Census. Statistics Canada. 8 February 2017. Archived from the original on 15 May 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  10. ↑ "Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population". 2021 Census. Statistics Canada. 9 February 2022. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  11. ↑ "Nova Scotia/Alba Nuadh". Province of Nova Scotia Gaelic Affairs. Archived from the original on 23 April 2020. Retrieved 2020-04-21.