Scots Gaelic

Celtic leid native tae Scotland

The Scots Gaelic leid (Gàidhlig) is a Goidelic, Celtic leid an ane o the hamelt leids o Scotland.

A roadsign in baith Gaelic an Inglis.
Whaur Gaelic is spoken the nou (the Gàidhealtachd)

It is a Q-Celtic leid that's spak in Scotland (in muckler proportions in the northren pairt o Scotland (the Hielands an Islands), an abreed in Canadae (Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia). It is sib tae the Erse an the Manx Gaelic leid, an tae the Welsh, Cornish an Breton forby.

It wis spak in maist o the Lawlands an aw, as can be seen bi literature an place names:

History

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Thare wis a kinrick in Ulster haurd forenenst the coast richt alang bi the Giant's Causey cried Dalriada wi a wheen o warriors cried the Scots.

The Scots invaded an settlet in Argyll an brocht thair leid wi them. The Gaelic leid replaced the Pechtish leid athort Scotland wi the help o the Gaelic speakin kirk an the unification o Scotland. (See History o Scotland forby). In the 1700s, Gaelic wis the main written an spaken leid o the Hielands but wis confined tae that pairt o Scotland as the feck leid.[1]

The first translate o the Bible intae Scots Gaelic wisna makkit til 1767 whan Dr James Stuart o Killin an Dugald Buchanan o Rannoch shapit a translate o the New Testament. Gey few European leids hae makkit the transition tae a modren leeterar leid athoot an early modren translate o the Bible. Gaelic no haein sic a translate til the late aichteent century nae doubt contreibutit tae the decline o Scots Gaelic.

Scots Gaelic the day

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The day, it is spoken anerly bi aboot 60,000 fowk in Scotland[2] an aiblins 1,000–2,000 in Nova Scotia, Canadae. Anerly the Wastren Isles o Scotland hae mair fowk that can speak the leid nor no (61% o the fowk speak Gaelic). The place in Scotland wi the muckle maist percentage o Scots Gaelic speakers is a clachan cried Barvas on the Isle o Lewis. Here, 74.7% o the fowk speak the langage. Mony fowk are stairtin tae lear the leid.

Relation til ither leids

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Scots Gaelic is gey close tae Erse an Manx, the ither Goidelic leids an thur written forms are whiles e'en mutually inteligible tae ilka ither.

The Pechts wis in whit is nou Scotland lang afore the Scots or Scotland, an acause o this Scots Gaelic haes some o thair tongue in it. Wirds the likes o "Ben" (Heid/Peak) an "Aber" (Gub o a muckle river) gies us a keek at whit the aulder leid o Scotland. Ben an Aber is niver foond in the Erse but are in the Welsh, Cornish an Breton forby.

Syne the 16t-centurie, thar increasin uiss o Scots an Scots hank on Gaelic; acause o the Statutes o Iona (1609) an the Scuilin Act (1616), mony Hieland Gaels wis gart tae gang tae the Lallans an learn Inglis (then the term fae Lallans Scots).[3]

See forbye

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References

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  1. Brown, Ian (2006). Edinburgh History of Scottish Literature: Enlightenment, Britain and Empire (1707-1918) (in Inglis). Edinburgh University Press. pp. 21–22. ISBN 978-0-7486-3064-6.
  2. Scotland’s Census 2011: Gaelic report (part 1) (PDF). www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk (Report) (in Inglis). National Records of Scotland. 30 September 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  3. Horsburgh, Davie (1997). "'The hail kintra is gat begunkit': The thrawn historie o Scotlan's cultures". Cairn The Historie Jurnal in the Scots Leid. 1: 15-21.