Gaelic Speakers

[cavscout]

The problem with Scottish Gaelic that that there's only 58,000 speakers (according to wikipedia). Maybe I should be learning Irish instead...

Tell me about it. The Cherokee language has only about 10,000 speakers. Teaching yourself a rare or endangered language is an Everest sized feat. Good luck with it.

[slohairt]

McClef is basically right. Welsh and Gaelic are not mutually intelligable. They ARE, however, related languages though, in that they belong to the same Celtic family. They bear the same similarities as English does to German or Dutch. Surprisingly, many Welsh people mistakenly refer to their own language as Gaelic. I'm not sure why this is. Perhaps some Welsh-speakers here could clarify this for us!

Here are some more word similarities:

Irish (Gaelic) Welsh English
dubh du black
glas glas green
Sasanach Saesneg English (person=literally mean "Saxon")
leabhar llyfr book
lamh llaw hand

So as you can see, there are similarities. While learning one does not allow you to understand the other, it would give you a head start learning it.
The three Gaelic tongues (Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx are mutually intelligable - though Manx has a very different system of writing that the other two).

Is mise le meas,

Seán Liosliath Ó hAirt

[Rab Gordon]

I took Gaelic at school but didn't retain very much of it, my wife has more of it than do as took Celtic Studies at university.

Rab

[JimB]

McClef is basically right. Welsh and Gaelic are not mutually intelligable. They ARE, however, related languages though, in that they belong to the same Celtic family. They bear the same similarities as English does to German or Dutch. Surprisingly, many Welsh people mistakenly refer to their own language as Gaelic. I'm not sure why this is. Perhaps some Welsh-speakers here could clarify this for us!

Here are some more word similarities:

Irish (Gaelic) Welsh English
dubh du black
glas glas green
Sasanach Saesneg English (person=literally mean "Saxon")
leabhar llyfr book
lamh llaw hand

So as you can see, there are similarities. While learning one does not allow you to understand the other, it would give you a head start learning it.
The three Gaelic tongues (Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx are mutually intelligable - though Manx has a very different system of writing that the other two).

Is mise le meas,

Seán Liosliath Ó hAirt

OH, that's a shame. I was hoping that I had someone locally to practice with. Oh well maybe she and her hubby have other things to teach me though.

[cessna152towser]

When I worked as lawyer for the schools in Argyll and the inner western islands (Mull, Islay, Tiree etc.) in the 1980's the locals would often speak to one another in Scots Gaelic when they didn't want me to know what they were saying. Gaelic was often spoken in Oban where I was based at the time. I dabbled with trying to learn a few words and phrases. I recall a visit to one of the rural primary schools where the teacher had helpfully got the kids to label everything in the classroom in Gaelic (door. window, desk, chair, blackboard etc.) prior to my visit. As McClef said there are bilingual railway station signs in Glasgow and Edinburgh as well as on the Highland and West Highland lines.

[slohairt]

As for resources on learning the language, there is a lot on the Internet. For Irish, I know that there are many Irish language summer courses and camps in County Donegal (and I think Galway and Kerry, too). Also, there is an Irish language workshop?camp?course? run here in Ontario. I forget what it's called but the woman who runs it is named Máirín Padgett.
As for Scottish Gaelic, there are courses in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. I'm sure there are many in Scotland as well. Cape Breton, however, would be easier for North Americans to travel to. My knowledge of Scottish Gaelic is not particularly good as I only took one course in it. I've retained the understanding of its spelling differences so I have less trouble reading it than a typical Irish speaker.
From what I remember, Scottish Gaelic has a simpler grammar system than Irish, but a more archaic vocabulary and spelling (despite being the younger of the two languages). Irish experienced a language reform in the 1940s and Scottish Gaelic experienced one to but to a lesser extent. What is unfortunate, is that the reforms only increase the differences between the languages. It's too bad the people in charge of these things didn't get together and share notes!
You will also run into the problem of dialect differences. Most courses teach one dialect so you will likely have to choose which one.
As for Manx, who knows?

is mise le meas,

Seán Liosliath Ó hAirt

[McClef]

"dubh du black "

But pronunciation is different - du in Welsh is pronounced "dee".

But certainly there are one or two more related words than I thought!

[slohairt]

Yes, the pronunciation is different. In fact, that word also illustrates differences in the way Irish and Scottish Gaelic are pronounced. Dubh is usually pronounced "duv" in Irish and "doo" in Scottish Gaelic (and I think Manx, too)

CYMRU RHYDD!

Is mise le meas,

Seán Liosliath Ó hAirt

[Mike1]

If you're hunting a Scots Gaelic speaker An t-Ileach is your man.

[McClef]

Yes, the pronunciation is different. In fact, that word also illustrates differences in the way Irish and Scottish Gaelic are pronounced. Dubh is usually pronounced "duv" in Irish and "doo" in Scottish Gaelic (and I think Manx, too)

CYMRU RHYDD!

Is mise le meas,

Seán Liosliath Ó hAirt

bh is one of several ways of rendering a v in Gallic too - as in Inbhirniss (Inverness) - the delights of Gallic spelling and pronunciation are even more complicated than that of the Welsh!

Diolch am mynegiad CYMRU RHYDD

CYMRU AM BYTH hefyd!

and (wrth gwrs)

ALBA GU BRATH!