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Gaelic


Lroy

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2 hours ago, Mclean07 said:

Total waste of public money in a propaganda campaign to make us feel “different” from rUK.

Or preserving an important part of rural and island Scotland’s cultural heritage . ...nothing political about it.  
The Gaelic/ Celtic music scene is thriving at the moment, and very popular with the young. There are some great bands singing at least part of their concert sets in Gaelic these days and selling out venues all over the country

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If we are to appeal to tourists wouldn't it make more sense having dual language signs in Spanish or French on our station signs rather than Gaelic ?  Lowland Scots have never and will never speak Gaelic. If you travel to the Western Isles or Highlands a good percentage of rental properties/B&B's/hotels are owned by people who have moved from England. There is more chance of Scottish accents becoming Anglicised in our remote countryside than there is of the local population Speaking Gaelic. 

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15 hours ago, Wrangodog said:

 Lowland Scots have never and will never speak Gaelic.

No horse in this race myself as I don’t speak Gaelic and am not learning it. However, this statement is quite categorically wrong. Check a map of how the language receded from around 1000ad. Gradually lost ground, as did Cymbric, as English advanced. But with the exception of parts of Lothian, pretty much all modern Scotland as we know it now spoke Gaelic. Even if this disappeared hundreds of years ago.

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2 minutes ago, Johnmn said:

No horse in this race myself as I don’t speak Gaelic and am not learning it. However, this statement is quite categorically wrong. Check a map of how the language receded from around 1000ad. Gradually lost ground, as did Cymbric, as English advanced. But with the exception of parts of Lothian, pretty much all modern Scotland as we know it now spoke Gaelic. Even if this disappeared hundreds of years ago.

They spoke Gaelic in the lowlands from about 800AD, after they stopped speaking Pictish. 

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9 hours ago, Johnmn said:

No horse in this race myself as I don’t speak Gaelic and am not learning it. However, this statement is quite categorically wrong. Check a map of how the language receded from around 1000ad. Gradually lost ground, as did Cymbric, as English advanced. But with the exception of parts of Lothian, pretty much all modern Scotland as we know it now spoke Gaelic. Even if this disappeared hundreds of years ago.

By the 10th century, Gaelic had become the dominant language throughout northern and western Scotland, the Gaelo-Pictic Kingdom of Alba. Its spread to southern Scotland was less even and less complete. Place name analysis suggests dense usage of Gaelic in Galloway and adjoining areas to the north and west, as well as in West Lothian and parts of western Midlothian. Less dense usage is suggested for north Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, the Clyde Valley and eastern Dumfriesshire. 

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27 minutes ago, Wrangodog said:

By the 10th century, Gaelic had become the dominant language throughout northern and western Scotland, the Gaelo-Pictic Kingdom of Alba. Its spread to southern Scotland was less even and less complete. Place name analysis suggests dense usage of Gaelic in Galloway and adjoining areas to the north and west, as well as in West Lothian and parts of western Midlothian. Less dense usage is suggested for north Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, the Clyde Valley and eastern Dumfriesshire. 

Not sure of the veracity of your source, but assuming it's fairly accurate for argument's sake, it doesn't disagree much with what I was saying. Renfrewshire and Clyde Valley area would have been largely Cymbric speaking with pockets of Gaelic. As Cymbric was replaced, Gaelic would've gained more of a foothold (I think - it's been years since I studied this). Gradually English (Scots) became dominant in these areas too, as it did earlier in much of Lothian. In Galloway, Gaelic survived well into 18th century. On Arran it was still the language of most normal folk up till late 19th century so to claim it has no history in our neck of the woods is false.

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11 hours ago, Johnmn said:

Not sure of the veracity of your source, but assuming it's fairly accurate for argument's sake, it doesn't disagree much with what I was saying. Renfrewshire and Clyde Valley area would have been largely Cymbric speaking with pockets of Gaelic. As Cymbric was replaced, Gaelic would've gained more of a foothold (I think - it's been years since I studied this). Gradually English (Scots) became dominant in these areas too, as it did earlier in much of Lothian. In Galloway, Gaelic survived well into 18th century. On Arran it was still the language of most normal folk up till late 19th century so to claim it has no history in our neck of the woods is false.

My neck of the woods isn't Arran though, it's mainland Ayrshire and there's no way of knowing how widely Gaelic was spoken there. I was always taught (apparently wrongly) that Gaelic was confined to the islands and Highlands of Scotland. If people want to learn Gaelic or want their children to learn it, fine, keep the language alive. I would be opposed to teaching it as a second language and the cost that would be involved when many families are struggling to feed and clothe their children. 

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On ‎11‎/‎30‎/‎2019 at 10:10 AM, Mclean07 said:

Total waste of public money in a propaganda campaign to make us feel “different” from rUK.

I am investing a wee bit of my time in Gaelic on Duolingo. The app actually makes it very accessible for free.

I am interested in it culturally. Yes there is a trendy element to it but I want to understand it because it was spoken quite widely 500 years ago and many place names are Gaelic in origin, for example Cill Mharnoc.

And hey, it turns out that we are different to rUK.

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My old man is a gaelic speaker originally from the islands and made no attempt to teach me as he knew there would be no gain for it for me. Can't say I disagree with him. No way it would have impacted my life if I had learnt it. If folk want to leant it bash on but I can't say I'd spend anytime doing it myself. 

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28 minutes ago, stumack said:

My old man is a gaelic speaker originally from the islands and made no attempt to teach me as he knew there would be no gain for it for me. Can't say I disagree with him. No way it would have impacted my life if I had learnt it. If folk want to leant it bash on but I can't say I'd spend anytime doing it myself. 

TBH you are better learning a language like Spanish Russian French to broaden your horizons and not to a language which not really give you any real practical benefits

Edited by killie1961
double spelling
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Irish is taught in Irish schools so any Irish person moving on to study languages is at an immediate advantage over a Scottish child doing the same type of course. Anyone wanting to move into European interpretation needs three languages.

A Scottish student would need to pick up two foreign languages against the Irish needing one.

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