"Brittonic languages The Brittonic, Brythonic or British Celtic languages (; ; ) form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family; the other is Goidelic. The name ""Brythonic"" was derived by Welsh Celticist John Rhys from the Welsh word , meaning an indigenous Briton as opposed to an Anglo-Saxon or Gael. The name ""Brittonic"" derives ultimately from the name (), recorded by Greek authors for the British Isles. The Brittonic languages derive from the Common Brittonic language, spoken throughout Great Britain south of the Firth of Forth during the Iron Age and Roman period. In addition, North"
"and Brittonic (or Brythonic). Pictish is usually seen as a Brittonic language but this is not universally accepted. They are known collectively as the Insular Celtic languages. The Goidelic language currently spoken in Scotland is Scottish Gaelic. It is widely spoken in the Outer Hebrides, and also in parts of the Inner Hebrides and Scottish Highlands, and by some people in other areas of Scotland. It was formerly spoken over a far wider area than today, even in the recent past, as evidenced by placenames. Galwegian Gaelic is the extinct dialect of Scottish Gaelic formerly spoken in southwest Scotland. It"
"by Graham Isaac. Ranko Matasović points out that there are words of possibly or probably non-Indo-European origin in other Celtic languages as well; therefore, the substrate may not have been in contact with Primitive Irish but rather with Proto-Celtic. Examples of words found in more than one branch of Celtic but with no obvious cognates outside Celtic include: Goidelic substrate hypothesis The Goidelic substrate hypothesis refers to the hypothesized language or languages spoken in Ireland before the Iron Age arrival of the Goidelic languages. Ireland was settled, like the rest of northern Europe, after the retreat of the ice sheets"
"Gaelic writing. Notable examples of Gaelic verse composed in this manner are the Book of the Dean of Lismore and the manuscript. Note: Items in brackets denote archaic or dialectal forms Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( ) or Scots Gaelic, sometimes also referred to simply as Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish. Most of modern Scotland was once Gaelic-speaking, as evidenced especially by Gaelic-language placenames. In the 2011 census of Scotland, 57,375 people"
"English, the Celtic languages form tag questions by echoing the verb of the main sentence. The Goidelic languages, however, make little or no use of auxiliary verbs, so that it is generally the main verb itself which reappears in the tag. As in English, the tendency is to have a negative tag after a positive sentence and vice versa, but unbalanced tags are also possible. Some examples from Scottish Gaelic: In Welsh, a special particle ""on"" is used to introduce tag questions, which are then followed by the inflected form of a verb. Unlike English and the Goidelic languages, Welsh"
"the two major groups, Goidelic in Ireland and Brittonic in Great Britain, corresponding to the population groups of the Goidels (Gaels) on one hand and the Britons and the Picts on the other. The extent to which these peoples ever formed a distinct ethnic group remains unclear. While there are early records of the Continental Celtic languages, allowing a comparatively confident reconstruction of Proto-Celtic, Insular Celtic languages become attested in connected texts only at the end of the Dark Ages, from around the 7th century AD, by which time they had become mutually incomprehensible. In older theories, the arrival of"
"these dialects, which are now defunct in Scotland, have been preserved, and indeed re-established, in the Nova Scotia Gaelic community. Those of particular note are the Morar and Lochaber dialects, the latter of which pronounces the broad or velarised l () as []. History of Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish. Most of modern Scotland was once Gaelic-speaking, as evidenced especially by Gaelic-language placenames. It is commonly accepted by scholars that"
"is indicated by considering Irish language usage, which is not likely to have been influenced so much by Brittonic. In particular, the word srath (anglicised as “Strath”) is a native Goidelic word, but its usage appears to have been modified by the Brittonic cognate ystrad whose meaning is slightly different. The effect on Irish has been the loan from British of many Latin-derived words. This has been associated with the Christianisation of Ireland from Britain. Brittonic languages The Brittonic, Brythonic or British Celtic languages (; ; ) form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family; the"
"Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( ) or Scots Gaelic, sometimes also referred to simply as Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish. Most of modern Scotland was once Gaelic-speaking, as evidenced especially by Gaelic-language placenames. In the 2011 census of Scotland, 57,375 people (1.1% of the Scottish population aged over three years old) reported as able to speak Gaelic, 1,275 fewer than in 2001. The highest percentages of Gaelic speakers were in the Outer"
"member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish. Outside Scotland, a dialect of the language known as Canadian Gaelic exists in Canada on Cape Breton Island and isolated areas of the Nova Scotia mainland. This variety has around 2000 speakers, amounting to 1.3% of the population of Cape Breton Island. The 2011 census of Scotland showed that a total of 57,375 people (1.1% of the Scottish population aged over three years old) in Scotland could speak Gaelic at that time,"
"Languages of Scotland The languages of Scotland are the languages spoken or once spoken in Scotland. Each of the numerous languages spoken in Scotland during its recorded linguistic history falls into either the Germanic or Celtic language families. The classification of the Pictish language was once controversial, but it is now generally considered a Celtic language. Today, the main language spoken in Scotland is English, while Scots and Scottish Gaelic are minority languages. The dialect of English spoken in Scotland is referred to as Scottish English. The Celtic languages of Scotland can be divided into two groups: Goidelic (or Gaelic)"
"History of Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish. Most of modern Scotland was once Gaelic-speaking, as evidenced especially by Gaelic-language placenames. It is commonly accepted by scholars that Gaelic was brought to Scotland, probably in the 4th–5th centuries CE, by settlers from Ireland who founded the Gaelic kingdom of on Scotland's west coast in present-day Argyll. However, archaeologist Dr Ewan Campbell has argued that there is no archaeological or placename evidence"
"the arrival of iron-working marked the beginning of the arrival of the Celts (i.e. speakers of the Proto-Celtic language) and thus Indo-European speakers, to the island. Alternatively, many hold the view that this happened with the bearers of the Bell Beaker culture, probably Indo-European speaking reaching Ireland during the earlier stage of the Bronze Age. The Celtic languages of Britain and Ireland, also known as Insular Celtic, can be divided into two groups, Goidelic and Brittonic. When primary written records of Celtic first appear in about the fifth century, Gaelic or Goidelic, in the form of Primitive Irish, is found"
"Scottish Gaelic literature Scottish Gaelic literature refers to literature composed in the Scottish Gaelic language, a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages, along with Irish and Manx. In early Middle Ages what is now Scotland was culturally and politically divided. In the West of were the Gaelic-speaking people of Dál Riata, who had close links with Ireland, from where they brought with them the name Scots. Very few works of Gaelic poetry survive from the early Medieval period, and most of these are in Irish manuscripts. There are religious works that can be identified as Scottish, including the"
"was spoken by the independent kings of Galloway in their time, and by the people of Galloway and Carrick until the early modern period. It was also once spoken in Annandale and Strathnith. Scottish Gaelic, along with modern Manx and Irish, is descended from Middle Irish, a derivative of Old Irish, which is descended in turn from Primitive Irish, the oldest known form of the Goidelic languages. Primitive Irish is known only from fragments, mostly personal names, inscribed on stone in the Ogham alphabet in Ireland and western Britain up to about the 6th century AD. Goidelic languages were once"
"there are new complexities introduced by various sound changes (see below). Old Irish was the only member of the Goidelic/Gaelic branch of the Celtic languages, which is, in turn, a subfamily of the wider Indo-European language family that also includes the Slavonic, Italic/Romance, Indo-Aryan and Germanic subfamilies, along with several others. Old Irish is the ancestor of all modern Goidelic languages: Modern Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx. A still older form of Irish is known as Primitive Irish. Fragments of Primitive Irish, mainly personal names, are known from inscriptions on stone written in the Ogham alphabet. The inscriptions date from"
"Comparison of Scottish Gaelic and Irish Although Scottish Gaelic and Irish are closely related as Goidelic Celtic languages (or Gaelic languages), they are different in many ways. While most dialects are not immediately mutually comprehensible (although many individual words and phrases are), speakers of the two languages can rapidly develop mutual intelligibility. Scottish Gaelic in Islay and Argyll is fairly similar to Irish. The extinct dialects of northeast Ulster, particularly Rathlin Island, were also close to Scottish Gaelic. In Scotland, dialects also existed in southern Kintyre and Galloway which were probably similar to Irish, ""sliabh"" (mountain) being fairly common as"
"and Goidelic or Q–Celtic (Irish, Manx and Scottish Gaelic). He argued that the Brythonic languages originated in Gaul (France), and that the Goidelic languages originated in the Iberian Peninsula. Lhuyd concluded that as the languages had been of Celtic origin, the people who spoke those languages were Celts. From the 18th century, the peoples of Brittany, Cornwall, Ireland, Isle of Man, Scotland and Wales were known increasingly as Celts, and are regarded as the modern Celtic nations today. The Snowdon lily (now ""Gagea serotina"") was at one time called ""Lloydia serotina"" after Lhuyd. Cymdeithas Edward Llwyd, the National Naturalists' Society"
"Galwegian Gaelic Galwegian Gaelic (also known as Gallovidian Gaelic, Gallowegian Gaelic, or Galloway Gaelic) is an extinct dialect of the Goidelic languages formerly spoken in southwest Scotland. It was spoken by the people of Galloway and Carrick until the early modern period. It was once spoken in Annandale and Strathnith. Little (except numerous placenames) has survived of the dialect, so that its exact relationship with other Goidelic languages is uncertain. Gaelicisation in Galloway and Carrick occurred at the expense of Old English and Cumbric, a British dialect. Old Irish can be traced in the Rhins of Galloway from at least"
"Goidelic languages). There are also attempts to reconstruct Cumbric, a Brittonic language from North West England and South West Scotland. Celtic regions of Continental Europe are those whose residents claim a Celtic heritage, but where no Celtic language has survived; these areas include the western Iberian Peninsula, i.e. Portugal and north-central Spain (Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, Castile and León, Extremadura). Continental Celts are the Celtic-speaking people of mainland Europe and Insular Celts are the Celtic-speaking peoples of the British and Irish islands and their descendants. The Celts of Brittany derive their language from migrating insular Celts, mainly from Wales and Cornwall,"
"and Forth are Brythonic and those to the north and west are of Pictish origin. This Goidelic language arrived via Ireland due to the growing influence of the kingdom of Dalriada from the 6th century onwards. It is still spoken in parts of the Scottish Highlands and the Hebrides, and in Scottish cities by some communities. It was formerly spoken over a far wider area than today, even in the recent past. Scottish Gaelic, along with modern Manx and Irish, are descended from Middle Irish, a derivative of Old Irish, which is descended in turn from Primitive Irish. This the"
"of aristocratic warriors and learned people, which possibly included Druids. Linguists realised from the 17th century onwards that the language spoken by these people, the Goidelic languages, was a branch of the Celtic languages. This is usually explained as a result of invasions by Celts from the continent. However, other research has postulated that the culture developed gradually and continuously, and that the introduction of Celtic language and elements of Celtic culture may have been a result of cultural exchange with Celtic groups in southwest continental Europe from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. The hypothesis that the native Late"
"Traditional Gaelic music Traditional Gaelic music is the folk music of Goidelic language-speaking communities, often including lyrics in those languages. The six Celtic nationalities are divided into two musical groups, Gaelic and Brythonic, which according to Alan Stivell differentiate ""mostly by the extended range (sometimes more than two octaves) of Irish and Scottish melodies and the closed range of Breton and Welsh melodies (often reduced to a half-octave), and by the frequent use of the pure pentatonic scale in Gaelic music"". The emigration of Scottish Gaels to Cape Breton has also resulted in a unique strain of Gaelic music evolving"
"developing indigenously. Others hold that the close similarity between the Goidelic and Brythonic branches, and their sharing of Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age terminology with their continental relatives, point to a more recent introduction of Indo-European languages (or close communication), with Proto-Celtic itself unlikely to have existed before the end of the 2nd millennium BC at the earliest. The genetic evidence in this case would show that the change to Celtic languages in Britain may have occurred as a cultural shift rather than through migration as was previously supposed. Some current genetic research supports the idea that people"
"groups. Gallo-Brittonic languages The Gallo-Brittonic languages, also known as the P-Celtic languages, are a subdivision of the Celtic languages of Ancient Gaul (both ""celtica"" and ""belgica"") and Celtic Britain, which share certain features. Besides common linguistic innovations, speakers of these languages shared cultural features and history. The cultural aspects are commonality of art styles and worship of similar gods. Coinage just prior to the British Roman period was also similar. In Julius Caesar's time, the Atrebates held land on both sides of the English Channel. The hypothesis that the languages spoken in Gaul and Great Britain (Gaulish and the Brittonic"
"British inhabitants. The oldest written Goidelic language is Primitive Irish, which is attested in Ogham inscriptions from about the 4th century. The forms of this speech are very close, and often identical, to the forms of Gaulish recorded before and during the Roman Empire. The next stage, Old Irish, is found in glosses (i.e. annotations) to Latin manuscripts—mainly religious and grammatical—from the 6th to the 10th century, as well as in archaic texts copied or recorded in Middle Irish texts. Middle Irish, the immediate predecessor of the modern Goidelic languages, is the term for the language as recorded from the"
"Gallo-Brittonic languages The Gallo-Brittonic languages, also known as the P-Celtic languages, are a subdivision of the Celtic languages of Ancient Gaul (both ""celtica"" and ""belgica"") and Celtic Britain, which share certain features. Besides common linguistic innovations, speakers of these languages shared cultural features and history. The cultural aspects are commonality of art styles and worship of similar gods. Coinage just prior to the British Roman period was also similar. In Julius Caesar's time, the Atrebates held land on both sides of the English Channel. The hypothesis that the languages spoken in Gaul and Great Britain (Gaulish and the Brittonic languages)"
"Scottish Gaelic contains a number of apparently P-Celtic loanwords, but as Q-Celtic has a far greater overlap with P-Celtic than with English in terms of vocabulary, it is not always possible to disentangle P- and Q-Celtic words. However some common words, such as ""monadh"" ≡ Welsh ""mynydd"", Cumbric *""monidh"", are particularly evident. Often the Brittonic influence on Scots Gaelic is indicated by comparing with the Irish Gaelic usage which is not likely to have been influenced so much by Brittonic. In particular, the word ""srath"" (anglicised as ""Strath"") is a native Goidelic word, but its usage appears to have been"
"the Goidelic languages. It is also a consequence of their history: the digraph initially, in Old and Middle Irish, designated the phoneme , but later sound changes complicated and obscured the grapheme–sound correspondence, so that is even found in some words like Scottish Gaelic ""piuthar"" ""sister"" that never had a to begin with. This is an example of ""inverted (historical) spelling"": the model of words where the original interdental fricative had disappeared between vowels caused to be reinterpreted as a marker of hiatus. The Irish and Scottish Gaelic lenited /t/ is silent in final position, as in Scottish Gaelic ""sgith"""
"word ""Gaelic"" is unnecessary because the terms Irish and Manx, to refer to language (as in, ""to speak Irish""), always refer to these languages, but Scots has come to refer to a Germanic language and so ""Scottish"" can refer to things that are not Gaelic at all. ""Gaelic"", by itself, is sometimes used to refer to Scottish Gaelic, especially in Scotland, and so it is ambiguous. The endonyms (', ' and ' in Irish, ' in Manx and ' in Scottish Gaelic) are derived from Old Irish ""Goídelc"", which in turn is derived from Old Welsh ' meaning ""pirate, raider""."
"from Proto-Celtic or early Insular Celtic by the 6th century BC. Brittonic languages were probably spoken prior to the Roman invasion at least in the majority of Great Britain south of the rivers Forth and Clyde, though the Isle of Man later had a Goidelic language, Manx. Northern Scotland mainly spoke Pritennic, which became the Pictish language, which may have been a Brittonic language like that of its neighbors. The theory has been advanced (notably by T. F. O'Rahilly) that part of Ireland spoke a Brittonic language, usually termed ""Ivernic"", before it was displaced by Primitive Irish, although the authors"
"oldest known form of the Goidelic languages, which is known only from fragments, mostly personal names, inscribed on stone in the Ogham alphabet in Ireland and western Britain up to about the 6th century. The Beurla-reagaird is a Gaelic-based cant of the Scottish travelling community. Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300. Its influence on Scots island names is considerable due to the development of both the Earldom of Orkney and the Kingdom of the Isles which resulted in almost all"
"trían aile úad fo dess co Carn Húi Néit na n-éces. Sé fodéin oc Druimm Abrat co trían a shlúaig, nísdermat, oc loscud Muman maisse, ba subach don degaisse. Atchím a chomarba ind ríg a mét dorigne d’anfhír, nenaid ocus tromm ’malle, conid é fonn a dúine. Dún Eogain. Middle Irish Middle Irish (sometimes called Middle Gaelic, ) is the Goidelic language which was spoken in Ireland, most of Scotland and the Isle of Man from circa 900-1200 AD; it is therefore a contemporary of late Old English and early Middle English. The modern Goidelic languages—Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx—are"