Basic Phrases

Before we jump into the nitty gritty grammar I felt I should first post a list of some basic words and phrases like "hello" and "thank you."

Here is a list with my best shot at an IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) pronunciation guide. I also use APA (American Phonetic Alphabet) at times. I apologize if I mix them a bit. You will notice that the pronunciation of the words often doesn't sound at all like they are spelled. Yay.

You can also find a native speaker pronouncing these words if you download the free program BYKI for Scottish Gaelic.

Hello/How are you – Ciamar a tha sibh [kɪmara ha: ʃɪf]

Greetings! – Fàilte! [fa:lčə]

 

No – 1) chan eil [han yɛl]        2) chan è [han ɛ:]

Yes – ^(present) tha [ha:] ^(past) bha [va:]

Goodbye – Mar sin leibh [marʃɪn lev]

Thank you – Tapadh leibh [tapa lev]

Good afternoon – Latha math [la: ma:]

Good evening – Feasgar math [fɛsgr ma:]

Good morning – Madainn mhath [makin va:]

Good night – Oidhche mhath [ayʃ^ə va:]

Gaelic Alphabet and Phonetics

Gaelic has some extremely confusing phonetics, and a lot of words are read nothing like they are spelled. Like in English, there are many different vowel-sound possibilities and a lot of silent letters. Don't be discouraged though. As you study more and more you will start to get a feel for how certain things are pronounced.

The Gaelic alphabet has five vowels and thirteen consonants. The vowels are further divided into "broad" vowels and "slender" (sometimes called "small") vowels.

Vowels
   - Broad: a o u
   - Slender: e i

Consonants
b, p, f, m, c, g, l, n, r, t, d, s, h

You will often see accent marks over vowels. This is just a "duration" mark and means that you hold the vowel for longer. If you are familiar with phonetic alphabets, it is the same as placing : after a vowel.

Gaelic has diphthongs and triphthongs, which are combinations of two and three vowels that flow together.

Gaelic also has an interesting phonetic aspect known as "lenition." In older Gaelic books this is sometimes referred to as "aspiration" but this term is incorrect. Lenition is best described as a kind of "softening" or "weakening" of a consonant. In Gaelic, lenition is shown by writing "h" after a consonant.

Here is a series of links with good descriptions of Gaelic phonetics:

http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/ionnsachadh/ECG/02.html

http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/ionnsachadh/ECG/03.html


Here are also some images from the wonderful site Omniglot. These images use IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet.)






Don't get too overwhelmed by the phonetics of Gaelic. Remember that over time you will get a feel for things. Don't worry about trying to memorize all of the sounds in Gaelic just yet.

Linguistic Aspects of Gaelic

Before you start learning Gaelic you should look over this short post to get an idea of the kinds of linguistic aspects you will be encountering while studying Gaelic. Gaelic is different from English in many ways so if you are prepared for things ahead of time then you will be more prepared to tackle certain things when the time comes.

Word Order - Gaelic word order is usually Verb-Subject-Object (VSO.)

Cases - Gaelic has what are called "cases." These are also found in other languages such as German and Russian. Cases are morphological markers that show you the grammatical role of a noun in a sentence. Gaelic has four different cases.

The cases of Gaelic are:
Nominative - marks the subject of the sentence (also used for the objects of sentences.)
Dative - marks the indirect object and the preposition.
Vocative - marks the noun being addressed by the speaker.
Genitive -  this case has many uses. It is the hardest case in Gaelic. In the broadest sense, gentitve case marks the nouns that are modifying other nouns. It is used for things like showing possession, association, etc.

Gender - Gaelic has two genders: masculine and feminine.

Links to Sites

This post is mainly made up of links (plus one book recommendation.) I made this blog because I was dissatisfied with the materials I found online. But that isn't to say that I only found crap. This is a list of links I found worth noting.

Save Gaelic - A site dedicated to spreading Gaelic language and culture
www.savegaelic.org

Learn Gaelic - A website for the study of Gaelic
http://learngaelic.net/index.jsp

Beginner's Gaelic - A pretty nice intro into the basics of Gaelic. By Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, a Gaelic university (where all courses are taught in Gaelic!)
http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/ionnsachadh/ECG/
 
Also check out Sabhal Mòr Ostaig's list of Gaelic resources:
http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/ionnsachadh/

Dwelly's Online Gaelic-English Dictionary - Need I say more?
http://www.dwelly.info/

TAIC Gaelic Learner's Resource Site - Lessons, sound files, links, etc.
http://www.taic.me.uk/taic.htm

BBC Alba - "Alba" means "Scotland" in Gaelic. This is mainly in English but there is a BBC Gaelic radio station called Radio nan Gàidheal.
www.bbc.co.uk/alba/

Beag air Bheag - Meaning "Little by Little" in Gaelic, this is BBC's site for beginner Gaelic. Not the best place to learn grammar, but listening files are numerous, so it might be of use.
www.bbc.co.uk/alba/foghlam/beag_air_bheag/

My book recommendation is the TY Series Dictionary for Scottish Gaelic.
It can be found on Amazon.com here >>> Essential Gaelic Dictionary: A Teach Yourself Guide


Hope these help!

A Bit about Gaelic

I decided to learn Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) for two reasons. One being that I have always loved Celtic culture and therefore I have always been interested in the language as well. The second reason is heritage. This is the reason I picked Scottish Gaelic over Irish Gaelic (which is extremely similar yet often considered a separate language.) A lot of my family is from Scotland and I'm actually a member of my family's clan, Clan Crawford. But anyway, this post is meant to be a brief overview of the language. The next post will be a list of useful links to sites I use for my studies.

The last UK census showed that just over 58,000 people in the UK spoke Gaelic. This is only about 1.2% of the population, so needless to say Gaelic is not a widely spoken language. While there are several thousand others worldwide who have some level of command of the language, the numbers are still staggeringly small.

While some records indicate a slow but steady decline in Gaelic speakers, there are many revival efforts happening in Scotland and there are several Gaelic groups in other parts of the world.

An important organization in the world of Gaelic is Bòrd na Gàidhlig, which is a "public body" within the Scottish Government. It's purpose is to help handle all things Gaelic, from helping to implement Gaelic Language acts and its goals include increasing the numbers of Gaelic speakers and helping to spread awareness of Gaelic language and culture throughout the UK.

It is believed that Gaidhlig was brought to Scotland from Ireland sometime during the 4th century. Over time it developed apart from Irish and therefore we can see many differences between the two languages. Gaelic has been a major part of Scottish tradition but it has declined significantly in the face of English. For example, there were over 289,000 Gaelic speakers in Scotland in the 1750s and almost 300,000 around 1800. However, by the 1950s these numbers had dropped to below 100,000 and today the numbers continue to dwindle.


This isn't a reason to dismiss the language though! While it is not as practical as Spanish or French, for example, the language is still worth learning. It is fun, a way to explore history and culture, and a good linguistic exercise for your brain!