Of or relating to the Gaels, or the ancient Celtic peoples of
Ireland(Éireann), Scotland(Alba), and the Isle of Man(Ellan Vannin) in Britain.
It especially refers to their languages:
Irish Gaelic(Gaeilge), the most prominent, and her
sister languages; Manx Gaelic(Gaelg); and (Scottish) Gaelic(Gàidhlig). Their cousin languages from the Brythonic Celtic languages are Welsh(Cymraeg), Cornish(Kernowek), and Breton(Breizh). All of them possess trilling r's,
hard-only c's and g's, gutterals, and
soft sounds also. All are poetic, musical, beautiful languages, often sounding very Tolkienesque.
The languages are now fragile after centuries of prejudice from the English. Still interest in them has risen in and around their homelands.
"'S e dùthaich
gun anam a
th'ann dùthaich
gun cànan"?
Gu fìor; tha h-uile rud an-seo airson adhbhar.
Gun e/i, marbhaidh 'n iomadachd na t-saoghail seo bìdeag is bìdeag. 'S e cànan àlainn A th'anns a' Ghàidhlig... bu lugha orm e fhaicinn dhol.
Cho fad is bhitheadh na Ceiltich cànanan beò, agus tha ùidh againn orra, bidh ann ronn na dòchais dhaibh.
("A country without a language is a country without a soul"?
Truly; everything is here for a reason. Without it, the diversity of this world will die piece by piece. It is a lovely language that Gaelic is... I would hate to see it
go.
As
long as the Celtic languages are alive, and we are interested in them, there will be some
hope for them.)
