Is Scotch/Irish Gaelic a offical language?

[RedXIII]

just wondering.

[supernova]

1. That's Galic in Scotland and yes

it is an official language, as is Welsh.

[RedXIII]

2. We should make Gaelic mandortory in american schools.

'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.)

[GreenPartyVoter]

5. S'ea

[LiberalEsto]

18. Just out of curiosity,

why isn't Gaelic spelled the way it sounds?

For those who don't speak Celtic languages, trying to pronounce something is almost impossible. For example, the name Siobhan -- it's pronounced something like Shavone, right? And Ciara is pronounced Kera. I've always wondered about it.

My native language is Estonian, and every letter of the Estonian alphabet is pronounced only one way. When you see a word written in Estonian, every letter is pronounced. For example raamat (book) is pronounced r-aa-m-a-t, with the a pronounced as we would say aah.

It was a challenge for me as a kid trying to pronounce English words like laugh and cough, because I thought you had to pronounce the g and h.

[LostinVA]

20. Or Sine or ceilidh or uisge...

I've had a little bit of Irish Gaelic -- oi!

[OffWithTheirHeads]

3. In unoccupied Ireland, Gaelic is taught

as the first language in all the schools. The street sighns are in Gaelic. The town names are in Gaelic. The prevailing dialect is Gaelic. Would you expect less?

[dflprincess]

9. And, I believe, all official documents are printed in both

English and Gaelic. However, there are very few areas in Ireland where Gaelic is still the first language. The areas where it is still the dominant language are called Gaelteacht. I know there is one in Donegal, but I'm not sure where the other ones. Most the native Irish people I've met don't know anymore of the language than I do. (I used to be able to have a simple conversation in it, but lack of use has caused me to lose what little I did know.)

The Irish and Scots versions of the language are similiar and a fluent speaker in one can get by fairly well in the other. Welsh is also considered a Gaelic language, but is very different.

[Lisa]

13. my Irish co-worker has his university diploma over his desk -- in Gaelic

I believe he went to UC Cork.

[Gormy Cuss]

14. West Galway is Gaeltacht

As an American from a community where there were old Galway immigrants, I'm afraid my knowledge of Gaelic is quite limited and mostly scatalogical.

[evlbstrd]

4. If a language is in active use,

I would think that's official enough for ya.

[Swamp Rat]

6. Yes, they are 'official' languages, as are Russian, Bantu, Catalan...

ad infinitum.

[im10ashus]

7. Yes.

Why do you ask?

[H2O Man]

8. There are

a group of dialects that fall under "Gaelic," including Irish, Scottish, and Manx.

[valerief]

10. Scotch is a whiskey, not a language. Maybe there's a Scottish

language.

[Spider Jerusalem]

11. Actually, it's a WHISKY....

not a 'whiskey'...

[valerief]

12. My American Heritage dictionary gives the preferred

spelling as whiskey. Why whisky?

edited to update
Never mind. I see that whisky is used with Scotch. Oh, well, I'll have to belt down a few as penance tonight.

[Spider Jerusalem]

16. Because it's Scotch.

Not Irish or bourbon.

From the OED:

whisky, whiskey, n¹

("hwIskI) Also 8 -kie, -kee. (Short for whiskybae, etc. (Gael. uisgebeatha lit. 'water of life'), though this is not actually evidenced so early (but Ramsay has usque for usquebaugh, q.v., in 1728). In modern trade usage, Scotch whisky and Irish whiskey are thus distinguished in spelling; whisky is the usual spelling in Britain and whiskey that in the U.S.)

a. A spirituous liquor distilled originally in Ireland and Scotland, and in the British Isles still chiefly, from malted barley (with or without unmalted barley or other cereals), in U.S. chiefly from maize or rye. With a and pl., a drink of whisky.

[valerief]

17. I'm a Maker's Mark gal myself. n/t

[LostinVA]

21. Actually, it's a "uisge beatha"

[RagingInMiami]

23. Or phonetically

"Ishca Baha" - Water of Life. The English were unable to pronounce that during their conquest of Ireland, so they just called it Whisky.

[LostinVA]

24. Those English didn't know a real language -- or drink -- when they saw

it. Yummers!

Druids I know use it as a sacrifice/offering, btw...

[Ilsa]

15. Here's some BBC radio links including Gaelic and Welsh programming:

http://www.radiofeeds.co.uk/ Provides a listing of a lot of UK and Irish radio stations.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cymru/radiocymru/ Here is one for south Wales. Maybe you'll hear some native language on this station.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/alba/ BBC radio Gaelic. Even if they are off the air, it is nice to hear that voice and language. (It must have been my language in another life.)

[LostinVA]

19. Irish is a required class in Ireland

Or it was when my Irish friend was in school. \

I also believe Welsh is an "official" language, although not to the effort/extent Irish is.

[muriel_volestrangler]

22. Welsh is pretty close

It's a compulsory subject in Welsh schools up to age 16; some schools are Welsh-language based.

http://www.bwrdd-yr-iaith.org.uk/cynnwys.php?pID=143&langID=2

The 4th broadcast channel in Wales uses the Welsh language. It has government support as well as advertising revenue. The Assembly works in both English and Welsh; whether this is representative or not I don't know, but 2 out of 9 oral questions in the latest question session were asked in Welsh.

[LostinVA]

25. Thanks for the info -- very interesting!