Scottish Gaelic
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[edit] Preface
The Scottish Gaelic language, which has been spoken in Scotland for several centuries, boasts a considerable body of literature, including poetry, plays, song and associated styles of music. The music of the bagpipes, the harp and the fiddle are closely associated with Gaelic as are many of the distinctive traditions of Scotland and Nova Scotia. The Gaelic language and its literature give a unique insight into the nature of a people, their history and culture. This language is also sometimes referred to as "Scots Gaelic", but this usage should be avoided as it leads many to confuse Gaelic with Lowland Scots.
In recent centuries, however, the Gaelic language has been in general decline, both in terms of the number of people able to use the language proficiently and in the degree to which it is used. It is only recently that voluntary groups and government bodies have made serious attempts to arrest and reverse this decline (although An Comunn Gaidhealach has been working on behalf of Gaelic for over a century). The authors hope that this book can provide a useful insight for those who are interested in knowing more about Gaelic and assist those who wish to learn to speak, read or write Gaelic.
It can be difficult to learn Gaelic to fluency without making frequent contact with other Gaelic speakers and learners of Gaelic, and it is recommended that the learner seek out people who are able and willing to help them with their efforts to learn Gaelic - and to persevere with their efforts. Gaelic apprenticeships, whereby a learner is paired with a fluent speaker of Gaelic, can be particularly helpful for the learner but to be successful such apprenticeships require long-term commitment on the part of both the tutor and the learner. Good connectedness with other Gaelic speakers and learners can be very helpful, provided they lead to the learner obtaining sufficient opportunities to practice speaking (or writing) in Gaelic. Social occasions and cultural events (as well as workshops and courses, parent-and-toddler groups and local drop-in centres) can also be helpful, provided they can give and maintain an atmosphere of encouragement to those who wish to obtain plentiful opportunities to practice speaking Gaelic. Above all, however, there is no substitute for perseverance.
[edit] Pronunciation
Gaelic spelling rules can sometimes be a little confusing to the learner at first but with a bit of practice the learner can quickly become accustomed to the rules. See Scottish Gaelic/Pronunciation for details.
- a
- this sounds like the "a" in "father" or "act", never as in "ape" or "lane"
- ai
- this sometimes sounds rather like the letter 'e' in 'error' and sometimes sounds like the letter 'a' in 'father'
- ao
- this sounds like "eo" in French "oeuf" or "ö" in German "möchte"
- bh
- this can sound like the English letter "v" or "w". Typically it sounds like a "v" if it comes
at the beginning of a word but in the middle of a word it often sounds like a "w".
- ch
- this usually sounds rather like the 'ch' in German 'Bach'
- dh
- before 'a', 'o' or 'u' this usually sounds like a voiced version of 'ch'
- before 'e' or 'i' this usually sounds like the letter 'y' in 'yacht' or 'yellow'
- ea
- this usually sounds like "e" in "pen"
- eu
- this usually sounds like "a" in "ape"
- fh
- this is usually silent
- gh
- this often sounds like a voiced version of 'ch'
- l
- before 'e' or 'i' this sounds rather like the 'l' in the English word 'brilliant'
- before 'a', 'o' or 'u' this sound is much heavier
- mh
- this usually sounds like the English letter "v" or "w"
- ph
- this sounds much the way that it does in English
- s
- before "a", "o" or "u" this sounds much as it does in English
- before "e" or "i" it sounds much as "sh" sounds in "English"
- t
- before 'a', 'o' or 'u' the letter 't' sounds similar to its usual English sound
- before 'e' or 'i' the letter 't' sounds rather like 'ch' in the English word 'church'
[edit] Sentence structure and grammar
[edit] The simple sentence
In a simple English sentence, such as 'John drank milk' the subject comes first, then the verb, then the object. In Gaelic, however, the verb comes first, then the subject, then the object. An example of a sentence would therefore be:
- dh'òl Iain bainne
- John drank milk
- Iain /'iən/ John; dh'òl /γəl/ drank; bainne /'banjə/ milk;
| word | IPA pronunciation | meaning |
| Iain | 'iən | John |
| dh' òl | γəl | drank |
| dh' òl Iain | γəl 'iən | Iain drank |
| bainne | 'banjə | milk |
Other examples of the same type of sentence construction would be the following:
- dh'òl i sùgh
- /γəl i su:/
- she drank juice
- i /i/ she; dh'òl /γəl/ drank; sùgh /su:/ juice
- dh'òl e tì
- /γəl e ti:/
- he drank tea
- e /e/ he; dh'òl /γəl/ drank; tì /ti:/ tea
- chluich ì anns an taigh
- /'xluix i 'awnsən təj/
- she played in the house
- ì /i/ she; chluich /'xluix/ played; anns an /'awnsən/ in the; taigh /təj/ house
[edit] The imperative case
When issuing a command, such as in the sentence 'eat your food!' or 'write me a story!' the word order in Gaelic is similar to the word order in English. Some examples would be:
- ith do bhiadh! -
- eat your food!
- ith! - eat!; do - your, thy; bhiadh - food;
- òl am bainne!
- drink the milk!
- òl! - drink!; am - the; bainne - milk;
- sgrìobh sin!
- write that!
- sgrìobh! - write!; sin - that;
- sgrìobh sgeul!
- write a story!
- sgrìobh! - write!; sgeul - a story;
- sgrìobh mi sgeul!
- write me a story!
- sgrìobh! - write; mi - me; sgeul - a story;
[edit] Articles
In Gaelic, the definite article (i.e. the word for 'the') can take the form an, am, nan, a' or na. For example:
- an leabhar
- the book
- an - the; leabhar - book;
- am bainne
- the milk
- am - the; bainne - milk;
- na lamhan
- the hands
- na - the; lamhan - hands;
- a' chaileag
- the girl
- a' - the; caileag - girl;
The word 'an' is used for many singular nouns unless they begin with the letters 'b', 'm' or 'p', in which case the word 'am' is often used. The word 'na' tends to be used in the plural but note that 'plural' in Gaelic means three or more.
There is no indefinite article (i.e. there is no word for 'a') either in the singular or in the plural. For example 'taigh' can mean 'house' or 'a house'. This is not a problem, really, when we consider that in English the indefinite article is omitted in the plural without really causing any confusion. For example 'houses' is the plural of 'house' or 'a house'. Here are some examples:
- tha cathair anns an seòmar
- there is a chair in the room
- tha - is; cathair - a chair; anns an - in the; seòmar - room;
- tha leabhar aig Iain
- John has a book, John is in possession of a book
- tha - is; leabhar - a book; aig - at; Iain - John;
[edit] Adjectives
Adjectives usually come after nouns. For instance 'leabhar mòr' means 'large book' or 'a large book' (leabhar - book; mòr - large).
Where a word is, for grammatical purposes, feminine, the adjective is modified at the beginning, often by placing an 'h' after the first letter of the adjective. For instance:
- balach mòr
- a big boy
- balach - boy; mòr - big;
- nighean mhòr
- a big girl
- nighean - girl; mhòr - big;
This addition of the letter 'h' immediately after the first letter tends to happen to adjectives beginning with the letters 'b', 'c', 'd', 'f', 'g', 'm', 'p', 's' or 't'
[edit] The verb 'to be'
- tha Seumas sgìth
- James is tired (i.e. present tense)
- bha Seumas sgìth
- James was tired (i.e. past tense)
- bidh Seumas sgìth
- James will be tired (i.e. future tense)
- chan eil Seumas sgìth
- James is not tired (i.e. present tense, negative)
- cha robh Seumas sgìth
- James was not tired (i.e. past tense, negative)
- cha bhi Seumas sgìth
- James will not be tired (i.e. future tense, negative)
- am bheil Seumas sgìth?
- is James tired? (i.e. present tense, question)
- an robh Seumas sgìth?
- was James tired? (i.e. past tense, question)
- am bidh Seumas sgìth?
- will James be tired? (i.e. future tense, question)
- nach eil Seumas sgìth?
- is James not tired? (i.e. present tense, negative question)
- nach robh Seumas sgìth?
- was James not tired? (i.e. past tense, negative question)
- nach bi Seumas sgìth?
- will James not be tired? (i.e. future tense, negative question)
- tha Seumas a' cluich
- James is playing (i.e. present tense)
- bha Seumas a' cluich
- James was playing (i.e. past tense)
- bidh Seumas a' cluich
- James will be playing (i.e. future tense)
- Is e Seumas an lighiche
- It is James that is the physician (i.e. present tense)
- Bu e Seumas an lighiche
- It is James that was the physician (i.e. past tense)
[edit] Expressing 'to have'
There is no actual verb which translates as 'to have'. To say that a person has something we say that the something is 'at' the person. For instance, to say that John has a cup we say literally that 'a cup is at John'. For example
- tha cupan aig Iain
- John has a cup (literally 'a cup is at John')
- tha taigh aig Anna
- Anne has a house (literally 'a house is at Anne')
- chuir Anna sios an cupan aig Iain
- Anna put down the cup belonging to Iain (literally 'Anna put down the cup at Iain')
- cha robh cupan aig Iain
- Iain did not have a cup (literally 'a cup was not at Iain')
[edit] Expressing 'to own'
There is no actual verb which translates as 'to own'. To say that a person owns something we say that the something is 'with' the person. For instance, to say that John owns a house we say literally that 'a house is with John'. For example
- tha taigh le Iain
- John owns a house (literally 'a house is with John')
- tha ball-coise le Anna
- Anne owns a football (literally 'a football is with Anne')
[edit] Forming the present, past and future tense in regular verbs
The verb "cuir" is an example of a regular verb. The word "cuir" is the verb in the imperative case, so "cuir!" means "put!". "cuir sios sin!" means "put that down!" ("sios" = "down", "sin" = "that"). To form the present tense we might say "tha X a' cuir" which literally means "X is a-putting" ("tha" = "is", "a' cuir" = "putting" or "a-putting"). To form the past tense (for verbs starting with "c" or "b", "d", "f", "m, "p", "s" or "t") we add the letter "h" after the first letter. To fom the future tense we add "idh" or "aidh" to the end of the word. Here are some examples:-
- tha Anna a' cuir bainne anns an copan
- Anna is putting milk in the cup
- chuir Anna bainne anns an copan
- Anna put (did put) milk in the cup
- cuiridh Anna bainne anns an copan
- Anna will put milk in the cup
[edit] Irregular verbs
[edit] Tiugainn!
Even if you don't know much Gaelic it can be easy, with a little perseverance, to get into the habit of using a little Gaelic with your children, or with friends who are likewise learning Gaelic and willing to speak a little Gaelic with you. If you are not in the habit of speaking Gaelic it can feel a little strange at first to speak with your children in Gaelic but with time this strange feeling becomes lessened, and eventually it comes naturally. Speaking to your children in a second language (like Gaelic) is good brain-training both for you and for your children.
One of the easiest words to start with is the word "tiugainn" which means "come" or "come on". You could also say "tiugainn leam" which means "come with me". The word "leam" literally means "with me" (it's a prepositional pronoun). "Trobhad" is another useful word, which means "come!". For example "Trobhad an seo" means "Come here".
The word "curamach" means "careful" and "bidh curamach" means "be careful", a useful phrase to say to children in many situations. You can also say "bidh faiceallach" which literally means "be watchful". The phrase "na bidh gorach" means "don't be silly" and "bidh modhail" means "behave".
A good word to introduce to very young children is "bainne", which means "milk". For instance, you might say to a baby "am bheil thu ag iarraidh bainne?" which literally means "are you desiring some milk?", or "am bheil thu ag iarraidh sugh?" which means "are you desiring some juice?". To a child you might say something like "am bheil thu ag iarraidh tuilleadh bainne?" which literally means "are you desiring more milk?", or you might say "am bheil thu ag iarraigh tuilleadh sugh ubhail?", which means "are you desiring more apple juice?".
[edit] Phrase Book
[edit] Resources for the learner of Gaelic
http://www.cli.org.uk - a society for learners of Gaelic which provides its members with a quarterly newsletter (written in Gaelic and English) and notifies members of forthcoming Gaelic courses
http://www.bbc.co.uk/alba - Gaelic radio and television
http://www.gaelic4parents.com - A website with some audio visual resources for parents wishing to learn the kind of Gaelic suitable for everyday family life
http://www.learn-gaelic.info - A website for learners of Gaelic
