Scottish Gaelic for the Family
From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection
Contents |
[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.
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 attempts to arrest and reverse this decline. 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. This book is intended to focus on the kind of sentences and vocabulary which are useful for everyday family life and the author hopes that some readers may make audio recordings of this Wikibook and make the audio recordings freely available to those who wish to use Gaelic as part of their everyday family life.
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 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 opportunities to practice speaking (or writing) in Gaelic. Social occasions and cultural events, as well as workshops and courses, 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] Useful phrases for everyday family life
The following list is intended to give the reader a brief taster of some everyday phrases which may be used in the family home. A much more comprehensive list of everyday phrases is given later in this book.
| Some examples of simple everyday phrases | |
|---|---|
| Gàidhlig | English |
| càite bheil Catriona ? | where is Catherine ? |
| càite bheil Iain ? | where is John ? |
| anns an taigh | in the house |
| cum mo lamh | hold my hand |
| cum an lamh aig màmaidh | hold mummy's hand |
| cum an lamh aig Catrìona | hold Catherine's hand |
| tiugainn leam | come with me |
| tiugainn leinn | come with us |
| bi curramach ! | be careful ! |
| trobhad an seo ! | come here ! |
[edit] Some elementary 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 - John; dh'òl - drank; bainne - milk)
Other examples of the same type of sentence construction would be the following:
- dh'òl i sùgh - she drank juice - (i - she; dh'òl - drank; sùgh - juice)
- dh'òl e tì - he drank tea - (e - he; dh'òl - drank; tì - tea)
- chluich ì anns an taigh - She played in the house -(ì - she; chluich - played; anns an - in the; taigh - house)
[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 - literally: a chair (cathair) is (tha) in the (anns an) room (seòmar)
which is best translated as:
- there is a chair in the room
- tha leabhar aig Iain - literally: a book (leabhar) is (tha) at (aig) John (Iain)
which is best translated as:
- John has a book, or John is in possession of a book
[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
- nighean mhòr - a big girl
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
- bha Seumas sgìth - James was tired
- bidh Seumas sgìth - James will be tired
- tha Seumas a' cluich - James is playing
- bha Seumas a' cluich - James was playing
- bidh Seumas a' cluich - James will be playing
[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 Anna')
[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 Anna')
[edit] Forming the present, past and future tense in regular verbs
- tha Anna a cuir bainne anns an cupan - Anna is putting milk in the cup
- chuir Anna bainne anns an cupan - Anna put (did put) milk in the cup
- cuiridh Anna bainne anns an cupan - Anna will put milk in the cup
[edit] Everyday phrases for the family
The following are intended as a list of useful phrases that are applicable to everyday family life. The authors invite others to add phrases here provided the phrases are of the kind which families are likely to use frequently.
- tiugainn! - come on!
- bidh modhail! - behave! (bidh! - be!, modhail - good)
- bidh sàmhach - be quiet! (bidh! - be!, sàmhach - quiet, peaceful)
- trobhad an seo! - come here!
- càite bheil Catrìona? - where is Catherine?
- càite bheil Iain? - where is Iain?
- cum mo lamh! - hold my hand!
- cum an lamh aig Iain! - hold Iain's hand!
- cum an lamh aig Catrìona! - hold Catherine's hand
- tha 'n t-acras air Seumas - James is hungry (literally 'the hunger is on James')
- tha Seumas ag iarraidh bainne - James is wanting milk
- tha sin cunnartach - that is dangerous
- tha e cunnartach - it is dangerous
- bidh curramach! - be careful!
- am bheil thu ag iarraidh bainne? - are you wanting milk?
- tha mi ag iarraidh bainne - I am wanting milk
- tha Iain ag iarraidh bainne - John is wanting milk
- caite bheil am bainne? - where is the milk?
- am bheil thu ag iarraidh sùgh? - are you wanting juice?
- am bheil thu ag iarraidh sùgh ubhail? - are you wanting apple juice?
- tha Mairi ag iarraidh sùgh ubhail - Mary is wanting apple juice
- am bheil thu ag iarraidh sùgh orainds? - are you wanting orange juice?
- caite bheil an sùgh? - where is the juice?
- am bheil thu ag iarraidh bùrn? - are you wanting water?
- am bheil thu ag iarraidh aran agus ìm? - are you wanting bread and butter?
[edit] Appendix A : The position of the learner of Gaelic
The ways in which the learner is likely to use Gaelic differ quite markedly from the ways in which the learner might use languages like Spanish, French, German or Italian. For instance a learner of German may need to learn how to book a hotel room in German or how to order food at a restaurant in German. This kind of situation is unlikely to arise for the learner of Gaelic as Gaelic tends not to be used for booking hotel rooms or ordering food in restaurants. Gaelic is more likely to be used at cultural events, socialising with friends, childrens' playgroups or family life and, of course, for songs, poems and other literary arts. It is helpful to the learner to practice communicating Gaelic with fellow learners and it is helpful if there are evening classes in the local area. Improving one's Gaelic requires a certain measure of self-discipline on the part of the learner and patience on the part of those people who are trying to get into the habit of speaking to one another in Gaelic. For many learners around the world, however, there are few opportunities to meet with other Gaelic speakers or fellow learners of Gaelic and the learner has to practice much of the time through correspondence, pen friends and the internet.
[edit] Appendix B : Achieving sustainability
The number of people with an ability to speak, read or write Scottish Gaelic has declined in the past few centuries and the number is now well under 100,000. Many of the people who are able to speak Gaelic are not in the habit of using it and many Gaelic-speaking parents are not in the habit of speaking in Gaelic to their children. Many of those who are able to speak Gaelic are scattered and effectively isolated from other Gaelic speakers and they seldom obtain opportunities to avail themselves of their skill in Gaelic. This raises long-term questions about the sustainability of the language. Wikipedia has useful information on language revival relating to the sustainability of languages like Scottish Gaelic (see Wikipedia:language revival). My own view is that the following are important for the long-term sustainability of the language:
- Opportunities to learn the language to fluency:
- There should be plenty of opportunities and resources to assist people who wish to learn the language.
- Connectedness between users of the language:
- There should be connectedness between those who wish to use the language (such as friends, family and neighbours) including plenty of opportunities for people to meet others who wish to use the language.
- Safe spaces where the language can be used in practice without risk of encroachment by other languages:
- Combinations of places, times and contexts should be established where the language is either strongly encouraged or used exclusively.
In addition to the above the following could, in my view, be helpful towards the well-being of a lesser-used language:
- people in the dominant community have positive attitudes towards (and speak well of) those people who regularly use the lesser-used language
- the community who regularly use the lesser-used language are relatively free from dangers such as war, persecution, famine, epidemics, poverty and crime
- there are schools available which teach using the lesser-used language AND the use of the lesser-used language is also reinforced outside of school hours
- the people who regularly speak the less-used language are also able to read and write in the less-used language
- the people who regularly use the less-used language are also able to make use of electronic (e.g. computer) technology
- there is a general awareness of the potential benefits of being bilingual, including in particular the cognitive benefits and the potential benefits to the person's self-esteem and confidence
- there is some degree of general awareness of the social consequences of language shift (see Wikipedia:language shift)
- those who have a working knowledge of the language have a strong presence in the education system
[edit] Social consequences of language shift
For the sustainability of a language it may be helpful if there is a general awareness of the consequences of language shift.
Language shift can be detrimental to at least parts of the community associated with the language which is being lost. Sociolinguists such as Joshua Fishman, Lilly Wong Fillmore and Jon Reyhner report that language shift (when it involves loss of the first language) can lead to cultural disintegration and a variety of social problems including increased alcoholism, dysfunctional families and increased incidence of premature death.
For example, Ohiri-Aniche (1997) observes a tendency among many Nigerians to bring up their children as monolingual speakers of English and reports that this can lead to their children holding their heritage language in disdain and feeling ashamed of being associated with the language of their parents and grandparents. As a result of this some Nigerians are said to feel neither wholly European nor wholly Nigerian. :-)
- Ref: Ohiri-Aniche, C (1997) Nigerian languages die. Quarterly Review of Politics, Economics and Society 1(2),73-9.
[edit] Advantages of being able to communicate in more than one language
For the purposes of making a lesser-used language sustainable it is probably helpful for people to be aware of the benefits of being able to communicate in more than one language. There are several advantages in being able to communicate in more than one language. It broadens a person's experiences, provides cognitive advantages and, provided each of the person's languages are afforded due respect, can contribute to a person's self-esteem and confidence.
People who are able to communicate well in more than one language can have a greater breadth of experiences, and often a greater tolerance of cultural differences. A person who is communicative in more than one language is often accepting of those who are culturally different and is often welcoming of those who speak other languages and have different customs.
People who are fluent in more than one language get to know which language to use with which person in which situation. Through this experience they appear to learn how to be more sensitive to the needs of listeners than people who can only communicate in one language.
People who can read and write in more than one language are able to enjoy two or more literatures, opening up different literary traditions, ideas, ways of behaving and ways of thinking. The pleasures of reading poems, novels and magazines and the enjoyment of writing to relatives and friends are all increased for people who have the ability to communicate proficiently in more than one language.
Where parents have different preferred languages, children learn how to communicate in each parent's language. This can allow a close and special relationship with each parent to develop.
Having two or more words for every object and idea can be an advantage to creativity. Sometimes corresponding words in different languages have different associations or connotations. When slightly different associations are attached to each word, the person with two or more languages may be able to think more creatively.
[edit] Appendix C : Resources
http://www.cli.org.uk - a society for learners of Gaelic
http://www.bbc.co.uk/alba - Gaelic radio
