ANST - language, culture, history ... was: Irish Pronunciation

[j'lynn yeates]

On 3 Mar 99, at 8:30, Quest wrote:

> I have read that it is incorrect to refer to spoken Irish as Gaelic.
> Gaelic encompasses Irish, Welsh, Scottish, and Manx, and the Irish
> dialect is referred to as Irish or Gaeilge, but I cannot find a
> pronunciation guide that includes given names.

point of order .. most commonly "gaelic" refers to a regional, unique branch of 
the celtic language group specific to ireland ... while it shares aspects with 
continental and british ("brythonic" .... welsh) it is considered distinct ... 
scotland was heaviliy colonized from ireland so it shares much of the later 
"gaelic" language structure.  

recently there is some push to re-catagorize the old language sub-divisions 
under a foolish assumption that there was some kind of keltoi master race and 
associated language (slightly different people with each successive migration, 
sharing sililar cultural trappings ...), and some new authors are claiming that 
this master language is "gaelic" (often found in the works of the "new age" 
authors) 

to understand celtic language patterns you must understand the history of their 
migrations ... where did they conquer and displace and where did they migrate 
and blend with the existing populations / cultures.  in the western islands 
(ireland and britain) when they initially migrated in, there was little 
opposition and almost total cultural displacement, so the languages were more 
distinct over time ... in scotland, it was not migration but colonization / 
exile site so the languages blended more readily with the existing native 
cultures.  on the continent there was less displacment due to their migrations 
meeting (and in some cases being diverted) by strong existing cultures, not to 
mention multiple waves of migration by later generations of the same peoples 
who had changed.
 
all in all, quite a intersting field of study 

'wolf 

... When we hunt, we all function with one mind
... - Boingo, Pedestrian Wolves
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