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Scots Gaelic vrs Irish

  • 09-11-2020 07:46PM
    #1
    ILoveYourVibes
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,239 ✭✭✭✭


    Im really really confused.


    Are these languages considered mutually intelligible?

    Everything i read from linguists says they are.


    But that can just mean ...they can find an older form of a word in one language in another even if that word isn't used any more.

    Or older grammar forms have more in common.

    How mutually intelligible are they?


Comments

  • #2
    daphil
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 312 ✭✭daphil


    I once read somewhere, that there were only about 800 words that were different between the two.
    The pronunciation is quite different, but if for example, you watch a bit of BBC Alba, and read the subtitles at the same time, a lot of it will make sense to you.
    It's a bit like me, (Cork city Irish), trying to understand a man from An Ceathrú Rua in full flight.


  • #3
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 172 ✭✭ [Deleted User]


    I've studied Irish for thirteen years yet I haven't spoken a word of it since about 2005. I finished a course on Scottish Gaelic last Christmas, it took me about two months. I would say Scottish Gaelic or Gaidhlig as they call it is about 85-90 % similar to Irish. I would go as far as saying that it is the same language however it is spelled differently.

    I'll give you an example; the word for sausage in Irish is ispín and the word for sausage in Scottish Gaelic is isbean. These seem like two different words however they are pronounced the same.


  • #4
    bob mcbob
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 970 ✭✭✭bob mcbob


    To give a bit of background, this is where Gaelic came from -

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/history/articles/kingdom_of_the_gaels/

    There were 2 other nations around this time - the Picts and Britons - this is how they fit in. Both these groups were thought to speak a Celtic language more like Welsh.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/history/articles/kingdom_of_the_picts/

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/history/articles/kingdom_of_the_britons/


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