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From the 12th century, Middle Irish began to evolve into modern Irish in Ireland, into Scottish Gaelic in Scotland, and into the Manx language in the Isle of Man. Early Modern Irish , dating from the 13th century, was the basis of the literary language of both Ireland and Gaelic-speaking Scotland.
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Aug 5, 2024 · The official languages of Ireland are Irish (Gaeilge) and English, with English being the predominant language spoken by the vast majority of the population. Irish, also known as Irish Gaelic, is the native Celtic language of Ireland.
Aug 31, 2024 · Irish language, a member of the Goidelic group of Celtic languages, spoken in Ireland. As one of the national languages of the Republic of Ireland, Irish is taught in the public schools and is required for certain civil-service posts.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
The only Irish language daily newspaper Lá is published in Belfast. The other main Irish language national newspaper Foinse is published in the Connemara Gaeltacht. Recent developments and modern technologies have promoted the use of the Irish language.
- Names of The Language
- Relationship to Other Languages
- Dialects
- The Official Standard
- Decline and Revival
- Origin of Writing in Ireland
- The Ogham Alphabet
- Gaelic Script
- Modern Irish Alphabet
- Irish Pronunciation
Irish is known as Irish, Gaelic or Irish Gaelic in English. The official standard name in Irish is Gaeilge /ˈɡeːlʲɟə/. Before the 1948 spelling reform, this was spelled Gaedhilge. In Middle Irish the name was spelled Gaoidhealg, in Classical Irish it was Gaoidhealg [ˈɡeːʝəlˠɡ], and it was Goídelcin Old Irish. In Ulster and northern Connacht, Irish ...
Irish is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages, also known as Q-Celtic. It is closely related to Manx (Gaelg/Gailck) and Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig), the other Goidelic languages. There is some degree of mutual intelligibility between them, particular between the Scottish Gaelic of Islay and Argyll, Ulster Irish, and Manx. The grammar ...
There are three main dialects of Irish: Munster (An Mhumhain), Connacht (Connachta) and Ulster (Ulaidh). The Munster dialect is spoken mainly in Kerry (Ciarraí) and Muskerry (Múscraí) in the western part of County Cork (Contae Chorcaí). The Connacht dialect is spoken mainly in Connemara (Conamara), the Aran Islands (Oileáin Árann) and Tourmakeady (...
During the 1950s and 1960s a standardised form of Irish, known the An Caighdeán Oifigiúil(The Official Standard) was developed. It combines elements from the three major dialects and its pronunciation is based on the Connacht dialect. This is the form of the language taught in most schools.
Between the 17th and early 20th centuries, the Irish language was gradually replaced by English in most parts of Ireland. Famine and migration in the 19th and 20th centuries led to its further decline. However when the Republic of Ireland came into being in 1922, Irish was adopted as an official language, along with English, and the government and ...
Irish first began to appear in writing in Ogham inscriptions between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. When St Patrick introduced Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century, Irish writers began to write in Latin, and at the same time Irish literature written in the Latin alphabet began to appear. The Viking invasions of the 9th and 10th centuries led t...
The Ogham alphabet was used to write Archaic Irish, Old Welsh and Latin and Ogham inscriptions have been found in various parts of Ireland and the British Isles. More information about Ogham
The Gaelic Script originated in medieval manuscripts as a variant of the Latin alphabet. It was used for printing Irish until quite recently and is still used on road signs and public notices throughout Ireland. More information about the Gaelic Script
Today Irish is usually written with a version of the Latin alphabet similar to the one used for Scottish Gaelic, though a spelling reform in 1957 eliminated some of the silent letters which are still used in Scottish Gaelic. Hear the Irish alphabet: The letters j (jé), k (ká), q (cú), v (vé), w (wae), x (ex), y (yé) and z (zae) do not occur in nati...
Notes
1. Consonants are broad when preceded and/or followed by a, o or u, and slender when preceded and/or followed by e or i. 2. Lenition (séimhiú) is a change in soundthat occurs to the beginning of words caused by a preceding word,such as a preposition. Lenition is indicated by adding an h afterthe initial consonant. For example, the Irish for shoe isbróg, [brok] but my shoe is mo bhróg[mɔ vrok]. 3. Eclipsis (urú) happens after certain words, suchas i, which means "in". Eclipsis in indicated bya...
Jul 9, 2019 · The Primitive Irish spoken by these early Celts gradually evolved into contemporary Gaelic Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx, a language native to the Isle of Man. Throughout Ireland’s history and complicated relationship with Great Britain (more on that later), English steadily replaced Irish as the island’s dominant language.
Feb 6, 2024 · Irish Gaelic is an official language of Ireland, alongside English. While Irish is the national and first official language of Ireland, English is predominantly spoken in daily life. Currently, around 1.9 million people in Ireland can speak Irish Gaelic, which is a marked increase compared to past censuses.
