History of Irish Gaelic language

Difference (from prior major revision) (minor diff, author diff)

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See Common phrases in different languages

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Irish is a Celtic language (Goidelic branch) spoken in the Republic of Ireland (an Phoblacht na hÉireann) and to a lesser degree in Northern Ireland (Éire Thuaidh) and by the Irish diaspora around the world. Irish, or Gaeilge, is the first official language of the Republic of Ireland. It has recently receive a degree of recognition in Northern Ireland.

Irish is a Celtic language (Goidelic branch) spoken in the Republic of Ireland (Poblacht na hÉireann) and to a lesser degree in Northern Ireland (Éire Thuaidh) and by the Irish diaspora around the world. Irish, or Gaeilge, is the first official language of the Republic of Ireland. It has recently received a degree of recognition in Northern Ireland.

Changed: 9c7

In the south and west of Ireland there are pocket where Irish is the majority language. These regions are known as Gaeltachtaí (sg. Gaeltacht). The most well known of these are in Connemara in County Galway (Contae na Gaillimhe) and the Dingle peninsula in County Kerry (Contae Chiarraí).

In the south and west of Ireland there are pockets where Irish is the major language. These regions are known as Gaeltachtaí (sg. Gaeltacht). The most well known of these are in Connemara in County Galway (Contae na Gaillimhe) and the Dingle peninsula in County Kerry (Contae Chiarraí).

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The written language looks to those unfamiliar with it as a lot of unusual consonantal combinations and vowels everywhere! Once understood, the orthography is relatively straightforward. The acute accent, or fada (´), serves to lengthen the sound of the vowels and in some cases also changes their quality. For example, in Munster Irish (Kerry), "a" is /uh/ or /ah/ and "á" is /aw/ in "law" but in Ulster Irish (Donegal), "á" tends to be /ah/ lengthened.

The written language looks, to those unfamiliar with it, like a lot of unusual consonantal combinations and vowels everywhere! Once understood, the orthography is relatively straightforward. The acute accent, or fada (´), serves to lengthen the sound of the vowels and in some cases also changes their quality. For example, in Munster Irish (Kerry), "a" is /uh/ or /ah/ and "á" is /aw/ in "law" but in Ulster Irish (Donegal), "á" tends to be /ah/ lengthened.

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	Revision 6 . . (edit) December 13, 2001 1:17 am by (logged).7.55.xxx
	Revision 5 . . (edit) December 2, 2001 1:41 am by (logged).146.136.xxx
	Revision 4 . . December 1, 2001 8:55 am by (logged).186.255.xxx [minor rearrangement]
	Revision 3 . . December 1, 2001 7:38 am by Brpellis
	Revision 2 . . October 9, 2001 12:19 pm by Eob [Add link to Common phrases in different languages]