Which is sad. I guess the migration of the Irish to America didn't help either, as those who left quickly adopted English and their descendants, such as myself, didn't even realize the proper name for the language of their ancestors.
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Which is sad. I guess the migration of the Irish to America didn't help either, as those who left quickly adopted English and their descendants, such as myself, didn't even realize the proper name for the language of their ancestors.
I don't know about that... I learnt to speak Irish in the 1980s, and then got back into speaking it again recently. The differences between now and then are monumental. There are so many more resources for speaking Irish now, and so much more enthusiasm (especially from young people) compared to when I was a kid. If you don't speak Irish you could be forgiven for thinking it has been killed off, but once you start speaking it you realise there are a LOT of people who can converse quite well. I live in Dublin, not a traditionally Irish speaking area, and I meet lots of Irish speakers here.
The schools should still focus on spoken Irish though. It should be possible to get a B grade with spoken Irish only. The current curriculum should still be offered, but called Irish Studies and made non-compulsory, and a compulsory spoken Irish course offered instead.
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Eh no, the branch of Celtic family is called Goidelic, the use of term "Gaelic" originates in Scottish context as a "neutral" word to use in English instead of pre-existing "Scots" term of "Erse" (which literally means Irish). Basically it was politically-correct word to differenate language in Scotland from Ireland.
The term "Gaelic" was thus never applied in Ireland until the 20th century and even to this day if someone calls the language "Gaelic" in Ireland it's generally due to deep seated animosity towards the language. In comparison in English state papers from the 15th-19th century for example specifically call the language "Irish", which reflects fact that it was majority language in Ireland until about 1800.
In modern day context the only people you tend to hear calling the language "Gaelic" are american's, in Ireland as pointed out above the word has a derogatory context.
As for the bould Conán Ó Briain, not as many fada's in his name when it's rendered in Irish.
Good points. My point is that common usage of terms may vary by location, do to different regional meanings attached to it. If you use Gaelic in the US it has a relatively accepted meaning, even if it is different from the connotation elsewhere. As a result, in the US people use Gaelic as a synonym for Goidelic or even Irish. It may be incorrect but it has fallen into common usage. I respect you willingness to fight that battle but it is an uphill one.
It's like using Yank or Yankee to describe an American. It may be a perfectly benign use but a Southerner could take offense to such a description since it is used derogatorily in the South, although often proceeded by damn and said as one word.
At any rate, I am enjoying this discussion and what I've learned. I find it interesting to learn how what we commonly think of as being Irish is really a creation of someone else's view of Ireland and its culture; and thus how easy it might be to offend some when no offense was meant or even when attempting to show an appreciation of the culture and its history.
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That's how you spell it in Irish gaelic. Don't be ignorant of something just because you don't understand it.
And the
It is called Irish but those outwith Ireland won't know that ;-)
Well it's American English per se, just like the people of the UK speak British English. English doesn't mean a whole lot unless it has a proper qualification for regionalization, nowadays.
