Where Scottish Gaelic Comes From

History of Scottish Gaelic: Scotland History Documentary

Where does Gaelic come from, and how many people in Scotland still speak Gaelic? Why did Gaelic decline in Scotland? What does Scottish Gaelic sound like, and how is it related to other Celtic languages? What role did Dal Riata play in the spread of Gaelic culture, and what happened to the Picts? In this documentary on the history of Gàidhlig (Scottish Gaelic), we'll answer these questions and explore the profound impact that Gaelic had (and continues to have) on the people of Scotland.

Chapters:
0:00 - What is Gaelic?
1:06 - How to Pronounce Gaelic / Gàidhlig
3:03 - Irish Gaeilge vs. Scottish Gaelic
3:43 - Celtic Language Family Explained
5:26 - Where Does Gaelic Come From? Gaelic Origins & Iron Age History in Dal Riada
11:09 - How Did Gaelic Spread to the Rest of Scotland? 4 Reasons for the Development & Spread of Gaelic in the Middle Ages
11:51 - Reason No. 1
14:50 - Reason No. 2
15:48 - Reason No. 3
21:48 - Reason No. 4
25:54 - Early Modern Decline - Why Gaelic DISAPPEARED
37:07 - Effects of Highland Clearances (Nova Scotia & North Carolina!)
39:11 - Gaelic Linguistics: Grammar, Syntax, and Phonetics of Gàidhlig
46:09 - Compound Words in Gaelic
47:13 - Lenition in Gaelic EXPLAINED
48:47 - Gaelic's Epenthesis
50:01 - Gaelic Sentence Structure
52:11 - Having in Gaelic
53:06 - Contextual Movement in Gàidhlig
54:13 - Scottish Gaelic Phrases for Beginners
56:02 - Sample of Gaelic Language Speaking
59:11 - Gaelic's Influence on Scottish Culture
1:03:32 - Current Status of Scottish Gaelic & Revival Efforts

Videos I Mentioned:

Script by Carl T. Rogers
with notes from Thomas Mackay @StaySgoinneil on FB

NOTE: This description contains affiliate links that allow you to find the products mentioned in this video and also support the channel at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!

#scottishhighlands #scottishgaelic #scottishhistory

[ZeroStrike]

Wow. This is such a great video. You have gone into alot of detail on so many subjects. I really enjoyed it. I will look into learning some Gaelic which I can use. Thank you.

[Henrodful]

Celtiadd am byth! As someone who is currently learning Cymraeg and a lover all things Celtic, this video is a masterpiece.
Would it be possible or practical, or even ideal if the government of the six Celtic nations got together into a 'Celtic Union' to things to help each support and promote not just the survival of their Celtic languages, but to make it thrive in the future?

[kellycollison]

I was ready to give up. This video has inspired me to keep going! Thank you

[garymacdonald]

Im a Northern Irish/Scot from the ONeill/Macdonald families!
Of course Scotland got Gaelic from the invasion of the Northern Irish (Dal Riada)
The Macdonald clan dominated the western Isles of Scotland (Harris to Mull of Kintyre).
Macdonalds and Campbells used to fight, so not a shock a guy called Campbell disagrees with this!

[kevingriffin]

Scottish Gaelic is considered to be more conservative in pronunciation than the other Gaelics. For example, sèimheachadh, in Scottish Gaelic is pronounced as written where its equivalent in Irish dialects, séimhiughadh, is pronounced as, séimhiú. However, Munster Irish grammar is considered more conservative with its many more synthetic verbs than the other Gaelics, e.g., Bhíos instead of Bha mi. I suspect this is because the monks who developed Gaelic writing spoke a dialect closer to Scottish Gaelic and Munster Irish speakers were the least likely to have been influenced by Brythonic speakers in ancient times due to geography.

[williamH]

I can see Dumbarton rock from my window across the Clyde 😊

[johnycash]

I’m Irish and can understand although not particularly fluent in the Irish language. I happened to have spent two weeks on the coast of Scotland in the Isle of Arran region and quickly realised how similar the natural tongue of Ireland and Scotland actually are… whatever label is put on them

[alanfbrookes]

It may be out-of-context of this documentary, but I wonder how the pre-Celtic settlement of the British Isles affected this later history. As is well-known, people started drifting over to the British Isles as the ice melted, about 10, 000 BC, and presumably continued to come for many years. We have little idea of where in Europe they originated, or whether they were just one pre-IndoEuropean tribe or many. We have no idea what pre-IndoEuropean language(s) they spoke. The Celts didn't start arriving until about 400 BC, thousands of years later, and, by this time they had already split into different Celtic dialects.
So, were the Ancient Britons in any way unified, or were they many different tribes speaking different languages? If they spoke different languages it would go a long way to explaining why, by the time the Romans arrived, they were all speaking varieties of Celtic, and had adopted Celtic cultures. Did they use Gaelic and Brythonic as a way of communicating between each other, much the way in later centuries people would use Latin, or, in India, for instance, people used English to speak to each other in a land with many languages?
We man never know.

[bernardmolloy]

I agree with the most recent language analysis of Scotland. Scotland has always been a hybrid geography with 3 geographical linguistic and cultural entities and from very ancient times:-

- Highlands (Gaelic)
- Lowlands (Cumbric)
- North East (Pictish)

Note:-

- Gaelic was a shared Q-Celtic language with Ireland and the Isle of Man.
- Cumbric was a shared P-Celtic language with Lower Britain and Wales.
- Pictish was a shared Proto-Germano-P-Celtic language, with once Bronze Age Scandinavia.

Today, those same 3 Geography’s exist in Scotland, with the languages now being:-

- Highlands (Scots-Gaelic)
- Lowlands (Lowland-Scots)
- North East (Norn and Doric-Scots)

[plixyplx]

Re contextual movement, English used to have something similar: whither are you going meant you were in the act of going somewhere.

[pio]

Fun fact: Irish people people never called themselves Irish (ie Éireannaigh) in their indigenous language until relatively recently, in the grand scheme of history. They referred to themselves as Gaedheala (Gaels), their language Gaedhilge (Gaelic) and their culture as Gaedhlach (Gaelic). Éire (ie Ireland) was simply the island of the Gaels, a name derived from one of their old goddesses. Calling our people "Irish" and language "Irish" is what the English have called it in their language since the Middle Ages, and when we tragically switched to English over the 19th century Irish stuck on as the ethnonym for the people in the new tongue. With independence it would become the official English name for the language, as would adopting Éireannaigh into the native tongue, though funnily enough "Éireannais" would never catch on.

Just something to bear in mind if you ever come across Irish people complaining about this Irish/Gaelic naming issue. The irony is they're cut off from the Gaelic worldview. Purists in Ireland have no issue using the term Gaelic, or interchangeably as I do, and even prefer the ethnonym Gael to describe themselves over Irish.

[jackw]

Just a couple corrections in Welsh. "The Dragon" is "Y Ddraig", "Yn" is a different word entirely. The word "the" in welsh can either be "Y" or ""Yr" depending on if the next word starts with a vowel or not. Cath is also pronounced with a long "a" vowel. Both Draig and Cath undergo a soft mutation after "Y" because they're feminine nouns. Brilliant video

[gerardosagastume]

Tha mí math, caraidg, Tapadh Leidh. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿⚔️💪

[maganwatts]

I know that you’re in North Carolina, but I was just wondering, what part of North Carolina are you from my family originates from Scotland County North Carolina and I would like to get together at some point to share some history about the Scottish immigrants that settled in that particular area.

[MrDan]

There is always a move by many to try to undo the Irish connection towards Scotland it really sickens me !!!

[horatiotodd]

All the places that used to be pictish areas are now scots speaking so im pretty sure it wasn’t the Irish who destroyed the picts, the anglos did the same thing they did to the rest of the country. New evidence shows that the picts were the same or similar as the welsh britons in the rest of the country.

[saoirseclark]

Uisce beatha is the name for whiskey in Irish. It is derived from the Old Irish uisce ("water") and bethu ("life"). Mentioned in the Annals of Clonmacnoise before ever been mentioned in Scotland (Scotti - Irish clan).

[OneForChrist]

Excellent video! Been learning Scottish Gaelic on duo for a few weeks now. Such a fun language to learn. Also Jesus Christ is king! :) How does one say that in Gaelic?

[Smudgegs]

Bhideo air leth! Tapadh leibh. One small correction though... despite lots of people stating the contrary, Bagpipes were never banned along with highland dress etc(!) Shocker I know, but it's true 👍

[Murphio]

Commenting this mid-video, and I'm curious if he brings up Scots at all. He may have already if briefly, and that would be fair enough considering it not being the focus of the video, but since he's speaking about Language and it's relation to the country of Scotland, I believe it should be mentioned somewhere.