Irish Gaeilge
Pronunciation:	ˈgeːlʲɟə
Spoken in:	Ireland, United Kingdom (especially Northern Ireland), Canada (Permanent North American Gaeltacht)
Region:	Gaeltachtaí, but also spoken throughout Ireland
Total speakers:	355,000 fluent or native speakers (1983)[1] 1,860,000 some knowledge (2006)
Language family:	Indo-European  Celtic   Insular Celtic    Goidelic     Irish
Writing system:	Latin (Irish variant)
Official status
Official language in:	Ireland Northern Ireland (UK) European Union
Regulated by:	Foras na Gaeilge
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	ga
ISO 639-2:	gle
ISO 639-3:	gle
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. Ireland ( Irish: Éire, ˈeːrʲə is a country in north-western Europe. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Gaeltacht Bhaile na hÉireann or the Permanent North American Gaeltacht (Gaeltacht Bhuan Mheiriceá Thuaidh is a designated Irish -speaking area in ga '''Gaeltacht''' ( plural ga ''Gaeltachtaí'' is the Irish language word meaning an Irish-speaking region Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world List of language familiesA language family is a group of Languages related by descent from a common ancestor called the Proto-language of that family The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic" a branch of the greater Indo-European Language family. The term Insular Celtic refers to those Celtic languages which originated in the British Isles, in contrast to the Continental Celtic languages of The Goidelic languages, (also sometimes called particularly in colloquial situations the Gaelic languages or collectively Gaelic) historically formed a Dialect A writing system is a type of Symbolic system used to represent elements or statements expressible in Language. Irish Orthography has evolved over many centuries since Old Irish was first written down in the Latin alphabet in about the sixth century AD Ireland ( Irish: Éire, ˈeːrʲə is a country in north-western Europe. Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in This is a list of bodies that regulate Standard languages Natural languages Auxiliary languages Interlingua The auxiliary language Foras na Gaeilge is the governing body of the Irish language, set up on 2 December 1999, which is responsible for the promotion of the language ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family ISO 639-2 is the second part of the ISO 639 standard, which lists codes for the representation of the names of languages ISO 639 -3 (ISO 639-32007 is an international standard for Language codes The standard describes three‐letter codes for identifying languages In Computing, Unicode is an Industry standard allowing Computers to consistently represent and manipulate text expressed in most of the world's

Irish (Gaeilge) is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish. The Goidelic languages, (also sometimes called particularly in colloquial situations the Gaelic languages or collectively Gaelic) historically formed a Dialect Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world The Irish people ( Irish: Muintir na hÉireann, na hÉireannaigh, na Gaeil) are a Western European Ethnic group who originate Irish is now spoken natively by only a small minority of the Irish population - mostly in parts of officially designated Gaeltachtaí (sing. ga '''Gaeltacht''' ( plural ga ''Gaeltachtaí'' is the Irish language word meaning an Irish-speaking region Gaeltacht) - but still has a visible symbolic role in the life of the Irish state. It enjoys constitutional status as the national and first official language of the Republic of Ireland and it is an official language of the European Union. The Constitution of Ireland (Bunreacht na hÉireann came into force on 29 December 1937 after having been passed by a national plebiscite the previous July Ireland ( Irish: Éire, ˈeːrʲə is a country in north-western Europe. The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in Irish is also an officially recognised minority language in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of

Estimates of fully native speakers range from 20,000 to 50,000 people ^[2]. The Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs estimated in 2007 that 17,000 people lived in areas where Irish was the community language, and a further 10,000 in areas where it is partly the community language^[3]. But since Irish is an obligatory subject in schools, many more are reasonably fluent second-language speakers. Furthermore, a much larger number regularly regard themselves as competent to some degree in the language: 1,656,790 (41. 9% of the total population aged three years and over) regard themselves as competent Irish speakers. ^[4] Of these, 538,283 (32. 5%) speak Irish on a daily basis, 97,089 (5. 9%) weekly, 581,574 (35. 1%) less often, 412,846 (24. 9%) never, and 26,998 (1. 6%) didn't state how often. Today, complete monolingualism is almost unheard of, and probably restricted to the very elderly in Gaeltacht regions and to native speakers under school age.

The number of inhabitants of the official-designated Gaeltacht regions of Ireland is 91,862, as of the 2006 census. ga '''Gaeltacht''' ( plural ga ''Gaeltachtaí'' is the Irish language word meaning an Irish-speaking region Of these, 70. 8% aged three and over speak Irish and approximately 60% speak Irish on a daily basis. ^[4]

The 2001 census in Northern Ireland showed that 167,487 (10. The Irish language (also known as Irish Gaelic is a Minority language in Northern Ireland (known in Irish as "Tuaisceart Éireann") 4%) people "had some knowledge of Irish". Combined, this means that around one in three people (~1. 8 million) on the island of Ireland can understand Irish to some extent. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world

On 13 June 2005, EU foreign ministers unanimously decided to make Irish an official language of the European Union. Events 1525 - Martin Luther marries Katharina von Bora, against the Celibacy rule decreed by the Roman Catholic Church for Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The languages of the European Union are Languages used by people within the member states of the European Union. The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in The new arrangements came into effect on 1 January 2007, and Irish was first used at a meeting of the EU Council of Ministers, by Minister Noel Treacy, T. New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Noel Treacy (Nollaig Ó Treasaigh born 18 December 1951 is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician D. , on 22 January 2007. Events 565 - Eutychius is deposed as Patriarch of Constantinople by John Scholasticus. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.

Contents 1 Names of the language 1.1 In English 1.2 In Irish 2 Official status 2.1 In Ireland 2.2 In Northern Ireland 2.3 In the European Union 3 Gaeltacht 4 Dialects 4.1 Munster dialects 4.2 Connacht dialects 4.3 Ulster dialects 4.4 An Caighdeán Oifigiúil 4.5 Comparisons 5 Linguistic structure 5.1 Syntax 5.2 Morphology 5.3 Orthography and pronunciation 5.4 Mutations 6 History 7 Current status 7.1 Republic of Ireland 7.1.1 Daily life 7.1.2 Education 7.1.2.1 Gaelscoileanna 7.1.2.2 Irish colleges 7.2 Northern Ireland 7.3 Outside Ireland 8 Future 9 Notes 10 See also 11 External links 11.1 General 11.2 Grammar and pronunciation 11.3 Dictionaries

Names of the language

In English

The language is usually referred to in English as Irish, sometimes as Gaelic or Irish Gaelic. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Gaelic or the Gaelic is often used by the older generation and by the Irish diaspora but now rarely by Irish learners of the language themselves. The Irish diaspora (Diaspóra na nGael consists of Irish Emigrants and their descendants in countries such as Great Britain, the United States The younger generation (mostly those whose first language is English) call the language "Irish". Use of the term Gaelic acknowledges the language's close relationship with other Goidelic languages, and it is this form that is usually preferred by native speakers.

The term Irish Gaelic is often used when English speakers discuss the relationship among the three Goidelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx). Scottish Gaelic ( Gàidhlig) is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. Manx ( Gaelg or Gailck, ɡilk or) also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Goidelic language once spoken on the Isle Scottish Gaelic is often referred to in English as simply Gaelic. The archaic term Erse (from Erische), originally a Scots form of the word Irish applied in English-speaking Scotland (by Lowlanders) to all of the Goidelic languages, is no longer used for any Goidelic language, and in most current contexts is considered derogatory. Scots ( The Scots leid) refers to Anglic varieties derived from early northern Middle English spoken in parts of Scotland and Northern Words and phrases are pejorative if they imply disapproval or contempt ^[5][6]

In Irish

In the Caighdeán Oifigiúil (the official written standard) the name of the language is Gaeilge (IPA: /ˈgeːlʲɟə/), which reflects the southern Connacht pronunciation. Connacht Irish is the Dialect of the Irish language spoken in the province of Connacht.

Before the spelling reform of 1948, this form was spelled Gaedhilge; originally this was the genitive of Gaedhealg, the form used in classical Modern Irish. In Grammar, the genitive case or possessive case (also called the second case) is the case that marks a Noun as modifying another The history of Irish begins with the arrival of speakers of Celtic languages in Ireland. Older spellings of this include Gaoidhealg in Middle Irish and Goídelc in Old Irish. Middle Irish is the name given by historical philologists to the Goidelic language used from the 10th to 12th centuries it is therefore a contemporary Old Irish is the name given to the oldest form of the Irish language, or rather the Goidelic languages, for which extensive written texts are possessed The modern spelling results from the deletion of the silent dh in the middle of Gaedhilge.

Other forms of the name found in the various modern Irish dialects, in addition to south Connacht Gaeilge mentioned above, include Gaedhilic/Gaeilic/Gaeilig (IPA: /ˈgeːlʲəc/) or Gaedhlag (IPA: /ˈgeːɫ̪əg/) in Ulster Irish and northern Connacht Irish and Gaedhealaing/Gaoluinn/Gaelainn (IPA: /ˈgeːɫ̪iŋ/) in Munster Irish. Ulster Irish is the Dialect of the Irish language spoken in the province of Ulster. Munster Irish is the Dialect of the Irish language spoken in the province of Munster.

Official status

In Ireland

Irish is given recognition by the Constitution of Ireland as the national and first official language of Ireland (with English being a second official language). English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Since the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922 (see also History of the Republic of Ireland), the Irish Government required a degree of proficiency in Irish for all those who became newly appointed to civil service positions (including postal workers, tax officials, agricultural inspectors, etc. The Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann (1922&ndash1937 was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by The Republic of Ireland first became an independent state on 6 December 1922 The Government of Ireland (Rialtas na hÉireann n̪ˠə ˈheːɾʲən̪ˠ is the Cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland. The Civil Service (An Stát-sheirbhís of Ireland is the collective term for the permanent staff of the Departments of State and certain State Agencies ). ^[7] Proficiency in just one official language for entrance to the public service was introduced in 1974, in part through the actions of protest organizations like the Language Freedom Movement. Founded in 1966, the Language Freedom Movement was an organization dedicated to the opposition of the state-sponsored Gaelic Revival of the Irish language

While the First Official Language requirement was also dropped for wider public service jobs, Irish remains a required subject of study in all schools within the Republic which receive public money (see also Education in the Republic of Ireland). The Republic of Ireland 's education system is quite similar to that of most other western countries Those wishing to teach in primary schools in the State must also pass a compulsory examination called "Scrúdú Cáilíochta sa Ghaeilge". The need for a pass in Leaving Certificate Irish or English for entry to the Gardaí (police) was introduced in September 2005, although applicants are given lessons in the language during the two years of training. The Leaving Certificate ( Ardteistiméireacht) commonly referred to as the Leaving Cert (Irish Ardteist) is the final course in the Irish ga '''''Garda Síochána na hÉireann''''' (ˈgaːrdə ʃiːˈxaːnə nə ˈheːɾʲən Irish for "Peace Guard of Ireland" often rendered All official documents of the Irish Government must be published in both Irish and English or Irish alone (this is according to the official languages act 2003, which is enforced by "an comisinéir teanga", the language ombudsman).

In 1938, the founder of Conradh na Gaeilge (The Gaelic League), Douglas Hyde, was inaugurated as the first President of Ireland. Conradh na Gaeilge ( 'The Gaelic League' is an organization "for the purpose of keeping the Irish language spoken in Ireland. The President of Ireland (Uachtarán na hÉireann n̪ˠə ˈheːɾʲən̪ˠ is the Head of state of Ireland. The record of his delivering his auguration Declaration of Office in his native Roscommon Irish remains almost the only surviving remnant of anyone speaking in that dialect. Not to be confused with Roscommon County Michigan, United States County Roscommon (Contae Ros Comáin is a County located in central Ireland

The National University of Ireland, Galway is required to appoint a person who is competent in the Irish language, as long as they meet all other respects of the vacancy they are appointed to. The National University of Ireland Galway ( NUI Galway) ( Irish Ollscoil na hÉireann Gaillimh or OÉ Gaillimh) is a tertiary-level This requirement is laid down by the University College Galway Act, 1929 (Section 3). ^[8] It is expected that the requirement may be repealed in due course. ^[9]

Even though modern parliamentary legislation is supposed to be issued in both Irish and English, in practice it is frequently only available in English. This is notwithstanding that Article 25. 4 of the Constitution of Ireland requires that an "official translation" be provided of any law in one official language be translated immediately into the other official language—if not already passed in both official languages. The Constitution of Ireland (Bunreacht na hÉireann came into force on 29 December 1937 after having been passed by a national plebiscite the previous July ^[10]

In Northern Ireland

Prior to the establishment of the Northern Ireland state in 1921, Irish Gaelic was recognised as a school subject and as "Celtic" in some third level institutions. This policy continued in spite of attempts in the 1930s to restrict it further in the curriculum. Between 1921 and 1972, Northern Ireland had a measure of devolved government. During those years the political party holding power in the Stormont Parliament, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), were hostile to Gaelic. In broadcasting, there was an exclusion on the reporting of minority cultural issues, and the Irish language was banned from radio and television for almost the first fifty years of the Northern Ireland state. ^[11] The language received a degree of formal recognition in Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom, under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. The Irish language (also known as Irish Gaelic is a Minority language in Northern Ireland (known in Irish as "Tuaisceart Éireann") The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The Agreement, most often referred to as the Belfast Agreement (Comhaontú Bhéal Feirste Belfast Greeance or the Good Friday Agreement (Comhaontú Aoine an ^[12] The British government promised to create legislation encouraging the language as part of the 2006 St Andrews Agreement. The St Andrews Agreement (or Comhaontú Chill Rímhinn in Irish) was an agreement between the British and Irish Governments and the political ^[13]

In the European Union

While an official language of the European Union, only direct correspondence with the public and co-decision regulations must be produced in Irish for the moment, due to a renewable five-year derogation on what has to be translated, requested by the Irish Government when negotiating the language's new official status. The languages of the European Union are Languages used by people within the member states of the European Union. The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in Any expansion in the range of documents to be translated will depend on the results of the first five-year review and on whether the Irish authorities decide to seek an extension. Before Irish became an official language on 1 January 2007, it was afforded the status of treaty language and only the highest-level documents of the EU had been translated into Irish. New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. The languages of the European Union are Languages used by people within the member states of the European Union.

Gaeltacht

Main article: Gaeltacht

There are parts of Ireland where Irish is spoken as a traditional, native language. ga '''Gaeltacht''' ( plural ga ''Gaeltachtaí'' is the Irish language word meaning an Irish-speaking region A first language (also mother tongue, native language, arterial language, or L1) is the language a human being learns from birth These regions are known collectively as the Gaeltachtaí. ga '''Gaeltacht''' ( plural ga ''Gaeltachtaí'' is the Irish language word meaning an Irish-speaking region These are in County Galway (Contae na Gaillimhe), including Connemara (Conamara), the Aran Islands (na hOileáin Árann), Carraroe (An Cheathrú Rua) and Spiddal (An Spidéal); on the west coast of County Donegal (Contae Dhún na nGall); in the part which is known as Tyrconnell (Tír Chonaill); and Dingle Peninsula (Corca Dhuibhne) in County Kerry (Contae Chiarraí). County Galway (Contae na Gaillimhe is located on the West Coast of Ireland. Connemara (in Irish: Conamara) which derives from Conmhaicne Mara (meaning descendants of Con Mhac of the sea is a district in the west of The Aran Islands ( Irish: Oileáin Árann, Aran Islands Dialect: ˈɑːrənʲ ˈhɑːrənʲəxə are a group of three Islands located Carraroe ( Irish An Cheathrú Rua) is a village in County Galway, Ireland. Spiddal, (official name An Spidéal) is a village on the shore of Galway Bay in County Galway in Ireland. County Donegal (ˌdʌnəˈgɔːl Irish: Contae Dhún na nGall. Tír Conaill (anglicized as Tyrconnell) was the name of a kingdom which covered much of what is now County Donegal. The Dingle Peninsula (Corca Dhuibhne - sometimes anglicized as Corkaguiney) is located in County Kerry and is the most Westerly point of County Kerry ( Contae Chiarraí in Irish) is a southwestern county of Ireland. Smaller ones also exist in Mayo (Contae Mhaigh Eo), Meath (Contae na Mí), Waterford (Contae Phort Láirge), and Cork (Contae Chorcaí). County Meath (Contae na Mí is a county in Ireland, often informally called The Royal County County Waterford (Contae Phort Láirge is a County in the province of Munster on the south coast of Ireland. County Cork (Contae Chorcaí is the most southerly and the largest of the modern counties of Ireland.

To summarise the extent of the survival: (See Hindley, 'The Death of the Irish Language') Irish remains as a natural vernacular in the following areas: south Connemara, from a point west of Spiddal, covering Inverin, Carraroe, Rosmuck, and the islands; the Aran Islands, with the exception of the town of Kilronan on Inishmore; northwest Donegal in the area around Gweedore, including Rannafast, Gortahork, the surrounding townlands and Tory Island; in the townland of Rathcarn, Co. Meath.

Irish remains the normal language of the older population, but is not the conversational language of the majority of young people in the Gaeltacht as it currently stands. Despite this, the great majority of them can speak the language fluently. They choose English for social factors.

Gweedore (Gaoth Dobhair), County Donegal is the largest Gaeltacht parish in Ireland. Gweedore (official name Gaoth Dobhair) is an Irish -speaking district located on the Atlantic coast of County Donegal, Ireland. County Donegal (ˌdʌnəˈgɔːl Irish: Contae Dhún na nGall. ga '''Gaeltacht''' ( plural ga ''Gaeltachtaí'' is the Irish language word meaning an Irish-speaking region Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world

The numerically and socially strongest Gaeltacht areas are those of South Connemara, the west of the Dingle Peninsula and northwest Donegal, in which the majority of residents use Irish as their primary language. These areas are often referred to as the Fíor-Ghaeltacht ("true Gaeltacht") and collectively have a population just under 20,000.

Irish summer colleges are attended by tens of thousands of Irish teenagers annually. Students live with Gaeltacht families, attend classes, participate in sports, go to céilithe and are obliged to speak Irish. A céilidh ( (in modern usage is a traditional Gaelic social Dance originating in Ireland and Scotland, but now common throughout the All aspects of Irish culture and tradition are encouraged.

According to data compiled by the Irish Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, only one quarter of households in officially Gaeltacht areas possess a fluency in Irish. The author of a detailed analysis of the survey, Donncha Ó hÉallaithe, described the Irish language policy followed by Irish governments a "complete and absolute disaster". The Irish Times (January 6, 2002), referring to his analysis, which was initially published in the Irish language newspaper Foinse, quoted him as follows: "It is an absolute indictment of successive Irish Governments that at the foundation of the Irish State there were 250,000 fluent Irish speakers living in Irish-speaking or semi Irish-speaking areas, but the number now is between 20,000 and 30,000. The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet news paper launched in the late 1850s. Events 1066 - Harold Godwinson is crowned King of England. 1205 - Philip of Swabia becomes King See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Foinse (meaning Source) is the biggest Irish language newspaper in Ireland. "

Dialects

There are a number of distinct dialects of Irish. A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος dialektos) is a variety of a Language that is characteristic of a particular group of Roughly speaking, the three major dialect areas coincide with the provinces of Munster (Cúige Mumhan), Connacht (Cúige Chonnacht) and Ulster (Cúige Uladh). Munster ( Irish: An Mhumhain, ənˈvuːnʲ Cúige Mumhan or Mumha) is the southernmost of the four Provinces of Ireland. Ulster ( Ulaidh ˈkwɪɟɪ ˈʌlˠu / ˈʌlˠi is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in addition to Connacht, Munster and Leinster Newfoundland, in eastern Canada, is also seen to have a minor dialect of Irish, closely resembling the Irish spoken during the 16th to 17th centuries (See Newfoundland Irish). Newfoundland — ˈn(jufənˌlænd (Terre-Neuve Talamh an Éisc — is a large island 15 km off the east coast of Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Newfoundland Irish (Gaeilge Thalamh an Éisc is a dialect of the Irish language specific to the island of Newfoundland and widely spoken until the mid-20th century

Munster dialects

Main article: Munster Irish

Munster Irish is mainly spoken in the Gaeltacht areas of Kerry (Contae Chiarraí), Ring (An Rinn) near Dungarvan (Dún Garbháin) in County Waterford (Contae Phort Láirge) and Muskerry (Múscraí) and Cape Clear Island (Oileán Chléire) in the western part of County Cork (Contae Chorcaí). Munster Irish is the Dialect of the Irish language spoken in the province of Munster. Ring (An Rinn Rinn Ó gCuanach or Rinn Ua gCuanach is a Gaeltacht region on a peninsula in the western half of County Waterford, Ireland, approximately Dungarvan ( Dún Garbháin in Irish) is a town and Harbour on the south coast of Ireland in the province of Munster. County Waterford (Contae Phort Láirge is a County in the province of Munster on the south coast of Ireland. Cape Clear Island, (official name Cléire and sometimes also referred to in Irish as ' Oileán Chléire') lies south west of County Cork in Ireland County Cork (Contae Chorcaí is the most southerly and the largest of the modern counties of Ireland. The most important subdivision in Munster is that between Decies Irish (Na Déise) (spoken in Waterford) and the rest of Munster Irish.

Some typical features of Munster Irish are:

1. The use of personal endings instead of pronouns with verbs, thus "I must" is in Munster caithfead, while other dialects prefer caithfidh mé (mé means "I"). "I was and you were" is Bhíos agus bhís in Munster but Bhí mé agus bhí tú in other dialects.
2. In front of nasals and ll some short vowels are lengthened while others are diphthongised. In Phonetics, a diphthong (also gliding vowel) (from Greek grc δίφθογγος "diphthongos" literally "with two sounds" or "with
3. A copular construction involving is ea is frequently used.
4. Stress is often on the second syllable of a word, e. In Linguistics, stress is the relative emphasis that may be given to certain Syllables in a word g. bio-RÁN ("pin"), as opposed to BIO-rán in Connacht and Ulster.

Connacht dialects

Main article: Connacht Irish

The strongest dialect of Connacht Irish is to be found in Connemara and the Aran Islands. Connacht Irish is the Dialect of the Irish language spoken in the province of Connacht. Connemara (in Irish: Conamara) which derives from Conmhaicne Mara (meaning descendants of Con Mhac of the sea is a district in the west of The Aran Islands ( Irish: Oileáin Árann, Aran Islands Dialect: ˈɑːrənʲ ˈhɑːrənʲəxə are a group of three Islands located In some regards this dialect is quite different from general Connacht Irish but since most Connacht dialects have died out during the 20th century Connemara Irish is sometimes seen as Connacht Irish. Much closer to the larger Connacht Gaeltacht is the dialect spoken in the smaller region on the border between Galway (Gaillimh) and Mayo (Maigh Eo). The northern Mayo dialect of Erris (Iorras) and Achill (Acaill) is in grammar and morphology essentially a Connacht dialect; but shows an affinity in vocabulary with Ulster Irish, due to large-scale immigration of dispossessed people following the Plantation of Ulster. Achill Island (ˈækəl Acaill Oileán Acla in County Mayo is the largest island of Ireland, and is situated off the west coast Morphology is the field of Linguistics that studies the internal structure of words The Plantation of Ulster (Irish Plandáil Uladh) was a planned process of Colonisation which took place in the northern Irish province of Ulster

There are features in Connemara Irish outside the official standard—notably the preference for verbal nouns ending in -achan, e. g. lagachan instead of lagú, "weakening". The non-standard pronunciation with lengthened vowels and heavily reduced endings give Connemara Irish its distinct sound. Distinguishing features of this dialect include the pronunciation of broad bh as [w], rather than as [vˠ] in Munster. For example mo bhád ("my boat") is pronounced [mˠə wɑːd̪ˠ] in Connacht and Ulster as opposed to [mˠə vˠɑːd̪ˠ] in the south. In addition Connacht and Ulster speakers tend to include the "we" pronoun rather than use the standard compound form used in Munster e. g. bhí muid is used for "we were" instead of bhíomar elsewhere.

Ulster dialects

Main article: Ulster Irish

Linguistically the most important of the Ulster dialects today is that of the Rosses (na Rossa), which has been used extensively in literature by such authors as the brothers Séamus Ó Grianna and Seosamh Mac Grianna, locally known as Jimí Fheilimí and Joe Fheilimí. Ulster Irish is the Dialect of the Irish language spoken in the province of Ulster. Ulster ( Ulaidh ˈkwɪɟɪ ˈʌlˠu / ˈʌlˠi is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in addition to Connacht, Munster and Leinster The Rosses (official name Na Rosa or Na Rosann, meaning "the headlands". Séamus Ó Grianna ( 1889-1969 locally known also as Jimí Fheilimí) was an Irish writer who used the pen name Máire. Seosamh Mac Grianna (1900 &ndash 1990 was an Irish writer under the Pen-name Iolann Fionn. This dialect is essentially the same as that in Gweedore (Gaoth Dobhair = Inlet of Streaming Water), and used by native singers Enya (Eithne) and Máire Brennan and their siblings in Clannad (Clann as Dobhar = Family from the Dobhar[a section of Gweedore]) Na Casaidigh, and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh from another local band Altan. Gweedore (official name Gaoth Dobhair) is an Irish -speaking district located on the Atlantic coast of County Donegal, Ireland. Enya (born Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin on May 17 1961, Gaoth Dobhair, County Donegal, Ireland, sometimes presented in Máire Ní Bhraonáin, mˠaːrʲə nʲiː vɾˠiːn̪ˠaːn better known as Máire Brennan or Moya Brennan (born August 4, 1952, Gweedore Clannad are a Grammy Award -winning Irish musical group, from Gweedore ( Gaoth Dobhair) County Donegal. Na Casaidigh or The Cassidys in English are an Irish traditional group Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh (ˈmaɾʲed̪ nʲiː ˈwiːn̪i( 17 May 1961, Gaoth Dobhair, County Donegal, Ireland) is the fiddler and lead Altan are an Irish Folk and traditional music group who originated in Gweedore, County Donegal.

Ulster Irish sounds very different and shares several unusual features with Scottish Gaelic, as well as having lots of characteristic words and shades of meanings. Scottish Gaelic ( Gàidhlig) is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. However, since the demise of those Irish dialects spoken natively in what is today Northern Ireland, it is probably an exaggeration to see Ulster Irish as an intermediary form between Scottish Gaelic and the southern and western dialects of Irish. Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of For instance, Scottish Gaelic has many non-Ulster features in common with Munster Irish.

One noticeable trait of Ulster Irish is the use of the negative particle cha(n) in place of the Munster and Connacht version ní. Even in Ulster, cha(n)—most typical of Scottish Gaelic—has largely ousted the more common ní (except in níl "is not") in northernmost dialects (e. g. Rosguill and Tory Island). Rosguill (official name Ros Goill) is a Peninsula situated in north-north-west County Donegal, Ireland. Tory Island (official name Toraigh and also known in Irish as Oileán Thoraigh or previously Oileán Thúr Rí) is an island in Ireland ^[14][15]

An Caighdeán Oifigiúil

An Caighdeán Oifigiúil ("The Official Standard"), often shortened to An Caighdeán, is the standard language, and was introduced in the 1950s/1960s in an attempt to make Irish easier to learn, as it was composed using elements of the Munster and Ulster dialects, but strongly based on the dialect of Connacht. A standard language (also standard dialect, standardized dialect, or standardised dialect) is a particular variety of a Language that It is the form of Irish that is taught in most schools in Ireland.

The dialects of Irish native to Leinster, the fourth province of Ireland, became extinct during the 20th century, but records of some of these were made by the Irish Folklore Commission among other bodies prior to this. Leinster (ˈlɛnstər Irish: Laighin, lainʲ one of the Provinces of Ireland, lies in the east of Ireland and comprises the counties of The Irish Folklore Commission ( Coimisiún Béaloideasa Éireann in Irish) was set up in 1935 by the Irish Government to study and collect information

The present-day Irish of Meath (in Leinster) is a special case. It belongs mainly to the Connemara dialect. The Irish-speaking community in Meath is mostly a group of Connemara speakers who moved there in the 1930s after a land reform campaign spearheaded by Máirtín Ó Cadhain (who subsequently became one of the greatest modernist writers in the language). Máirtín Ó Cadhain (1906 &ndash 1970 ˈmɑːrtʲiːnʲ oː ˈkainʲ was one of the most prominent Irish language writers of the twentieth century

What has been called "Dublin Irish" and "Gaelscoil Irish" is also spoken in the capital and amongst the students of Irish-speaking schools throughout the country. Dublin (ˈdʌblɨn/ /ˈdʊblɨn or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/, bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh or cliə(ɸ is both the largest city and capital of Ireland. A gaelscoil (Plural gaelscoileanna) is an Irish -speaking School, often also Co-educational, usually found in Ireland, but outside This is, arguably, simply the national standard of Irish, or An Caighdeán Oifigiúil but with strong influence from English in the form of idioms and expressions.

Comparisons

The differences between dialects are considerable, and have led to recurrent difficulties in defining standard Irish. A good example is the greeting "How are you?". Just as this greeting varies from region to region, and between social classes, among English speakers, this greeting varies among Irish speakers:

• Ulster: Cad é mar atá tú? ("What is it as you are?" Note: caidé or goidé and sometimes dé are alternative renderings of cad é)
• Connacht: Cén chaoi a bhfuil tú? ("What way [is it] that you are?")
• Munster: Conas taoi? or Conas tánn tú? ("How are you?")
• Leinster (Casual Dublin): Con's 'tá? ("How are [you]?")
• Standard Irish: Conas atá tú? ("How are you?")

In recent decades contacts between speakers of different dialects have become frequent and mixed dialects have originated. With the growth in the Irish language media—and in particular the television channel TG4—it has become much easier for speakers of different dialects to understand one another, although this is mostly seen in the younger generations. TG4 ( Spoken as TG Ceathair or TG a Ceathair; tiː dʒiː kʲahəɾʲ is a Television channel in Ireland, aimed

Linguistic structure

The features most unfamiliar to English speakers of the language are the orthography, the initial consonant mutations, the Verb Subject Object word order, the use of two different forms for "to be", and noun genders. Irish Orthography has evolved over many centuries since Old Irish was first written down in the Latin alphabet in about the sixth century AD Consonant mutation is the phenomenon in which a Consonant in a word is changed according to its morphological and/or syntactic environment Verb Subject Object ( VSO) is a term in Linguistic typology. It represents one type of languages when classifying languages according to the sequence of these A feature common to all Indo-European languages is the presence of a Verb corresponding to the English verb to be. In Linguistics, grammatical genders, sometimes also called Noun classes are classes of nouns reflected in the behavior of associated words every noun must belong However, initial mutations are found in other Celtic languages as well as in some Italian and Sardinian dialects, as an independent development. The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic" a branch of the greater Indo-European Language family. Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. They are also found in some West African languages. There are an estimated 2000 Languages spoken in Africa. About a hundred of these are widely used for inter-ethnic communication

Syntax

Main article: Irish syntax

Word order in Irish is of the form VSO (Verb-Subject-Object) so that, for example, "He hit me" is Bhuail [hit-past tense] sé [he] mé [me]. Irish Syntax is rather different from that of most Indo-European languages, notably because of its VSO word order Verb Subject Object ( VSO) is a term in Linguistic typology. It represents one type of languages when classifying languages according to the sequence of these

One aspect of Irish syntax that is unfamiliar to speakers of other languages is the use of the copula (known in Irish as an chopail). The copula is used to describe what or who someone is, as opposed to how and where. It is used to say that a noun is another noun, rather than an adjective. This has been likened to the difference between the verbs ser and estar in Spanish and Portuguese (see Romance copula), although this is only a rough approximation. Portuguese ( or língua portuguesa) is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia (Spain and northern Portugal. The Copula or copulae (the verb or verbs meaning "to be" in all Romance languages derive mostly from the Latin verbs SVM and

Morphology

Main articles: Irish morphology, Irish nominals, and Irish verbs

Another feature of Irish grammar that is shared with other Celtic languages is the use of prepositional pronouns (forainmneacha réamhfhoclacha), which are essentially conjugated prepositions. The morphology of Irish is in some respects typical of an Indo-European language. The declension of Irish Nouns the definite article, and the Adjectives is discussed on this page Irish Verb forms are constructed either synthetically or analytically. For example, the word for "at" is ag, which in the first person singular becomes agam "at me". When used with the verb bí ("to be") ag indicates possession; this is the equivalent of the English verb "to have".

Tá leabhar agam.	"I have a book. "	(Literally, "there is a book at me. ")
Tá leabhar agat.	"You have a book. "
Tá leabhar aige.	"He has a book. "
Tá leabhar aici.	"She has a book. "
Tá leabhar againn.	"We have a book. "
Tá leabhar agaibh.	"You (plural) have a book. "
Tá leabhar acu.	"They have a book. "

Orthography and pronunciation

Main articles: Irish orthography and Irish phonology

The written language looks rather daunting to those unfamiliar with it. Irish Orthography has evolved over many centuries since Old Irish was first written down in the Latin alphabet in about the sixth century AD The Phonology of the Irish language varies from dialect to dialect; there is no standard pronunciation of the language Once understood, the orthography is relatively straightforward. The acute accent, or síneadh fada (´), serves to lengthen the sound of the vowels and in some cases also changes their quality. History An early precursor of the acute accent was the apex, used in Latin inscriptions to mark long vowels. For example, in Munster Irish (Kerry), a is /a/ or /ɑ/ and á is /ɑː/ in "law" but in Ulster Irish (Donegal), á tends to be /æː/.

Around the time of World War II, Séamas Daltún, in charge of Rannóg an Aistriúcháin (the official translations department of the Irish government), issued his own guidelines about how to standardise Irish spelling and grammar. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including This de facto standard was subsequently approved of by the State and called the Official Standard or Caighdeán Oifigiúil.

It simplified and standardised the orthography. Many words had silent letters removed and vowel combination brought closer to the spoken language. Where multiple versions existed in different dialects for the same word, one or more were selected.

Examples:

• Gaedhealg / Gaedhilg(e) / Gaedhealaing / Gaeilic / Gaelainn / Gaoidhealg / Gaolainn → Gaeilge, "Irish language" (Gaoluinn or Gaolainn is still used in books written in dialect by Munster authors, or as a facetious name for the Munster dialect)
• Lughbhaidh → Lú, "Louth"
• biadh → bia, "food" (The spelling biadh is still used by the speakers of those dialects that show a meaningful and audible difference between biadh (nominative case) and bídh (genitive case) "of food, food's". County Louth (Contae Lú is a County on the East coast of Ireland, on the border with Northern Ireland. For example, in Munster Irish the latter ends in an audible -g sound, because final -idh, -igh regularly delenites to -ig in Munster pronunciation. )

Modern Irish has only one diacritic sign, the acute (á é í ó ú), known in Irish as the síneadh fada "long mark", plural sínte fada. A diacritic ( also called a diacritic or diacritical mark, point, or sign, is a small sign added to a letter to alter pronunciation In English, this is frequently referred to as simply the fada, where the adjective is used as a noun. The dot-above diacritic, called a ponc séimhithe or sí buailte (often shortened to buailte), derives from the punctum delens used in medieval manuscripts to indicate deletion, similar to crossing out unwanted words in handwriting today. Overdot See also Anusvara Language scripts or transcription schemes that use the dot above a letter as a diacritical mark In Arabic romanization From this usage it was used to indicate the lenition of s (from /s/ to /h/) and f (from /f/ to zero) in Old Irish texts. Lenition is a kind of Consonant mutation that appears in many Languages Along with assimilation, it is one of the primary sources of historical change In morpheme-based morphology, a null morpheme is a Morpheme that is realized by a phonologically null Affix (an empty string of phonological Old Irish is the name given to the oldest form of the Irish language, or rather the Goidelic languages, for which extensive written texts are possessed

Lenition of c, p, and t was indicated by placing the letter h after the affected consonant; lenition of other sounds was left unmarked. Later both methods were extended to be indicators of lenition of any sound except l and n, and two competing systems were used: lenition could be marked by a buailte or by a postposed h. Eventually, use of the buailte predominated when texts were writing using Gaelic letters, while the h predominated when writing using Roman letters.

Today the Gaelic script and the buailte are rarely used except where a "traditional" style is required, e. The term Gaelic script, a translation of the Irish phrase cló Gaelach ( pronounced /kɫ̪oː ˈgeːɫ̪əx/ refers to a family of insular g. the motto on the University College Dublin coat of arms or the symbol of the Irish Defence Forces, The Irish Defence Forces cap badge (Óglaiġ na h-Éireann). University College Dublin (UCD (An Coláiste Ollscoile Baile Átha Cliath - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland Dublin (An A coat of arms or armorial bearings (often just arms for short in European tradition is a design belonging to a particular person (or group of people The Irish Defence Forces Cap Badge (or "FF badge" as it is sometimes called is &ndash in distinction to the practice in British Commonwealth and many other militaries around Letters with the buailte are available in Unicode and Latin-8 character sets (see Latin Extended Additional chart). In Computing, Unicode is an Industry standard allowing Computers to consistently represent and manipulate text expressed in most of the world's ISO 8859-14, also known as Latin-8 or "Celtic" is an 8-bit Character encoding, part of the ISO 8859 standard A character encoding consists of a code that pairs a sequence of characters from a given character set (sometimes incorrectly referred to as Code page ^[16]

Mutations

Main article: Irish initial mutations

In Irish, there are two classes of initial consonant mutations:

• Lenition (in Irish, séimhiú "softening") describes the change of stops into fricatives. Irish, like all modern Celtic languages, is characterized by its initial Consonant mutations These mutations affect the initial consonant of a word under specific Consonant mutation is the phenomenon in which a Consonant in a word is changed according to its morphological and/or syntactic environment Lenition is a kind of Consonant mutation that appears in many Languages Along with assimilation, it is one of the primary sources of historical change Indicated in old orthography by a buailte written above the changed consonant, this is now shown in writing by adding an -h:
  • caith! "throw!" — chaith mé "I threw" (this is an example of the lenition as a past-tense marker, which is caused by the use of do, although it is now usually omitted)
  • margadh "market", "market-place", "bargain" — Tadhg an mhargaidh "the man of the street" (word for word "Timothy of the market-place"; here we see the lenition marking the genitive case of a masculine noun)
  • Seán "Seán, John" — a Sheáin! "O John!" (here we see lenition as part of what is called the vocative case — in fact, the vocative lenition is triggered by the a or vocative marker before Sheáin)

• Nasalisation (in Irish, urú "eclipsis") covers the voicing of voiceless stops, as well as the true nasalisation of voiced stops. In Phonetics, nasalization is the production of a sound while the velum is lowered so that some air escapes through the nose during the production of the sound by
  • athair "father" — ár nAthair "our Father"
  • tús "start", ar dtús "at the start"
  • Gaillimh "Galway" — i nGaillimh "in Galway"

History

Main article: History of the Irish language

Written Irish is first attested in Ogham inscriptions from the fourth century AD; this stage of the language is known as Primitive Irish. The history of Irish begins with the arrival of speakers of Celtic languages in Ireland. Ogham (ogam ˈɔɣam Modern Irish or, English) is an Early Medieval Alphabet used primarily to represent the Old Irish language (and Primitive Irish is the oldest known form of the Goidelic languages, known only from fragments mostly personal names inscribed on stone in the Ogham alphabet in Old Irish, dating from the sixth century, used the Latin alphabet and is attested primarily in marginalia to Latin manuscripts. Old Irish is the name given to the oldest form of the Irish language, or rather the Goidelic languages, for which extensive written texts are possessed Marginalia ( plurale tantum) is the general term for Notes scribbles and editorial comments made in the margin of a book Middle Irish, dating from the tenth century, is the language of a large corpus of literature, including the famous Ulster Cycle. Middle Irish is the name given by historical philologists to the Goidelic language used from the 10th to 12th centuries it is therefore a contemporary Texts in translation Most of the important Ulster Cycle tales can be found in the following publications Thomas Kinsella, The Táin, Oxford University Early Modern Irish, dating from the thirteenth century, was the literary language of both Ireland and Gaelic-speaking Scotland, and is attested by such writers as Geoffrey Keating. The history of Irish begins with the arrival of speakers of Celtic languages in Ireland. Seathrún Céitinn, known in English as Geoffrey Keating, was a 17th century Irish Roman Catholic priest Poet and Historian

From the eighteenth century the language went into a decline, rapidly losing ground to English due in part to restrictions dictated by British occupation - a conspicuous example of the process known by linguists as Language shift. Language shift, sometimes referred to as language transfer or language replacement or assimilation, is the progressive process whereby a speech community In the mid-nineteenth century it lost a large portion of its speakers to death and emigration resulting from poverty, particularly in the wake of the Great Irish Famine (1845-1849).

At the end of the nineteenth century, members of the Gaelic Revival movement made efforts to encourage the learning and use of Irish in Ireland. For the Gaelic resurgence to overthrow English supremacy in the 14th-16th century see Gaelic resurgence.

Current status

Republic of Ireland

The number of native Irish-speakers in the Republic of Ireland today is a smaller fraction of the population than it was at independence. Ireland ( Irish: Éire, ˈeːrʲə is a country in north-western Europe. The main reason for the decline was, according to some, the pressure the state put upon Irish-speakers to use English. ^[17] Also, many Irish speaking families encouraged their children to speak English as it was the language of education and employment. The Official Languages Act of 2003 gave people the right to interact with state bodies in Irish. The Official Languages Act 2003 (or in Irish Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla 2003(the " OLA " is an Act of the Oireachtas of Ireland. It is too early to assess how well this is working in practice. Other factors were outward migration of Irish speakers from the Gaeltacht (see related issues at Irish diaspora) and inward migration of English-speakers. The Irish diaspora (Diaspóra na nGael consists of Irish Emigrants and their descendants in countries such as Great Britain, the United States The Planning and Development Act (2000) attempted to address the latter issue, with varied levels of success. Planning controls now require new housing in Gaeltacht areas to be allocated to English-speakers and Irish-speakers in the same ratio as the existing population of the area. This will prevent new houses allocated to Irish-speakers being immediately sold on to English-speakers. However, the restriction only lasts for a few years. Also, people are not required to reach native speaker standards of fluency to qualify as Irish-speakers.

On 19 December 2006 the government announced a 20-year strategy to help Ireland become a fully bilingual country. Events 324 - Licinius abdicates his position as Roman Emperor. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. This involved a 13 point plan and encouraging the use of language in all aspects of life. ^[18][19]

Daily life

Several computer software products have the option of an Irish-language interface. Prominent examples include KDE,^[20] Mozilla Firefox,^[21] Mozilla Thunderbird,^[21] OpenOffice.org,^[22] and Microsoft Windows XP. KDE ( K Desktop Environment) (ˌkeɪdiːˈiː is a Free software project which aims to be a powerful system for an easy-to-use Desktop environment. Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, Open source, Cross-platform e-mail and News client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. OpenOfficeorg ( OOo or OOo) is a free Cross-platform office application suite available for a number of different computer Windows XP is a family of 32-bit and 64-bit Operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on Personal computers including home and ^[23]

Many English-speaking Irish people use small and simple phrases (known as cúpla focal, "a few words") in their everyday speech, e. g. Slán ("goodbye"), Slán abhaile ("get home safely"), Sláinte ("good health"; used when drinking like "bottoms up" or "cheers"), Go raibh maith agat ("thank you"), Céad míle fáilte ("a hundred thousand welcomes", a tourist board saying), Conas atá tú? ("How are you?"). There are many more small sayings that have crept into Hiberno-English. Hiberno-English also known as Anglo-Irish and Irish English is English as spoken in Ireland, partly the result of the interaction of the English The term craic has been popularised outside Ireland in this made-up Gaelicized spelling: "How's the craic?" or "What's the craic'?" ("how's the fun?"/"how is it going?"), though the word is not Irish in origin, and the expression "How's the crack?" was widely used in Ireland since at least the 1960s before the Irish-language spelling "craic" became the common journalistic style. Crack or craic is " Fun, Enjoyment, abandonment or lighthearted mischief often in the context of drinking or Music "

Many public bodies have Irish language or bilingual names, but some have downgraded the language. An Post, the Republic's postal service, continues to have place names in the language on its postmarks, as well as recognising addresses (as does the Royal Mail in Northern Ireland). An Post ( English literal translation 'The Post' Many place names in Ireland in the English language are either anglicisations of those in the Irish language, or completely different such as the name for the capital Royal Mail is the national postal service of the United Kingdom. Traditionally, the private sector has been less supportive, although support for the language has come from some private companies. For example, Irish supermarket chain Superquinn introduced bilingual signs in its stores in the 1980s, a move which was followed more recently by the British chain Tesco for its stores in the Republic. Customer divider barjpg|thumb|In supermarkets sellers periodically change prices for classes of goods in response to market conditions rather than negotiating the price of each good Superquinn is an Irish Supermarket chain The company was until 2005 entirely privately held by the Quinn family The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Tesco plc is a British -based international grocery and general merchandising retail chain Woodies DIY now also have bilingual signs in their chain of stores.

In an effort to increase the use of the Irish language by the State, the Official Languages Act was passed in 2003. The Official Languages Act 2003 (or in Irish Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla 2003(the " OLA " is an Act of the Oireachtas of Ireland. This act ensures that most publications made by a governmental body must be published in both official languages, Irish and English. In addition, the office of Language Commissioner has been set up to act as an ombudsman with regard to equal treatment for both languages. An ombudsman ( English plural conventionally ombudsmen) is an official usually (but not always appointed by the government or by parliament who is charged with Effectively this is to protect Irish as a minority language.

A major factor in the decline of natively-spoken Irish has been the movement of English speakers into the Gaeltacht (predominantly Irish speaking areas) and the return of native Irish-speakers who have returned with English-speaking partners. This has been stimulated by government grants and infrastructure projects^[24] "only about half Gaeltacht children learn Irish in the home. . . this is related to the high level of in-migration and return migration which has accompanied the economic restructuring of the Gaeltacht in recent decades". ^[25] Many see this as a deliberate attempt by anti-nationalist politicians to wipe out the language. "That economic development of the kind undertaken was likely to have such consequences was readily predictable a decade ago". ^[26] In a last-ditch effort to stop the demise of Irish-speaking in Connemara in Galway, planning controls have been introduced on the building of new homes in Irish speaking areas.

Attempts have been made to offer support for the language through the media, notably with the launch of Raidió na Gaeltachta (Gaeltacht radio) and Teilifís na Gaeilge (Irish language television, initially abbreviated to 'TnaG', now renamed TG4). RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta n̪ˠə ˈɡeːɫ̪t̪ˠəxt̪ˠə ( RnaG; Irish for Radio of the Gaeltacht) is the Irish-language Radio TG4 ( Spoken as TG Ceathair or TG a Ceathair; tiː dʒiː kʲahəɾʲ is a Television channel in Ireland, aimed TG4 ( Spoken as TG Ceathair or TG a Ceathair; tiː dʒiː kʲahəɾʲ is a Television channel in Ireland, aimed Both have been relatively successful. TG4 has offered Irish-speaking young people a forum for youth culture as Gaeilge (in Irish) through rock and pop shows, travel shows, dating games, and even a controversial award-winning soap opera in Irish called Ros na Rún. A soap opera is an ongoing episodic work of Fiction, usually broadcast on Television or Radio. Ros na Rún is an Irish Soap opera produced for Irish language TV channel TG4. Most of TG4's viewership, however, tends to come from showing Gaelic football, hurling and rugby union matches and also films in English, and English pop music programmes, although some of its Irish language programmes attract large audiences. Gaelic football ( Irish: Peil, Peil Ghaelach, or Caid) commonly referred to as " football " is a form of Football Hurling (in Irish, iománaíocht or iomáint) is an outdoor team Sport of ancient Gaelic origin administered by the Gaelic Overview See also Playing rugby union A rugby union match lasts for 80 minutes (plus stoppage time with a short In 2007 TG4 reported that overall it "has a share of 3% of the national television market". ^[27] This market share is up from about 1. 5% in the late 1990s. TG4 delivers 16 hours a day of television from an annual budget of €30 million, which is widely judged to be relatively efficient. The budget has the full support of all political parties in parliament. ^[27] TG4 is the most successful and high-profile government initiative for the Irish language for the past fifty years.

The Irish language daily newspaper Lá Nua publishes five days a week and has circulation of several thousand as well as a website. Lá Nua (meaning 'New Day' is an Irish language Daily newspaper based in Belfast. There is also a weekly paper, Foinse. Foinse (meaning Source) is the biggest Irish language newspaper in Ireland. These require government sponsorship. The Irish News has two pages in Irish every day. The Irish News is a compact -sized daily newspaper based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Irish Times had up until recently one article in Irish every week. The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet news paper launched in the late 1850s. Now it has several articles with some articles appended with short lists giving the meaning of some of the words used in English. Another paper, Saol, and about 5 magazines are also published in the language, as well as internet-only publications such as "Beo!". The immigrants magazine Metro Éireann also has articles in Irish every issue, as do many local papers throughout the country, including university publications such as Trinity News. Metro Éireann is Ireland 's only weekly multicultural Newspaper. Trinity News is the student Newspaper of Trinity College, and the oldest student newspaper in Ireland. The BBC offers a website for beginners called Blas ("a taste"). ^[28]

Thanks in large part to Gael-Taca and Gaillimh Le Gaeilge and two local groups a large number of residential developments are named in Irish today in most of the Republic of Ireland. ^[29]

The Placenames Order (Gaeltacht Districts)/An tOrdú Logainmneacha (Ceanntair Gaeltachta) (2004) requires the original Irish placenames to be used in the Gaeltacht on all official documents, maps and roadsigns. This has removed the legal status of those placenames in the Gaeltacht in English. Opposition to these measures comes from several quarters including some people within popular tourist destinations located within the Gaeltacht (namely in Dingle/An Daingean) who claim that tourists may not recognise the Irish forms of the placenames. Dingle (An Daingean or Daingean Uí Chúis) is a town in County Kerry in Ireland on the Atlantic Coast some west-south-west of

However following a campaign in the 1960s and early 1970s, most roadsigns in Gaeltacht regions have been in Irish only. Maps and government documents did not change, though. Previously Ordnance Survey (government) maps showed placenames bilingually in the Gaeltacht (and generally in English only elsewhere). Unfortunately, most other map companies wrote only the English placenames, leading to significant confusion in the Gaeltacht. The act therefore updates government documents and maps in line with what has been reality in the Gaeltacht for the past 30 years. Private map companies are expected to follow suit. Beyond the Gaeltacht only English placenames were officially recognised (pre 2004). However, further placenames orders have been passed to enable both the English and the Irish placenames to be used. The village of Straffan is still marked variously as An Srafáin, An Cluainíní and Teach Strafáin, even though Irish has not been the spoken widely there for two centuries. Straffan ( Teach Srafáin in Irish) is a village in County Kildare, Ireland situated on the banks of the River Liffey, 25 km upstream

Irish vehicle registration plates are bilingual: the county of registration is shown in Irish above the plate number as a kind of surtitle, and is encoded from English within the plate number. Registration marks on Number plates in Ireland issued since 1987 have the format YY-CC-SSSSSS where the components are YY &mdash a 2-digit Since the late 16th century the Island of Ireland has been divided into 32 counties ( Irish language contae or condae Surtitles, also known as supertitles, are translated or transcribed Lyrics projected above a stage or displayed on a screen commonly used in Opera or other For example, a Dublin plate is surtitled Baile Átha Cliath and the plate number includes "-D-". Dublin (ˈdʌblɨn/ /ˈdʊblɨn or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/, bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh or cliə(ɸ is both the largest city and capital of Ireland.

From 1964 The Bible was translated at Maynooth for Roman Catholics for the first time under the supervision of Professor Pádraig Ó Fiannachta and was finally published in 1981. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin Maynooth ( Maigh Nuad in Irish) is a university town located in north County Kildare, Ireland. ^[30] The Church of Ireland Book of Common Prayer of 2004 is published in both English and Irish. The Church of Ireland (Eaglais na hÉireann is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion, operating across the island of Ireland. The Book of Common Prayer is the common title of a number of prayer books of the Church of England and used throughout the Anglican Communion.

Education

The Irish language is a compulsory subject in government funded schools in the Republic of Ireland and has been so since the early days of the state. It is taught as a second language at second level (L2) even to native (L1) speakers. English is offered as a first (L1) language only even to those who speak it as a second language. The curriculum was once arranged in the 1930s by Father Timothy Corcoran SJ of UCD, who could not speak the language himself. University College Dublin (UCD (An Coláiste Ollscoile Baile Átha Cliath - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland Dublin (An The Irish Government has endeavoured to address the unpopularity of the language by revamping the curriculum at primary school level to focus on spoken Irish. However, at secondary school level, students must analyse literature and poetry, and write lengthy essays, debates and stories in Irish for the (L2) Leaving Certificate examination. The Leaving Certificate ( Ardteistiméireacht) commonly referred to as the Leaving Cert (Irish Ardteist) is the final course in the Irish The exemption from learning Irish on the grounds of time spent abroad, or learning disability, is subject to Circular 12/96 (primary education) and Circular M10/94 (secondary education) issued by the Department of Education and Science. The Department of Education and Science (An Roinn Oideachais agus Eolaíochta is a department of the Government of Ireland.

In March 2007, the Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin, announced that more focus would be devoted to the spoken language, and that from 2012, the percentage of marks available in the Leaving Certificate Irish exam would increase from 25% to 40% for the oral component. Mary Hanafin (Máire Ní Ainifín born 1 June 1959 is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and the current Minister for Social and Family Affairs. ^[31] This increased emphasis on the oral component of the Irish examinations is likely to change the way Irish is examined. ^[32][33]

Recently the abolition of compulsory Irish has been discussed. In 2005 Enda Kenny, leader of Ireland's main opposition party, Fine Gael, called for the language to be made an optional subject in the last two years of secondary school. For the Australian singer see Enda Kenny (singer Enda Kenny (Éanna Ó Cionnaith born 24 April 1951 an Irish politician Fine Gael – The United Ireland Party, shortened to Fine Gael (ˌfina gail meaning Family of the Irish or Tribe of the Irish, is the second largest Mr Kenny, despite being a fluent speaker himself (and a teacher), stated that he believed that compulsory Irish has done the language more harm than good.

Gaelscoileanna

A relatively recent development is the proliferation of gaelscoileanna (schools) in which Irish is the medium of education. A gaelscoil (Plural gaelscoileanna) is an Irish -speaking School, often also Co-educational, usually found in Ireland, but outside By September 2005 there were 168 gaelscoileanna at primary level and 43 at secondary level in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland together (excluding the Gaeltacht, whose schools are not considered gaelscoileanna), which amounted to approximately 31,000 students. This has grown from a total of less than 20 in the early 1970s and there are 15 more being planned at present. With the opening of Gaelscoil Liatroma in County Leitrim in 2005 there is now at least one gaelscoil in each of the 32 traditional counties of Ireland. County Leitrim ( is one of the counties of Ireland and is part of the province of Connacht. Since the late 16th century the Island of Ireland has been divided into 32 counties ( Irish language contae or condae In Gaeltacht areas, the medium of education has been traditionally through Irish, ever since the foundation of the State. The majority of Gaeltacht students tend to be L1 Irish Gaelic speakers, but even in the Gaeltacht areas the language is taught as an L2 language whilst English is taught as an L1 language.

The Irish Equality Authority recently questioned the official State practice of awarding 5-10% extra marks to students who take some of their examinations through Irish. ^[34]

The Royal Irish Academy's 2006 conference on "Language Policy and Language Planning in Ireland" found that the study of Irish and other languages is declining in Ireland. The Royal Irish Academy ( RIA) (Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann is an all-Ireland, independent academic body that promotes study and excellence in the Sciences The number of schoolchildren studying "higher level" Irish for the Leaving Certificate dropped from 15,719 in 2001 to 14,358 in 2005. The Leaving Certificate ( Ardteistiméireacht) commonly referred to as the Leaving Cert (Irish Ardteist) is the final course in the Irish To reverse this decline, it was recommended that training and living for a time in a Gaeltacht area should be "compulsory" for teachers of Irish. ^[35]

Although the Gaeltacht is defined as an entirely Irish-language speaking area, the Irish government also pays families living in the Gaeltacht areas with school-age children to speak Irish. These are inspected and graded according to ability. In the 2006-07 school year, 2,216 families received the full grant of €260 p. a. , 937 families received a reduced grant and 225 families did not meet the criteria. This payment scheme is called Sceim Labhairt na Gaeilge, the first example in Europe where citizens are paid to speak their first official language. ^[36]

Irish colleges

Supplementing the formal curriculum, and after the end of the primary (usually from 4th class onwards) and secondary school years, some pupils attend an "Irish college". These programmes are residential Irish language summer courses, and give students the opportunity to be immersed in the language, usually for periods of three weeks over the summer months. Some courses are college based while others are based with host families in Gaeltacht areas under the guidance of Bean an tí. ga '''Gaeltacht''' ( plural ga ''Gaeltachtaí'' is the Irish language word meaning an Irish-speaking region In the Republic of Ireland a Bean an Tí (bɶn ɑn ti plural Mna Tí, is a landlady taking in students who wish to learn Irish Students attend classes, participate in sports, art, drama, music, go to céilithe and other summer camp activities through the medium of Irish. A céilidh ( (in modern usage is a traditional Gaelic social Dance originating in Ireland and Scotland, but now common throughout the Summer camp is a supervised Program for Children and/or Teenagers conducted (usually during the Summer Months in some countries As with the conventional school set-up The Department of Education establishes the boundaries for class size and qualifications required by teachers.

Northern Ireland

Main article: Irish language in Northern Ireland

As in the Republic, the Irish language is a minority language in Northern Ireland, known in Irish as Tuaisceart Éireann. The Irish language (also known as Irish Gaelic is a Minority language in Northern Ireland (known in Irish as "Tuaisceart Éireann") A minority language is a Language spoken by a Minority of the Population of a country

Attitudes towards the language in Northern Ireland have traditionally reflected the political differences between its two divided communities. The language has been regarded with suspicion by unionists, who have associated it with the Roman Catholic-majority Republic, and more recently, with the republican movement in Northern Ireland itself. Unionism in Ireland, is a belief in the desirability of a full constitutional and institutional relationship between Ireland and Great Britain based on the terms and Irish republicanism (Poblachtánachas is an ideology based on the Irish nationalist belief that all of Ireland should be a single independent Republic Erection of public street signs in Irish were effectively banned under laws by the Parliament of Northern Ireland, which stated that only English could be used. The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule Legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States These laws were not repealed by the British government until the early 1990s. Her Majesty's Government, or when the monarch is male His Majesty's Government, is the title used by the Government of the United Kingdom, based at Many republicans in Northern Ireland, including Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, learnt Irish while in prison, a development known as the jailtacht. Sinn Féin () is a political party in Ireland. The current party led by Gerry Adams was formed following a split in January 1970 Gerry Adams, MLA, MP (Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh born 6 October 1948 is an Irish Republican politician and abstentionist Westminster ^[37] Although the language was taught in Catholic secondary schools (especially by the Christian Brothers), it was not taught at all in the Maintained School Sector which is mostly attended by Protestant pupils. The Congregation of Christian Brothers (officially in Latin: Congregatio Fratrum Christianorum) is a world-wide community of religious brothers within However, Irish-medium schools, known as gaelscoileanna, had already been founded in Belfast and Derry, and an Irish-language newspaper called Lá Nua ("New Day") was established in Belfast. A gaelscoil (Plural gaelscoileanna) is an Irish -speaking School, often also Co-educational, usually found in Ireland, but outside Belfast ( is the capital city of Northern Ireland and the seat of government in Northern Ireland. Lá Nua (meaning 'New Day' is an Irish language Daily newspaper based in Belfast. BBC Radio Ulster began broadcasting a nightly half-hour programme in Irish in the early 1980s called Blas ("taste, accent"), and BBC Northern Ireland also showed its first TV programme in the language in the early 1990s.

The Ultach Trust was also established, with a view to broadening the appeal of the language among Protestants, although hardline DUP politicians like Sammy Wilson ridiculed it as a "leprechaun language". The ULTACH Trust is a charitable trust established in 1989 aimed at promoting the Irish language in Northern Ireland. The Democratic Unionist Party ( DUP) is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Sammy Wilson (born April 4, 1953, Belfast) is a politician in Northern Ireland and both Member of Parliament and a Member of In Irish mythology, a leprechaun (leipreachán ^[38] Ulster Scots, promoted by many loyalists, was, in turn, ridiculed by nationalists (and even some Unionists) as "a DIY language for Orangemen". In general a loyalist is one who maintains loyalty to an established government political party or sovereign especially during war or revolutionary change Unionism in Ireland, is a belief in the desirability of a full constitutional and institutional relationship between Ireland and Great Britain based on the terms and The Orange Institution, more commonly known as the Orange Order or the Orange Lodge, is a Protestant fraternal organisation based predominantly ^[39] According to recent statistics, there is no significant difference between the number of Catholic and Protestant speakers of Ulster Scots in Ulster (see Ulster Scots language), although those involved in promoting Ulster-Scots as a language are almost always unionist. Ulster-Scots is defined in legislation (The North/South Co-operation (Implementation Bodies) Northern Ireland Order 1999) as: the variety of the Scots language which has traditionally been used in parts of Northern Ireland and in Donegal in Ireland. ^[40]

Irish received official recognition in Northern Ireland for the first time in 1998 under the Good Friday Agreement. The Agreement, most often referred to as the Belfast Agreement (Comhaontú Bhéal Feirste Belfast Greeance or the Good Friday Agreement (Comhaontú Aoine an A cross-border body known as Foras na Gaeilge was established to promote the language in both Northern Ireland and the Republic, taking over the functions of the previous Republic-only Bord na Gaeilge. Foras na Gaeilge is the governing body of the Irish language, set up on 2 December 1999, which is responsible for the promotion of the language Ireland ( Irish: Éire, ˈeːrʲə is a country in north-western Europe.

The British government has ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in respect to Irish in Northern Ireland. The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages ( ECRML) is a European Treaty (CETS 148 adopted in 1992 under the auspices of the Council of Europe

It has been claimed that Belfast now represents the fastest growing centre of Irish language usage on the island - and the Good Friday Agreement's provisions on 'parity of esteem' have been used to give the language an official status there. Belfast ( is the capital city of Northern Ireland and the seat of government in Northern Ireland. The Agreement, most often referred to as the Belfast Agreement (Comhaontú Bhéal Feirste Belfast Greeance or the Good Friday Agreement (Comhaontú Aoine an In March 2005, the Irish language TV service TG4 began broadcasting from the Divis transmitter near Belfast, as a result of agreement between the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Northern Ireland Office, although so far this is the only transmitter to carry it. TG4 ( Spoken as TG Ceathair or TG a Ceathair; tiː dʒiː kʲahəɾʲ is a Television channel in Ireland, aimed Belfast ( is the capital city of Northern Ireland and the seat of government in Northern Ireland. The Minister for Foreign Affairs (Aire Gnóthaí Eachtracha is the senior minister at the Department of Foreign Affairs in the Government of Ireland. The Northern Ireland Office ( NIO) is a United Kingdom government department responsible for Northern Ireland affairs

The Belfast city council has designated the Falls Road area (from Milltown Cemetery to Divis street) as The Gaeltacht Quarter of Belfast, one of the four cultural quarters of the city. There is a growing number of Irish-medium schools throughout Northern Ireland (see picture above), and, at English-medium schools, it is becoming more and more common that Irish be taught to children.

Under the St Andrews Agreement, the government has legislated to introduce an Irish Language Act. The St Andrews Agreement (or Comhaontú Chill Rímhinn in Irish) was an agreement between the British and Irish Governments and the political A consultation period ending on 2 March 2007 could see Irish becoming an official language, having equal validity with English, recognised as an indigenous language, or aspire to become an official language in the future. Events 986 - Louis V becomes King of the Franks. 1127 - Assassination of Charles the Good Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ^[13]

Outside Ireland

An interest in the Irish language is maintained throughout the English speaking world among the Irish diaspora and there are active Irish language groups in North American, British, and Australian cities. An Anglophone (or anglophone) is someone who speaks the English language. The Irish diaspora (Diaspóra na nGael consists of Irish Emigrants and their descendants in countries such as Great Britain, the United States The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. In Australia, a network of people have established special Irish schools around the country teaching the language and music.

The Irish language emigrated to North America along with the Irish people. Although Irish is one of the smaller European languages spoken in North America, it has cultural importance in the northeast United States and in Newfoundland, and according to the 2000 Census, approximately 26,000 people in the U. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Newfoundland — ˈn(jufənˌlænd (Terre-Neuve Talamh an Éisc — is a large island 15 km off the east coast of S. speak Irish at home. ^[41]

The Irish language came to Newfoundland in the late 1600s and was commonly spoken among the Newfoundland Irish until the middle of the 20th century. Newfoundland Irish (Gaeilge Thalamh an Éisc is a dialect of the Irish language specific to the island of Newfoundland and widely spoken until the mid-20th century There is direct evidence to suggest that as high as 90% of the Irish in Newfoundland spoke only Irish as their mother tongue. Records from Newfoundland's courts, where defendants often required Irish-speaking interpreters, indicate that the dominant language of the Avalon Peninsula was Irish rather than English. Today it remains the only place outside of Ireland that can claim a unique Irish name (Talamh an Éisc, meaning Land of the Fish), and an area where Irish is natively spoken. In 2007 a number of Canadian speakers founded the first "Gaeltacht" outside of Ireland in an area near Kingston, Ontario (see main article Permanent North American Gaeltacht). Kingston Ontario is a Canadian city located at the eastern end of Lake Ontario, where the lake runs into the St Gaeltacht Bhaile na hÉireann or the Permanent North American Gaeltacht (Gaeltacht Bhuan Mheiriceá Thuaidh is a designated Irish -speaking area in The site (named Gaeltacht Bhaile na hÉireann) is located in Tamworth, Ontario and is to be a retreat centre for Irish-speaking Canadians and Americans. Stone Mills is a Township located east of Greater Napanee in Lennox and Addington County Ontario. ^[42][43]

The Irish language reached Australia in 1788, along with English. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. In the early colonial period, Irish was seen as an opposition language used by convicts and repressed by the colonial authorities. ^[44] Although the Irish were a greater proportion of the European population than in any other British colony, the use of the language quickly declined. As legal barriers to the integration of the Irish and their descendants into Australian life were progressively removed, English became the language of social advancement. The 2001 census revealed that there are 828 speakers of the language in the country. ^[45]

In May 2007, the University of Cambridge in England started offering courses in Modern Irish and Medieval Irish. The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University) located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Irish (ga ''Gaeilge'' is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish. Middle Irish is the name given by historical philologists to the Goidelic language used from the 10th to 12th centuries it is therefore a contemporary ^[46]

Many Australian slang words are Irish-derived and there are arguments that Australian English is more influenced by Irish than other varieties of English. Slang is the use of highly informal Words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's Dialect or Language. Australian English ( AuE, AusE, en-AU) is the form of the English language used in Australia. There is a small movement to re-establish the language in contemporary Australia. ^[47] The Special Broadcasting Service transmits Irish language radio and television. The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS is one of two government-funded Australian Public broadcasting radio and television networks, the other being the

Future

In 2008, the Irish government launched a national survey entitled Plean2028 asking people for their suggestions on how best to advance the state of the Irish language in areas such as education, media, government, status etc.

Some suggestions made have been:

• 1. The creation of a Gaeltacht Quarter in Dublin
• 2. The introduction of an optional 6 month Gaeltacht work experience for Transition Year students in secondary school. Transition Year ( TY) ( Irish: Idirbhlian) is an optional one-year programme that can be taken in the year after the Junior Certificate in the

Notes

See also

• List of Celtic language media
• Gaelic Revival
• List of Irish language media
• Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Place names in Irish
• Differences between Scottish Gaelic and Irish
• Hiberno-Latin, a variety of Medieval Latin used in Irish monasteries. The list below contains information on the different types of media available in the Celtic languages. For the Gaelic resurgence to overthrow English supremacy in the 14th-16th century see Gaelic resurgence. The following is a list of media available in the Irish language. Dictionary of the Irish Language Based Mainly on Old and Middle Irish Materials (also called "the DIL " published by the Royal Irish Academy Many place names in Ireland in the English language are either anglicisations of those in the Irish language, or completely different such as the name for the capital Scottish Gaelic is closely related to Irish, although most Dialects are not mutually comprehensible. Hiberno-Latin, also called Hisperic Latin, was a playful and learned sort of Latin Literature created and spread by Irish monks during the period Medieval Latin was the form of Latin used in the Middle Ages, primarily as a medium of scholarly exchange and as the Liturgical language of the medieval It included Greek, Hebrew and Celtic neologisms.
• Irish name
• Irish words used in the English language
• Language Freedom Movement
• List of Ireland-related topics
• List of English words of Irish origin
• Modern literature in Irish
• the Cumann Gaelach
• Béarlachas

External links

General

• Irish Gaelic at Ethnologue
• "Learning Irish?," BBC
• Foras na Gaeilge - Official promotional body for the Irish language throughout the island of Ireland
• Gaeilge ar an ghréasán Irish online resources
• 'Gael-Taca (Corcaigh)'
• [http://www.gaeltacht.info/gael_deutsch.html#i Linguistic similarities with German

Grammar and pronunciation

• Braesicke's Gramadach na Gaeilge (Engl. translation)
• A dialect of Donegal (a phonological description of the dialect of Glenties by E. A formal Irish-language name consists of a Given name and a Surname, as in English For a list of Irish words that have been imported into English and other languages see the list of words of Irish origin at Wiktionary, the free dictionary Founded in 1966, the Language Freedom Movement was an organization dedicated to the opposition of the state-sponsored Gaelic Revival of the Irish language This page aims to list articles related to the island of Ireland. This is a list of English language words from the Celtic Irish language. Although Irish has been used as a Literary language for more than a thousand years (see Irish literature) and in a form intelligible to contemporary speakers since An Cumann Gaelach ( English: The Irish Society) is a student society typically found in most colleges and universities in Ireland. Béarlachas is an Irish word used to describe a variety of Irish language perceived by users of the term to be excessively influenced by English. Ethnologue Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics a Christian Glenties (official name Na Gleannta, meaning The Glens) is a small town in the northwest of Ireland in central County Donegal.  C. Quiggin, from 1906)
• (German) Die araner mundart (a phonological description of the dialect of the Aran Islands by F. The Aran Islands ( Irish: Oileáin Árann, Aran Islands Dialect: ˈɑːrənʲ ˈhɑːrənʲəxə are a group of three Islands located  N. Finck, from 1899)

Dictionaries

• Acmhainn.ie - Dictionary and terminology resource
• Online English-Irish dictionary
• Foclóir Téarmaíochta, a large terminology database developed by FIONTAR, DCU
• General Gaelic Dictionaries

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