Learning a Celtic Language

[Nyktipolos]

I have heard though that in Quebec the french has been anglicised quite a bit and when they travel to Francethere's a noticeable difference in dialect etc.  I think there's going to be a shift in the language over time.

 
I think that's less to due with Anglicization (although to be sure, it's definitely borrowed from other languages, including English and some First Nations languages*), and more along the lines that Quebecois French stems from the fact that the original settlers were "abandoned" by France and the language branch kind of developed on it's own, especially as the language that they were using at the time pulls from an early form of modern French, not what we'd normally be hearing in France today (modern French).

This is probably a very terrible summary of several centuries of early Canadian history, but I thought it worth pointing out.


* Including, like, the actual name. No really.

[PhantomQueen]

Really? That's awesome! I've heard about Gaelic-speaking areas over in Nova Scotia too. .

 
In Nova Scotia I think it's more of the Scottish gaelic, as well as in New Brunswick and other parts of the Maritimes.  I think the Irish gaelic gravitated to the southern part of Newfoundland (Avalon penninsula).

[Oíche]

In Nova Scotia I think it's more of the Scottish gaelic, as well as in New Brunswick and other parts of the Maritimes.  I think the Irish gaelic gravitated to the southern part of Newfoundland (Avalon penninsula).

 
Ah yes!
I remember hearing about a university over there that has Celtic Studies so that's what sprang to mind

[PhantomQueen]

Ah yes!
I remember hearing about a university over there that has Celtic Studies so that's what sprang to mind

 
I think it's St. Mary's or St. Francis Xavier University out in Nova Scotia, and it's the Scottish gaelic that's taught.  I had looked into it a couple years ago and considered moving out for a couple years to learn.  As it wasn't the Irish gaelic, I stayed put.

[Oíche]

I think it's St. Mary's or St. Francis Xavier University out in Nova Scotia, and it's the Scottish gaelic that's taught.  I had looked into it a couple years ago and considered moving out for a couple years to learn.  As it wasn't the Irish gaelic, I stayed put.

 
St. Francis Xavier is the one
XD All I could think of was the X-men shouting at each other in Irish XD

[PhantomQueen]

St. Francis Xavier is the one
XD All I could think of was the X-men shouting at each other in Irish XD

lol It's funny how we think of these things

[Oíche]

lol It's funny how we think of these things

 
:p:ange:

[Micheál]

Donegal Irish is a very different dialect to the rest of the country- it's similar to Scots Gaelic from what I've been told. The Donegal Irish section of the school listening exam is the most dreaded part for any kid here XD

Lol Ulster Irish is what we mostly use, but luckily because of RnaG and TG4 I can understand the others as well. Urban speakers do speak slower than the Gaeltacht natives, and when I was getting my GCSE remember those listening parts of the test being pretty intense! :S My main teacher is from Gaoth Dobhair and has been living in Belfast so long that when he visits home in the Gaeltacht they ask him if he's had a stroke because he speaks slower now!

Finding others is a big problem here too! We have a room in my uni that is for Irish speakers to get tea and chat but I've chickened out thus far XD
The radio stations are a good idea! There's one in Dublin too

An interesting thing we were discussing in my Celtic Languages class last week is that in the Gaeltacht areas there's now a huge problem with the standard of Irish spoken by young people. They now seem to be speaking Irish with an English structure- which is completely different. So now we have a problem where we have a large number of incorrect Irish speakers and the older generation can't understand them very well :/
There's talk of sending specialist speech therapists in to try and correct it!

I was interviewed by Raidió na Life at a pagan pub moot in Bray lol. The Belfast one is nice but they have some cheesy music from time to time, but it's online streaming and they do Buntús Cainte classes which is good.

We have it kind of lucky since Belfast has its own Gaeltacht Quarter where Irish is spoken pretty frequently, but I moved only 20 mins. out of town and have been getting lazy about going to stay fresh

The kids in the Irish medium schools are having that same problem as well. I've even noticed on shows like Ros na Rún they're using a lot more English phrases&words that Irish has loads for in normal speech. It's like "What's the feckin point!"

[Oíche]

Lol Ulster Irish is what we mostly use, but luckily because of RnaG and TG4 I can understand the others as well. Urban speakers do speak slower than the Gaeltacht natives, and when I was getting my GCSE remember those listening parts of the test being pretty intense! :S My main teacher is from Gaoth Dobhair and has been living in Belfast so long that when he visits home in the Gaeltacht they ask him if he's had a stroke because he speaks slower now!

Oh I'd believe it!
I remember during my Leaving Cert when we had our oral examiner come into the room to introduced himself that everyone went pale when he said he was from Donegal XD
Luckily he told us he wouldn't be using that dialect XD
The relief on everyone's faces! XD

I was interviewed by Raidió na Life at a pagan pub moot in Bray lol. The Belfast one is nice but they have some cheesy music from time to time, but it's online streaming and they do Buntús Cainte classes which is good.

We have it kind of lucky since Belfast has its own Gaeltacht Quarter where Irish is spoken pretty frequently, but I moved only 20 mins. out of town and have been getting lazy about going to stay fresh

The kids in the Irish medium schools are having that same problem as well. I've even noticed on shows like Ros na Rún they're using a lot more English phrases&words that Irish has loads for in normal speech. It's like "What's the feckin point!"

Very nice!

There's the problem! I've watched Ros na Rún the odd time and even I noticed that :confused: It doesn't make any sense to use English words in an Irish-language drama when you can say those same things in the language the show is meant to promote :confused:

[Caffeinated Autumn]

Who here is learning or speak a Celtic language? Do you think as a Celtic Pagan you should at least learn to speak some of a Celtic Language. I am in the process of learning Welsh, I find the language very beautiful, but also challenging.

I'm actually in the process of learning Irish Gaelic from a book I got on Amazon. It came with a CD too so I can hear what the pronunciation sounds like. I'm still going through the beginning of it so I better understand the readings x_x

[Olivia]

Who here is learning or speak a Celtic language? Do you think as a Celtic Pagan you should at least learn to speak some of a Celtic Language. I am in the process of learning Welsh, I find the language very beautiful, but also challenging.

 
I would like to learn to speak a Celtic language but at the moment I'm learning Latin and Aramaic.

[DavidMcCann]

Who here is learning or speak a Celtic language? Do you think as a Celtic Pagan you should at least learn to speak some of a Celtic Language.

 I tried, oh how I tried. In my teens I used Teach Yourself Irish, which teaches the almost extinct Munster dialect. As a post-graduate in Belfast, I joined a class which patriotically taught the Ulster dialect, but the only available textbook was for the standard Connemara one! Add to that my tendency to forget old words as fast as I learn new ones, and the the result was total failure.

Of course, any Celtic language you learn is going to be very different to what was spoken in pagan times. And think of the poor Kemetic reconstructionists. Cheops said "Rīd", Cleopatra said "Re", and the Egyptologists say "Ra": take your pick!

[Allec]

I guess it depends on what sort of "pagan" you are. Obviously Celtic Primitive&Old Irish was spoken by the ancients, but Irish is a surviving Celtic language that is part of contemporary Gaelic cultures. I think it's important because the language still captures the ancients' mindset, and is a direct link to the culture and Gods one is looking to affiliate with. If anything else it's an identity.

I debated briefly if I wanted to focus on Modern Irish or Old Gaelic, but at the end of the day I want to speak the language so that I am preserving the culture. I don't live in Ireland and so am limited in how I can support the culture there. So speaking the language, I can bring some of that culture over to my side of the pond--so to speak. Not to mention I think it's respectful to speak in someway the language of my gods.
 

I think it's presumptuous to assume that everyone who worships a Celtic deity even has the capacity to learn a Celtic language, regardless of whether s/he wants to or not.

...that all said, THANK YOU ASTER. I have huge hurdles because of this bizarre speech impediment that makes it difficult for me to speak English some days, let alone another language I am going to try my hardest to learn Modern Irish but my guess is that I'll end up just getting proper nouns down pat and never be fluent...and it really, really makes me upset (with myself).

The claim that you have to learn a Celtic language to be a "real" Celtic polytheist (which I don't think is what you're saying, Micheál, but I *have* seen that claim from others) is incredibly elitist. In a way, it reminds me of the argument I've read that the only legitimate marriages are the ones that can produce (or have produced) offspring.  (It's an anti-gay-marriage argument I've seen. A ridiculous argument, IMO, but an argument, nonetheless.)

A little off topic, but I actually know from talking to a Catholic Deacon that that type of thinking in regards to marriage is a value of the Roman Catholic Church. It's why the Roman Catholic Church won't perform marriages for gay or lesbian couples. Also, that sex is an activity to only be done to produce a child. (...Did I mention I'm not Catholic? ><) I don't know if people take that out of context, but from how I understand it, someone's marriage isn't a Roman Catholic one if it doesn't meet those requirements. (Also? You can't be married in a Roman Catholic church if you are divorced You'd need an annulment. My parents are "Catholic" but not married in the Catholic Church for that reason.)

[beachglass]

A little off topic, but I actually know from talking to a Catholic Deacon that that type of thinking in regards to marriage is a value of the Roman Catholic Church. It's why the Roman Catholic Church won't perform marriages for gay or lesbian couples. Also, that sex is an activity to only be done to produce a child.

But they will perform marriages for infertile couples, so I don't think that argument stands up.

[Merin]

I would like to learn to speak a Celtic language but at the moment I'm learning Latin and Aramaic.

 
I took Latin in high school and fell in love with it.  I have been thinking of taking it up again.

Right now I have limited time and funds, so I am doing a "poor-man's" version of learning Irish. I plan to memorize the glossary of Eryn Rowan Laurie's Ogham: Weaving Word Wisdom.  At the very least, I will be able to recognize and pronounce these words.