Gaelic studies
| Goidelic | |
|---|---|
| Gaelic | |
| Geographic distribution |
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| Linguistic classification |
Indo-European
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Early form
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| Subdivisions | |
| Glottolog | goid1240 |
The Goidelic /ɡɔɪˈdɛlɪk/ or Gaelic languages (Irish: teangacha Gaelacha; Scottish Gaelic: cànanan Goidhealach; Manx: çhengaghyn Gaelgagh) form one of the two groups of Insular Celtic languages, the other being the Brittonic languages.
Goidelic languages historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from Ireland through the Isle of Man to Scotland. There are three modern Goidelic languages: Irish (Gaeilge), Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) and Manx (Gaelg), the last of which died out in the 20th century but has since been revived to some degree.
Although Irish and Manx are often referred to as Irish Gaelic and Manx Gaelic (as they are Goidelic or Gaelic languages), the use of the word Gaelic is unnecessary because the terms Irish and Manx, to refer to language (as in, "to speak Irish"), always refer to these languages, but Scots has come to refer to a Germanic language and so "Scottish" can refer to things that are not Gaelic at all. Gaelic, by itself, is sometimes used to refer to Scottish Gaelic, especially in Scotland, and so it is ambiguous.
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