TravelBlog | Languages | Irish Information

Q: Where is Irish spoken?
A: Irish is spoken in: Ireland

About the Irish Language

The Gaelic language is split into two distinct varieties: Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic. Irish Gaelic, more commonly referred to simply as "Irish," is a Celtic language which is part of the Indo-European family of languages. Written Irish was based at first on Latin orthography and British pronunciation, making ancient texts difficult to decipher. Viking invasions in 8th century Ireland left a mark on the vocabulary by introducing Scandinavian words referring to navigation and urban life. Up until the 17th century, the Irish language was spoken by the entire population of Ireland. It was predicted that Irish would become extinct in the 19th century because of the English influence. However, the language experienced a resurgence after the formation of the Irish Free State in 1921. A standard written form of the Irish language was implemented in 1945. Today, about 500,000 people speak Irish, about one-seventh of the population of the Republic of Ireland. It is the official language of Ireland, but has been overtaken by English as the primary spoken language. Because of this, there have been revival programs instigated by the government and it is taught in all of the schools in Ireland so that students can learn Irish. Dialects of Irish are prominent in the following areas: Munster, Connacht, Donegal, Leinster, and Ulster. English words of Gaelic origin include bard, glen, bog, whiskey, shamrock, and galore.

False Friends!

When you are learning Irish vocabulary, watch out for false cognates. These are words that resemble English words but have a very different meaning. If you are learning to speak Irish and you ask someone for a bean, you may be surprised to find out you requested a woman! The phrase "Have no fear!" might get you in trouble, fear means man! If you tell someone they are bád, you're calling them a boat!

Irish Grammar and Irish Pronunciation

The Irish alphabet only has 18 letters, as compared to the 26 in English. The remaining letters, such as "j" and "z," may be used in loanwords from other languages, but are never used in Irish vocabulary words. Unlike English, Irish nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and articles have a gender assigned to them. To complicate matters, the gender of Irish nouns does not always seem logical. For example, cailín (girl) is a masculine noun, whereas bean (woman) is a feminine noun. Learning Irish pronunciation can be tricky because the words are not pronounced phonetically. Some words are particularly baffling. Teamhair (hill) is pronounced "t'yower"; niamh (brilliance) is pronounced "nee-av"; and suidhe (sit) is pronounced "see."

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