2007-07-20 02:53:26 · 15 answers · asked by PublicAye 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
"Celtic" refers to a family of languages just like Germanic, Slavic, Romance etc.
Gaelic is one particular Celtic language with three varieties: Irish, Scots and Manx (Extinct).
The ancient Gallic of France, Belgium and Switzerland represents probably the purest form of Celtic. It began dying out shortly after the conquest of France by Jullius Caesar (44 B.C.) although one dialect of it survived in the province of Auvergne until the 7th Century A.D.
The original homeland of the Celts was probably in what is now Austria, Czechslovakia and southern Poland. A few ancient Celtic place names still exist in these countries, like Gratz in Austria which seems to be connected to Gaelic Cro Ard or "High Hill."
There were once pockets of Celtic speakers in England, Spain, Portugal, Northern Italy and Asia Minor (Turkey) but their languages all died out between the 4th and 18th centuries A.D.
The modern Celtic languages like Gaelic (Irish & Scots), Welsh, Cornish and Breton are sometimes called "Neo-Celtic" languages since they are still not Celtic in the sense that Ancient Gallic (or Gaulish ) was. For example, Breton contains numerous loanwords from French while Gaelic and Welsh have their English borrowings.
Some linguists believe that Gaelic has also been influenced by the languages of the pre-Celtic peoples of Ireland too who may have been Uralic* and /or Eskimo* speaking.
*Uralic - A group of languages which includes Finnish, Estonian, Lapp (Saami), spoken in Norway, and Hungarian.
*Eskimo - Sometimes called Inuktitut and Eskimo-Aleut. The language is now spoken mostly in eastern Siberia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland but was once even more widespread.
2007-07-20 07:44:24 · answer #1 · answered by Brennus 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Celtic describes a people and culture who long ago had a unifying language (Old Celtic). You can read more about this on the following link: http://www.ibiblio.org/gaelic/celts.html
There are six modern communities of Celts: the Welsh, the Scottish, the Irish, the Manx, the Bretons and the Cornish, each of which has its own language, a modern form of the Old Celtic language, which in each case has undergone many changes. In Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man (where the language is called Manx) Gaelic is spoken in three different variants of the Old Celtic language.
2007-07-20 03:34:25 · answer #2 · answered by Doethineb 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Irish is a nationality applied to people from Ireland. Celtic is an old ethnic/cultural grouping applied to the Celtic settlers of Ireland Britain and parts of the European continents. Gaelic is the language group of the Celtic regions. Essentially the Irish are one of several nations with a Celtic background and regions with a Celtic background will have a Gaelic language.
2016-05-18 02:15:14 · answer #3 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Celtic refers to a larger classification of language, ethnicity and culture. Think Germanic languages or Romance languages. The former include German, Dutch, English, Swedeish, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic and Afrikaans. The latter include Romanian, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and French.
Likewise Cymri (Welsh) and Breton are Celtic languages. Gaelic is the Celtic language of Ireland, Scotland and Isle of Mann. There are differences in local usage and dialectic differences between Irish, Manx and Scottish, the most notable being the "simplified" Scottish spelling, but the spoken language is basically the same.
Gaelic is the oldest surviving Celtic language. It belongs to the "C Celtic" language group. These Celtic languages did not have a naturally occuring "P" sound. Of course now they have words beginginning with the letter "P" because of the influence of English. Welsh and Breton and the defunct Cornish, British and Belgic from which the others might derive belong to the more recent "P" Celtic group meaning that the "P" sound naturally occurs in the language.
I mentioned ethnicity. The Galicians and Asturians in Spain are Celtic people although they no longer speak Celtic languages. Galician (Gallego) and Asturian are, depending on who you ask Spanish dialects or not-widely-spoken Romance languages.
So, in summary- Celtic is a general reference to a large group and Gaelic refers to specifically Ireland , Isle of Mann and Scotland.
2007-07-20 03:33:56 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
Gaelic, BOTH Scottish and Irish gaelic, are part of the larger family of Celtic. Celtic was the Ancient language form for the Celts who went as far as Greece and went up throughout Ireland and Britian.
Celtic languages include 2 groups (Gaelic): Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic, Manx, and (Brittannic): Welsh, Breton, and Cornish.
Basically Celtic is to Gaelic, similar to Latin is to Italian or such.
2007-07-20 03:05:33 · answer #5 · answered by Timothy 4 · 5⤊ 2⤋
Gaelic is a celtic language spoken mainly in Ireland and the west of Scotland. Other celtic languages include Welsh, Cornish and Breton.
So celtic refers to a family of languages and peoples, and gaelic is one branch of that family.
2007-07-20 03:04:59 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 1⤋
Well, some people have it. And some people don't.
One isn't Scottish and the other Irish.
Just basically like everyone else said, about celtic being the group and that.
I'd love to learn gaelic!
2007-07-20 13:58:23 · answer #7 · answered by sparkle 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Celtic is the language group which embraces welsh, irish or gaelic, gallic and breton amongst others; for more detailed info contact the celtic studies department of your local university.
2007-07-20 03:05:37 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Celtic - of the Celts (a tribe which inhabitted northern Europe)
Gaelic - of the Gaels ( a subgroup of the Celts in Ireland)
And the Scots were from Ireland does no-one learn any history?
2007-07-20 03:04:18 · answer #9 · answered by bouncer bobtail 7 · 3⤊ 2⤋
Celtic is scottish and Gaelic is irish thats where the word Gaeilge [the irish language] comes from.
2007-07-20 04:17:22 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 6⤋