Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 7 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 23 years, 1 month ago by
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- The United Kingdom consists of four countries: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland(Ulster). Why are the last three considered Gaelic countries, but England is not? What is Gaelic, anyway? Does it have something to do with Celtic history?
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Name : Rob S., Gender : Male, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 24, City : Poole, State : NA Country : United Kingdom, Occupation : na,'Gaelic' is a linguistic term used to describe the languages of Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. Usually the languages involved are called Irish Gaelic, Scots Gaelic and Manx. These belong to a larger group, the Celtic group of languages. This group also includes Welsh (from Wales), Cornish (from Cornwall) and Breton (from Brittany). So Wales is a Celtic country, but not really a Gaelic one.User Detail :
Name : Andrea K., Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 40, City : Farmington, State : ME Country : United States, Occupation : teacher/musician, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,Gaelic, specifically, is a group of related Indo-European languages. The reason England is not considered a Gaelic/Celtic country is that its language is derived from the melding of the Anglo-Saxon, French and Latin languages. The other three languages listed are surviving Celtic languages (Scottish and Irish being of the Gaelic line and Welsh belonging to a more Continental line that includes Breton).User Detail :
Name : Joshua L., Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 25, City : Westland, State : MI Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,'Gaelic', 'Goidelic', & 'Celtic' are basically the exact same things, tho' you might hear some people refer to certain sublanguages, like Scottish, as 'Gaelic', but in reality so is Irish and others. Back about 5,000-3,000 years ago, the Proto-Indo-Europeans of w. Asia/e. Europe split up into about a dozen branches, with each group traveling a different way. After they diverged, their former language began to change significantly, because they no longer were in contact with one another. One group, the Celts, traveled to w. Europe, many of them staying on the continent (known as the Gauls, or Gallic tribes, who ended up speaking Gaulish before the Romans conquered them) and many of them settling in the British isles. Of those who went to the islands, they are usually classified according to what variation of the language branch they spoke; the 'Bretons' spoke Breton mainly in eastern & southern Britain, the 'Cornish' spoke Cornish in Cornwall in southwest Britain, and the 'Welsh' spoke Welsh in Wales in western Britain. (Those were the 'Brythonic' versions of the former language.) The 'Irish' spoke Irish in 'Ireland', the 'Scottish' spoke Scottish in northern Britain, and the 'Manx' (an offshoot of either Irish or Scottish or both) spoke Manx on the Isle of Man off the western coast of Britain. (Those were the Gaelic/Celtic versions of the former language.) Obviously not all of these languages are still hanging around today, and chances are they will unfortunately be publically dead in the next century or two. As for why England itself is not classified as a Celtic region: Another branch that initially broke off from PIE traveled to and settled in northern Europe. They are what came to be known as the German stock. Of those people, some (the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes) 'invaded' Britain in mainly the Breton area, as far as I know. (Technically were asked to enter the country to defeat the northern Picts and such and ended up staying and taking over the place.) Because they took over that area of the island, the Breton language was quickly replaced by the newborn Old English and the Breton people were absorbed into the new culture of the area. (Again, as far as I know.) So, to make a long story short, I would venture to guess that the great majority of the British population in England is of 'Germanic' descent, which is why the area is not referred to as Celtic/Gaelic. Hope that helped, and I'm sorry I rambled so long!User Detail :
Name : Lisa, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Age : 19, City : Raytown, State : MO Country : United States, Occupation : college student,Technically the English are a Germanic people, yet they are quite mixed. Your basic English person is firstly derived of a combination of the Angle and Saxon tribes, who mixed it up around northern Germany and Denmark, hence Anglo-Saxon. During the beginning stages of the dark ages the Anglo-Saxons made it across the channel and began to conquer the Britonic peoples, who were fully Celt. In the great human tradition they mixed it up and were now a further hybrid. Then the Normans came along (who were Norsemen who had settled in northern France), overran England yet eventually faded away because of mixing. Then there are also strains of Norwegian from the Vikings coming through, as well as Roman from when Britain was a Roman province. The Welsh, Scottish and Irish either remained free of invading armies or did not mix too much with anyone, therefore they are considered purely Celtic. Gaelic is the language group of the Celts (mostly the United Kingdom/Ireland these days), much like Nahua is the language group of the Natives of Meso-America. The Celts are considered the fathers of Europe and are derived from a mixture of Indo-European invaders (from Eurasia/northern India) and indigenous/original Europeans (extinct except in the case of the Basques), who then split off into far-flung and varying tribal groups separate from cultures such as the Greeks, Etruscans and Romans. The French and modern Italians are also quite mixed, but are Celtic-based, as are the English. And technically, Germanic and Romantic peoples are Celtic derived, but they split off as distinct groupings during the Roman Empire.User Detail :
Name : Dan27191, Gender : M, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Religion : Pentecostal, Age : 21, City : Los Angeles area, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,I just realized I had an error in my prior message - I meant to say 5,000-3,000 B.C.E. (as opposed to 5-3,000 years ago). Also, I think it's Breton that is still spoken by some in northwestern France.User Detail :
Name : Lisa, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Age : 19, City : Raytown, State : MO Country : United States, Occupation : college student,It's a linguistic thing: Wales, Scotland and Ireland preserved a Gaelic language to some degree, whereas England proper is where English was formed out of various Germanic languages (spoken by the Angles, Saxons and Danes) and French (brought over by the Normans), with a trace of the original Gaelic language of the Britons. Other Gaelic languages are or were spoken in Cornwall and Brittany.User Detail :
Name : JerryS, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 52, City : New Britain, State : CT Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,This doesn't really have much to do with the question asked, I just found it strange that all the people who replied to a question about Britain are American, whilst the person who asked the question is British. I have to admit that I didn't know the answer either!!!User Detail :
Name : anon23920, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, City : somewhere, State : NA Country : United Kingdom, Education level : Less than High School Diploma,
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