Goidelic languages: Encyclopedia II - Goidelic languages - Nomenclature

Goidelic languages - Nomenclature

Although Irish and Manx are often referred to as Irish Gaelic and Manx Gaelic — and it is correct to describe them as Goidelic or Gaelic languages — this is unnecessary because the words Irish and Manx only ever refer to these languages whereas Scots by itself refers to a Germanic language. The word Gaelic by itself is somewhat ambiguous, but most often refers to Scottish Gaelic and it is the word that Scottish Gaelic speakers themselves use when speaking English. Furthermore, due to the peculiar politics of language and national identity, some Irish speakers are offended by the use of the word Gaelic by itself to refer to Irish. For knowledgable Irish people, Gaelic is specifically Northern Irish Gaelic - and this is the origin of the English word Gaelic.

Similarly, some Scottish Gaelic speakers also find offensive the use of the obsolete word Erse (i.e. "Irish") to refer to their language. This term was used in Scotland since at least the late 15th century to refer to Gaelic, which had previously been called Scottis. The modern form of the latter term, Scots, is now used to refer to the Anglic language Scots.

The names used in languages themselves (Gaeilge in Irish, Gaelg in Manx, and Gàidhlig in Scottish Gaelic) are derived from Old Irish Goideleg, which in itself is from the originally more-or-less derogative term Goidel meaning "pirate, raider" in Old Welsh. The Goidels called themselves various names according to their tribal/clan affiliations, but the most general seems to have been the name rendered in Latin as Scoti. This word may be related to the Modern Irish word scoth meaning "best, 'the pick of the bunch'".

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Nomenclature", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki