I won't claim to speak Gaelic but I am taking lessons. I know Reverdy on here is pretty fluent. Like yourself I struggle with english so I figured why not try Gaelic.
I have several books if you need helps with some simple words or phrases
Slainte Math
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George Young CLSNA Senior VP Seanair agus Seannachie
Thanks George I might take you up on that sometime. I found some clips on youtube interesting...but don't know if they were Scot's Gaelic or Irish Gaelic.
Chan eil moran Gaidhlig agam. Litterally Their is not much Gaelic of me or I do not have much Gaelic. The language is something you end up having, not just speaking. Or maybe the language ends up posessing you! It is a beautiful but wild language. The rules for pronunciation and grammar may seem overwhelming at first. To me, the solution was to see how everything is in its context. Think of pronuncing in words or sylables rather than letters and recognize that nearby words affect how each letter is pronounced.
Translating short phrases can even be tricky. The Badge of Clan Lamont is the Crabapple Tree. Crabapple is sometimes spelled as two words. In Gaelic, the crabapple could be fiadh-abhal, fiadh-ubhal, or ubhal fiadhin and could be transleted wild apple or stag apple. In gaelic the adjective usually follows the noun, so Craobh or Tree comes first. I get the impression that some people thind that craobh ubhal means crab apple instead of apple tree.
I have not been keeping up with this forum, but I should be keeping up better now, so ask me anything about the language. I may not know the answer but will try to look it up or tell you where to look.
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Reverdy
Few or many words
Deeper meaning peeking thru
Poems say so much more
How did you learn Gaelic?Did it take a long time?I want to label the items on my table in Gaelic, and I want to start and end all my clan related e-mail in Gaelic.I hope by summer I will know how to say a few phrases too.
There is a website out there that has a lot of Gaelic phrases translated in to English, if you will google "Gaelic English translation" you can probably find it.
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Jim Lovelace CLSNA Director - SE Region Georgia, Alabama & Tennessee Area Commissioner - CLSNA
I learned Gaelic by participating in An Commun Gaedhileach (misspelled). We used Teach Yourself Gaelic and several other texts and other media in classes. More important is using the language. I have taken part in Immersion Weekends, have sung Gaelic songs in Mods, and have visited Scotland where I stayed with a Gaelic-speaking family on the Island of Lewis, the northernmost of the Outer Hebrides. The high regard the Gaels have for their own language is stimulating. I'll tell you more later.
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Reverdy
Few or many words
Deeper meaning peeking thru
Poems say so much more
A related question to 'A bheil Gaidhealach agaibh?' 'Do you have Gaelic?' is 'When the the Lamonts lose Gaelic?' When Mary Young fled Comhal after the fall of Toward Castle, did she speak Gaelic? When the grandchildren of the four brothers migrated to the Colonies, did they still have it but switch to Beurla (English) in the new world? I know that some of the Highlend Scots who came to the Carolinas kept the old tongue and it was used on their plantations until well after the Civil War. However, they were coming straight from Scotland and not through a generation in County Antrim.
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Reverdy
Few or many words
Deeper meaning peeking thru
Poems say so much more
I learned Gaelic by participating in An Commun Gaedhileach (misspelled). We used Teach Yourself Gaelic and several other texts and other media in classes. More important is using the language. I have taken part in Immersion Weekends, have sung Gaelic songs in Mods, and have visited Scotland where I stayed with a Gaelic-speaking family on the Island of Lewis, the northernmost of the Outer Hebrides. The high regard the Gaels have for their own language is stimulating. I'll tell you more later.
Rev I am going this summer to Scotland for The Gathering, before we go to Edinburgh we are staying a few days on Barra in a Gaelic speaking B&B. My reason to go to Barra was two fold 1 see the land of our Lamont ancestor Anrothan McNeil 2 to emerse myself in the language
We will only be there 3 days but that will exhaust my knowledge of the language. The group I am taking my Gaelic classes from have a Immersion sessions every other year 4 day sessions. I have that very same book you mention and a few others with CD's. I find that I need to hear the pronunciation while looking at the word.
So Cuz, I find it very interesting that I am following your path on Gaelic without talking to you about it. I will call you one weekend soon to dig deeper.
FYI to the rest of the group, Rev and I share a 7th G grandfather, Andrew Lamont Young. I think we are 8th cousins. He comes from the brainy side of the family & myself from the good looking side of the family
My feel is our Young's did not speak Gaelic, no proof but and interesting question to pursue. I will be in Kilfinan this summer and know some history buffs there who may have better knowledge of that subject
-- Edited by Knockdow on Thursday 2nd of April 2009 07:09:15 AM
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George Young CLSNA Senior VP Seanair agus Seannachie
Is mise Eoin Dubh. Tha mi ag ionnsachadh Gàidhlig Albannach air an deich bliadhna. Ach mi tuig beagan!
Hello,
My name is John Black. I have been studying Scottish Gaelic for going on 10 years now. But I still understand only a bit.
My suggestion is to get a good collection of dictionaries.
Some of my favorites are: A Pronouncing and Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language by Malcolm MacLennal ISBN 0861521 714
An Stor-Data Briathrachais Gaidhlig published by Sabhal Mòr Ostaig ISBN 1-897873-02-6
Illustrated Gaelic-English Dictionary by Edward Dwelly ISBN 1-84158-109-7
The study guides already mentioned are good. I like the 72 lesson video set from Sabhal Mòr Ostaig called Speaking Our Language. This was a TV show in Britain in the 1970s or '80 I think and is quite well done. Some of the shown were converted to the North American NTSC format but I do not know if they are still selling that version. I got the whole set in PAL format and also bought a multi format VCR so that I could watch them. We used these in the Gaelic class that my wife and I were in to quite good result. They use short sketches with translation and repeated by speakers from different areas so yo get a sense of the dialects. The lessons start out very basic and get more complex and faster as they go. All in all a quite good learning tool.
Also check out Sìol Cultural Enterprises ( http://www.gaelicbooks.com/ ) in St. Andrew's, Nova Scotia. They have many learning tools available including books in Gaelic, tapes, CDs and more. They are almost ready to publish an English-Gaelic version of Dwelly's dictionary to go witht the Gaelic-English version.
I have not been able to keep up my studies for the past couple of years because of work commitments and the Gaelic evaporates quickly if not used.
Thanks fro the welcome. I got into the study of the language be cause language and culture are the keys to the music. My avatar is a photo of my replica Lamont harp made by David Kortier. I feel that the proper music for this instrument is early Scottish music. It is a challenging instrument to play but the music is wonderful. I am by no means a professional but enjoy playing it a lot.
I'm with you George. I'll play spoons or comb if needed. My wife is a music major playing Classical Guitar and Piano. She's taking Harp in the fall but clearly we already have one of those. She very accomplished in Guirar so she won't mind. Let's gets this band going.
Hope to hear more from you Eoin!
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David Patton President Clan Lamont Society of North America
Larneman on this site is a hammered dulcmer player. Wd are assembling an old time band it appears... I'll play the whisky jug
-- Edited by Knockdow on Tuesday 7th of April 2009 07:22:08 AM
Wait a minute, George! Who said you get to hold the whiskey?! I vote for us all having a whiskey jug, and playing something else.
Nice looking harp, there, Eoin.
I've not learned much in the way of Scots Gaelic. I'm interested, but when do I find the time? I have learned a couple of phrases in Irish Gaelic, but mainly, having visited Larne and Co. Antrim several times, I've gotten something of a feeling for the Ulster Scot brogue (there's a dispute over whther it's a language or a dialect). So, there are a couple of languages or dialects we could claim relationship with and learn, especially those of us whose ancestors came through Co. Antrim.
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Rick
The paintings, poetry and music Are all merely water drawn from the well of mankind And must be returned to him in a cup of beauty So he may drink And in drinking, come to know himself. --Lorca
I called first dibs... who said I wouldn't share? I would share with you cuz! But some of these other folks... I dunno
Well, as long as you share. But you probably have to share with the other folks, as well.
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Rick
The paintings, poetry and music Are all merely water drawn from the well of mankind And must be returned to him in a cup of beauty So he may drink And in drinking, come to know himself. --Lorca