| Failte, agus ciamar a tha thu? (Hello, and how are you?) As you may have already gathered, Clan MacLear-- called Siol Lear in Midgard-- roleplays as a decidedely Scottish form of barbarian. While the heavy Norse influence on Scottish culture cannot be ignored, we definately make it a point to speak one of the ancient languages of the Scots-- Gàidhlig (pronounced "golig"). To that end, we present you with a brief history, and common phrases of the language we speak in our clan. Note: those that don't hear our guildsay don't notice it to quite the same extent that members do. **grins** History of the Language History of the Celts History of the Kilt & The Black Watch |
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| Note on the "ch"
pronunciation. It's not the english "ch" as in "chicken." It's more like the
hissing sounds cats make. I salute you as a free person ! (official clan greeting) - "Mi faultich thu co saor neach !" ( Mee folich hoo ko saor neach) Greetings! / Welcome! - "Failte" or "Failtich " (Fail-the) Good night! - "Oidhche mhath!" (O-diksh math) Thank you. - "Tapadh Leigh." (Tapa Lee) Good hunting! - "Sealg mhath!" (Sealg math) Clan / Family - "Cinneadh" (Sinn-aedh) What's your name? - "Dè an t-ainm a tha oirbh?" (Jeh un TAH-num uh HAW-ruv?) My name is... - "'S mise.....(insert your name)." (SMIH-shuh...) How are you? - "Ciamar a tha sibh?" (KIM-mer uh HAH shiv?) I'm well, thank you. - "Tha gu math, tapadh leibh." (HAH guh MAH, TAH-puh LEH-eev) What are you doing? - "Dè tha thu a dèanamh?" (Jeh HAH oo uh JEE-ah-nuv?) Great health to you!" ("Cheers!") - "Slàinte mhòr agad!" (SLAHN-tchuh VORR AH-kut!) Who was that sheep I saw you with last night? - "Cò an caora sin còmhla riut a chunnaic mi an-raoir?" (Kaw uhn KEU-ra shin KAW-la root uh CHOO-nik mee uhn-royer?) I love you. - "Tha gaol agam ort." (Hah GEUL AH-kum orsht) My love is your's. - "Mo ghrá é do cheannsa." (MOE KHRAH AY DOE KHEN-seh) I don't know. - "Chan eil fhios agam." (CHAHN-yel iss AH-kum) What do you want? - "Dè tha thu ag iarraidh?" (jeh HAH oo ug EE-uh-ree) Do you speak Gaelic? - "A bheil Gàidhlig agaibh?" (uh vil GAH-lik AH-kiv) I don't understand. - "Chan eil mi a' tuigsinn." (chan-yel mi uh-TOOK-shin) I'm sorry. - "Tha mi duilich." (hah mee DOOH-lich) It's wrong. - "Tha e ceàrr." (hah eh-KAER) Excuse me. - "Gabhaibh mo leisgeul." (GAHV-iv moe LESH-kul) That's very good! - "Tha sin glè mhath!" (hah shin gleh VAH) Excellent. - "Math dha rìreabh!" (mah-a rireev) That's right. - "Tha sin ceart." (hah-shin KAERT) Great! - Terrific! - "'S math sin!" (SMAH-shin) Please. - "Ma 'se ur toil e." (mah sheh oor TUL-leh) Thank you. - "Tapadh leat." (TAH-puh LAHT -- also -- TAHplett) You're welcome. - "'Se do bheatha." (sheh doe VEH-huh) You're nice. - "Tha thu laghach" (hah u laghach) Ta ta for now. - "Mar sin leibh an dràsda." (mahr shin LEH-eev un DRAHSS-tuh) Blessings be on you - "Tha beannachd leibh" (ha benach lee) Irish Gaelic and Scots Gaelic do not have these letters: j,k,q,v,w,x,y,z, nor do they have double vowels. Irish Gaelic has fadas (acute accents), but no grave accents. Scots Gaelic has both acutes and graves, but predominantly graves (acutes no longer officially exist). Breton has n-tilde (like Spanish) and a high number of z's.It also uses acute and grave accents. Cornish looks very much like Breton, except Cornish has very few accents and has an a-circumflex. Also, k's, w's, z's occur frequently. Welsh has no z's, but a high number of y's and w's. Welsh also has circumflexes on all its vowels : a,e,i,o,u,w,y. Manx is the only Celtic language to be written according to non-Celtic phonetic rules, written according to more or less English phonetic rules. Manx and Cornish are the only Celtic languages with a "j". Manx is also the only Celtic language to have a c-cedilla. The letter "y" occurs frequently, as do double vowels. |
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