Gaelic vs. Irish: What's the Difference? - United Language Group

This is where things get a little complicated: specifically, Gaelic is an adjective that describes the people and culture of Ireland. The Irish language is ... OctaveLogin Search Services Translation Interpreting HealthOutcomesSolutions Localization GlobalMarketing SAPLocalization Industries Healthcare LifeSciences Legal Elections Financial Manufacturing Technology Government Insurance ConsumerGoods Education Learning&Development Utility Technologies Octave™ Integrations Resources Blog CaseStudies News About Careers Press Contact ULG’sLanguageSolutionsBlog Gaelicvs.Irish:What’stheDifference? Postedby UnitedLanguageGroup Tweet St.Patrick’sDay,cable-knitwoolsweaters,andlush,greenrollinglandscapesarewhatpeopleoftenassociatewiththecountryofIreland.Whatpeopledon’tgenerallyknow,though,isthatwhilethemajorityofthecountryspeaksEnglish,thecountry’sofficiallanguageisIrishandisontheUNESCOAtlasoftheWorld’s LanguagesinDanger.   WhyGaelicIsn’tIrish Thisiswherethingsgetalittle complicated:specifically,GaelicisanadjectivethatdescribesthepeopleandcultureofIreland.TheIrishlanguageissometimesreferredtoas“Gaeilge”(pronouncedGwal-gah),butitisnotGaelic;GaeligeisthenameoftheIrishlanguageinIrish. LikeitsGaeliccousin,bothareIndo-Europeanlanguages,butIrishisactuallyalanguageuntoitsown.Theterm“Gaelic”,asalanguage,appliesonlytothelanguageofScotland.Ifyou’renotinIreland,itispermissibletorefertothelanguageasIrishGaelictodifferentiateitfromScottishGaelic,butwhenyou’reintheEmeraldIsle,simplyrefertothelanguageaseitherIrishoritsnativename,Gaeilge.   ExperiencingtheLanguage Inanycountry,dependingonwhereyouare,you’llhearthesamewordpronounceddifferently.TherearethreepredominatelyIrish-speakingareaswithinIrelandcalledGaeltachts(pronouncedGwal-tachts),whereIrishisusedonadailybasisasaprimarylanguage,eachwithadifferentdialect.You’llfindthemlocatedalongtheAtlanticcoastofIreland: UlsterDialect—Spokeninthenorthwestcornerofthecountry,concentratednearDonegal ConnachtDialect—Spokeninthewestofthecountry;thetwomostprominentareasareConnemaraandMayo MunsterDialect—SpokeninthesouthwestofIreland   EndangeredStatusandSupportintheEU UnderUNESCO,thelanguagequalifiesasbeing“definitelyendangered”becauseitisbeingusedasaprimarylanguageby44,000orfewerpeopleinthecountryandchildrenarenotlearningitasaprimarylanguageinthehome.Since2007,Irishhasbeenoneofthe24officiallanguagesoftheEuropeanUnion,buttheinstitutionsoftheEUdonothaveanydutytotranslateorinterpretthelanguageunlessmandatedbytheEuropeanCouncilandtheEuropeanParliament. Thisdecision,alongwiththedelaysinprovidingtranslationandinterpretationsupport,drewtheireofIrishMEP,LiadhNíRiada.In2015,thelawmakerstagedwhathasbeenreferredtoasa“languagestrike,”speakingonlyIrishduringofficialproceedings,andhasstatedthatsheiswillingtodoitagainiftheEUdoesnotfulfillitssupportoftheIrishlanguageasthebodydoeswiththeotherofficiallanguages.ItisexpectedIrishwillhavefullsupportintranslationandinterpretationwithintheEUbytheyear2022.   TheFutureofIrish InspiteofthelackofsupportwithintheEuropeanUnionandinIreland,theIrishlanguageisseeingaresurgenceinlearninginthedigitalage.ThemobilelanguagelearningapplicationDuolingowasrecentlyheraldedbyIrishPresidentMichaelHigginsas“anactofbothnationalandglobalcitizenship.”Usingtechnologytobringanendangeredlanguagetotheworldisn’texactlyanewfeat,butitcertainlyprovidesanavenueofsupporttoendangeredandextinctlanguagesandallowsanopportunityfor globalsupport ofthelanguagetothrive. Formoreinformationaboutlanguagesacrosstheglobe,exploreourblog.    CommunicatinginHighContextvs.LowContextCultures Howpeoplecommunicatewithoneanothervarieswildlyfromculturetoculture.Inourfully...ReadMore CanadianFrenchvs.French:7ImportantDifferencesYouNeedtoKnow IsyourbusinesslookingforFrenchtranslationorinterpretingservices?Well,whichFrenchdoyou...ReadMore Gaelicvs.Irish:What’stheDifference? St.Patrick’sDay,cable-knitwoolsweaters,andlush,greenrollinglandscapesarewhatpeople...ReadMore Topics: Localization, Interpreting, Service RecentPosts 10INTERESTINGFACTSABOUTTHEIRISHLANGUAGE HOWTODECIDEIFYOUNEEDANINTERPRETERORATRANSLATOR AMUSINGIRISHEXPRESSIONSTRANSLATEDINTOENGLISH Categories Elections(2) Financial(4) GlobalMarketing(56) Government(2) HealthOutcomesSolutions(11) Healthcare(49) Industry(176) Insurance(1) Interpretation(6) Interpreting(59) Legal(16) LifeSciences(32) Localization(178) MachineTranslation(15) Manufacturing(7) OverthePhoneInterpreting(2) SAPLocalization(3) Service(407) Technology(99) Translation(335) Utility(1) VideoRemoteInterpreting(8) Seeall AmericasHQ 1550UticaAvenueSouth,Suite420Minneapolis,MN55416 call:+1855-786-4833     QuickLinks SupplierDiversity Integrations Careers TermsofUse PrivacyPolicy SubscribetoOurEmails Copyright©2022UnitedLanguageGroup.AllRightsReserved.ATranslation&LocalizationCompany