History of Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic is a Goidelic language, along with Irish and Manx. It evolved from Old Irish, the last common ancestor of the three languages. Old Irish arrived in Scotland around the middle of the first millennium, and for several centuries there was sufficient contact between Ireland and Scotland to keep the language from changing much. The Gaelic-speaking kingdom in Scotland was at first concentrated in the Argyll area, with other languages and peoples dominating other areas (the Strathclyde Britons in the southwest, the Picts in the north, and the Northumbrians in the southeast) (1: “General history and history of the language”). By the end of the first millennium, the other languages and cultures had effectively disappeared, leaving Gaelic dominant. During this period, contact between the kingdom and Ireland was reduced, from both natural development and the disruptive presence of the Vikings, and Scottish Gaelic was starting to become its own distinct language.
During the height of Viking power, much of the Western Isles was effectively Norse. But by the 17th century, Norse had disappeared and been replaced again by Gaelic, but not before influencing many of the developments in Gaelic. Some of the differences between Irish and Scottish Gaelic are clearly Norse, such as certain word endings and some vocabulary. And the Highlands and Western Isles had already become the Gaeltacht, the primary area where Gaelic is spoken (1: “General history and history of the language”). English dominated the rest of the country, along with Scots.
Gaelic has developed many distinct regional dialects, where the differences can be surprising. Generally each island has its own dialect, and there are/were several mainland dialects as well. Everything from spelling to grammar to pronunciation can be significantly different from all others. Although these differences can be great, native speakers do not have trouble understanding each other, though learners can struggle.
Scottish Gaelic Outside Scotland
It has been said that Scotland’s greatest export has always been its people. Certainly the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand all have many Scottish surnames circulating. Many of the Scots who emigrated over the past 400 years established themselves in tight communities where Gaelic was still spoken. Scots immigrants had a stronger tendency to stay together than Irish immigrants, and so Scottish Gaelic survived in more areas longer than Irish did.
