How to Compare Irish and Scottish Gaelic

To the untrained ear, Irish and Scottish Gaelic sound like two dialects of the same language. While closer inspection of the two languages reveals many similarities and shared sources, the two differ significantly in vocabulary, pronunciation and orthography. If you want to compare Irish and Scottish Gaelic in order to better understand the relationship between the two, just follow these steps.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Look at the dialects. Both Irish and Scottish Gaelic have a number of regional dialects that exhibit certain characteristics of the language. Looking at the dialects will help you to see similarities and differences in the two. For instance, the Ulster and Munster dialects of Irish share almost identical phrases to Scottish Gaelic. Look to pronunciation of the dialects to see some of the basic differences between the languages.
2. Check common words. Common words such as "yes" and "no," especially where "no" is used in a negating form such as "not," are basic words that show some of the similarities and differences between Irish and Scottish language. Look at common words like these to compare the two languages. In the case of Irish and Scottish Gaelic, the negative principle ("not") differs significantly between the two languages.
3. Listen to the accents. Even among shared words and structures in the two languages, there is significant variation to compare on account of accents and intonations. You can listen to the pronunciation of a given word to hear where the two languages place the stress or you can look at the written form to see exactly what different accents they use and where they use them.
4. Compare the writing. The writing systems, or orthography, of the two languages reveals a good deal of information about their similarities and differences. Irish uses only acute accents while Scottish Gaelic uses both the grave and acute accent. The two languages also use different spelling structures for similar sounds to the extent that Irish commonly uses letter combinations that simply cannot be used in Scottish Gaelic.

Tips & Warnings

• The pronunciation of the word "Gaelic" can be your first tipoff to the differences. Irish Gaelic is pronounced with a long "a" (GAY-lic), while Scots use the flat "a" (GAL-ic).