Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
Goidelic language

Goidelic language

9.9
A group of Celtic languages like Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx spoken in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : lengua goidélica
  • The Irish and Scottish Gaelic are both considered Goidelic languages.

Examples

  • Manx, once nearly extinct, is a revived Goidelic language spoken on the Isle of Man.

  • The Goidelic language family includes Irish and Scottish Gaelic.

  • Linguists have traced the history of the Goidelic language group across several centuries.

  • Many people in Ireland speak a Goidelic language fluently.

  • Manx, once nearly extinct, is a revived Goidelic language spoken on the Isle of Man.

  • The Irish and Scottish Gaelic are both considered Goidelic languages.

  • Linguists have traced the history of the Goidelic language group across several centuries.

Synonyms

Goidelic
vsGoidelic language
  • Specialized
9.9

A group of Celtic languages including Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx spoken in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man

refers to any single language within that branch
Erse language
vsGoidelic language
  • Archaic
9.8

A name for the Gaelic languages of Ireland and Scotland

is broader and includes the Isle of Man and its language

Surface Forms

Goidelic language singular
Goidelic languages plural

Morphology

Goidelic + language

The phrase is directly compositional: 'Goidelic' names the Celtic subgroup and 'language' indicates a spoken/written system, so their combination straightforwardly refers to languages of the Goidelic group. This naming pattern (X + language) is cross-linguistically common and would be immediately understandable to a learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

Goidelic language may come from an old word for the Gaels, the people who spoke these related languages. So Goidelic simply means 'of the Gaels', and Goidelic languages are the modern tongues Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx.