Difference Between Celtic and Gaelic

Key Difference – Celtic vs Gaelic
 

Celtic and Gaelic are two language groups that are mostly used in the North Western Europe. Celtic language is a part of the Indo-European language family and is categorized into two main divisions known as Gaelic and Brittonic. Therefore, Gaelic language is a subdivision of Celtic. This is the key difference between Celtic and Gaelic.

What is Celtic Language?

Celtic languages are a division of the Indo-European language family. Celtic languages can be further classified into two divisions known as Gaelic and Brittonic languages. Gaelic consists of Scottish Gaelic and Irish and Brittonic consists of Welsh and Breton.

Modern Celtic languages are spoken today in the North Western Europe, particularly in Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall, Wales, Brittany, and the Isle of Man. Celtic languages are mostly used today by minorities, and most of them are labeled as ‘endangered’ by UNESCO.

Although there are many differences between individual Celtic languages, they also share some similarities such as VSO word order, the absence of infinitives, bifurcated demonstrative structure, etc.

What is Gaelic Language?

Gaelic is a division of Celtic languages and is also known as Goidelic. Gaelic consists of Scottish Gaelic language and the Irish language. Manx, which is also a Gaelic language, died out in the 20th century. These languages have evolved from Middle Irish. There are some similarities in the Irish and Scottish Gaelic to the extent that an Irish speaker may be able to understand some Scottish Gaelic.

Given below are some words and phrases in several Celtic languages. You can observe the differences and similarities between Gaelic languages.

English	Welsh	Cornish	Breton	Irish	Scottish Gaelic	Manx
Today	heddiw	hedhyw	hiziv	inniu	an-diugh	jiu
Night	nos	nos	noz	oíche	oidhche	oie
House	tŷ	chi	ti	tigh	taigh	thie
Cheese	caws	keus	keuz	cáis	càis(e)	caashey
School	ysgol	skol	skol	scoil	sgoil	scoill
Full	llawn	leun	leun	lán	làn	lane
to whistle	chwibanu	hwibana	c’hwibanat	feadáil	fead	fed

What is the difference between Celtic and Gaelic?

Origins:

Celtic is a division of the Indo-European language family.

Gaelic is a division of Celtic languages.

Locations:

Celtic is mainly spoken in Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall, Wales, Brittany, and the Isle of Man.

Gaelic is mainly spoken in Ireland and Scotland.

Divisions:

Celtic is divided into Gaelic and Brittonic languages.

Gaelic consists of Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx.

 Image Courtesy:

“Pater Noster gaelic” By Elke Wetzig (Elya) – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia