Dia daoibh! [JEE-ah yeev] Hello! To celebrate the upcoming release of Living Language’s online Irish course, each day this week, we’ll post the truth about a common myth or misconception about the Irish language:
Misconception #1: Irish? Isn’t that just English spoken by Irish people?
Everyone knows that the Irish have the ‘gift of the gab’, but this isn’t just limited to the English language. Along with Breton, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and others, Irish or Gaeilge is descended from Celtic, a language spoken by the Celts, a tribe which swept through Europe during the Iron Age. Celtic, along with many other languages derives from Indo-European.
Now, let’s learn a useful Irish phrase.
Go raibh maith agat. [gu rev mah AH-gut.] Thank you.
Check back tomorrow for more about Irish!
