Relating to the Celtic languages and cultures of Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. As a noun, refers to these languages collectively.
From Irish 'Gaeilge' and Scottish Gaelic 'Gàidhlig', ultimately from Old Irish 'Goídel' meaning 'Gael'. The term distinguishes these Q-Celtic languages from the P-Celtic Brythonic languages like Welsh.
Gaelic languages are fascinating because they preserve ancient Celtic grammatical features lost in most European languages, like a complex system of initial consonant mutations that change word beginnings based on grammatical context. These languages also have no words for 'yes' or 'no', instead answering questions by repeating the verb.
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