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    Rights statement: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-international-phonetic-association The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 51(2), pp 261-275 2021, © 2019 Cambridge University Press.

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Scottish Gaelic

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<mark>Journal publication date</mark>31/07/2021
<mark>Journal</mark>Journal of the International Phonetic Association
Issue number2
Volume51
Number of pages15
Pages (from-to)261-275
Publication StatusPublished
Early online date8/08/19
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

Scottish Gaelic is a minority language of Scotland spoken by approximately 58,000 people, or 1% of the Scottish population (speaker numbers from the 2011 Census available in National Records of Scotland 2015). Here, we refer to the language as 'Gaelic', pronounced in British English as is customary within the Gaelic-speaking community. In Gaelic, the language is referred to as Gàidhlig /kalc/. Gaelic is a Celtic language, closely related to Irish (MacAulay 1992, Ní Chasaide 1999, Gillies 2009). Although Gaelic was widely spoken across much of Scotland in medieval times (Withers 1984, Clancy 2009), the language has recently declined in traditional areas such as the western seaboard and western islands of Scotland and is now considered 'definitely endangered' by UNESCO classification (Moseley 2010). Analysis of the location of Gaelic speakers in Scotland and maps from the most recent Census in 2011 can be found in National Records of Scotland (2015). Figure 1 shows the location of Gaelic speakers in Scotland as a percentage of the inhabitants aged over three in each Civil Parish who reported being able to speak Gaelic in the 2011 Census.

Bibliographic note

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-international-phonetic-association The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 51(2), pp 261-275 2021, © 2019 Cambridge University Press.