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Show CELTIC LANGUAGES CYMRIC AND GAELIC Both Irish and Welsh are living languages. They belong to the Celtic group, as English belongs to the Teutonic group. Celtic languages are divided Into two sections, the Cymric and the Gaelic. The Irish language, or Gaelic of Ireland, a well as the Scots' Gaelic and Manx come within the latter category, while the Welsh belongs to the Cymric Cym-ric group. The languages within each of these groups resemble one another closely, yet they present many important points of difference. The Welsh has an almost perfectly phonetic spelling, while the Irish spelling Is historical and consequently conse-quently does not give a true picture of Its present pronunciation. Irish (Gaelic of Ireland), which Is more than two thousand years old, was perhaps the only language used in Ireland before the Introduction Introduc-tion of Christianity. Then came Latin, Lat-in, but it did not displace Gaelic. Gaelic remained the language of the people, and the English emigrants to Ireland learned to speak It. But Cromwell's accession to power marked the end of Its supremacy. Under his laws the Irish had to become be-come English In speech, thought and religion or become deprived of educational edu-cational opportunities. The inhabitants inhabi-tants of the Pale a strip of territory terri-tory on the eastern coast of the island is-land nearest to England took up English, but those outside of the Pale remained Irish and consequently conse-quently had fewer educational advantages. ad-vantages. During the last half-century many attempts have been made to restore the ancient Irish language and culture, cul-ture, and Irish is now, under the Free State, the official language, although al-though the English language Is equally recognized. The Irish language lan-guage Is a compulsory subject In the schools, the Gaelic league carries car-ries on the work of teaching adults, and many other organizations endeavor en-deavor to establish the habit of speaking Irish so that it may permeate per-meate every aspect of social life. But it has not yet readied the dull or the senate; Irish is rarely, if ever, spoken in either of these two houses. Welsh is the nearest sister tongue to Gaelic, and over a short stretch of sea is spoken by perhaps a million mil-lion people. It Is the language of church and chapel nnd produces a large crop of prose and poetry. It is the mother tongue of Lloyd George Cleveland Plain Dealer. |