Celtic langs

dk.seattle (donncha@u.washington.edu)
Sat, 18 Jun 1994 16:21:00 -0700

For a general description of the modern celtic languages, try:

_The Celtic Languages_ by Donald MacAulay
Cambridge University Press, 1992
ISBN: 0521231272

If memory serves, MacAulay is a native speaker of Scots Gaelic and a prof
at the University of Aberdeen.

The recent discussion of the seemingly quaint charm of native names for
objects of european technology brought to mind the quaint charm of some
common Irish Gaelic words for non-technological things, to wit:
wolf = mac tire (lit., son of the land)
fox = madra rua (lit., red dog)
dawn = fainne an lae (lit., the ring of day)

--Dennis King