Oiban Gaelic

Oiban Gaelic (Gaoiligh [ˈgɯɫɪç] or Gaoiligh n'Aoibannaigh [ˈgɯɫɪç nɯibəɲɪç]) or Islands Gaelic, sometimes also referred to simply as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Celtic and Indo-European language family, native to the Gaels of the Northern Isles (Shetland and Orkney). As a Goidelic language, Oiban Gaelic, like Modern Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx, developed out of Old Irish. It became a distinct spoken language sometime in the 8th or 9th century, although a common literary language was shared by Gaels in both Ireland and Scotland down to the 16th century. Unlike the other Goidelic languages, Oiban Gaelic has a heavier influence from Old Norse.

In the 2011 census of Scotland, 27,035 people (60.73% of the Northern Isles) reported as able to speak Gaelic, 765 fewer than in 2001. The highest percentages of Gaelic speakers were in the Orkney. Nevertheless, the language is strong and being taught to younger children; the number of speakers of the language under age 20 did not decrease between the 2001 and 2011 censuses.

Oiban Gaelic is not an official language of either the European Union or the United Kingdom. However, it is classed as an indigenous language under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, which the British government has ratified, and the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 established two language-development bodies, Bòrd na Gàidhlig for Scottish Gaelic and Bórd na Gaoilighe for Oiban Gaelic.

Classification and Dialects
Oiban Gaelic is represented by three traditional dialects: Shetlandic (tengheig na Sealtanní), Orcadian (tengheig na hArgabh), and the moribund Highlander (tengheig na hAlban). The largest distinction between dialects, which are largely mutually intelligible, is vowel quality, though some vocabulary also varies.

Shetlandic (Tengheig na Sealtanní)
This dialect has the most vowel qualities and the most Norse loans. Shetlandic dialects have the rounded front vowels influenced by Norse and Norwegian, as well as the /æ/ vowel.

Orcadian (Tengheig na hArgabh)
Orcadian dialects have no front rounded vowels and lack the /æ/. Their dialect is much more likely to take English loans as well as root Gaelic terms.

Highlander (Tengheig na hAlban)
With only about 100 elderly speakers left in Caithness, Highlander Oiban is the smallest dialect of Oiban Gaelic. Despite its size, its historical influence on Oiban orthography and literature cannot be understated. It is phonetically similar to Orcadian, but is often called "the middle ground of the Gaels" since it is considered to be about halfway between Oiban and Scottish Gaelics.

Consonants
1There is ongoing debate on whether this is a palatalized sonorant or a true palatal. No variation between dialects.

2Found in some older speakers of Orcadian. Also found in English loanwords.

3 Normally a trill in stressed environments and a flap in peripheral syllables. Shetlandic dialects have a full trill in all environments.

4 Not found in the Highlander dialect. Some linguists analyze it as /l̥/, but it is widely regarded as [ɬ].

Vowels
1 Long vowels correspond to Highlander dialects, short vowels correspond to Orcadian dialects, though both sometimes realize the vowel as a diphthong [eɪ̯]. Realized as /æ/ in Shetlandic dialects.

2 Unstressed /y/ is realized as [ɪ] outside of Shetland.

Nouns
Nouns in Oiban Gaelic take four cases and are separated into five declensions, which each have sub-categories for differing phonetic structures.

Articles
1 See below for bound forms of dative articles

Prepositions
1 This is also used for possessive pronouns (i.e., agam = "at me," "at my")

2 i has two separate forms for the possessive forms im (1s) and na (3s)

Verbs
Verbs have been significantly simplified from the original Old Irish lexicon. Under influence of the Scottish Gaelic in the 12th century, the language began a simplification towards a more isolating verbal structure, thus changing it from a pro-drop language to what it is today. Verbs have only four forms (past, non-past, future, and verbal noun), but the complexities of its verbal structure can be expressed through periphrasis. The basic forms are as follows: Alternate verbal structure: 1 Development of Old Irish -agm [-aɣm̩]

Tá mé og caint ri d'ath or an faon.

I'm talking to your father on the phone.

Da bóg tú mis, maraidh an gradh go agam ort go bragh.

If you kiss me, I'll love you forever.

Syntax
Oiban Gaelic is VSO and head initial.

Like Irish, Oiban follows a syntactic hierarchy:
 * 1) Preverbal particle
 * 2) Verb
 * 3) Subject
 * 4) Direct object or predicate adjective
 * 5) Indirect object
 * 6) Location descriptor
 * 7) Manner descriptor
 * 8) Time descriptor

Example text
This is short poem written in 1922 by Albha MacDhomhnall called Og Slaodhadh na hÉasgao "The Pull of the Moon."

An

Da bóg tú mis, maraidh an gradh go agam ort go bragh.

The sea is a wonderful place.

Tides are no longer meaningless to me, because I know why they go.

The pull of the moon is strong.

I went to Paris, and I went to Moscow.

And everywhere I went, I saw the same moon as you.

And it led me back to you.

Here we are at the ocean's end.

The moon is guiding us again.

If you kiss me, I'll love you forever.