Ri Fhionngaill

You can argue the irrelevance of the languages as much as you want.

But they're hardly 'long gone.' There are one million native speakers of Celtic languages - and one hundred and ten million who claim Celtic descent - who would gladly prove the point. There's two native speakers of Gaelic in this topic alone. Make a topic asking if anyone is Irish-American.

Chookie

Really? Where did I go? The history of the Celts is the history of Europe (and a few other places).

As Ri says, there are two native speakers (of Scots Gaelic) in this one little thread in this one little corner of the Interwebz. To me this suggests that we are not "long gone" and we are most certainly not irrelevant.

kimi

You have to concentrate. First destroy Latin, then destroy ancient greek, then ancient hebrew, then destroy egyptian hyroglyphs and far, far later somewhen destroy gaelic, nkay? One at a time, one at a time.

Read somewhere that there are people who learn ancient hebrew, greek and latin to be able to read one book! one single book, must be a real book amongst books... some people really are strange, right?

Grizel Baillie

I'm with you, and: point very well illustrated. It is nearly impossible to speak and get a right pronunciation of a language merely from seeing it in written form- see my spoken French.

Salah

Then why are you wasting your time on a history forum?

Gile na Gile

Well said, Toaster.

This is the broad opinion of the majority of Irish, in my view.

sylla1

Almost every people all around this Planet love their native language; the quid here is not love but usefulness.

If the lay people find this language useful for their daily life, my Irish friends have nothing to fear; whatever they do (or not) the language will survive.

If the same people may find it useless, they didn't have anything to worry about either; the language won't survive, no matter what they try.

Easy as that.

Iolo

What I find startling is that people on a history site should hold forth about language when they haven't been bothered to find out anything at all about the subject or about its resonances for others. The point about mothers made earlier is wholly relevant: it is as if one were trying to argue with some sort of alien robot that doesn't understand the most basic points about humanity, and is full of idiot assumptions based on petrol. What on earth, for instance, is a 'Celt State', and why is the Irish Republic 'the last' rather than 'the first'? Does any one of the nazi-imitating yobs know anything about the linguistic history of the areas they call 'Celtic', of what is required of teachers in the various places, of how important various languages are in each of them? Would they hold forth about economics, military methods, religion or whatever if they were so vacantly ignorant? I left this thread and thought to leave the site when I read such piggish drivel, but there are enough decent people around to bring me back. I do ask, though, that some of these bullies try thinking about how the world might look to others: it seems pretty basic to any historian.

PADDYBOY

Pretty much my opinion also.

Iola.
This is a history discussion board where we talk about history. Not everyone here is an expert on every subject that comes up, tho that dosen't exclude them from voicing their opinions and rightly so as far as I'm concerned.
If the experts ? find fault in a posters opinion, then it is up to the experts (whoever they are ?) to enlighten that poster.

d'artanian

I agree Paddyboy. What I've noticed though, is there seems to be more opinion here than questions. I think the whole forum would benefit if EVERYONE would just ask more questions, e.g., why do you think..how did you come to that conclusion...what would happen if...