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Scottish Gaelic

vr.tr.scottish-gaelic · thing-q9314

Let an agent explain Scottish Gaelic, relay history, dialects, status and revitalisation from linguistic and Scottish government sources, describe the named dialects including extinct and diaspora varieties, and distinguish Scottish Gaelic from Irish, Manx, Scots and Canadian Gaelic as a diaspora variety.

Thing Registry Information and virtual systems INF.MED
Bundle → Layer → Finding → QuestionsClassifiersWhat it isWhy it existsDistinguishing featuresWhat robots and AI may and may not doMoral aspectsOwnersLinks to other meta-modelsIdentity and identifiersDirect propertiesRecognitionCapabilities and actionsHazards and failure modesStandards and interfacesContext of useSources

Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled

4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions

Understand What Scottish Gaelic is.

Definition

Definition.

Definition

Definition.

  1. What is Scottish Gaelic, and how does it differ from Irish, Manx, Scots and Canadian Gaelic? definition
  2. Is the question about learning, dialects, history, education or policy? boundary

Dialects

Named dialects.

Dialects

Dialects.

  1. What are Mid-Minch, Southern Hebridean, Skye, Deeside, Arran and Canadian Gaelic? definition
  2. Which entry fits the specific dialect? action
History History.

Decline

Historical decline.

Decline

Decline.

  1. How did Gaelic retreat from eastern and southern Scotland, as historians describe? provenance
  2. Which references are standard? provenance

Emigration

Emigration.

Emigration

Emigration.

  1. How did Highland emigration take Gaelic to Nova Scotia? provenance
  2. Which sources are cited? provenance
Revival Status and revitalisation.

Law

Legal status.

Law

Law.

  1. What does the 2005 Act and national Gaelic plan provide? provenance
  2. Which entry fits Bord na Gaidhlig? action

Education

Gaelic-medium education.

Education

Education.

  1. How does Gaelic-medium education work, and what does research say about outcomes? provenance
  2. Which entry fits Gaelic-medium education? action
Context Culture.

Culture

Song and literature.

Culture

Culture.

  1. What are Gaelic song traditions such as waulking songs and the Mod? provenance
  2. Which entry fits Royal National Mod? action

Media

Media.

Media

Media.

  1. What Gaelic media exist, such as BBC Alba? provenance
  2. Which entry fits BBC Alba? action

Classifiers Filled

Family
Thing Registry
Category
Information and virtual systems
Entry kind
thing
Plane
INF
Domain
INF.MED
Other names and narrower kinds
Mid-Minch Gaelic, Deeside Gaelic, Arran Gaelic, Skye Gaelic, Southern Hebridean dialect group, Canadian Gaelic, Galwegian Gaelic, Beurla Reagaird, East Sutherland Gaelic

What it is Filled

A Goidelic Celtic language of Scotland, historically spoken across much of the country and today concentrated in the Western Isles and Highlands, with tens of thousands of speakers recorded in recent censuses; the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 established equal respect for Gaelic and English, while the Scottish Languages Act 2025 conferred explicit official status in Scotland, with promotion overseen by Bord na Gaidhlig; dialects the registry aliases name include Mid-Minch and Southern Hebridean dialects, Skye Gaelic, extinct east coast varieties such as Deeside Gaelic, the extinct Arran dialect from the island off Scotland's west coast, and Canadian Gaelic in Nova Scotia, descended from 18th and 19th-century emigration; Gaelic-medium education supports revitalisation.

Why it exists Filled

Let an agent explain Scottish Gaelic, relay history, dialects, status and revitalisation from linguistic and Scottish government sources, describe the named dialects including extinct and diaspora varieties, and distinguish Scottish Gaelic from Irish, Manx, Scots and Canadian Gaelic as a diaspora variety.

Distinguishing features Filled

  • Goidelic Celtic
  • Western Isles stronghold
  • Official status in Scotland
  • Diaspora in Canada

What robots and AI may and may not do Filled

Must not

  • Use unreviewed machine Gaelic on public signs or official documents.
  • Treat Gaelic as Irish or as a dialect of English.
  • Mock or discourage people using Gaelic.
  • Overstate or understate speaker numbers against census data.

Only with a human decision

  • Publishing Gaelic text under the name of a public body.

May

  • Translate Scottish Gaelic and describe its status from census and official sources.
  • Support learners and speakers with materials checked by fluent speakers.

Moral aspects Filled

  • Gaelic is an endangered minority language; poor-quality text damages its prestige.
  • Speakers have a history of being punished for using it.

Who is affected

  • Gaelic speakers
  • Learners
  • Island communities

Owners Filled

Steward

Nobody owns it; it belongs to its speakers, with a statutory body promoting it in Scotland.

Links to other meta-models Filled

parent

  • Q56433 - registry parent class

related

  • Goidelic languages - in registry terms
  • Scotland
  • Irish
  • Scots language

What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled

Identity and identifiers required Filled

  • Vercy registry: vr.tr.scottish-gaelic
  • Wikidata: Q9314 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9314)
  • ISO 639-3: gla

Direct properties not applicable Not applicable

  • Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act: 2005 year
  • speakers: tens of thousands people - check latest Scottish census
  • ISO 639-3: gla code
  • Canadian Gaelic heartland: Cape Breton, Nova Scotia note

Plane INF: no invented physical properties.

Recognition optional Filled

  • Goidelic Celtic language of Scotland
  • Mid-Minch Gaelic, Deeside Gaelic, Arran Gaelic, Skye Gaelic, Southern Hebridean dialect group, Canadian Gaelic
  • Irish and Manx are related Goidelic languages; Scots is Germanic; Canadian Gaelic is a diaspora variety
  • Not a visible object; written in Latin script with grave accents.

Capabilities and actions required Filled

  • explain history and status
  • relay dialects and revitalisation
  • describe named dialects
  • distinguish related languages

Hazards and failure modes required Filled

  • Confusing Gaelic and Scots
  • Stale speaker figures
  • Romanticising decline without data

Standards and interfaces required Filled

  • Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005
  • Gaelic Orthographic Conventions
  • European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages

Context of use required Filled

  • Communication among its speakers.
  • Hebridean dialects
  • mainland Highland dialects
  • extinct eastern and island dialects
  • Canadian Gaelic
  • standard written Gaelic

Sources Filled

  1. Wikidata item Q9314: Scottish Gaelic - identity and sense of the item
  2. Wikipedia: Scottish Gaelic - general description of the item

Open questions

  • Should Canadian Gaelic be a separate entry?
  • How should census and Bord na Gaidhlig sources be linked?
  • Should extinct dialects be separate entries?

Machine files

Card as JSON Specification Card backlog vercy.card/1

Provenance

thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed

Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q9314/spec.json