Overview

An introduction to the history of Scottish Gaelic and its relationship with English followed by forty eight absorbing essays that trace common words in modern English to the Scottish Highlands. These terms have left trails that lead us through space and time and allow us to piece together the histories of people, culture, and language - with some laughs along the way. 213 pages with 30 illustrations by Natalia Lopes, a map and diagrams.

Full Product Details

9780971385849

Table of Contents

Reviews

This book combines Michael's scholarship with humour. It showcases a delightfully gung-ho attitude to rabbit-hole dives into finer detail whilst retaining total intelligibility and reading pleasure for the person discovering the Scottish Gaelic language for the very first time or simply looking for a good old wander onto a less-beaten etymological track ... If your sights have been set on acquiring Scottish Gaelic, you couldn't make a better start than this little book, showing that for all its seeming exotic remoteness to the modern English speaker, a surprising number of our Gaelic words have in fact been in your gob all along. - Adhamh O Broin, Gaelic Consultant for Outlander His careful scholarship and characteristically engaging style are on full display. While the etymological notes the book offers are thoughtful and intriguing, they serve most notably as a vehicle for the author's illuminating insights into the cultural, historical, and linguistic interplay between Gaelic-, Scots-, and English-speaking communities. - Dr. Ian Clayton, Associate Professor of Linguistics, University of Nevada, Reno Michael Newton's study of the Gaelic element in modern English and Scots is a book with impact. He gives a masterly account of the history of Scottish Gaelic, a language of inspired poets and songwriters, before going on to previous discussion (some of it enthusiastic but eccentric) of the Celtic element in English. The main part of his book provides analysis of nearly fifty important borrowings, word by word. Some of them (banshee, coronach, loch, slogan, whisky) are familiar. Others (dulse, ingle, jilt) will come as a surprise even to professional linguists. Clearly written, and yet underpinned by reference to the latest research, Michael Newton's survey will be essential not only to academic researchers, but to anyone with a love of Scotland's Highland heritage and the languages of Scotland and beyond. - Dr. Andrew Breeze, Professor of Linguistics, University of Navarra

""This book combines Michael's scholarship with humour. It showcases a delightfully gung-ho attitude to rabbit-hole dives into finer detail whilst retaining total intelligibility and reading pleasure for the person discovering the Scottish Gaelic language for the very first time or simply looking for a good old wander onto a less-beaten etymological track ... If your sights have been set on acquiring Scottish Gaelic, you couldn't make a better start than this little book, showing that for all its seeming exotic remoteness to the modern English speaker, a surprising number of our Gaelic words have in fact been in your gob all along."" - Àdhamh Ó Broin, Gaelic Consultant for Outlander ""His careful scholarship and characteristically engaging style are on full display. While the etymological notes the book offers are thoughtful and intriguing, they serve most notably as a vehicle for the author's illuminating insights into the cultural, historical, and linguistic interplay between Gaelic-, Scots-, and English-speaking communities."" - Dr. Ian Clayton, Associate Professor of Linguistics, University of Nevada, Reno ""Michael Newton's study of the Gaelic element in modern English and Scots is a book with impact. He gives a masterly account of the history of Scottish Gaelic, a language of inspired poets and songwriters, before going on to previous discussion (some of it enthusiastic but eccentric) of the Celtic element in English. The main part of his book provides analysis of nearly fifty important borrowings, word by word. Some of them (banshee, coronach, loch, slogan, whisky) are familiar. Others (dulse, ingle, jilt) will come as a surprise even to professional linguists. Clearly written, and yet underpinned by reference to the latest research, Michael Newton's survey will be essential not only to academic researchers, but to anyone with a love of Scotland's Highland heritage and the languages of Scotland and beyond."" - Dr. Andrew Breeze, Professor of Linguistics, University of Navarra

"""This book combines Michael's scholarship with humour. It showcases a delightfully gung-ho attitude to rabbit-hole dives into finer detail whilst retaining total intelligibility and reading pleasure for the person discovering the Scottish Gaelic language for the very first time or simply looking for a good old wander onto a less-beaten etymological track ... If your sights have been set on acquiring Scottish Gaelic, you couldn't make a better start than this little book, showing that for all its seeming exotic remoteness to the modern English speaker, a surprising number of our Gaelic words have in fact been in your gob all along."" - �dhamh � Broin, Gaelic Consultant for Outlander ""His careful scholarship and characteristically engaging style are on full display. While the etymological notes the book offers are thoughtful and intriguing, they serve most notably as a vehicle for the author's illuminating insights into the cultural, historical, and linguistic interplay between Gaelic-, Scots-, and English-speaking communities."" - Dr. Ian Clayton, Associate Professor of Linguistics, University of Nevada, Reno ""Michael Newton's study of the Gaelic element in modern English and Scots is a book with impact. He gives a masterly account of the history of Scottish Gaelic, a language of inspired poets and songwriters, before going on to previous discussion (some of it enthusiastic but eccentric) of the Celtic element in English. The main part of his book provides analysis of nearly fifty important borrowings, word by word. Some of them (banshee, coronach, loch, slogan, whisky) are familiar. Others (dulse, ingle, jilt) will come as a surprise even to professional linguists. Clearly written, and yet underpinned by reference to the latest research, Michael Newton's survey will be essential not only to academic researchers, but to anyone with a love of Scotland's Highland heritage and the languages of Scotland and beyond."" - Dr. Andrew Breeze, Professor of Linguistics, University of Navarra"

Author Information

Dr Michael Newton earned a Ph.D. in Celtic Studies from the University of Edinburgh in 1998 and was an Assistant Professor in the Celtic Studies department of St Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia 2008-2013. He has written a multitude of books and articles about Gaelic culture and history and is a leading authority on Scottish Gaelic heritage in North America. He was the editor of Dùthchas nan Gaidheal: Selected Essays of John MacInnes, which won the Saltire Society's Research Book award of 2006, and the author of Warriors of the Word: The World of the Scottish Highlanders, which was nominated for the 2009 Katharine Briggs Award for folklore research. In 2014 he was given the inaugural Saltire Award by the St. Andrews University Scottish Heritage Center (of Laurinburg, North Carolina) for his ""outstanding contributions to the preservation and interpretation of Scottish history and culture."" His 2015 publication Seanchaidh na Coille / Memory-Keeper of the Forest: Anthology of Scottish Gaelic Literature of Canada, the first anthology of Gaelic-Canadian literature and analysis of it, was nominated for the Scholarly Writing category of the Atlantic Book Prize. In 2018 he was recognized with the International award at the annual Scottish Gaelic awards in Glasgow, Scotland. The book that he co-edited with Wilson McLeod, An Ubhal as Àirde / The Highest Apple: An Anthology of Scottish Gaelic Literature, was awarded with the Best Gaelic Non-Fiction Book of 2020 by the Gaelic Books Council of Scotland.

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