Interesting Conclusion on Galloway Gaelic

Roibeard Ó Maolalaigh’s has some interesting conclusions on Galloway Gaelic.

"Assuming that our derivations are correct, the Galloway evidence is quite unique in Scottish terms as it unequivocally points towards the Irish type of of b- to m- and by implication implies that the Irish systern of eclipsis may have been a feature of Galloway Gaelic. It is noteworthy that the Galloway evidence, unlike that of other areas in Scotland, provides examples of the eclipsis of b- following the eclipsing genitive plural article. The Galloway evidence raises several interesting questions. In terms of the eclipsis of b-, Galloway appears to align with Irish and Manx. This suggests a geographical division of eclipsis on a north-south axis connecting Ireland, Man and Galloway but separating these areas from the rest of Scotland. Such an isogloss forces us to think in terms of Northern versus, Southern Gaelic opposed to Eastern versus Western Gaelic, a division which has been suggested independently elsewhere (6 Buachalla 1988, 58). This isogloss, though explicable in terms of a linguistic continuum, nevertheless raises certain questions with regard to the date and moreover the origin of the settlement of Galloway. It also raises questions about the status of Manx in relation to Irish and Scottish Gaelic. Such considerations are, however, outwith the scope of the present chapter.[1]"

---

[1] Ó Maolalaigh (Roibeard): Place-Names as a Resource for the Historical Linguist.

In Uses of place-names (1998), pp. 12–53.

Discusses a number of linguistic features of Irish and Scottish place-names, incl. fossils of neuter gender, lenition, eclipsis, and -in ∼ -ie variation and -ach in Scottish place-names.