Gaelic Corner
Gaelic was the language of the Camerons and other Highland tribes. There are currently only about 70,000 native speakers in Scotland, mostly in the Islands and the Highlands.
It is a particularly difficult language to learn and speak since it has only 18 letters ( there is no j, k, q, v , w, x, y, or z ) , and pronunciation of words is often completely different than they appear in English.
Also, combinations of letters produce different sounds which often have no English equivalent. Here are a few examples, and hopefully useful phrases, with the phonetic pronunciation:
| Phrase | Meaning | Pronunciation |
| Aonaibh Ri Cheile | The Cameron Motto | Uhniv ree Hail a |
| Fàilte | Welcome | Fell-tchih |
| Slainte | To your health | Slahn-tchuh |
| Slainte mhath | To your good health | Slahn-tchuh va |
| Ciamar a tha thu | How are you ? | kimmer uh ha oo |
| Tha gu math, tapadh leat | Fine, thank you | Ha goo mah tappuh let |
| Madainn mhath | Good morning | Mateen va |
| Feasgar math | Good afternoon | Fesskurr mah |
Notice that "good" changes in spelling and pronunciation for morning and afternoon. As in French, most pronouns change according to the gender of the noun - morning is feminine, afternoon masculine.