Re: Celtic, semitic, etc.

Raymond Brown scripsit:

>  Oh - but Wiccan is of Germanic origin, surely.  Ireland was anciently the
> land of Saints & Scholars.  And the modern Irish tend to be over-zealous
> about their form of Christianity - either 'more Catholic than the Pope' or,
> donning bowler hats [darbies, I believed they're called in the US - the
> things Laurel & Hardy wore] during the "Marching Season" (which begins on
> Easter Monday), assert their Protestantism in all its 'purity'.  Perhaps
> these Wiccans should actually settle in Ireland, it might give the native
> Irish something to unite about at last  :)
Ack, what a dreadful thought.

> Does Gaelic still survive in Nova
> Scotia?  I hope so.
It does, but hard statistics are hard to come by -- which suggests to me
that they are not encouraging.  It is taught as a subject in N.S. schools,
and there is a radio program.  The clearest statement I have found is
"less than 1000".  Oddly, the Ethnologue does not list it as a language
of Canada at all, although the U.K. entry says "Also in Nova Scotia and
Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island, Canada; and New South Wales, Australia."

> I know Galicia is often added, tho I've never really understood why.
> Galician is well & truly a Romance language and AFAIK there's no tangible
> 'Celtic' survival there?
The pipes, the kilt, and all that.

--
John Cowan                                   cowan@ccil.org
       I am a member of a civilization. --David Brin