• The new B5TV.COM is here. We've replaced our 16 year old software with flashy new XenForo install. Registration is open again. Password resets will work again. More info here.

JMS - Non-update update

A disclaimer would say that they did not write it. It may even allow them to say that they really read it. But it would be up to them to prove that none of their employees has ever read it.

Actually, this is _precisely_ the kind of thing such a disclaimer is meant to protect against (among other things).

Aisling
 
Re: Game legality

How about the pronunciation of Celtic? With a hard K sound, or a soft S?

There are no soft "c"s in any Gaelic language, so it's pronounced "keltic" unless you're a basketball fan in Boston.

Aisling
 
Re: Game legality

I like to think K if you are talking about the ancient race;

and S if you mean the football team.

No, the (European) football team would most certainly be "keltic"; it's the US basketball team only that uses the soft "c" sound, which is incorrect.

Aisling
 
Re: Game legality

No, the (European) football team would most certainly be "keltic"; it's the US basketball team only that uses the soft "c" sound, which is incorrect.

Aisling

The Scottish football club is definitely pronounced with a soft c. Ask our resident Scot, Kaleb
 
Re: Game legality

I too am a Scot, and I, too, can confirm Celtic (football team from Glasgow, or Glasgae...or Weegieland ;) ) is pronounced with a soft "c".

And there's no wrong in pronunciation, just different.

:)

VB.
 
Re: Game legality

Shame on you people! Arguing over the pronunciation of Celtic, without consulting the master of languages and pronunciation... JRR himself!

As quoted from Appendix E from Lord Of The Rings...

C - has always the value of K even before e and i.

Therefore, Keltic! :D
 
Re: Game legality

The Scottish football club is definitely pronounced with a soft c. Ask our resident Scot, Kaleb

I'll drop a note to my friends in Selkirk (just outside of Edinburgh). I don't think they're football fans, and they're quite busy with a new baby, but I'll bet they can take the time to answer this. It would be most curious indeed to find the Scots pronouncing "Celtic" with a soft "c," I can assure you!

Aisling
 
Re: Gaelic pronunciations and Albaphiles!

I too am a Scot, and I, too, can confirm Celtic (football team from Glasgow, or Glasgae...or Weegieland ) is pronounced with a soft "c".

VB, I had no idea you were writing from Scotland! Where are you located? I miss Alba so much; I wish I was going back soon, but alas, probably not this year at all. :-(

And there's no wrong in pronunciation, just different.

Well, there's no wrong in pronunciation of _names_ (I used to work for a company that represented the prominent French composer Boulez, who himself pronounces it "boo-LEZZ," much to the chagrin of those who'd taken French in school), but of course there can be correct and incorrect pronunciations of words - and I'm not talking about the differences of regional accents, mind you. And, although I have wracked my brain and all of my grammar and language books on Gaelic (Scots Gaelic), I cannot find any Scots Gaelic word with a soft "c," unless you're counting borrowed words from other languages. But no native words that I can find have a soft initial "c" (but of course a "c" in a word in combination with an "h" can have that "chk" sound, as in "loch").

I"m curious to know where in Scotland you're writing from because I've sent this query on to my friends in Edinburgh (who aren't native to Edinburgh, but are more from the west, the isles and the Highlands). One of them is one of the foremost experts in the world on Celtic languages, ancient and modern, so she ought to be able to clear this up for us! Still, I'm really vexed by this so it would be interesting to know just where in Scotland they do use a soft "c."

Aisling
 
Re: Gaelic pronunciations and Albaphiles!

ATTENTION: what follows may be officially considered a "rant" or "tirade" depending upon the reader's location.

Well, there's no wrong in pronunciation of _names_

Says who? I want to know why people think that in the realm of names, grammar does not apply. My father-in-law's name is Gerry. Most people would pronounce this name like "Jerry" because of the "e" following the "g." However, he pronounces it with a hard "g" like the name "Gary."

I don't know if it's strictly an English (language) thing or an American thing, but people today seem to think that when coming up with names, they can put any combination of letters together and pronounce them any way they choose. I must take a stand and say NO. I once knew a girl named Q'Vester - pronounced "Cue Vester." For Heaven's sake, boys and girls, what is our world coming to??? Have we dumbed down our society so much that we must now accept any jibberish or jumble of letters as we would an actual word? For those out there who aren't quite sure which sound each letter of the alphabet is supposed to represent, let me suggest "Hooked On Phonics." It worked for me. :rolleyes: ;)
 
Re: Gaelic pronunciations and Albaphiles!

Your example of your father in law's name shows the meaning of "there is no wrong in pronunciation of names." The hard G and the soft G are BOTH right, and what actually IS right in a given instance, is determined by the holder of the name. Of course we look to the usual rules when we try to decide how to pronounce a name, but right is determined by the holder of the name, not the rules, which do not over-rule, in proper names. I will grant you that people come up with some pretty strange names, and pronunciations that you and I may not like, but that IS their perogative.
 
Re: Gaelic pronunciations and Albaphiles!

Sorry, my no wrong pronunciation thing was a bit vague...

What I meant was that rules of pronunciation, just like syntax, morphology etc should be DEscriptive, not PREscriptive.

As far as soft "c" words...I'm not sure (and don't have time to check) the origins of these but you have...
"cedar"
"cede"
"Ceiling"
"cell"
"celebrate!"
"celerity"
"celestial"
"cellar"
Among others, and not including names (like "Celine", "Celia" etc)

Of course you also have:
Ceilidh
Or to really confuse things...
Cello.

:)

Thing is, in a Gaelic (or Celtic.. :) ) pronunciation, the hard "k" is probably right...but virtually no-one in Scotland speaks Gaelic (as discussed elsewhere), most speak Scots and / or SSE. So, for 99% of Scottish speakers, the word "Celtic" is borrowed into their language / dialect FROM Gaelic. While loan words normally retain some of the phonology / morphology of their original language, they can be "corrupted"...as I suppose has happened here.

But trust me, Celtic FC, from Glasgow, play at Parkhead, green and white strip, rivals with Rangers, is pronounced with a soft c. :)

VB.

PS - I'm from Edinburgh. :)
 
Re: Game legality

are you a celtic fan or rangers fan ?
or are you a hearts or hibs fan ?
who do you support ?

Actually I hate football with a passion! technically, I *should* be a dundee fan, as that's where I'm from originally, but last time I took an interest in sport (other than International Rugby, which I think rules all) it was the 49ers!!! :)

VB
 
Re: Gaelic pronunciations and Albaphiles!

Well, there's no wrong in pronunciation of _names_

Says who? I want to know why people think that in the realm of names, grammar does not apply. My father-in-law's name is Gerry. Most people would pronounce this name like "Jerry" because of the "e" following the "g." However, he pronounces it with a hard "g" like the name "Gary."

Whoa, there. I think you misunderstood me. If you'd read my example about Pierre Boulez, you might have gotten what I was saying. I'm saying, there are no wrong pronunciations of names from the perspective of: your father-in-law is perfectly correct to pronounce his name as "GAH-ree" rather than "JEH-ree," because...it's his name to do with as he pleases! Just as someone who pronounces is "JEH-ree" is similarly correct.

Er....but going ahead in your post, now I wonder if that's exactly what you were objecting to?

Aisling
 
Re: Gaelic pronunciations and Albaphiles!

But trust me, Celtic FC, from Glasgow, play at Parkhead, green and white strip, rivals with Rangers, is pronounced with a soft c.

VB.

PS - I'm from Edinburgh.

Wow. I mean, I haven't heard back from the Selkirk contingent yet, but obviously you'd know. And...frankly...it boggles the mind! I'm actually quite crushed to learn that it's pronounced with a soft "c." I'm always looking down my nose at Americans who pronounce it that way when they're referring to something other than the Boston basketball team, but now... Augh. Sssseltic? Really?

Is there any way we could start a movement to change it back to a hard "c," d'ya think? :rolleyes:

Aisling
 
Re: Gaelic pronunciations and Albaphiles!

Well, never let it be said that I do not admit my mistakes, and take it like a man. I heard from my friends in Selkirk, who say: "Sorry to tell you that the Scottish football team (Glaswegian/Catholic to be even more precise) pronounces it "Selltick" with the soft C. Dont know the origin of this but that's the case. They are actually an outgrowth originally of Edinburgh's Catholic team 'Hibernian' - properly it would be Celtic Football Club or Celtic F.C. Sorry to disappoint.... :)"

He also promised to ask his wife (the Celtic languages expert; she has a new baby and so we tend to get the husband via e-mail these days more often than her) about the status of the soft "c" in Celtic and related languages. i.e., how it got there, and why they're using it in modern-day Scotland. She's actually loaded with interesting information and great stories, so if it's at all interesting I'll return here and post it after I've heard from her.

Aisling
 
Re: Gaelic pronunciations and Albaphiles!

I'm from Clydebank, just outside Glasgow, and many many moons ago in my highschool years there was a heated class debate over the pronunciation of Celtic. One only resolved by a history teacher.

From the little I recall of his hour long speech and a bit of recent research online, the word 'Celtic' isn't gaelic or scots... nor is it english.. but french or early british latin. It has been adopted into English over the centuries.

Given french pronunciation and english pronunciation of words begining with 'ce' are a soft s, then Celtic too should be pronounced seltic.

The Glasgow Celtic football team is pronounced with a soft s'' because it was founded around the turn of the 19th century (1888), when any english speaking person would have naturally & correclty pronounced it as 'seltic' which has subsequently stuck in a sporting context.

At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, there was a strong German influence on Celtic studies which used Classical Latin as a basis as opposed to French/Early British Latin. This led to the hard K pronounciation (In a similar way that Kaiser is the german version of the word Ceaser).

Subsequently, it was deemed that saying 'seltic' implied your were less knowledgable, almost ignorant, by those educated in the subject.
 

Latest posts

Members online

Back
Top