Indo-European · ISO 639-3 gla · gd
Scottish Gaelic Language Gàidhlig
Scottish Gaelic is an Indo-European language spoken by about 72,000 people in 1 country. It is written in the Latin script.
Where Scottish Gaelic is spoken
- Official language
- Regional official
- Spoken by 10%+
- 1–10%
- Smaller communities
Countries that speak Scottish Gaelic
About the Scottish Gaelic language
Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) is spoken by about 72,000 people, which makes it the 528th most spoken language in the world — just behind Tahitian (91,000) and ahead of Faroese (69,150). It belongs to the Indo-European language family and, more precisely, to the Eastern Goidelic group within the Celtic branch.
Where is Scottish Gaelic spoken?
Scottish Gaelic is used in 1 country. The largest communities live in United Kingdom (75,305).
Scottish Gaelic is not a national official language anywhere. It also has regional official status in United Kingdom.
Writing system and status
Scottish Gaelic is written in the Latin script. Glottolog classifies it as vulnerable, meaning fewer children learn it than in the past.
Its closest relatives in the same branch of the family are Manx, Irish and Welsh.
ISO codes: ISO 639-1 gd, ISO 639-3 gla.
Frequently asked questions about Scottish Gaelic
How many people speak Scottish Gaelic?
Where is Scottish Gaelic spoken?
What language family does Scottish Gaelic belong to?
What is Scottish Gaelic called in Scottish Gaelic?
Is Scottish Gaelic an endangered language?
Data: Languages of the World dataset (MIT) — ISO 639-3, Glottolog (CC BY 4.0), Unicode CLDR, Google LinguaMeta (CC BY 4.0) and Wikidata; country lists: samayo/country-json (MIT). Speaker numbers include first- and second-language speakers where sources report them.