George White, age 16, of Harrisburg, Penn., for his question

WHERE DID THE GAELIC LANGUAGE START?

The Gaelic language belongs to the Celtic branch of the Indo European family of languages. The Gaels introduced it to Ireland from Europe and later to the Isle of Man.

Irish invaders took the language to Scotland about A.D. 500. Around 1300, this Common Gaelic language divided into two branches: the Irish Gaelic and the Scottish Gaelic.

Invaders from England tried to impose the English language upon the Irish and Scots, beginning in the 1100s and 1200s. They were not successful at first. By 1800, Gaelic speakers were in the minority in Scotland. By 1851, only about one fourth of the population of Ireland spoke Gaelic.

After Ireland became independent in 1922, Irish became its official language. About one person in five in Ireland can speak Irish today, but only one in 20 uses it daily.

About 80,000 persons in Scotland today speak Gaelic.