XPost: soc.culture.scottish, soc.culture.irish, ie.general   
   From: ciaran@ciaran.com   
      
   allan connochie wrote:   
   > "Ciaran"  wrote in message   
   > news:s9h6h.64485$rP1.8080@news-server.bigpond.net.au...   
   >> Some form of Q-Celtic Gaelic may have been used by the Picts as on the   
   >> inscription in the Gaelic Ogham alphabet cited below. Note that   
   >> "mac"/"mic" means "son" in both Scottish Gaelic (Gaidhlig) and Irish   
   >> Gaelic (Gaeilge) - if you pronounce the Pictish incription "meqq" it   
   >> sounds much closer to the Gaelic version than to the P-Celtic Brythonic   
   >> version "mab"/"map" which means "son" in both Welsh (Cymraeg) and Breton   
   >> (Brezhoneg).   
   >   
   >   
   > This is nothing new though. It is generally accepted that the 'meqq' could   
   > mean son of. It could be Gaelic - which would be no surprise as the Picts   
   > became Gaelicised, at first probably just influenced by, then probably   
   > bi-lingual, then Gaelic speakers. However that is not the same as the   
   > Pictish language itself being Gaelic. Likewise 'meqq' could simply be their   
   > way of putting 'map' to print. It is also possible that 'meqq' has nothing   
   > to do with son of - I'd doubt that myself by the fact is we don't know.   
   > Likewise some have suggested that the inscriptions don't actually mean   
   > anything - though again I'd doubt that.   
   >   
   > What is true though is that the suggestion that 'meqq' could be the original   
   > Pictish 'map' Gaelicised has been public knowledge ever since people started   
   > looking at the inscriptions. Little things like that are what pushed some   
   > scholars in the 19thC to suggest that Pictish may have been Q-Celtic.   
   > However these views have ben roundly debunked for a century or so and   
   > opinion amongst those who study the subject is just about unanimous. It is   
   > generally accepted that the Pictish language was P-Celtic.   
   >   
   > Allan   
   >   
   >   
   Sorry, No, VERY UNLIKELY - the Ogham letter Ceirt (5 horizontal strokes   
   to the left of the line) which is transliterated as "q" represents a   
   hard "K" sound as in "Mack". There are other Ogham letters for "b/p"   
   which they would have used instead. "MAQ" is also used extensively on   
   definite Gaelic Ogham inscriptions everywhere Ogham is found.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)