Etymology of Scotland: Difference between revisions

'''Scotland''' ({{lang-gd|Alba}} {{IPA-gd|ˈaɫ̪apə|pron}}) is a [[country]]<ref name="Country"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iso.org/iso/newsletter_i-9.pdf|title=ISO 3166-2 Newsletter Date: 2007-11-28 No I-9. "Changes in the list of subdivision names and code elements" (Page 11)|accessdate=2008-05-31|work=[[International Organisation for Standardisation]] codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions -- Part 2: Country subdivision codes|quote=SCT Scotland ''country''}}</ref> that occupies the northern third of the island of [[Great Britain]] and forms part of the [[United Kingdom]].<ref name="Country">{{cite web|url=http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page823.asp|title=Countries within a country|accessdate=2007-09-10|work=10 Downing Street|quote=The United Kingdom is made up of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland}}</ref>

 

 

The word "Scot" is found in [[Latin]] texts from the fourth century describing a tribe which sailed from [[Ireland]] to raid [[Roman Britain]].<ref name="OED">[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Scot Online Etymology Dictionary: "Scot"]</ref> It came to be applied to all the [[Gaels]]. It is not believed that any Gaelic groups called themselves ''Scoti'' in ancient times, except when writing in Latin.<ref name="OED"/> [[Charles Oman|Oman]] derives it from ''Scuit'', proposing a meaning of 'a man cut off', suggesting that a ''Scuit'' was not a Gael as such but one of a renagade band settled in the part of Ulster which became the kingdom of [[Dál Riata]] <ref>Sir Charles Oman: A History of England before the Norman Conquest</ref> but 'Scuit' only exists in Old Irish as 'buffoon/laughing-stock'<ref>[http://www.dil.ie/results-list.asp?Fuzzy=0&cv=2&searchtext=(id%20contains%20s)%20and%20(column%20contains%20119)&sortField=ID&sortDIR=65602&respage=0&resperpage=10&bhcp=1]</ref> The 19th century author Aonghas MacCoinnich of [[Glasgow]] proposed that ''Scoti'' was derived from a Gaelic ethnonym (proposed by MacCoinnich) ''Sgaothaich'' from ''sgaoth'' "swarm", plus the [[Derivation (linguistics)|derivational suffix]] ''-ach'' (plural ''-aich'')<ref>MacCoinnich, Aonghas '''Eachdraidh na h-Alba''' (Glasgow 1867)</ref> However, this proposal to date has not appeared in mainstream place-name studies.