A thread for (Scots) Gaelic learners

[Black_and_White_Stripes]

Stupid question, probably, but how does one know when someone is referring to he/she or it?

For example:

Tha e árd

Could the above not either 'he is tall' or 'it is high'? 

 

On a separate note I'm nearly at a 100 day streak on Duolingo, with no 'streak freezes' used. I'm starting classes soon, too. It's good fun, but challenging. I have a vocabulary of approx 450 words (Duolingo seems to think it's more, but includes names and I think must double count some). I feel like I am beginning to get the hang of saying stuff and when I listen to the radio I can pick up a few words here and there. However, I'm under no illusion that I have a long, long way to go. 

I still struggle with a couple of words and pronunciation seems to vary a lot, as it does with English, e.g. leabhar sounds like 'lawd' but sometime 'your', to me at least. Also, I get completely thrown by the sound of some words when they're lenited.

[A Diamond For Me]

1 hour ago, Black_and_White_Stripes said:

Stupid question, probably, but how does one know when someone is referring to he/she or it?

For example:

Tha e árd

Could the above not either 'he is tall' or 'it is high'? 

 

On a separate note I'm nearly at a 100 day streak on Duolingo, with no 'streak freezes' used. I'm starting classes soon, too. It's good fun, but challenging. I have a vocabulary of approx 450 words (Duolingo seems to think it's more, but includes names and I think must double count some). I feel like I am beginning to get the hang of saying stuff and when I listen to the radio I can pick up a few words here and there. However, I'm under no illusion that I have a long, long way to go. 

I still struggle with a couple of words and pronunciation seems to vary a lot, as it does with English, e.g. leabhar sounds like 'lawd' but sometime 'your', to me at least. Also, I get completely thrown by the sound of some words when they're lenited.

 

 

In that case it could mean either of those - the context will usually make it clear.  After all, wherever a pronoun is used in any language (e in this instance), it's generally going to be refering back to a noun or a name which has already been mentioned.  In isolation that sentence is ambigious, but in the context of a conversation or a written passage it'll generally be pretty clear which is intended. 

 

 

[CarrbridgeSaintee]

@Black_and_White_Stripes have you ever thought of giving Gaelic Psalm singing a go?

 

[Black_and_White_Stripes]

1 hour ago, A Diamond For Me said:

 

 

In that case it could mean either of those - the context will usually make it clear.  After all, wherever a pronoun is used in any language (e in this instance), it's generally going to be refering back to a noun or a name which has already been mentioned.  In isolation that sentence is ambigious, but in the context of a conversation or a written passage it'll generally be pretty clear which is intended. 

 

 

 

That's true. I just wanted to confirm that I wasn't misunderstanding the grammar, but that makes sense. Thank you.

 

1 hour ago, CarrbridgeSaintee said:

@Black_and_White_Stripes have you ever thought of giving Gaelic Psalm singing a go?

 

I haven't. I can't imagine there is anything like that in the Glasgow/Paisley are. I am aware of a couple of Gaelic choirs, so maybe in the future. 

[DonnieMurdo]

10 hours ago, Black_and_White_Stripes said:

Stupid question, probably, but how does one know when someone is referring to he/she or it?

For example:

Tha e árd

Could the above not either 'he is tall' or 'it is high'? 

 

On a separate note I'm nearly at a 100 day streak on Duolingo, with no 'streak freezes' used. I'm starting classes soon, too. It's good fun, but challenging. I have a vocabulary of approx 450 words (Duolingo seems to think it's more, but includes names and I think must double count some). I feel like I am beginning to get the hang of saying stuff and when I listen to the radio I can pick up a few words here and there. However, I'm under no illusion that I have a long, long way to go. 

I still struggle with a couple of words and pronunciation seems to vary a lot, as it does with English, e.g. leabhar sounds like 'lawd' but sometime 'your', to me at least. Also, I get completely thrown by the sound of some words when they're lenited.

I recommend Speak Gaelic on BBC Alba with Joy Dunlop for a learner like yourself. I believe there is a podcast as well, they certainly have shows on Radio nan Gael.

As well as vocabulary and conversation, they go into the nuts and bolts of pronunciation and grammar, in a very accessible way.

[DonnieMurdo]

8 hours ago, CarrbridgeSaintee said:

@Black_and_White_Stripes have you ever thought of giving Gaelic Psalm singing a go?

 

I recognize some of those faces!

Unfortunately there are not many congregations that practice this anymore. Regular services in gaidhlig are already a thing of the past, with occasional ones being held for a handful of older folks at some churches in the islands, maybe a couple in the Highlands.

It is a powerful experience.

Edited August 22 by DonnieMurdo

[Salt n Vinegar]

19 minutes ago, DonnieMurdo said:

I recognize some of those faces!

Unfortunately there are not many congregations that practice this anymore. Regular services in gaidhlig are already a thing of the past, with occasional ones being held for a handful of older folks at some churches in the islands, maybe a couple in the Highlands.

It is a powerful experience.

I'm pretty sure there's a weekly Gaelic church service at Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh.  I'm learning Gaelic but churches aren't my thing, regardless of the language.

[CarrbridgeSaintee]

23 minutes ago, DonnieMurdo said:

I recognize some of those faces!

Unfortunately there are not many congregations that practice this anymore. Regular services in gaidhlig are already a thing of the past, with occasional ones being held for a handful of older folks at some churches in the islands, maybe a couple in the Highlands.

It is a powerful experience.

 

That's a shame it's on the wane Donnie.

[A Diamond For Me]

45 minutes ago, Salt n Vinegar said:

I'm pretty sure there's a weekly Gaelic church service at Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh.  I'm learning Gaelic but churches aren't my thing, regardless of the language.

Greyfriars does indeed have a weekly Gaelic service.  The Glasgow congregation has moved to Blawarthill and have services maybe once a month or so, but they've always used hymns rather than traditional Psalmody.   That's Church of Scotland - the Free Church do occasional Gaelic services in Glasgow, but not on any kind of regular basis I don't think. 

[Wee-Bey]

Started the Duolingo. I can now ask for a coffee.

[Black_and_White_Stripes]

On 22/08/2024 at 08:13, DonnieMurdo said:

I recommend Speak Gaelic on BBC Alba with Joy Dunlop for a learner like yourself. I believe there is a podcast as well, they certainly have shows on Radio nan Gael.

As well as vocabulary and conversation, they go into the nuts and bolts of pronunciation and grammar, in a very accessible way.

 

I have tried it. The problem is there are actually quite a few courses to choose from online - off the top of my head there's Gaelic with Jason, Speak Gaelic, Learn Gaelic, Duo Lingo and Mango Languages. I'm sticking with Duo and lessons for now. I will potentially use other things in the future, though.

 

On 22/08/2024 at 11:35, Cheese said:

Started the Duolingo. I can now ask for a coffee.

Glé mhath! Stick at it, pal. It is rewarding.

I know, or have spoken to, so many people who are doing Gaelic on Duolingo. It's really good to see. 

[Salt n Vinegar]

Hi. I'm posting this here, but it could be on a teccy thread... I have downloaded some Speak Gaelic programmes and podcasts from BBC Sounds to listen to when I'm on the bus, out for a walk etc. Annoyingly though I can only access them if I'm connected to BBC Sounds. I wanted to listen to them when I was flying to and from our holiday, but couldn't. Is it just me being daft (not ENTIRELY impossible) or is it just the BBC being cnuts? The items don't appear on my phone's "downloads" list.

[Black_and_White_Stripes]

13 hours ago, Salt n Vinegar said:

Hi. I'm posting this here, but it could be on a teccy thread... I have downloaded some Speak Gaelic programmes and podcasts from BBC Sounds to listen to when I'm on the bus, out for a walk etc. Annoyingly though I can only access them if I'm connected to BBC Sounds. I wanted to listen to them when I was flying to and from our holiday, but couldn't. Is it just me being daft (not ENTIRELY impossible) or is it just the BBC being cnuts? The items don't appear on my phone's "downloads" list.

A good idea. I'm not the best person to ask, but what file format are they? You might be able to convert them to MP3 or MP4 (if you need ro watch them) and they should then work. 

[Hedgecutter]

On 21/08/2024 at 22:05, Black_and_White_Stripes said:

I still struggle with a couple of words and pronunciation seems to vary a lot, as it does with English, e.g. leabhar sounds like 'lawd' but sometime 'your', to me at least. Also, I get completely thrown by the sound of some words when they're lenited.

What annoys me about the pronunciation audio on the Learn Gaelic website is that you'll hear the same person give different pronunciations for the same word with the same spelling (when you hear it by itself and used as part of a phrase).

 

FWIW, In the Scottish caving fraternity, it's been tradition that you name the caves you find, and that if they're in the Highlands (where most are) then they should have Gaelic names wherever possible.  El chieftain has recently suggested an end to that though as folk have been making an arse of it for years.

Nobody can pronounce the daddy of them all, (Uamh an) Claonaite. It's absolutely engrained as 'clay-o-night' to the point you'd get funny looks if you said anything else, although I believe it should be closer to 'cloon-atch-eh'?  

Edited September 1 by Hedgecutter

[Salt n Vinegar]

6 hours ago, Black_and_White_Stripes said:

A good idea. I'm not the best person to ask, but what file format are they? You might be able to convert them to MP3 or MP4 (if you need ro watch them) and they should then work. 

Cheers, I'll give it a go!

[Black_and_White_Stripes]

3 hours ago, Hedgecutter said:

What annoys me about the pronunciation audio on the Learn Gaelic website is that you'll hear the same person give different pronunciations for the same word with the same spelling (when you hear it by itself and used as part of a phrase).

 

FWIW, In the Scottish caving fraternity, it's been tradition that you name the caves you find, and that if they're in the Highlands (where most are) then they should have Gaelic names wherever possible.  El chieftain has recently suggested an end to that though as folk have been making an arse of it for years.

Nobody can pronounce the daddy of them all, (Uamh an) Claonaite. It's absolutely engrained as 'clay-o-night' to the point you'd get funny looks if you said anything else, although I believe it should be closer to 'cloon-atch-eh'?  

I've only been learning for 108 days (my Duolingo streak), so I'm not an authority. @A Diamond For Me is the man who will know!

There are a lot of variations in pronunciation, which I understand is due to the islands having their own distinct accents and dialects. Why the same person would pronounce the same word differently, though, is beyond me! 

[invergowrie arab]

3 hours ago, Hedgecutter said:

What annoys me about the pronunciation audio on the Learn Gaelic website is that you'll hear the same person give different pronunciations for the same word with the same spelling (when you hear it by itself and used as part of a phrase).

 

FWIW, In the Scottish caving fraternity, it's been tradition that you name the caves you find, and that if they're in the Highlands (where most are) then they should have Gaelic names wherever possible.  El chieftain has recently suggested an end to that though as folk have been making an arse of it for years.

Nobody can pronounce the daddy of them all, (Uamh an) Claonaite. It's absolutely engrained as 'clay-o-night' to the point you'd get funny looks if you said anything else, although I believe it should be closer to 'cloon-atch-eh'?  

There's different pronunciations because there are different dialects. There isn't a "right" answer. That's for less confident languages riddled with class insecurity like English.

If you are saying the same person doing the same word differently that does sound weird. Do you know where I could hear it?

Cloon-atch-eh with the emphasis on the first syllable looks good to me in terms of pronunciation but I'm less convinced it's actually a word.

I suppose you could originate claon-àite as a compound word. In which case the emphasis of pronunciation would go to second syllable with a long a.

I think it's good that caving people use Gaelic and it keeps it consistent with the rivers and hills around them. I don't think there is any need to stop if folk are making a bad job of it. It isn't arcane knowledge and people out there would definitely help.

I would imagine you might even get official help if it's about naming landscape features. Ainmean Àite na h-Alba or Bòrd na Gàidhlig might be two starting points.

Edited September 1 by invergowrie arab

[Hedgecutter]

2 hours ago, invergowrie arab said:

I think it's good that caving people use Gaelic and it keeps it consistent with the rivers and hills around them. I don't think there is any need to stop if folk are making a bad job of it. It isn't arcane knowledge and people out there would definitely help.

I would imagine you might even get official help if it's about naming landscape features. Ainmean Àite na h-Alba or Bòrd na Gàidhlig might be two starting points.

Thanks.  Whilst it almost certainly derives from claon-àite, the OS has marked the area with a 'An Claonaite' label for several editions. 

 

I want Cuas Ùrlar na Tràghad (i.e. beach floor cavity) to work. Oh so much.

If you're wondering why, it might take a minute to sink in (and trust me, it's fitting).  It continues a trend started by Allt nan Uamh Stream Cave.

Edited September 1 by Hedgecutter

[Black_and_White_Stripes]

4 hours ago, Salt n Vinegar said:

Cheers, I'll give it a go!

My advice would be to go to YouTube and copy the URL:

 

 

I used this website to download it:

https://en.y2mate.is/v84/

 

It converts to MP4 or MP3. You should then be able to play that offline. I hope that works for you. 

[invergowrie arab]

14 minutes ago, Hedgecutter said:

Thanks.  Whilst it almost certainly derives from claon-àite, the OS has marked the area with a 'An Claonaite' label for several editions. 

 

I want Cuas Ùrlar na Tràghad (i.e. beach floor cavity) to work. Oh so much.

If you're wondering why, it might take a minute to sink in (and trust me, it's fitting).

Well I stand corrected if that's the case re claonaite. In that case i suspect it is a compound name of claon-àite. The word isn't in any dictionaries I'm seeing but as a placename it wouldnt necessarily be.

Cuas Ùrlar na Tràghad works fine. Well played.