Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
gh
at the beginning of a word as in get; before or after
a, o or u rather like a gargle; after i sometimes like the
y
in gay, but often silent
l
after i and sometimes before e like the
l
in lot;
elsewhere a peculiarly Gaelic sound produced by
flattening the front of the tongue against the palate
mh
like the
v
in van
p
at the beginning of a word as in pet; elsewhere it has
aspiration before it
rt
pronounced as
sht
s
before e or i like the
sh
in ship; otherwise as in English
sh
before a, o or u like the
h
in house; before e like the
ch
in loch
t
before e or i like the
ch
in church; in the middle or
at the end of a word it has - aspiration before it;
otherwise as in English
th
at the beginning of a word, like the
h
in house;
elsewhere, and in the word
thu
(you), silent
GAELIC PHRASES, VOCABULARY AND COURSES
One of the best introductory
teach-yourself Gaelic
courses is
Speaking Our Language
by Richard Cox, based on the TV
series, much of which you can watch on YouTube. If you just want to get better at pronouncing Gaelic words, try
Blas na
Gàidhlig
by Michael Bauer, or for a phrasebook, your best bet is
Everyday Gaelic
by Morag MacNeill. You can also do some
self-learning on the Gaelic section of the BBC website
W
bbc.co.uk.
GREETINGS AND BASIC WORDS
yes
hotel
taigh-òsda
tha
house
taigh
no
chan eil
story
sgeul
hello
hallo
song
òran
how are you?
ciamar a tha thu?
music
ceòl
fine
tha gu math
book
leabhar
thank you
tapadh leat
bread
aran
welcome
fàilte
water
uisge
come in
thig a-staigh
whisky
uisge beatha
good day
latha math
post o
ce
post oifis
goodbye
mar sin leat
Edinburgh
Dun Eideann
goodnight
oidhche mhath
Glasgow
Glaschu
cheers
slàinte
America
Ameireaga
yesterday
an-dé
Ireland
Eire
today
an-diugh
England
Sasainn
tomorrow
maireach
London
Lunnain
GAELIC GEOGRAPHICAL AND PLACE
NAME TERMS
The purpose of this list is to help with place-name derivations from Gaelic and with more detailed map reading.
abhainn
river
ach or auch, from achadh
field
ail, aileach
cairn, from càrn
pile of stones
camas
bay, harbour
rock
cnoc
hill
Alba
Scotland
coll or colly, from
coille
wood or forest
aonach
ridge
corran
a spit or point jutting into
ard, ardan or arden,
a point of land or height
the sea
from àird
aros
corrie, from coire
round hollow in
dwelling
mountainside, whirlpool
ault, from allt
stream
craig, from creag
rock, crag
bad
brake or clump of trees
cruach
bold hill
bagh
bay
drum, from druim
ridge
bal or bally, from baile
town, village
dubh
black
balloch, from
bealach
mountain pass
dun or dum, from
dùn
fort
ban
white, fair
eilean
island
bàrr
summit
ess, from eas
waterfall
beg, from beag
small
fin, from fionn
white
ben, from beinn
mountain
gair or gare, from
geàrr
short
blair, from blàr
field or battlefield
garv, from garbh
rough
