An Comunn Gàidhealach Publications > Gaidheal > Volumes 44--45, January 1949--December 1950

Anns a* Mhailcnl
EDITOR’S POSTBAG
Dear Sir,—Your reviewer says,
“Surely ‘laoghan’ (line 76) is
‘little calf,’ not ‘calves.’ The
plural of Taogh’ is invariably
Taoigh,’ not Taoghan.’’’
I regret that I disagree with him,
and that for the following reasons:—
(1) Taoghan’ is given as a
plural of Taogh’ by
Dwelly.
(2) Calder in his textbook
took Taoghan’ in line 76
as a plural.
(3) Duncan Ban himself fol¬
lowed in line 77 with the
plural possessive, viz’n.
(4) texts A (by Stewart of
Luss), B, C, and D, all
read “ laoighean, ’ ’ which
I take to be a plural
amended to “laoghan” in
E on account of the
“chaol” in line 75.—
Yours, etc.,
John Mackechnie.
The reviewer replies:-—
(1) While Dwelly gives both
“laoigh” and “laoghan”
as the plural of “laogh,”
he cites no instance of
“laoghan” as a plural,
but he does give “laoghan”
as a diminutive of
“laogh,” and actually
quotes this very phrase
from line 76 of “Beinn
Dorain” as an example
of “laoghan” as a dim¬
inutive. Therefore, even
if Dwelly were correct in
supposing that ‘ ‘ laoghan ’ ’
is sometimes a plural, he
himself did not regard
‘Taoghan” in line 76 as a
plural but as a diminutive.
(2) In this particular instance
Dr. Calder was as mis¬
taken as Mr. MacKechnie
is, and probably for the
same reasons.
(3) The plural possessive in
line 77 obviously refers
to “eilid” and her
“ laoghan,” not to
‘‘ laoghan ” alone. After
all, the “eilid” also has a
“gasgan geal.”
(4) “laoighean,” as well as
“laoghan,” is heard in
common speech, but both
mean the same—the
diminutive of ‘ ‘ laogh. ’ ’
In both wbrds, as pro¬
nounced, the “a” of the
final syllable is unmis¬
takably different from the
“a” of the plural ending
“an”. On paper of,
course, they look the same.
(5) In the first edition of the
Gaelic Old Testament
(1783-1801), for which
Stewart of Luss was editor-
in-chief, the plural of
‘ ‘ laogh ’' occurs twelve
times, but never as
’“laoghan” or “laoigh¬
ean.”. The forms used
are: nominative plural,
laoigh; genitive plural,
laogh; dative plural,
laoigh or laoghaibh.
(6) None of the follow¬
ing dictionaries gives
‘Taoghan” as a plural
(the first three specifically
mention it as a diminu¬
tive): Highland Society’s,
MacLeod and Dewar, Mac-
Eachen, MacLennan, Mac-
Farlane, and Dieckhoff.
Gaidhlig an Radio
A Charaid Choir,—Tha sinn an '
comain luchd-na-Gaidhlige air am
B .B .C. air son a’ chumail suas a tha
aca air taobh Gaidhealach na
ciiise. Bu mhath learn gu robh
fhios aca gu bheil moran buidheach
orra air son sin. Agus an drksda
’s a rithist thig o’n radio nithean a
bheir urachadh is fiosrachadh duinn.
Nach bu chilis mholaidh na sean-
chasan aig Donnchadh Mac-
Dhomhnaill ? Sin seanchaidh
ceart! Agus nach bu taghte a’
cheolraidh a bha feasgar eile aig
Eachann Maclomhair, agus nach
bu chilis aire an t-seinn a bha
leotha? Tha iad siud, le cheile,
a deanamh soilleir gur leipideach
a bhith cur fath-rudan an kite nan
rudan cearta a tha bed s a’ brea-
badaich far ’eil- mac a Ghaidheil
is nighean a’ Ghaidheil “air am
bord mor.” Buaidh is piseach!—
Gu deas dileas,
Donnchadh Donn.
Gaidhlig nam Pioghaidean
A Charaid,—Tha mise gu m6r an
comain an Urr. Calum Mac-
Gilleathain, Conon, air son suim a
ghabhail de “Ghkidhlig nam
Pioghaidean” mun robh mi
sgriobhadh anns a’ Ghaidheal.
Gun teagamh sam bith, mar a
tha mo charaid ag rkdh, tha mi
fh6in ag creidsinn gu m6r ann a
bhith ag ionnsachadh nan oran
Ghkidhlig air an teangaidh do an
chloinn. Tha iad fhein ag gabhail
tlachd anns an iomairt sin, agus
ged nach biodh iad comasach air
aon fhacal Gkidhlig a labhairt
r& am beatha, bidh meas aca air na
h-6rain, agus cha dl-chuimhnich
iad na fuinn c6-dhiubh.
Ach ciod am feum a ni e do an
Ghkidhlig an uair a thig inbhich
gu M6d le dk 6ran air an teangaidh,
is gun fhios air an talamh aca air
brigh nam faclan a tha iad a’
seinn ? Is ddcha gu faigh cuid aca
duais, ach cha bhi guth tuille mu
ionnsachadh na cknaine an deidh sin
gus an tig an ath Mh6d, agus an
uair sin ionnsaichidh iad brain eile
air an teangaidh.
Sin, ’na mo bheachd-sa,
iomairt nan "learners” anns a’
choitcheann: agus an saoil sibh
fhbin gu bheil moran feuma anns
an rian sin ? Nach bu choir
deuchainn a chur air na "learners”
0 bhliadhna gu bliadhna feuch ciod
an t-adhartas a rinn iad ann am
foghlum na cknaine?
Feumar rud-eigin de an t-
seorsa sin a dheanamh air neo
theid kireamh nam “pioghaidean”
am meud o bhliadhna gu bliadhna.
Iain N. MacLeoid.
A’ Cunntas Linntean
A Charaid,—Is cbir duinn cur
mu dheidhinn ni riaghailteach as
fekrr na an doigh seo againn air
bliadhnaichean fada ainmeachadh
an Gkidhlig. B’e an dbigh a bha
aig na seann sgoilearan na mlltean,
na ceudan, na ficheadan, is an cbrr
kireamh. Chuireadh iad 1647 sios
mar “mile, se ceud, dk fhichead is
a seachd.” Tha mi an diiil gur
1 an doigh eile—a bhith ag kireamh,
as eugmhais a’ mhile, a r6ir nan
ceudan—fada as fekrr. Sin an
dbigh ris a bheil sinn cleachdte
’nar Beurla— "fourteen” an kite
"one thousand four hundred.”
Bhiodh sin cho sgiobalta an
Gkidhlig mar “ceithir-deug” (agus
thuigeamaid gu robh sin ceud
fillte). Mar sin dheanamaid 1447
’na “ceithir deug dk fhichead ’s a
seachd, ’ ’ agus am bliadhna seo
“naoi deug dk fhichead ’s a naoi.”
Is nkr duinn "nineteen forty-nine”
a rkdh agus sinn ri Gkidhlig, agus
dol as againn air! Chan ’eil a
dhith oirnn ach an cleachdadh ris.
Ghabhadh e deanamh na bu
sgiobalta mar “ceithir deug dk
fhichead seachd” agus “naoi deug,
dk fhichead, naoi.”— H.
GILL AMHLAIDH {bho t.d. 76)
chuir sin ’na luib, agus thug e
dhachaidh leis iiir a chladhaich e
k uaighean nan naomh.
Bha an t-astar fada agus duilich
ach rkinig e Cill Amhlaidh mu
dheireadh thall agus sgap e an iiir
choisrigte a thug e as an R6imh an
sin le comharradh na Croise. O an
latha sin tha Cill Amhlaidh air a
mheas mar kite naomh sianta. Is
trie a sheas mi air an talamh seo.
(Eadar-theangaichte o an Celtic
Magazine, kireamh an Fhaoillich,
1888). Iain N. MacLeoid.