799: Gaelic Idioms and Expressions

O chionn bhliadhnaichean cheannaich mi leabhar beag grinn a th’ air a bhith air leth feumail dhomh. ’S e Gaelic Idioms and Expressions – with Free Translations tiotal an leabhair. Chaidh a chur ri chèile le fear Donnchadh Dòmhnallach a bha na mhaighstir-sgoile ann am Bun-sgoil Sandwickhill ann an Steòrnabhagh.

Chaidh an leabhar fhoillseachadh ann an Glaschu ann an naoi ceud deug, trithead ’s a dhà (1932) leis a’ Chomunn Ghàidhealach. Ach fhuair mi a-mach gum b’ e sin an dàrna iris dheth. Thàinig a’ chiad eagran a-mach còig bliadhna roimhe sin ann an Steòrnabhagh. Tha e na thobar às an tarraing sinn eisimpleirean de dheagh Ghàidhlig nàdarrach.

’S e an duilgheadas a bh’ ann nach b’ urrainn dhomh an leabhar a mholadh do dhaoine eile. Cha robh e ri fhaighinn ann an àite sam bith ach tro luchd-reic sheann leabhraichean. Ach tha sin air atharrachadh o chionn ghoirid. Tha foillsichear ann an Alba Nuaidh air an leabhar a thoirt a-mach às ùr. ’S esan Trueman MacMhathain aig Sìol Cultural Enterprises. Deagh charaid don Ghàidhlig a th’ ann.

Chan eil an leabhar buileach mar a bha e. Tha rudan a bharrachd ann. Tha faclan, abairtean is gnàthasan-cainnt ann a chaidh a chruinneachadh ann an Alba Nuaidh. Mar eisimpleir, tha e mar a bhiodh ugh air aran ‘he is fidgety, unsettled’ agus spìonagan ‘little snowflakes when a fine, light snow is falling.’

Anns an iris thùsail, bha ‘key words’ ann ach cha robh iad ann an òrdugh na h-aibideil. Cha robh iad furasta a lorg ann an cabhaig. A-nise, tha Trueman air gach facal iuchrach a chur fa leth ann an òrdugh na h-aibideil, a’ tòiseachadh le aghaidh agus a’ crìochnachadh le ùr. Tha earrann ann de sheantansan goirid agus abairtean, agus earrann eile de ghnàthasan-cainnt.

Anns a’ chiad earrainn, fo ceann, tha abairtean ann mar air ceann-turais ‘on business’, air ceann a stocainnean ‘in his stocking feet’, ceann-adhart ‘pillow end of bed’ agus air a cheann fhèin ‘on his own account’. Tuigidh sibh nach eil leabhar seach leabhar – an seann fhear no am fear ùr – a’ leantainn riaghailtean litreachaidh GhOC. Cha robh Gàidheil Chanada an sàs ann an GOC. Tha sinn car buailteach a bhith a’ dìochuimhneachadh gu bheil sluagh thar a’ chuain a’ cleachdadh ar cànain cuideachd.

Anns an dàrna earrainn, a-rithist a’ coimhead air ceann, tha gnàthasan-cainnt leithid – carson nach eil thu ann an ceann an eich? ‘why are you not leading the horse?’, thug a’ bhanachag dhuinn gruth agus uachdar na cheann ‘the milkmaid gave us crowdie mixed with cream’ agus chan eil facal Beurla na cheann ‘he cannot speak or understand a word of English’. Ceart gu leòr, tha na h-eisimpleirean sin car seann-fhasanta!

Ach tha abairtean ann a bhios iomchaidh airson an latha an-diugh, leithid tha e ro fhada na cheann ‘he is too stubborn’, thug e a cheann fodha ‘he disappeared’ agus tha iarrtas gun cheann air clò mòr am-bliadhna ‘there is great demand for Harris Tweed this year’ (rud a tha fìor, tha mi a’ tuigsinn!) Mo bheannachd air Trueman còir airson an leabhar feumail seo a chur an clò.

Faclan na Litreach: foillsichear: publisher; tùsail: original; facal-iuchrach: keyword; seann-fhasanta: old-fashioned; iomchaidh: fitting, suitable.

Abairtean na Litreach: leabhar beag grinn a th’ air a bhith air leth feumail dhomh: a nice wee book that has been very useful to me; chaidh a chur ri chèile le:it was put together by; an dàrna iris dheth: its second edition; thàinig a’ chiad eagran a-mach còig bliadhna roimhe sin:the first version/edition came out five years earlier; tha e na thobar às an tarraing sinn eisimpleirean:it is a well from which we draw examples; de dheagh Ghàidhlig nàdarrach: of good natural Gaelic; tro luchd-reic sheann leabhraichean: through second-hand book sellers; cha robh iad ann an òrdugh na h-aibideil: they weren’t in alphabetical order; furasta a lorg ann an cabhaig: easy to find in a hurry; tuigidh sibh nach eil leabhar seach leabhar a’ leantainn riaghailtean litreachaidh GhOC: you’ll understand that neither book follows the spelling rules of the Gaelic Orthographic Conventions; a’ dìochuimhneachadh gu bheil sluagh thar a’ chuain a’ cleachdadh ar cànain: forgetting that there is a population across the sea that uses our language; a bhios iomchaidh airson an latha an-diugh: which is suitable for today’s world.

Puing-chànain na Litreach: I can heartily recommend the newly published ‘Gaelic Idioms and Expressions’ (www.gaelicbooks.com; sales@gaelicbooks.com) . It has material that can be really helpful to learners who are serious about developing good, fluent, natural use of the language. For example, in the section about dà/dhà, there are idioms like faodaidh dà chiall a bhith aig an fhacal sin ‘that word may have a double meaning’; chan eil dà dhèanamh air a’ chùis ‘there are no two ways about it’; ach, eadar dà sgeul, ciamar a chaidh dhut? ‘but, by the way, how did you get on?’

Gnàthas-cainnt na Litreach: Deagh charaid don Ghàidhlig a th’ ann : he is a good friend to Gaelic. The missing ’S e that ought to be at the start of the sentence is understood. It is often missed out in colloquial speech.

PDF

Download the text of this week's letter as a PDF:Thoir a-nuas Litir mar PDF:

Download File

PDF documents are especially suited for printing out. Most computers can open PDF files, but if you have problems viewing them you may need to install reader software such as Tha faidhleachan PDF gu sònraichte math airson clò-bhualadh. Tha e furasta gu leòr do chuid de choimpiutairean faidhleachan PDF fhosgladh, ach ma tha trioblaid agad ‘s dòcha gum biodh e feumail bathar-bog mar Adobe Acrobat Reader. fhaighinn.

Litir do Luchd-ionnsachaidh

This letter corresponds to Tha an Litir seo a’ buntainn ri An Litir Bheag 495

Podcast

BBC offers this litir as a podcast: Visit the programme page for more info and to download or subscribe. Tha am BBC a’ tabhainn seo mar podcast. Tadhail air an duilleag-phrògraim airson barrachd fiosrachaidh no airson podcast fhaighinn