Àdhamh Ó Broin - GÀILIG LATHARN “the Gaelic dialect of SW Caithness”

[@oro7114]

This was amazing, love noting more than to hear The Gaelic in all its forms spoken, this is such a beautiful dialect of Gàidhlig

[@WilliamJMuir]

Superb as always Adhamh!

[@dazpatreg]

Diongmhalt would be a corollary of 'dionbháilte' in Irish which means 'determined'. Similarly I think 'eirinn' meaning girl might be related to 'ainnir' meaning beautiful maiden in Irish. This is a really beautiful dialect and it's a tragedy that it's no longer spoken.

[@DorlachAlba]

Go rabh míle maith agat, a laoich. That's absolutely fascinating to hear that there's a similar word in Irish as I'd never heard the like of it anywhere. Just you saying that you feel it's beautiful really touched me because I (of course!) feel the same and I have so little direct contact with other Gaels over what they reckon to it all. It feels so very far away, and yet there are people alive who remember it spoken in the area, if only to working dogs or the odd phrase in passing.

[@sylviahamilton8629]

Fascinated listening to this as a Caithness native with relatives from Latheron parish too. Now Midlothian based and an on/off Duolingo learner 🤦‍♀️. I'm finding it really hard because I couldn't imagine what a Caithness person would sound like, now I have a much better idea. Thank you 😊

[@DorlachAlba]

That's very gratifying - the very effect we were hoping for! Whereabouts in Latheron?

[@DorlachAlba]

Móran taing duibh, a chàrdan!

[@dovydeutsch9114]

I didn't realise you were even speaking English at the beginning 😂😂 Great talk, your dialect is incredible.

[@dazpatreg]

Tá an sliocht ó 22:00 an spéisiúil dhomhsa mar gur cé ionas/conas/cionnas atá á úsáid acu ansin agus níl an leagan sin le fáil go dtí go dtiocfá an bealach uilig chomh fada le Cúige Mumhan, cén chaoi gur tharlaigh sé sin meas tú?

[@DorlachAlba]

@@dazpatreg Ó tá brón orm a chara, níl fios agam ar sin! Tá sin an-deas gun do thaitinn e riut! (níl mo chuid Ghaeilge maith go leór!)

[@davidmandic3417]

@@dazpatreg It's from Old Irish "cia indas" (what manner?) so it might have survived in these two areas somehow, while being replaced by other expressions elsewhere.

[@williammoran2992]

When did Gàidhlig start to be pronounced as Gàilig?

[@DorlachAlba]

Oh now you're asking. I couldn't honestly say. In Cowal and Mid-Argyle it never became "Gàidhlig" /a:j/ nevermind "Gàilig" /a:/ It remained "Gáilig" /ɛ:/ and in Loch Gair "Gáidhlig" /ɛ:j/ - it would be very interesting to research the change further.

[@zingzangwallawalla]

The Gàidhlig in SW Caithness is surely brought in by migrants from the clearances?

[@rippedtorn2310]

Why? Surely if you know history you'd think it was always there ?

[@fearnpol4938]

There’s papers from the 1800’s with job adverts wanting Gaelic speakers but those with Caithness not Sutherland Gaelic. There is a perverseness in Caithness that constantly screams ‘no Gaelic here’, whilst living in an area with a Gaelic name.

[@zingzangwallawalla]

@@fearnpol4938 there will of course be some Gàidhlig speakers, although as i understand it was not the main language or ever was. Caithness is a name derived from Old Norse 'Katenes', and was in Norwegian control from 10th to 13th centuries, and before that was Pictish who were a Brythonic tribe with a language similar to Cornish and Welsh (both being Brythonic languages closely related to each other).

[@zingzangwallawalla]

@@fearnpol4938 I'm not trying to be confrontational, but gaining a deeper understanding from both sides of the fence

[@DorlachAlba]

@@zingzangwallawalla No, that's fine. It's great to chat these things over. If you look at the census from 1881, an overwhelming majority of elderly, fluent native speakers of Gaelic are innumerated as being born in Caithness and not Sutherland, meaning that their births predate the Clearances of the early 19th century which caused a good load to migrate NE. There were a few hundred right enough, but they were completely outweighed by born and bred, native Caithness Gaelic speakers. There were monolingual Gaelic speakers who belonged to the place in Watten at the end of the 17th century nevermind Latheron which was thoroughly Gaelic-speaking right up until the mid 19th c. This is backed up by my own family lore which came from my grandmother's mouth, that her father's people were completely Gaelic-speaking going all the way back. My own family history fits perfectly with the results of the census in fact: 3/4 of the Gaels on my mother's side were Caithness natives, while the other 1/4 were from Strathnaver, Kildonan etc.

[@Tele-fk4cu]

Why does he pronounce it Gay-lik?

[@DorlachAlba]

He doesn't. He pronounces it "Gael-ic" i.e. that which pertains to the Gael.

[@lornanicholson9848]

@@DorlachAlbagaalik not Galiik. So embarrassing this person prtentends to to be an expert. This is a disgrace to the Gaelic language. Everyone from an Island hates this. Charlatan.

[@realitywins9020]

It seems that that's the mid Argyll pronunciation which is the dialect he speaks. As distinct from Gàidhlig in most other dialects of Scotland

[@andymullins84]

Probably when he's speaking English. When he speaks Gaidhlig the pronunciation would change.

[@scotsmanyes8261]

@@andymullins84 i know his son personally and he pronounces Gàidhlig like "gɛ:lɪk" (so basically the way he pronounces gaelic but without the y). Him and his dad say that it both reflects the dialect they speak more accurately, and also say that it was the original way of saying Gaelic before the more northern highlands / hebridean dialects were prioritised, and since they pronounced Gàidhlig as "ga:lɪk", that became the way to pronounce it.