大象传媒

Bha mi ann an d霉thaich bhr猫agha l脿n bheanntan 脿rda o chionn beagan seachdainean. Tha c脿nan is cultar 脿raidh aig an t-sluagh. Chuala mi gu bheil geamhradh aca a mhaireas naoi m矛osan, is tha sin air a leantainn le tr矛 m矛osan de dhroch sh矛de! Chan eil mi a鈥� bruidhinn mu Gh脿idhealtachd na h-Alba ach mu Innis T矛le, n脿baidh a tha fada tuath oirnn.

听听听听听听听听听听听 Bidh mi a鈥� dol a Lochlann gu math tric. Chan eil 脿ite ann an Lochlann nach do ch貌rd rium. Ach feumaidh mi r脿dh gun do lorg mi rudeigin ann an Innis T矛le nach do lorg mi idir ann an Nirribhidh, san t-Suain, san Danmharg no san Fhionnlainn. 鈥橲 e sin gu bheil ceanglaichean eachdraidheil ann 鈥� a tha 鈥檚 d貌cha be貌 ann an dualchas nan daoine fhathast gu 矛re air choreigin 鈥� eadar an d霉thaich Lochlannach sin agus na G脿idheil.

Chuir e iongnadh orm cho tric 鈥檚 a dh鈥櫭╥rich ceanglaichean leis an dualchas agam fh矛n an seo air a鈥� Gh脿idhealtachd. Uaireannan 鈥檚 e dualchas Lochlannach na h-Alba a bu choireach ri sin. Uaireannan, ge-t脿, bha na G脿idheil 鈥� Albannach agus 脠ireannach 鈥� ann mar thaibhsean tr矛d-shoilleir a鈥� gluasad thar d霉thaich dhorch gharbh Innis T矛le.

Air a鈥� chiad mhadainn ann an Reykjavik, gu dearbh, chuireadh nam chuimhne mar a tha sinn nar n脿baidhean do ch猫ile. Bha mi nam shuidhe faisg air doras m貌r an taigh-貌sta againn nuair a chuala mi c脿nan a b鈥� aithne dhomh. Roimhe sin, bha measgachadh de Th矛lis is Beurla ann. An uair sin chuala mi i. Mo ch脿nan fh猫in 鈥� a鈥� Gh脿idhlig! Bhioraich mi mo chluasan. Choimhead mi air mo mhac (bha mi ann c貌mhla ris an teaghlach agam). 鈥淎鈥� Gh脿idhlig, nach e?鈥� thuirt mi ris ann an cagair. 鈥溾�橲 e,鈥� fhreagair e. Chan e aisling a bh鈥� ann. Cha robh mi nam chadal. Choimhead mi air an fheadhainn a bha ga bruidhinn. Bha c貌mhlan ann 鈥� boireannach agus grunn dheugairean 鈥� agus bha iad a鈥� c貌mhradh ann an G脿idhlig na h-Alba.

鈥淣ach math sin,鈥� dh鈥櫭╥gh mi orra, 鈥渁 bhith a鈥� cluinntinn na G脿idhlig ann an Reykjavik!鈥� Chuir mi iongnadh orra. 鈥橲 e a bh鈥� annta buidheann 脿 Sgoil Gh脿idhlig Ghlaschu air turas a dh鈥橧nnis T矛le agus bha mi toilichte an coinneachadh. Thachair gun do choinnich sinn riutha a-rithist nuair a bha sinn air ar cuairt tro cheann a deas an eilein. Aig ionad turasachd a-muigh air an d霉thaich bha barrachd G脿idhlig ga bruidhinn na bha de Th矛lis no Beurla airson, uill, cairteal na h-uarach co-dhi霉.

Nuair a bha sinn a鈥� c貌mhradh, dh鈥檉haighnich mi dhiubh mun turas aca. Dh鈥檃inmich iad na Vestmannaeyjar 鈥� na h-Eileanan Westmann 鈥� far an robh iad an latha roimhe. Bha an tidsear aca 脿 Barraigh. An robh na h-eileanan sin coltach ri Barraigh, dh鈥檉haighnich mi. 鈥淯ill, chan eil buileach,鈥� fhreagair i, 鈥渁ch tha iad gu math inntinneach.鈥� Roghnaich sinn a dhol ann. 鈥橲 toigh leam eileanan agus, mar Albannach, tha e n脿darrach a bhith ag iarraidh falbh a-mach gu eileanan. Air an l脿rna-mh脿ireach 鈥檚 e sin a rinn sinn. Agus abair 脿ite.

Anns a鈥� chiad dol a-mach chan eil na h-eileanan coltach ri Barraigh. Chan eil iad cho br猫agha ri Barraigh. Chan eil tr脿ighean b脿na ann idir. Ach tha iad iongantach ann an iomadh d貌igh. Agus 鈥檚 ann anns na h-Eileanan Westmann a thachair mi ris an d脿rna taibhs G脿idhealach, mar a mh矛nicheas mi an-ath-sheachdain.

l脿n bheanntan 脿rda: full of high mountains; o chionn beagan seachdainean: a few weeks ago; gu bheil geamhradh aca a mhaireas naoi miosan: that they have a winter that lasts nine months; air a leantainn le tr矛 m矛osan de dhroch sh矛de: followed by three months of bad weather; n脿baidh a tha fada tuath oirnn: a neighbour that鈥檚 a long way to the north of us; nach do ch貌rd rium: that I didn鈥檛 enjoy; chuir e iongnadh orm cho tric 鈥檚 a dh鈥櫭╥rich ceanglaichean: I was surprised at how often links appeared; mar thaibhsean tr矛d-shoilleir: like transparent ghosts; thar d霉thaich dhorch gharbh Innis T矛le: across the dark, rough landscape of Iceland; chuireadh nam chuimhne: I was reminded; nuair a chuala mi c脿nan a b鈥� aithne dhomh: when I heard a language I recognised; measgachadh de Th矛lis is Beurla: a mixture of Icelandic and English; nach math sin: isn鈥檛 that good; chuir mi iongnadh orra: I surprised them; bha mi toilichte an coinneachadh: I was pleased to meet them; thachair gun do choinnich sinn riutha a-rithist: we happened to meet them again; cairteal na h-uarach: quarter of an hour; far an robh iad an latha roimhe: where they were the previous day; chan eil buileach: not entirely; roghnaich sinn a dhol ann: we decided to go there; tha e n脿darrach a bhith ag iarraidh falbh a-mach gu eileanan: it鈥檚 natural to want to go out to islands; air an l脿rna-mh脿ireach 鈥檚 e sin a rinn sinn: [on] the next day, that鈥檚 what we did; a thachair mi ris an d脿rna taibhs G脿idhealach: that I met with the second Gaelic ghost.

be貌 ann an dualchas nan daoine fhathast gu 矛re air choreigin: still alive in the people鈥檚 heritage to some degree or other. You will notice that words like [air] choreigin, rudeigin (something) and badeigin (some place) break the spelling rule of 鈥渓eathann ri leathann is caol ri caol鈥�. The reason for that is that 鈥�eigin is a suffix so the word is really composed of two elements. However, because we emphasise the first syllable in speech, we write it as one (unhyphenated) word. If we were to write choiregin, ruideigin and baideigin to fit the spelling rule, we would not represent correctly the qualities of the 鈥渞鈥�, 鈥渄鈥� and 鈥渄鈥� at the end of the first element in each case. It鈥檚 a finely tuned system!

Bhioraich mi mo chluasan: I pricked up my ears/listened attentively.

听

Tha 鈥淟itir do Luchd-ionnsachaidh鈥� air a maoineachadh le MG ALBA