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Cia mheud facal Gàidhlig a tha againn airson ‘sneachd’? Chan eil iad idir cho pailt ris na faclan airson talamh àrd no talamh bog. Ach, tha feadhainn ann.

            An toiseach, tha sneachd ann. Tha fliuch-shneachd â€ÈÙ±ô±ð±ð³Ù’, clach-shneachd ‘hail’ agus crann-shneachd ‘dry snow’ againn. Tha ball-sneachda againn airson â€ÈٲԴǷɲú²¹±ô±ô’ agus muc-shneachda nuair a tha e uabhasach mòr. Bidh daoine a’ dèanamh muc-aitidh le bhith a’ roiligeadh sneachd bog ann am ball mòr aig àm an àiteimh.

            Dè mu dheidhinnâ€ÈÙ²Ô´Ç·É´Ú±ô²¹°ì±ð’? Tha bleideag ann. Ach cuideachd – clòimhneag, lòine, clàdan, cleit is cleiteag. ’S e ²õ±èì´Ç²Ô³Ù²¹²µ ‘a small drop of rain or flake of snow preceding a shower’. Agus, ann an Arainn, ’s e cuileaga-sneachda a bha aca airson â€ÈÙ²Ô´Ç·É´Ú±ô²¹°ì±ð²õ’. Tha sin snog, nach eil?

            Agus ‘a snow shower’? Fras-sneachda. Cuideachd, canaidh sinn gu bheil an cur ann, no gu bheil i a’ cur an t-sneachda.

            Ma tha e bog, coltach ri â€ÈÙ±ô±ð±ð³Ù’ ann am Beurla, ’s e sin flin no flinne, fliug, glìobas, stiug, clàmhainn, flichneachd no flichneadh.

            Ma tha sneachd a’ leaghadh nuair a bhuaileas na bleideagan an talamh, canaidh sinn gur e ³¦±ôì´Ú±ð¾±»å no ²µ±ôì²ú³ó±ð¾±»å a tha ann. Ma laigheas e, ’s e ù°ù-²õ²Ô±ð²¹³¦³ó»å a tha ann.

            Ma tha dìreach gu leòr ann airson an talamh a dhèanamh liath, canaidh sinn liathtas-sneachda ris.

            ’S e cathadh no cabhadh a chanas sinn ri snowdrift. ’S e cur is cathadh a chanas sinn ri sneachd trom a thig le gailleann. Agus ’s e gnudhadh facal airson sneachd leaghte no â€ÈÙ±ô³Ü²õ³ó’.

            Nuair a tha pìos de shneachd air fhàgail air cliathaich beinne as t-Earrach, ’s e sin cuithe. Tha tè ainmeil ann an Srath Spè – A’ Chuithe Chrom air a’ Chàrn Ghorm. Anns a’ gheamhradh, feumaidh sgithearan nach eil air a’ phiste a bhith faiceallach mu mhaoimean-sneachda. ’S e maoim-sneachda a’ Ghàidhlig air ‘a±¹²¹±ô²¹²Ô³¦³ó±ð’.

How many Gaelic words do we have for ‘snow’? They’re not at all as plentiful as the words for high ground or boggy ground. But there’s a few.

        To begin with, there is sneachd ‘snow’. We have fliuch-shneachd â€ÈÙ±ô±ð±ð³Ù’, clach-shneachd ‘hail’ agus crann-shneachd ‘dry snow’. We have ball-sneachda for â€ÈٲԴǷɲú²¹±ô±ô’ and muc-shneachda ‘snow pig’ when it’s extremely large. People make a muc-aitidh ‘thaw pig’ by rolling soft snow into a big ball when there’s a thaw on.

        What about â€ÈÙ²Ô´Ç·É´Ú±ô²¹°ì±ð’? There is bleideag. But also – clòimhneag, lòine, clàdan, cleit and cleiteag. A ²õ±èì´Ç²Ô³Ù²¹²µ is ‘a small drop of rain or flake of snow preceding a shower’. And in Arran, it’s cuileaga-sneachda ‘snow flies’ that they said for â€ÈÙ²Ô´Ç·É´Ú±ô²¹°ì±ð²õ’. That’s nice, isn’t it?

            And ‘a snow shower’? Fras-sneachda. Also we say there is an cur ‘the putting’ or tha i a’ cur an t-sneachda ‘it’s putting snow’.

        If it’s soft, like â€ÈÙ±ô±ð±ð³Ù’ in English, that is flin or flinne, fliug, glìobas, stiug, clàmhainn, flichneachd or flichneadh.

        If snow is melting when the flakes hit the ground, we call that ³¦±ôì´Ú±ð¾±»å or ²µ±ôì²ú³ó±ð¾±»å. If it lies, it’s called ù°ù-²õ²Ô±ð²¹³¦³ó»å ‘new snow’.

        If there is just enough to make the ground grey, we call it liathtas-sneachda ‘greying of snow’.

         It’s cathadh or cabhadh we say for ‘snowdrift’. We say cur is cathadh ‘snowing and drifting’ for heavy snow accompanied with a wind. And gnudhadh is a word for [partially] melted snow or â€ÈÙ±ô³Ü²õ³ó’.

        When there is a patch of snow left on a mountainside in Spring, that’s a cuithe ‘snow wreath’. There is a famous one in Strathspey – A’ Chuithe Chrom on Cairn Gorm. In winter, skiers who are not on the piste must beware of maoimean-sneachda. Maoim-sneachda is the Gaelic for ‘a±¹²¹±ô²¹²Ô³¦³ó±ð’.