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Tha am facal rathad inntinneach. Tha am faclair Teach Yourself Gaelic a’ toirt dhuinn na leanas mar chiall air an fhacal: road, route, way. Tha ‘rathad mòr’ a’ ciallachadh main road, trunk road, highway. Aig aon àm bha na Gàidheil a’ gabhail ‘rathad mòr an rìgh’ air na rathaidean as motha eadar sgìrean. Bha ‘rathad-iarainn’ a’ ciallachadh railway line, ged as e ‘loidhne-rèile’ a chanas daoine an-diugh.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý     Tha ‘rathad’ air a chleachdadh ann an grunn ghnàthasan-cainnt. Canaidh sinn a-mach às mo rathad no teich às mo rathad airson get out of my way. Ma tha cuideigin air bàs fhaighinn, dh’fhaodamaid a ràdh, chaidh e às an rathad.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý     Bidh sinn a’ cleachdadh rathad ann an Gàidhlig ann an dòigh eadar-dhealaichte bho road ann am Beurla. Anns an t-seann aimsir, ge-tà, bha daoine ag eadar-theangachadh rathad gu road nuair a bha iad a’ bruidhinn ri luchd na Beurla. Ach chan e ‘road’ a chanadh luchd na Beurla ris na ‘rathaidean’ air an robh na Gàidheil a’ coiseachd.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý     Carson a tha mi a’ beachdachadh air road agus rathad? Uill, bha mi a’ leughadh mu dheidhinn turas a rinn an Caiptean Edmund Burt air a’ Ghàidhealtachd. Bha sin anns an ochdamh linn deug. Bha Burt na mhaor don t-Seanalair Wade a thog mòran rathaidean air a’ Ghàidhealtachd. Rathaidean ceart. Agus sgrìobh Burt mun Ghàidhealtachd.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý     Dh’fhalbh e air chuairt turas le eich. Bha iomadh rud mu a thuras a’ cur dragh air. Cha robh mòran àiteachan far am faigheadh e biadh. Bha aige ri a dhol tro bhoglaichean. Bha na h-eich Shasannach aige ro throm. Chaidh iad an sàs anns na boglaichean. Agus bha e duilich do Bhurt a rathad fhèin – agus sin am facal a-rithist – a dhèanamh tro na boglaichean anns na bòtannan mòr’ aige.

The word rathad is interesting. The Teach Yourself Gaelic dictionary gives the following as meanings of the word: road, route, way. Rathad mòr means main road, trunk road, highway. At one time the Gaels called the main roads between regions ‘the great road of the king’. ‘Iron road’ meant railway line, although it is ‘rail line’ that people say today.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Rathad is used in several idioms. We say a-mach às mo rathad or teich às mo rathad for ‘get out of my way’. If somebody has died, we might say ‘chaidh e às an rathad’.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý We use rathad in Gaelic in a different way from road in English. In olden times, however, people were translating rathad to road when they were speaking to English-speakers. But English-speakers wouldn’t call the rathaidean on which the Gaels were walking ‘roads’.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý Why am I thinking about road and rathad? Well, I was reading about a trip that Captain Edmund Burt made in the Highlands. That was in the 18th Century. Burt was an agent for General Wade who built many roads in the Highlands. Proper roads. And Burt wrote about the Highlands.

ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý He went on a trip once with horses. Many things about his journey annoyed him. There were not many places where he could get food. He had to go through bogs. His English horses were too heavy. They got stuck in the bogs. And it was difficult for Burt to make his way – [there’s the word rathad again] – through the bogs in his big boots.