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Tha sinn a’ toirt sùil air faclan às an fhaclair aig Raibeart Armstrong, a chaidh fhoillseachadh dà cheud bliadhna air ais ann an ochd ceud deug is còig air fhichead (1825). Tha sinn aig an litir ‘f’. ʼS e am facal a thagh mi – fàidh ‘prophet, soothsayer’. Às a sin, gheibh sinn na faclan fàidheadaireachd ‘prophecy’ agus fàidheil ‘like a prophet, prophetic’.

Tha mi a’ cuimhneachadh còmhradh a bh’ agam o chionn fhada le fear aig an robh Gàidhlig bho dhùthchas. Bha mi ag iarraidh air innse dhomh dè bha a’ dol a thachairt anns an ùine romhainn. ‘Ist, ʼille,’ thuirt e, ‘cha fàidh mi is cha mhac fàidh mi’. I’m not a prophet or the son of a prophet. Cha fàidh mi is cha mhac fàidh mi. Cha robh e airson beachd a thoirt air a’ ghnothach! 

An ath fhacal a th’ agam, ʼs e geur-leanmhainn. Tha e a’ tighinn bhon dà fhacal – geur ‘sharp, keen’ agus lean ‘follow, pursue’. Geur-lean ‘pursue hotly or keenly’. Geur-leanmhainn ‘hot pursuit or chase’. Ge-tà, tha ciall a bharrachd air an fhacal fhillte agus ʼs e sin persecute, persecution. Rinn e geur-leanmhainn orra ‘he persecuted them’.

Leis nach e litir ‘cheart’ a th’ ann an ‘h’ ann an aibidil na Gàidhlig, ʼs e ‘i’ an ath litir againn. Bidh sibh eòlach air an fhacal ifrinn. Tha e a’ ciallachadh ‘hell’. Ifrinn. Anns an fhaclair fhreumh-fhaclach aige, tha MacBheathain ag innse dhuinn gun tàinig am facal bhon Laidinn infernum. Mar sin, tha ifrinn càirdeach do na faclan Beurla infernal agus inferno.Ìý

Ge-tà, ’s e àite fuar a bh’ ann an ‘ifrinn’ nan seann Cheilteach pàganach. Seo mar a mhìnicheas Armstrong e:  Ifrinn literally means the isle of the cold land, or clime, being a contracted form of i-fuar-fhuinn. The Celtic hell was a cold dark region, abounding in venomous reptiles and wild beasts… The Scotch Celts still retain the name, though well aware that cold forms no part of infernal punishment. Ma bheir sibh sùil air faclair Dwelly, chì sibh earrann de na sgrìobh Armstrong fon cheann-fhacal ifrinn.

ʼS e ‘l’ an ath litir ann an aibidil na Gàidhlig. Thagh mi am facal luidhear ‘chimney, vent’. ʼS e sin am facal a tha sinn a’ cleachdadh airson ‘ship’s funnel’. Bha trì luidheirean air an Queen Mary ‘there were three funnels on the Queen Mary’.

Nise, ʼs e facal boireanta a th’ ann an luidhear. Mar sin, canaidh sinn ‘tha toit a’ tighinn às an luidheir’. Tha am facal air a chaolachadh anns an tuiseal thabhartach shingilte. Ge-tà ʼs e luidheir – an riochd caol – a th’ aig Armstrong mar cheann-fhacal. Math dh’fhaodte gun robh am facal air a dhol caol ann an Siorrachd Pheairt.

Mu dheireadh an-diugh, am facal masladh. Tha e a’ ciallachadh ‘shame, disgrace, scandal’. Bhuaithe sin, tha sinn a’ faighinn a’ ghnìomhair maslaich, ‘disgrace, put to shame’ agus am buadhair maslach ‘disgraceful’. Tha sin dìreach maslach ‘that’s disgraceful, appalling’. Tha mi an dòchas nach cleachd sibh fhèin am facal maslach ro thric!

Faclan na Litreach: thagh: chose, selected; ifrinn: hell; freumh-fhaclach: etymological; ceann-fhacal: headword; luidhear: chimney, vent, funnel; boireanta: feminine; an riochd caol: the slender form; ro thric: too often.

Abairtean na Litreach: Tha sinn a’ toirt sùil air faclan às an fhaclair aig Raibeart Armstrong: we are looking at words from Robert Armstrong’s dictionary; às a sin, gheibh sinn na faclan: from that, we get the words; tha mi a’ cuimhneachadh còmhradh a bh’ agam o chionn fhada: I am remembering a conversation I had a long time ago; le fear aig an robh Gàidhlig bho dhùthchas: with a man who spoke Gaelic as his first language; bha mi ag iarraidh air innse dhomh: I was wanting him to tell me; dè bha a’ dol a thachairt anns an ùine romhainn: what was going to happen in the future; ist, ʼille: literally, be quiet, lad but the expession is used idiomatically to gain the listener’s attention; cha robh e airson beachd a thoirt air a’ ghnothach: he didn’t want to opine on the matter; càirdeach do na faclan Beurla: related to the English words; beachd eadar-dhealaichte air tùs an fhacail: a different opinion on the origin of the word; ‘ifrinn’ nan seann Cheilteach pàganach: the ‘hell’ of the old pagan Celts; tha am facal air a chaolachadh anns an tuiseal thabhartach shingilte: the word is slenderised in the dative singular case; bhuaithe sin, tha sinn a’ faighinn a’ ghnìomhair: from that, we get the verb.

Puing-chànain na Litreach: a chaidh fhoillseachadh dà cheud bliadhna air ais: that was published two hundred years ago. The two most common ways of saying ‘ago’ in Gaelic involve the adverbs o chionn and air ais. We can say ‘five years ago’ with o chionn còig bliadna or coig bliadhna air ais. The former is more common than the latter. However, you will occasionally hear both used together: Thachair sin o chionn ceithir bliadhn’ deug air ais ‘that happened fourteen years ago’.

Gnàthas-cainnt na Litreach: cha fàidh mi is cha mhac fàidh mi: I’m not a prophet or the son of a prophet [I cannot foretell the future].