The Mythological Language called Canadian Gaelic

**Chas** · 2nd April 13, 03:43 PM

I would change it for you if I could, Nathan, but once Wikipedia have a convention like this, it is in place till the end of time.

Regards

Chas

**Nathan** · 2nd April 13, 09:57 PM

Originally Posted by Chas

I would change it for you if I could, Nathan, but once Wikipedia have a convention like this, it is in place till the end of time.

Regards

Chas

Thanks Chas, that's very kind and I think you're probably 100% correct that it's there to stay. Just thought the xmarkers could use some clarity.

**Nathan** · 4th April 13, 03:46 PM

So I came across this excellent site from BBC called Beag Air Bheag (little by little) which provides free online resources to learn some Gàidhlig.

In addition to the basic conversational/Grammatical stuff: "i's mise Seumas, Ciammar a tha sibh...", there's a section that teaches 5 Gàidhlig songs. Interesting stuff. The fifth song is one of Cape Breton's most famous songs. It's called 'Illean Bithibh Sunndach which translates as Boys be in good spirits and it's all about young men leaving Scotland for Cape Breton and trying to look on the bright side of what was a very sad thing.

While I was very impressed that BBC Alba decided to include a Gàidhlig song from Cape Breton on their site, I was surprised to see how much they altered the lyrics. They didn't just make some grammatical adjustments, though those are there, they changed the whole meaning of the verses.

Compare:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/alba/foghlam/be...05/index.shtml

with

http://www.beatoninstitutemusic.ca/g...-sunndach.html

Perhaps they didn't like the references to getting drunk at a pub in Tobermorry or the dairy cows being milked by young maidens... Or maybe they didn't like that place names were transliterated rather than translated - Nòbha Scòtia rather than Alba Nuadh.

There are some examples of words that are lenited in one version and not in the other as well (eg. ri tighinn versus ri thighinn in the chorus).

Anyway, it's a great song and it's nice that it's included on the BBC site even if it is altered to suit their educational purposes.