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Riaghailtean
an Faclair
Rules, what rules? Well, since the Faclair has
evolved and expanded, we have had to establish (even if just for our sake)
some working principles. Spelling for one, but many other like how
to deal with terminology variation (18 entries for honeysuckle?),
phonological rules for loanwords (teicneòlas or teic-eòlas?), the
treatment of foreign proper nouns (Diongas Can or Jingis Khan?), gender
(is bùth masculine or feminine?) and a lot more.
It's
not that we are oposed to variation within a language - but I think we can
all agree that if you're writing a dictionary, you can't have 15 synonyms
for the same thing. For one thing, it's a question of scope.
And on the other, it's a question of clarity and being user
friendly. Someone who needs to know the word for a honeysuckle in
Gaelic shouldn't have to make a choice out of 18 options - especially
because that way you will create such a lot of confusion that people will
end up using the English word.
We
are trying to make the Akerbeltz Dictionary as user-friendly as
possible. This means a huge effort on our behalf on the one hand but
that way we hope to be able to provide you with an excellent tool.
You can just go and use it but if you are interested to know why we have
done certain things the way we have, then read on.
Principles
NB: THIS IS WORK IN PROGRESS; IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE
PROCESS, PLEASE CONTACT US
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Alternate
Forms in Gaelic
Every attempt has been made to avoid "double" entries or
synonym pile-ups. As far as possible, we have followed
recommendations of experts in this field. Concerning plant
names, we have stuck very closely to the suggested normative names put
forward by Ian MacDhòmhnaill and Joan W Nic a' Chléirich in Ainmean
Gàidhlig Lusan (1999). Normative bird names have been taken
from the Collins Scottish Birds guidebook (Valerie Thom, 1994)
- as it is the only modern bird guide giving Gaelic names of birds,
the names used in this book "win by default". Terms
from Parliamentary Dictionary have been entered after a critical
review based on Faclair na Pàrlamaid, a Critical Evaluation by
Wilson MacLeòid (2001).
-
One
of Many
Beyond that the general practice of chosing "one of
many" is based on the generally accepted linguistic criteria
for neologisms: accuracy, shortness, non-opaqueness and
acceptance. In practice, homonyms are first collected and
the critically evaluated according to these criteria.
Sometimes it is possible to use two of the homonyms to make a
necessary distinction between two required terms. Of the 10
or so homonyms for <canal>, slighe-uisge
has been chosen to mean <canal> while amar-uisge
has been chosen for <reservoir>, as amar
implies standing rather than flowing water.
-
Opacity
In all instances, non-opaque or obsolete terms are
preferred. This does not necessarily apply to highly
specialised terms, which would not be familiar to the general user
and would have to be learned as vocabularly in any case, English
or Gaelic.
-
Acceptedness
Where a term is generally accepted or is consitantly used by Radio
nan Gàidheal broadcasters, this term is preferred. Faclair
na Pàrlamaid suggests An
Earrann Phoblach
for <The Public Sector>, but since An
Roinn Phoblach
is not only more common in usage but also consistantly used in
radio broadcasts, An
Roinn Phoblach
has been retained, particularly since earrann
is also used to signify shares or bonds.
-
Gender
One word having two genders isn't terribly practical so we've
taken the (daring) approach to get rid of one of them.
Basically (unless there is a suffix suggesting a particular
gender) we have stuck with the rule that words ending in a slender
consonant tend to be feminine and words ending in a broad
consonant tend to be masculine. So
bùth
and
bòrd
in this dictionary are masculine.
Note that words like
muir
and
talamh,
which switch gender according to the case they are in are a
different matter and have been retained with the
"switch".
-
Publicity
By this we mean that if there is a choice of terms, but one of
them is preferred in published literature, we chose that term as
people will have had the most exposure
to that term. Thus
clòimh
mhilis,
used in Dealbh is Facal, wins over other synonyms like *cotan
milis
and
*canndaidh
chotain
&
Co - particularly since this is a childrens dictionary.
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Irish
Due to it's long(er) history as an official language, terminology in
Irish is much more developed than in Gaelic. This does not mean
that Irish terms or dictionaries can be borrowed wholesale, but it can
be a useful resource to find appropriate Gaelic terms. And in
some cases an Irish borrowing may well be more appropriate than a
loanword from English or a neologism. Again, clarity is one of
the main targets here.
In all instances, loans from Irish (in this dictionary) have been
modified to fit Gaelic phonology.
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Foreign
Terms
-
Country
and Placenames
-
Established
Names
Names of countries, states and cities which have established
Gaelic names are retained as such. Examples: A'
Bheilg, An t-Sìn. An Fhraing ...
-
Other
Names
The names of officially recognised states are gaelicised to
conform with Gaelic phology based on the native term and the
native pronunciation. Since many languages distinguish
short and long vowels, this is shown in Gaelic by using the
grave or accute accent. In such terms long vowels are
allowed in non-initial syllables. Examples: Irāq
> Iràc,
Bhutān > Butàn
...
-
Pronunciation
of Digraphs
Two letter combinations in gaelicised terms are pronounced as
they would be in a native Gaelic word. This applies to
the <gh> digraph in the names of many Arab countries for
instance. Examples: Irāq
> Iràc,
Afghanistān > Afghanastàn
...
-
Gender
As traditonally countries are feminine in gender, this rule is
consistantly applied in for newly gaelicised names of
countries in this dictionary.
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Case
-
Unless
the definite article is used in the gaelicised form, case
is not marked on newly gaelicised country names.
Examples: The Iraq War > Cogadh
Iràc ...
-
Only
the genitive case is marked (lenition) but not the dative
or vocative. If the name contains a Gaelic
adjective, case is shown in the adjective however.
Letters which do not exist in the traditonal alpbhabet are
considered unlenitable. Examples: muinntir
Bhutàn, aimsir Yemen...
-
Adjectives
To avoid suffix pile-ups, adjectives are based on the native
root form of countries or nationalities, not English or other
forms. Examples: An Ruis
> ruiseach (not *ruiseanach), An
t-Sìn > sìneach (not *sìneasach)
...
-
Plural
Where a foreign term contains an obvious plural form,
particularly English plural -s, this is either replaced by a
singular form (if the native form allows or suggests this) or
replaced with a Gaelic plural. Names ending in broad
consonants are suffixed by -an,
slender consonants by -ean.
Names ending in broad consonants are suffixed by -than,
slender consonants by -chean.
Examples: The Himalayas > An
Himalaya, The Alps > Na
h-Alpannan (cf. German Die
Alpen)
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City
Names
The names of cities are retained in the native form. If
the native form contains any long vowels, this is shown by the
use of the grave or acute accent. Other diacritics are
simply not shown in the Gaelic form. The use of diaresis
and other highly common diacritics is optional, however.
Letters which do not exist in the traditonal alpbhabet are
considered unlenitable. Examples:
Baghdād > Bhaghdàd,
Beijing > Beijing,
Tōkyō > Tókyó,
Köln > Koln/Köln,
a Qaqortoq ...
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Celtic
Placenames
Irish Placenames are given in their Irish form except for Éirinn
(gen. Éireann). Manx placenames are also given in their
native form, but spelt according to the rules of Gaelic
spelling. Welsh, Cornish and Breton placenames are
retained in their native (not English or French) form.
Examples:
Baile Átha Cliath (Engl. Dublin)
Corcaigh (Engl. Cork)
Dùlais
Doolish (Engl. Douglas)
Baile an Locha Balley
ny Loghey (Engl. Ballaugh)
Caerdydd (Engl.
Cardiff)
Pennsans (Engl.
Penzance)
Kemper (Fr. Quimper)
-
Transcription
Issues
As much as possible, official transcriptions systems are
used. Mandarin Chinese placenames for example are
transcribed in Pinyin, not Wade-Giles or Mathews; Hebonshiki
is used for Japanes as opposed to Kunreishiki etc.
Examples: Beijing (not Peking or
P'ei Ching), Taibei (not T'ai
P'ei or Taipei), Fuji (not Huzi)
...
-
Local
Names Issues
Where a conflict exists between two names, particularly in
cases where minoritised language communities are concerned,
the "local" term is used. If there is a great
divergence between the two, we recommend the "local"
term be used in writing follwed by the alternative term.
For reasons of practicality, this principle is only applied to
major placenames. Beyond that it is at the disgression
of the end user which form they use. Examples: Amed
(Turk. Diyarbakır),
Kerkùk (Arab. Kirkuk), Cataluinia
(Cat. Catalunya) ...
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Latinate
Names
-
The
Names
Latinate names of plants, animals etc are retained in their
latin spelling, as any modification of that would not only be
unworkable but also unprecedented and foolish. If the
current form contains any English specific modifications, this
is reduced to the original latinate form. Examples: #
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Pronunciation
Latinate terms should be pronounced with clear vowels.
Consonants retain their "latin" pronunciation as far
as the broad vs slender issue is concerned, i.e. Callistemon
has a /l/ sound, not an /ʎ/ sound.
-
Gender
Gender of latinate names follows the Broad vs Slender
principle.
-
Plural
Names ending in broad
consonants are suffixed by -an,
slender consonants by -ean.
Names ending in broad consonants are suffixed by -than,
slender consonants by -chean.
Examples: Buddleia(than),
Pyllostachis(ichean)
...
-
a
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Agent
Markers
In all instances of either having to choose between existing terms or
coining new ones, agentive suffixes (-air,
-adair, -iche)
are preferred to the somewhat clumsy constructions with neach-
and
luchd-.
These suffixes are not gender-specific and can therefore be applied
easily to both men and women. Where a gender distinction is
obviously intended, bean-
or ban-
and fear
have been used. In terms of usage (and certain examples in the
dictionary) we feel justified in using forms like fear an dealain
where the addresee is male. In such cases only one example has
been added simply for practical reasons (time and money).
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