Mac-Talla
I was looking at an old page in Mac-Talla. That’s an old newspaper. Mac-Talla was published in Nova Scotia.
That was at the end of the 19th
Century and beginning of the 20th
Century.
On the page was a vocabulary
for rothaidheachd. Do you understand that word – rothaidheachd. It
means “cycling”. Perhaps it’s
baidhsagal you say yourself for
“bicycle”. That word came from
English. It’s not in Dwelly’s dictionary.
In some of the most recent Gaelic
dictionaries, rothair is there for
bicycle. Rothair – R-O-T-H-A-I-R.
But in Dwelly, it’s rothar – R-O-T-H-
A-R. The word is based on roth an old
Gaelic word for a wheel. We have that
in barra-roth, the Gaelic for
“wheelbarrow”. Anyway, in Dwelly,
the English word bicycle appears
twice. And here’s the Gaelic for it:
rothar dà-chuibhleach (“two-wheeled
cycle”) and each-iarainn (“iron
horse”). I don’t think anyone would
say “each-iarainn” today! Also in
Dwelly are rothar (cycle), rothar trì-
rothan (tricycle), rothaidhe (cyclist)
and rothaidheachd (cycling).
The article in Mac-Talla gives us words connected to a bicycle. Here are some of them: cluas (handle); slat (handlebar); gabhal (fork). And what’s the Gaelic for the “spoke of a wheel”? Well – ga, spelt G-A. And it’s bonn they have for “tyre”: bonn cruaidh (solid tyre), bolg-bhonn
(pneumatic tyre). Bolg or balg means “air tube”. But who’d use a solid tyre on a bicycle today?!
Here are some of the other words on the list: luasgan (spring); troighean (pedal), cnò (nut), deocan (valve), teannaire (pump) and priocadh (puncture). We still use some of those words. But instead of teannaire, people say pump. Instead of priocadh, they say toll.
Mac-Talla
Bha mi a’ coimhead air seann duilleag
ann am Mac-Talla. ’S e sin seann
phàipear-naidheachd. Bha Mac-Talla air
fhoillseachadh ann an Alba Nuadh. Bha
sin aig deireadh an naoidheamh linn
deug agus toiseach an fhicheadamh linn.
Air an duilleig bha briathrachas
airson rothaidheachd. A bheil sibh a’
tuigsinn an fhacail sin – rothaidheachd?
Tha e a’ ciallachadh “cycling”. ’S dòcha
gur e baidhsagal a chanas sibh fhèin
airson “bicycle”. Thàinig am facal sin
bhon Bheurla. Chan eil e ann am Faclair
Dwelly.
Ann an cuid de na faclairean
Gàidhlig as ùire, tha rothair ann airson
bicycle. Rothair – R-O-T-H-A-I-R. Ach
ann an Dwelly, ’s e rothar – R-O-T-H-
A-R. Tha am facal stèidhichte air roth,
seann fhacal Gàidhlig airson cuibhle.
Tha sin againn ann am barra-roth, a’
Ghàidhlig air wheelbarrow. Co-dhiù,
ann an Dwelly, tha am facal Beurla
bicycle ann dà thuras. Agus seo a’
Ghàidhlig air a shon: rothar dà-chuibhleach agus each-iarainn. Chan eil
mi a’ smaoineachadh gun canadh duine
“each-iarainn” an-diugh! Cuideachd ann
an Dwelly tha rothar (cycle), rothar trì-rothan (tricycle), rothaidhe (cyclist)
agus rothaidheachd (cycling).
Tha an t-alt ann am Mac-Talla a’ toirt dhuinn faclan co-cheangailte ri rothar. Seo cuid aca: cluas (handle); slat (handlebar); gabhal (fork). Agus dè a’ Ghàidhlig a tha air “spoke of a wheel”? Uill – ga, air a litreachadh G-A. Agus ’s e bonn a tha aca air “tyre”: bonn cruaidh (solid tyre), bolg-bhonn (pneumatic tyre). Tha bolg no balg a’ ciallachadh “air tube”. Ach cò chleachdadh bonn cruaidh air rothar an-diugh?!
Seo cuid eile de na faclan air an liosta: luasgan (spring); troighean (pedal), cnò (nut), deocan (valve), teannaire (pump) agus priocadh (puncture). Bidh sinn a’ cleachdadh cuid de na faclan sin fhathast. Ach, an àite teannaire bidh daoine ag ràdh pump. An àite priocadh canaidh iad toll.
