Black-haired John, son of Donald, son of Iain Iain Dubh Mac Dhòmhnaill ’ic Iain

Faclan is abairtean: tha ceist agam dhuibh: I have a question for you [dhuibh is the prepositional pronoun formed from do + sibh]; am bi sibh a’ bruidhinn ribh fhèin?: do you speak to yourself (the future tense is used to refer to a current repeated activity); uair sam bith: [at] any time; tha mi a’ creidsinn gum bi: I reckon [you] do [will]; bidh mise co-dhiù: I do [will] anyway; gum bu chòir dhuibh: that you should [bu chòir is accompanied by the preposition do]; aig amannan co-dhiù: at times, at least; tha e math airson an cànan ionnsachadh: it is good for learning the language; feuchaibh rudan sìmplidh: try simple things; canaibh ribh fhèin: say to yourself/yourselves (in both these examples feuchaibh and canaibh are the second person plural imperative – I am speaking to more than one person. It is also the polite way of addressing an older person. In the singular it would be feuch and can); chan eil mi ach meadhanach: I’m not too well (note that while meadhanach means “middling” it can mean “poorly” in relation to a person’s health); carson a tha mi ag ràdh sin?: why am I saying that?; Iain Dubh Mac Dhòmhnaill ’ic Iain: black [haired] John, son of Donald, son of Iain; MacIllInnein: MacLennan; bha Iain na bhàrd: John was a bard [lit. Iain was of a bard – this is the way to use “bi” – the verb “to be” when expressing identity]; bha e math air òrain a sgrìobhadh: he was good at writing songs; A’ Labhairt na Gàidhlig Rium Fhìn: Speaking Gaelic to Myself; seinnidh mi dhomh fhìn: I will sing to myself; bho nach cluinn mi [a-]nise fuaim: since I can no longer hear a noise; aig a’ mhuinntir [a] tha mun cuairt: from [at] the people [who are] around; carson a sgrìobh Iain an t-òran?: why did John write the song? [note the t- in front of òran after the article – this marks it out as a masculine noun]; carson a bhiodh e a’ seinn dha fhèin?: why would he sing to himself [bhiodh is an example of a verb in the conditional – which also in Gaelic represents repeated actions taking place in the past]; nuair a labhras mi rium fhìn: when I speak to myself [the verb with an –as ending is in the relative future after “nuair”]; anns a’ Ghàidhlig laghach, ghrinn: in nice neat Gaelic; bidh mi ann am bruadar anns na glinn: I will be in a dream in the glens; anns a’ cheann aige fhèin:in his own head; bhiodh e air ais air a’ Ghàidhealtachd: he would be back in [on] the Gaidhealtachd; obair-dachaigh: homework; tha dà bhaile ann le “Mellon” anns na h-ainmean aca: there are two villages with “Mellon” in their names; innsidh mi dhuibh an ath-sheachdain: I will tell you next week.