The Thousandth Letter
Hello, again, friends. The ‘big’ Litir – Litir do Luchd-ionnsachaidh –
has reached a milestone. It started in 1999, more than nineteen years
ago. The thousandth one appears this week.
Our word for ten hundreds is interesting, isn’t it?
Mìle
– like the word in Welsh, French, Latin ... It’s thought it came from
Latin. If you look [up] the word
mìle
in a Gaelic dictionary, you’ll find two meanings for it – thousand and
mile. That’s not a coincidence.
The Roman soldiers had a mile –
mille passus
– a thousand paces. However, it wouldn’t always be the same. When the
soldiers were tired, their paces weren’t so long. The Roman general
Agrippa created a standard measure. The Roman foot was based on the
length of Agrippa’s own foot. And there were five feet in a pace.
Many countries and cultures had a mile – as a measure of distance –
based on the Roman mile. But it was different in different places. A
Scottish mile was longer than an English mile. The Scottish mile
disappeared when Scotland and England came together in the union. A
nautical mile is different because that was originally based on a
section of the Earth’s circumference.
It’s not clear where the word
thousand
came from. Perhaps it meant ‘a few hundred’. It was in Old English as
þúsend
. There is a similar word in the Germanic languages. If you go to
Norway, you’ll hear people say
tusen takk. That’s equivalent to ‘mìle taing’ in Gaelic.
I said that it was from Latin that our own word came. But is that true
in every place? I remember a time I went to visit an old man in the
Mackay Country [North Sutherland]. We were speaking in Gaelic about
sheep. He used the word
sùstan
for a thousand. I reckon sùstan came from Old Norse. It was also
recorded in Caithness Gaelic.
Anyway, it’s time for me to go. A thousand farewells.
Am Mìleamh Litir
Halo a-rithist, a chàirdean. Tha an Litir mhòr – Litir do
Luchd-ionnsachaidh – air clach-mhìle a ruigsinn. Thòisich i ann an naoi
ceud deug, naochad ʼs a naoi (1999), còrr is naoi bliadhn’ deug air ais.
Tha am mìleamh tè a’ nochdadh an t-seachdain seo.
Tha am facal againn airson a dheich uiread de cheud inntinneach, nach eil? Mìle – coltach ris an fhacal ann an Cuimris, Fraingis, Laideann
... Tha dùil gun tàinig e bhon Laidinn. Ma choimheadas sibh air an fhacalmìle ann am faclair Gàidhlig, gheibh sibh dà chiall air – thousand agus mile. Chan e co-thuiteamas a tha sin.
Bha mìle aig na saighdearan Ròmanach – mille passus – mìle ceum.
Ge-tà, cha bhiodh e co-ionnan fad na h-ùine. Nuair a bha na saighdearan
sgìth, cha robh na ceumannan aca cho fada. Chruthaich an seanalair Ròmanach
Agrippa slat-tomhais choitcheann. Bha an troigh Ròmanach stèidhichte air
fad cas Agrippa fhèin. Agus bha còig troighean ann an ceum no passus.
Bha mìle – mar thomhas astair – aig iomadh dùthaich is cultar, stèidhichte
air mìle nan Ròmanach. Ach bha i diofraichte ann an diofar àiteachan. Bha
mìle Albannach na b’ fhaide na mìle Shasannach. Dh’fhalbh a’ mhìle
Albannach nuair a thàinig Alba is Sasainn còmhla anns an aonadh. Tha
mìle-mara eadar-dhealaichte oir bha sin o thùs stèidhichte air earrann de
chearcall-thomhas na Talmhainn.
Chan eil e soilleir cò às a thàinig am facal thousand. ʼS dòcha
gun robh e a’ ciallachadh ‘grunn cheudan’. Bha e anns an t-Seann Bheurla
mar þúsend. Tha facal coltach anns na cànanan Gearmanach. Ma thèid
sibh a Nirribhidh, cluinnidh sibh daoine ag ràdh tusen takk. Tha
sin co-ionann ri ‘mìle taing’ ann an Gàidhlig.
Thuirt mi gur ann bhon Laidinn a thàinig ar facal fhèin. Ach a bheil sin
fìor anns a h-uile h-àite? Tha cuimhne agam air turas a chaidh mi a
chèilidh air bodach ann an Dùthaich MhicAoidh. Bha sinn a’ bruidhinn ann an
Gàidhlig air caoraich. Chleachd esan am facal sùstan airson mìle.
ʼS iongantach mura tàinig sùstan bhon t-Seann Lochlannais. Bha e clàraichte
cuideachd ann an Gàidhlig Ghallaibh.
Co-dhiù, tha an t-àm agam falbh. Mìle beannachd leibh.
