Vocabulary of Sounds (2)
When would you hear a
sgiùcan? Well, that’s the sound that a [female red] grouse makes.
Sgiùcan.
Welcome to you all. I’m going to look this week at sounds that animals
make.
To begin with –
geum. That’s the sound a cow makes. For ‘the cattle are lowing’, we say tha an crodh a’ dèanamh geum . Or tha an crodh a’ geumnaich. A’ geumnaich.
Last week, I looked at
comhart ‘bark’ and donnal‘howl’ – dog noises. Their is also tabhann – a bark or yelp. A’ tabhann or a’ tabhannaich ‘barking, yelping’.
Do you know the word
mialaich? That’s the sound a cat usually makes. Tha an cat a’
mialaich ‘the cat is miaowing’.
Mèilich is different from mialaich. Mèile or
mèilich
is the sound a sheep or lamb makes. Bleat, bleating. We have a special
word for ‘the bleating of a goat’ –
meig. Tha am meann a’ meigeallaich ‘the kid goat is bleating’. Tha
am meann a’ meigeallaich.
But back to
mèilich
. When a sheep bleats, what does it say? In Gaelic, it says, ‘Mè mè’.
And here is the Gaelic form of a famous verse.
Baa, baa, black sheep, where is your wool? Here it is, here it is,
growing on my back. A bag for the master, a bag for the maid, a bag for
the little boy who lives up the glen.
That was the first Gaelic song I ever knew. I can still remember my
first year in primary school. I was living in Broughty Ferry, near
Dundee. The teacher found out that I knew that song. She said to me,
‘Roddy, will you stand in front of the class, and sing “Baa Baa Black
Sheep” in Gaelic? I was scared, but I sang it.
Baa, baa, black sheep, where is your wool? Here it is, here it is, growing
on my back. A bag for the master, a bag for the maid, a bag for the little
boy who lives up the glen.
Briathrachas Fhuaimean (2)
Cuin a chluinneadh tu sgiùcan? Uill, ʼs e sin am fuaim a bhios
cearc-fhraoich a’ dèanamh. Sgiùcan. Fàilte oirbh uile. Tha mi a’ dol a
thoirt sùil an t-seachdain sa air fuaimean a bhios ainmhidhean a’ dèanamh.
An toiseach – geum. ʼS e sin fuaim a nì bò. Airson‘the cattle are lowing’, canaidh sinntha an crodh a’ dèanamh geum. No tha an crodh a’ geumnaich. A’ geumnaich.
An t-seachdain sa chaidh, thug mi sùil air comhart ‘bark’ agus donnal ‘howl’ – fuaimean aig coin. Tha tabhann ann
cuideachd – a bark or yelp. A’ tabhann no a’ tabhannaich
‘barking, yelping’.
A bheil sibh eòlach air an fhacal mialaich? ʼS e sin am fuaim as
trice a nì cat. Tha an cat a’ mialaich ‘the cat is miaowing’.
Tha mèilich eadar-dhealaichte bho mialaich. ʼS e mèile no mèilich a nì caora no uan. Bleat, bleating. Tha facal
sònraichte againn airson ‘the bleating of a goat’ – meig. Tha am meann a’ meigeallaich ‘the kid goat is bleating’. Tha am
meann a’ meigeallaich.
Ach air ais gu mèilich. Nuair a bhios caora a’ mèilich, dè chanas i? Ann an
Gàidhlig, bidh i ag ràdh, ‘Mè mè’. Agus seo agaibh dreach Gàidhlig air rann
ainmeil.
Mè mè, chaora dhubh, Càite a bheil do chlòimh? Tha an seo, tha an seo, A’
fàs air mo dhruim. Poc’ airson a’ mhaighstir, poc’ airson na maighd’, poc’
airson a’ bhalaich bhig, Tha fuireach suas an gleann.
Bʼ e sin a’ chiad òran Gàidhlig a bha agam riamh. Tha cuimhne agam fhathast
air a’ chiad bliadhna agam sa bhun-sgoil. Bha mi a’ fuireach ann am
Broughty Ferry, faisg air Dùn Dè. Fhuair an tidsear a-mach gun robh an
t-òran sin agam. Thuirt i rium, ‘A Ruairidh, an seas thu air beulaibh a’
chlas, agus an gabh thu “Baa Baa Black Sheep” ann an Gàidhlig? Bha
eagal orm, ach ghabh mi e:
Mè mè, chaora dhubh, Càite a bheil do chlòimh? Tha an seo, tha an seo, A’
fàs air mo dhruim. Poc’ airson a’ mhaighstir, poc’ airson na maighd’, poc’
airson a’ bhalaich bhig, Tha fuireach suas an gleann.
