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Fàilte

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2016 10:03 am
by Lucy
Fàilte! `S mise Lucia. 'S e A' Ghearmailt a tha annamsa.
I hope this was remotely correct. I've always been fascinated by the Gaelic language (and Scotland) and I've bought a Gaelic course book (with a tape - yes, I'm that old) when I was 16 on my first trip to Scotland. To be honest, I never got far. :naire:
Hopefully I will be able to continue learning the language as soon as my 3 kids are a bit older and I have more time. But for now I really need your help:

I'm writing a novel (dark fantasy), which is set on Islay. As Islay is known for its whisky, I need to "invent" a distillery and need a proper name for it. I looked up a meaning, which I thought would be nice, but it's terribly difficult to pronounce for non-Gaelic-speakers and maybe even grammatically wrong. So I thought, I'd ask the experts here.
My chosen name is: Cnocairmòine (The last word is also my real surname and a bit of an inside joke, especially because I really love peaty whiskies too. :lol: I'm writing the novel under a pseudonym though.) Or is it Cnocaigmòine? I wanted something like "hill next to / at / in the vicinity of the moore".
What do you think? I'd be really thankful for your input and of course I'd mention this forum in my novel. :cuidich: Pretty please! :flur:

Re: Fàilte

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2016 10:09 am
by akerbeltz
[in a hurry]
Cnoc na mòine but that would be Hill of the Peat, not Moor. Moor would be Cnoc a' Mhòintich. And you shouldn't really write it as one word, that's a very English thing.

Re: Fàilte

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2016 10:32 am
by Lucy
Thank you very much for your quick reply! Well, I only wrote it in one word, because all the Islay distilleries have a one-word name, it seems. :) I just wanted it to sound very distillery-ish. :lol:
Does hill of the peat make any sense? Isn't peat rather in sinks and not on hills? (I've no idea ... :naire: I'm living in Bavaria, we don't have any moors. ) I've looked it up here and the 2nd meaning of mòine seems to be peat-bog and moor http://www.faclair.com/?txtSearch=moor
Maybe I should choose "chapel on the moor/peat-bog" instead? What would that be? Cill ? mòine.

Re: Fàilte

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2016 1:08 pm
by MarcMacUilleim
Lucy wrote:'S e A' Ghearmailt a tha annamsa.
That means "I am Germany".

If you are trying to say that you are German, then you'd say 'S e Gearmailteach a th' annam for a man or 'S e ban-Ghearmailteach a th' annam for a woman.

However, if you are trying to say that you are / come from Germany, then you would say 'S e às a' Ghearmailt a th' annam.

Re: Fàilte

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2016 3:39 pm
by akerbeltz
because all the Islay distilleries have a one-word name, it seems
Ya, it's a very English thing 8-)
Does hill of the peat make any sense?
It's an extremely common place name actually - just put cnoc na m into Streetmap and you'll see.
Isn't peat rather in sinks and not on hills? (I've no idea ... :naire: I'm living in Bavaria, we don't have any moors.
Errr... possibly not in cities but Bavaria is full or Hoch and Niedermoore. Especially in the Alps but anyway, a hill with a moor is common.

Cill na Mòine would be weird. You wouldn't really put a church into a moor.

Re: Fàilte

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2016 3:44 pm
by MarcMacUilleim
akerbeltz wrote:Cill na Mòine would be weird. You wouldn't really put a church into a moor.
Neònach gu dearbh! Bu toil leam sin fhaicinn, ma tha... :D

Re: Fàilte

Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2016 7:57 pm
by Lucy
Thanks for the correction and your thoughts.
@akerbeltz: You're so right. I remember now that there is a moor only an hour's drive from where I live. I'm a blockhead. But let's say that they aren't as "omnipresent" here, as in the north or your beautiful island. ;-) The only moor I know by name is the Teufelsmoor in northern Germany, where I always ordered peat for my black soaps.
So, cnoc na moine it is. Sounds good to me. :D Thank you!
About the chapel on the moor: I've just read an article about an old village in a moor (Scottish islands explorer). But maybe I got something wrong. Well, Islay seems to be one big moor anyway. They've built their roads on top of peat ... So, who knows? Maybe a chapel built on peat isn't that weird, if you're living on Islay?

Thanks a lot for your input! :D

Re: Fàilte

Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2016 2:19 pm
by GunChleoc
'S e às a' Ghearmailt a th' annam. => 'S ann às a' Ghearmailt a th' annam.

And don't forget the accent in cnoc na mòine - German keyboards have it, so there is no excuse ;)

Re: Fàilte

Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2016 3:41 pm
by Lucy
@ GunChleoc: Thank you! :)
I won't forget the accent. I just wrote my last post from my mobile. It won't happen in my novel, I promise! :priob:

Re: Fàilte

Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2016 7:59 pm
by GunChleoc
Mobiles make correct writing hard sometimes...

Re: Fàilte

Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2016 9:40 pm
by Mairead
Good luck with your novel! :)