Official Gaelic Dicitionary

[swisscheese]

Hello everyone,

I am brand new to Gaeilc and am interested in learning the Language. I was wondering what is the official Gaelic dictionary called?

Thanks,

Swiss

[MacCoinnich79]

Online, I find this one useful

http://learngaelic.net/dictionary/

but if you want a hard copy then the best dictionary is Dwelly's illustrated Gàidhlig Dictionary. It is available on Amazon for about $27

[swisscheese]

Thanks much :},

Do you know of any good Gaelic bookstores online?

Thanks much,

Swiss

[faoileag]

Remember that Dwelly"s dictionary is about 100 years old, however wonderful it is. It s actuallyintegrated into AmFaclair Beag, which also includes modern definitions. In fact the LearnGaidhlig dict is based on AmFaclair Beag.

There is a new, easier to read ed of Dwelly as a hardback too, well worth the investment. The cheap Amazon eds tend tobe poor quality reproductions of the originalprint ed. Often illegible.

[faoileag]

Comhairle nan Leabhraichean in Glasgow, and Siol inCanada.

[Thrissel]

Comhairle nan Leabhraichean here:
http://www.gaelicbooks.org/

[GunChleoc]

The most important online dictionaries:

http://www.foramnagaidhlig.net/index.php?page=5

I also used Colin Mark's dictionary a lot, but like Dwelly's it's Gaelic-English only. It is still useful though to look up usage, grammar etc. and it has some interesting appendices.

[faoileag]

You can access Colin Mark E > G electronically, via looking for an English word in the 'search inside' facility on the googlebooks page for it:


http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=9Lvr ... edir_esc=y


Very useful indeed, especially if you also have the print version for cross-reference.

[CaoimhinSF]

Angus Watson has a two-volume dictionary which I find useful, although I also have the older ones and they are more comprehensive. One volume is Gaelic-English, and the other is the reverse, and both are usually available online (I got both through Amazon, twice, since I have two sets of them). The language is often very modern, and what I particularly like is that entries often have cross-references to other words with similar meanings, and explain which to use when, with examples.