Mr, Mrs, Ms, Miss in Gaelic?
Posted: Tue May 11, 2010 10:07 pm
I've juts has a mail from a Scottish friend of mine teaching English abroad, who wants to teach a class of young children a few Gaelic phrases as part of a project on Scotland. The children want greet her in the morning with:
Good morning Mrs (or Ms, or MIss) Campbell!
She couldn't think of a natural thing to say, and neither could I. This when I realise the disadvantages of never having attended a Bun-sgoil - and neither has the native-speaker I've just consulted. Like me, he has never had to address or refer to any women in a Gaelic context by anything other than their first name (or first and surname), a by-name or patronymic, or - in formal circumstance - as Mrs Chaimbeul, i.e. the English term. In fact in formal circumstances, including school, only English was used in his community (in Lewis) anyway. The whole formal register (except regarding religion) was missing, at least in spoken Gaelic.
I've been consulting dictionaries, minutes of Gaelic committee meetings, staff lists of Gaelic schools etc, and doing a lot of googling, and it seems we have some choice in the matter, and the jury still appears to be out.
Mr = Maighstir, abbrev. to Mgr - evyerone agrees on that.
Mrs:
Bana-Mhaighstir - Dwelly/Faclair Beag, but not mich in evidence elsewhere. My native-speaker neither liked nor knew it.
a' Bh. = abbrev. form in writing - very generally used, also in Stòr-dàta, and in Colin Mark. It's short, according to Colin Mark, for A' Bhean-phòsta, eg a' Bhean-phòsta Nic Phearsainn. Not something my native-speaker would ever actually say, though he has seen the abbreviation in recent years.
Bh-Ph. different abbrev., same derivation, in staff list of Bun-sgoil Shlèite for Mrs (as opposed to Miss, see below).
Miss:
A' Mh. = a' Mhaighdeann - Colin Mark: a' Mhaighdainn NicNèill
Mh. - Stòr-dàta
Mh.U. - Bun-soil Shlèite - presumably for a' Mhaighdeann uasal.
Ms:
Not in any dictionaries, but deduced from context:
Bh-Uas - covers both Mrs and Miss in the English equivalent of the minutes of the Gaelic Committee of HIghland Council.
Presumably = a' Bhean-uasal.
Not known to my native speaker, and felt as formal but actually quite pleasing, very professional and neutral.
"They are clearly having to invent middle-class Gaelic", ars esan.
I have often noticed that , for example in the BBC written news, both men and women are first introduced by their full names (no title), but that men are henceforth Maighstir X, whereas women become 'she', or 'the minister' etc, or retain their full name, as if the writers themselves were uncomfortable with choosing a form of address.
In other minutes with lists of names, I have seen versions where only the men have a title, the women just get their full names.
Can anyone shed light on this? A fascinating topic. Reflects on the major changes and linguistic policy issues Gaelic has been facing in its need to embrace modernity. Is there anything on it in the research into Gaelic and register?
And what do Bun-sgoil children say to their teachers in the morning??
Good morning Mrs (or Ms, or MIss) Campbell!
She couldn't think of a natural thing to say, and neither could I. This when I realise the disadvantages of never having attended a Bun-sgoil - and neither has the native-speaker I've just consulted. Like me, he has never had to address or refer to any women in a Gaelic context by anything other than their first name (or first and surname), a by-name or patronymic, or - in formal circumstance - as Mrs Chaimbeul, i.e. the English term. In fact in formal circumstances, including school, only English was used in his community (in Lewis) anyway. The whole formal register (except regarding religion) was missing, at least in spoken Gaelic.
I've been consulting dictionaries, minutes of Gaelic committee meetings, staff lists of Gaelic schools etc, and doing a lot of googling, and it seems we have some choice in the matter, and the jury still appears to be out.
Mr = Maighstir, abbrev. to Mgr - evyerone agrees on that.
Mrs:
Bana-Mhaighstir - Dwelly/Faclair Beag, but not mich in evidence elsewhere. My native-speaker neither liked nor knew it.
a' Bh. = abbrev. form in writing - very generally used, also in Stòr-dàta, and in Colin Mark. It's short, according to Colin Mark, for A' Bhean-phòsta, eg a' Bhean-phòsta Nic Phearsainn. Not something my native-speaker would ever actually say, though he has seen the abbreviation in recent years.
Bh-Ph. different abbrev., same derivation, in staff list of Bun-sgoil Shlèite for Mrs (as opposed to Miss, see below).
Miss:
A' Mh. = a' Mhaighdeann - Colin Mark: a' Mhaighdainn NicNèill
Mh. - Stòr-dàta
Mh.U. - Bun-soil Shlèite - presumably for a' Mhaighdeann uasal.
Ms:
Not in any dictionaries, but deduced from context:
Bh-Uas - covers both Mrs and Miss in the English equivalent of the minutes of the Gaelic Committee of HIghland Council.
Presumably = a' Bhean-uasal.
Not known to my native speaker, and felt as formal but actually quite pleasing, very professional and neutral.
"They are clearly having to invent middle-class Gaelic", ars esan.
I have often noticed that , for example in the BBC written news, both men and women are first introduced by their full names (no title), but that men are henceforth Maighstir X, whereas women become 'she', or 'the minister' etc, or retain their full name, as if the writers themselves were uncomfortable with choosing a form of address.
In other minutes with lists of names, I have seen versions where only the men have a title, the women just get their full names.
Can anyone shed light on this? A fascinating topic. Reflects on the major changes and linguistic policy issues Gaelic has been facing in its need to embrace modernity. Is there anything on it in the research into Gaelic and register?
And what do Bun-sgoil children say to their teachers in the morning??