Hello, I truely enjoy your blog! A short introduction; I live in a very remote location as well. A small town called Camp Crook South Dakota. Google Earth our location. We are a small town of 56 souls with more cattle and sheep than people in the county. Most folks here are Scandinavian. Myself and my family are the only Scots in the area. I am a Buchanan. I was wondering.. would it be possible to occasionly give a phoenetic spelling of some of Gaelic names. Although I would like to learn to speak Gaelic most resources that I find do a very poor job of teaching pronounciation, hence I have no idea if I am saying them right. Thank you. Again thanks for a wonderful blog.Even though I am four generations removed from Scotland the images and stories still pull hard on me. Buck
Hi Buck - Glad you enjoy the blog. I looked at Camp Crook on Google maps - you look like you've got some beautifully wild countryside around you.
I'd like to help you with the Gaelic. It's a difficult language to learn and, although I have been on courses, I haven't made any real progress with it. The pronunciation of place names can vary according to whom you ask, and the meanings of some are lost altogether. To give an example, beinn is a hill or mountain. It's pronounced, according to a Gaelic dictionary, bāyn. In English it's ben. Yet I've heard local people speak it more like ven. However, I'll try to work on a way of helping both readers and myself.
One quick question and I will leave you alone. How is Buchanan pronounced in Scotland. In the US most pronounce it Buu/cannon, however in the Appalachian mountians it is done Buck/cannon. Any help would be welcom
No trouble - but these pronunciations are a nightmare. The short answer would be that it would be pronounced in slightly different ways according to the person's accent, but your first suggestion would be closest to it. In my English accent, the first syllable would be the same as in the word 'beauty'. It would not be pronounced as Buck/cannon. Jon
On the gaelic pronunciation thing, there is a range of responses at the extreme end of which is it's pointless attempting it unless/until you are a fluent speaker of the particular dialect of Gaelic in this area but the other end of which is a sort of idiot's guide to not making a total fool of yourself by, for e.g., pronouncing "beinn" as "been" rather than "ben". I suspect the latter is what most people are looking for and I don't think purists would criticise you for guiding someone in the direction of "Ben Ay" for Beinn Eighe as opposed to "Been Eejie" - in short, the consensus pronunciation amongst non-Gaelic speaking English speakers.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI truely enjoy your blog!
A short introduction; I live in a very remote location as well. A small town called Camp Crook South Dakota. Google Earth our location. We are a small town of 56 souls with more cattle and sheep than people in the county. Most folks here are Scandinavian. Myself and my family are the only Scots in the area. I am a Buchanan.
I was wondering.. would it be possible to occasionly give a phoenetic spelling of some of Gaelic names. Although I would like to learn to speak Gaelic most resources that I find do a very poor job of teaching pronounciation, hence I have no idea if I am saying them right. Thank you. Again thanks for a wonderful blog.Even though I am four generations removed from Scotland the images and stories still pull hard on me.
Buck
Hi Buck - Glad you enjoy the blog. I looked at Camp Crook on Google maps - you look like you've got some beautifully wild countryside around you.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to help you with the Gaelic. It's a difficult language to learn and, although I have been on courses, I haven't made any real progress with it. The pronunciation of place names can vary according to whom you ask, and the meanings of some are lost altogether. To give an example, beinn is a hill or mountain. It's pronounced, according to a Gaelic dictionary, bāyn. In English it's ben. Yet I've heard local people speak it more like ven. However, I'll try to work on a way of helping both readers and myself.
Jon
Thank you Jon
DeleteKeep up the good work!
One quick question and I will leave you alone. How is Buchanan pronounced in Scotland. In the US most pronounce it Buu/cannon, however in the Appalachian mountians it is done Buck/cannon. Any help would be welcom
Hi Buck -
DeleteNo trouble - but these pronunciations are a nightmare. The short answer would be that it would be pronounced in slightly different ways according to the person's accent, but your first suggestion would be closest to it. In my English accent, the first syllable would be the same as in the word 'beauty'. It would not be pronounced as Buck/cannon. Jon
On the gaelic pronunciation thing, there is a range of responses at the extreme end of which is it's pointless attempting it unless/until you are a fluent speaker of the particular dialect of Gaelic in this area but the other end of which is a sort of idiot's guide to not making a total fool of yourself by, for e.g., pronouncing "beinn" as "been" rather than "ben". I suspect the latter is what most people are looking for and I don't think purists would criticise you for guiding someone in the direction of "Ben Ay" for Beinn Eighe as opposed to "Been Eejie" - in short, the consensus pronunciation amongst non-Gaelic speaking English speakers.
ReplyDelete