The Outlandish Companion - Diana Gabaldon [135]
While the average well-educated reader has no particular trouble with “Merci beaucoup, “and similar bits of French, German, Spanish, etc., thrown in for flavor, Gaelic-speakers are thin on the ground in most parts of the world—especially Arizona. I therefore originally intended to include a glossary and pronunciation guide in Outlander, to provide background on the Scots and Gaelic terms, but was dissuaded by the publisher. So, along came Dragonfly in Amber, and I once again suggested a collective glossary that would cover the Scots and Gaelic terms in both books—pointing out that I was getting quite a few letters from people asking how these words were pronounced. The publisher’s reaction? “This book is already so huge, we can’t possibly squeeze another word into it.”
So when Voyager came along—some thirty-five thousand words longer than Dragonfly (they printed it on special thin paper, to make it look shorter and avoid scaring the paying customers)—I didn’t try again. I merely began scheming; the final result of which is this book.
So, with great thanks to Iain and Hamish Taylor (Gaelic), Barbara Schnell (German), Karl Hagen and Susan Martin (Latin and Greek), William Cross, Paul Block, and Chrystine Wu (Mandarin), a great many helpful French-speakers (all with conflicting opinions on idiom), and with deep obligation to the compilers of my multilingual dictionaries … here it is. I’ve provided pronunciations where possible; I’m afraid I didn’t have personal sources for all the terms. However, a general guide to Gaelic grammar is included.2
A VERY BRIEF GUIDE TO GAELIC3 GRAMMAR
by Iain MacKinnon Taylor4
Some of the simpler, general rules for Gaidhlic reading and writing
This aid to Gaidhlic is a very brief sample of some of the nuances inherent in the language; it is far from complete. The intent in writing it is not to try teaching anyone to read and write Gaidhlic, but to give the reader a small measure of understanding of the challenge facing students of the language in their attempt to learn it. Some do indeed succeed in reading and writing and a few even graduate to speaking Gaidhlic quite creditably.
Proper pronunciation is by no means easy. There are sounds in the language that defy description in English. In the glossary which follows this grammar aid, I have tried to approximate sounds with the letter used in English that seems to be closest. For some readers this may work reasonably well, but for others it will not. For example, “Gh” at the beginning or end of a word, I wrote simply as “G.” The real sound is more like a very young baby’s gurgle.5 That’s about the only way I can explain it. For “Ch” at the beginning or end of a word, I used the letter “K.” The sound is really like in the Hebrew toast, “L’chaim.” You will find an attempt at descriptions of the other “Gaidhlic” sounds is made as you read on. Also, in the glossary I have used a hyphen between vowels that should be pronounced separately.
—Iain M. Taylor
The Gaidhlic Alphabet
A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,L,M,N,O,P,R,S,T, U (letter count: 18) Not Used (From English Alphabet)
J,K,Q,V,W,X,Y,Z
In words where the vowels A,0, or U precede a consonant, any vowel following the consonant must also be A,0, or U.
In words where the vowels E or I precede a consonant, any vowel following the consonant must also be E or I.
The only exception to this rule is the word “Esan” (him).
Aspirated consonants. There are many