An excerpt from Renton & MacDonald’s Abair! (alternatively titled Scottish Gaelic-English/English-Scottish Gaelic Dictionary) I still like to use my big old Dwelly as a book, when I’m working at my desk rather than pc – a rich resource and fascinating to wander through at random. Only G>E, so most useful when reading old or difficult texts. Comhairle nan Leabhraichean is the main organisation which supports authors and the publication, marketing and sale of Gaelic books. It is involved with many of the successes in the Gaelic literary world. being frank and honest upfront, I have never seen a comprehensive review or summary of guidelines for hyphenation in Scottish Gaelic (ScG); if one exists, I’ve yet to find it;

Translation: Dictionaries should never be used to translate an entire phrase, sentence, or text word-for-word ( especially for something as permanent and expensive as a tattoo)! Dictionaries are a guide to the lexicon (words) of a language; they do not usually contain all the grammatical information you need to use those words correctly and coherently in a sentence. Even when they do contain grammar guides, those are to refresh your memory, not to substitute for taking a language course. This can’t be stressed enough. Various other dictionaries followed, most notably Alexander Macbain's Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language in 1896, [1] to date the only such publication in Gaelic. The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) does represent the sounds of Gaelic accurately in writing. It is a specialist tool and not everyone can master the IPA for daily use outside of linguistics. The first substantial English to Gaelic dictionary of the 21st century was the Faclair Beag ("Little Dictionary") by Michael Bauer and Will Robertson. The Faclair Beag is an online dictionary which appeared in two stages, first with a digital version of Edward Dwelly's dictionary early in 2009 and soon thereafter with a modern dictionary later that year, by now containing more than 85,000 entries. [4]Dictionarium Scoto-Celticum - A Dictionary of the Gaelic Language I & II - ( digitised version at National Library of Scotland) No dictionary is perfect, but there are good and bad Gaelic dictionaries out there. Sometimes a dictionary that looks shiny and new is actually obsolete. Other specialty word-lists are not dialect dictionaries, but rather booklets containing lists of the Gaelic placenames of particular areas. Such traditional placenames are also easily lost when they were only transmitted through oral tradition and not included on printed maps. These include for example: Ethically speaking, it’s best to buy your dictionary from a place that will support the Gaelic language in some way. These include:

The 20th century in Gaelic lexicography was ushered in by the publication of Edward Dwelly's Illustrated Gaelic English Dictionary, which was partly based on a previous dictionary but supplemented by extensive material from other sources and Dwelly's own fieldwork. [1] It remains the dictionary seen as the most authoritative to this day. Various other small to medium dictionaries followed. An Lòchran is Glasgow’s Gaelic Centre which serves the city’s Gaelic and Highland community, and those who have an interest in the Celtic culture. Some of these specialty dictionaries are for words that are unique to regional dialects that were historically spoken in different areas of Scotland, including the following titles:Pronunciation: A dictionary cannot teach you proper Gaelic pronunciation. Even a so-called “pronouncing dictionary” will only give you an approximation of what the word really sounds like in Gaelic. You cannot rely on a written phonetic representation, using English sounds, to pronounce a Gaelic word correctly. For example, MacLennan’s is a pronouncing dictionary… and it gives “facler” for faclair (see photo above). This does not represent the preaspiration before the c (not found in most dialects of English), nor the quality of the ‘r’ sound which is substantially different from English.

Some 40 years later, the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge published a title called Leabhar a Theagasc Ainminnin ("A book for the teaching of names") in 1741, compiled by Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair. [1] PRONUNCIATION: A very good compromise: some dictionaries use their own, different in every book, invented system, which turn out too be very rough and inaccurate as well as difficult to remember being idiosyncratic. This one uses a slightly simplified International Phonetic Alphabet: most of the characters are the same or very similar, yet it avoid the most esoteric ones representing some of the very numerous variations of the Gaelic sounds. For good measure the introduction gives 1) the simplified symbol 2) a good explanation of its pronunciation AND 3) the exact Int. Pho. Alph. symbol “… to help those who are familiar with that system”. Gaelic in signage conveys a positive image that motivates both Gaelic speakers and learners. It is the hope that the vocabluary of Gaelic users will therefore be extended and the language developed. Respected Gaelic teacher Angus MacLeod in Nova Scotia sums up the dangers of mis-using a dictionary: Gaelic Names of Beasts, Birds, Fishes, Insects, Reptiles etc. by Alexander Forbes - ( digitised version at National Library of Scotland)

How To Use a Dictionary

The Gaelic Place-names of Carloway, Isle of Lewis, Richard A. V. Cox (Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 2002) SPELLING: usual contemporary spelling: [ needs saying as there can be variations with the older type of spelling: just one instance: my older large desk top dictionary [ Malcolm MacLennan’s 1985 ACAIR Aberdeen University Press ] quotes ” morning ” as maduinn, when all met occurrences with me have been madainn; and a few other words, but not an overwhelming difference ]. Anyway THIS little dictionary uses the new standard spelling. There are many different kinds of Gaelic dictionaries: small portable ones with everyday vocabulary, basic language learner dictionaries, desktop reference tomes, specialty dictionaries with new words, and dictionaries and lists of words unique to certain dialects.