Gaelic is the ancient, complex and subtle language of the Celts. This
page gives a guide to the pronunciation and meaning of many of the place names
that you will come across in your travels around Scotland and the rest of my
site. The informathion was gathered from a couple of books (I do not speak
Gaelic myself). It does not pretend to teach you how to speak Gaelic but may
stop locals rolling about with laughter as you mangle names. As examples of the
complexity of Gaelic, look at the definitive article ('the'). In the nominative
case ('the hill'), it may be an, am or an t- (masculine);
a', an or an t- (feminine); na or na h-
(plural). In the genitive case ('of the hill'), it may be a', an,
an t-; na, na h-; and nan, nam respectively.
Nouns and adjectives also change spelling and pronunciation in the genitive:
· buirich ('roaring' or 'bellowing') becomes
Meall a'Bhuiridh - 'hill of roaring',
· Coire
Odhar Beag, 'the small dun-coloured hill' becomes Sron a'Choire
Odhair-bhig, 'the spur of the small dun-coloured corrie'.
Add to this the confusion of the many attempts of the English to convert
Gaelic into something they can pronounce and local usage of both spelling and
pronunciation.
Generally stress in Gaelic falls on the first syllable of the word, eg.
doras (dor'us) a door.
| Vowels |
| ó |
a long sound as in 'tone' |
| ò |
a short sound as in 'job' |
| é |
as in 'say' |
| è |
as in 'get' |
| à |
as in 'car' |
| a |
as in 'cat' but also often sounds like 'uh', eg. aran
(ar'un) bread |
| i |
as in 'with' |
| ì |
long sound as in 'need' |
| u |
as in 'but' |
| ù |
long sound as in 'food' |
| Consonants |
| mh/bh/db |
these consonants are normally pronounced as an English
'v' sound, especially when at the end of a word, eg. làmh (lav) hand;
gabh (gav) take |
| mh |
when this appears in the middle of a word, is often
pronounced as an English 'w', eg. Samhain (Sa-oo-win) |
| dh |
like a muffled 'g', eg. dhomh (gove), as if you are
breathing out at the same time |
| gh |
like a 'y' sound |
| fh |
normally silent |
| ch |
as in 'loch' (a gutteral k) |
| c |
this is always hard like a 'k' |
| d |
when followed by either 'e' or 'i' is pronounced
almost like a 'j', eg. deich (jech) ten; dearg (jarrig) red |
| l |
when followed by either 'e' or 'i' is pronounced as in
the word 'million', eg. leabhar (lyo-ur) a book |
| s |
when followed by either 'e' or 'i' is pronounced as
'sh', eg. sìnnsear (shin-shur) ancestor |
| t |
followed by 'e' or 'i' is pronounced as in the word
'catch', eg. teth (cheh) hot; tìr (cheer) land, country |
The table below shows some of the place name components that are seen
commonly on maps. Anglicised forms are shown in brackets ( ) where applicable.
| Gaelic |
Meaning |
Example |
| ach, achadh (auch) |
field |
Beinn Achaladair - 'hill
of the field of hard water ' |
| allt |
burn, stream |
Crom Allt - a burn next to the village of Tyndrum |
| aonach |
ridge or moor |
Aonach Eagach - 'the notched
ridge' |
| ard, aird |
height or promontory |
Cruach Ardrain - 'stack of
the height or high part' |
| baile (bal or ball) |
hamlet, homestead |
Balmaha on the West Highland
Way |
| ban |
fair, white |
Stob Ban - 'white
peak' |
| beag (beg) |
little |
Aonach Beag - 'little
hill' |
| bealach |
pass |
|
| beinn (ben) |
mountain |
Beinn Ime - 'butter
mountain' |
| beithe |
birch |
|
| bidean |
pinnacle |
Bidean nam Bian - 'pinnacle
of the mountains' |
| binnean |
peaked mountain |
Binnein Mor - 'big peaked
mountain' |
| bo |
cow |
|
| breac (breck) |
speckled |
|
| buachaille |
herdsman |
Buachaille Etive Mor - 'the great herdsman of
Etive' |
| buidhe |
yellow |
|
| buirich |
roaring or bellowing |
|
| cailleach |
nun, old woman |
|
| caisteal |
castle |
An Caisteal - 'the
castle' |
| caol, caolas (kyle) |
narrow, strait, firth, kyle |
|
| caorann |
rowan tree |
|
| carn |
heap of stones (cairn), round rocky hill |
Stob Coire a'Chairn - 'peak
of the coire of the cairn' |
| carraig |
rock |
|
| ceann (kin) |
head, headland |
Kinlochleven - a town at the head of Loch Leven |
| clach |
stone |
|
| clachan |
hamlet |
|
| cnap |
hillock |
|
| coille |
wood, forest |
|
| coinneach |
moss |
Cone Hill - corrupted form of coinneach from the
surrounding moors |
| coire (corrie) |
a round hollow in the mountainside, cirque, sea-gulf,
whirlpool |
Coire Bà - viewed as the
West Highland Way crosses Rannoch Moor |
| creag (craig) |
crag, rock, cliff |
Beinn Dubhchraig -
'black-rock hill' |
| crom |
crooked |
Crom Allt - a burn next to the village of Tyndrum |
| cruach |
heap, stack, bold hill |
Cruach Ardrain - 'stack of
the height or high part' |
| cuil |
nook, recess |
|
| cul |
back, hill-back |
|
| damh |
ox, stag |
|
| darach |
oak |
|
| dearg |
red |
Carn Mor Dearg - 'red
peak' |
| dobhran (dorain) |
otter |
|
| doire (derry) |
grove |
Derrydaroch - 'the oak grove' (a farm in Glen Falloch
at the head of Loch Lomond) |
| druim (drum) |
the back, a ridge |
Tyndrum - 'the house of the ridge' |
| dubh |
black |
Beinn Dubhchraig -
'black-rock hill' |
| dun (dum) |
fortress, castle, heap, mound |
|
| each |
horse |
|
| eag |
notch |
|
| eas |
waterfall |
|
| eilean |
island |
|
| eun |
bird |
|
| fada |
long |
|
| fionn |
white, holy |
|
| fitheach |
raven |
|
| fuaran |
well, spring |
|
| gabhar |
goat |
Stob Ghabhar - 'goat
peak' |
| garbh |
rough |
Stob Garbh - 'rough hill' |
| geal |
white |
|
| giubhas |
fir |
|
| glas |
grey, green |
Beinglass Falls at the head of Loch Lomond |
| gleann |
narrow valley, glen |
|
| gorm |
green, blue |
Cairn Gorm - 'blue
hill' |
| guala, gualainn |
shoulder of a hill |
|
| ime |
butter |
Beinn Ime - 'butter
mountain' |
| inbhir (inver) |
confluence |
|
| inis |
an island or a meadow by a river or a resting place
for cattle |
|
| iolair |
eagle |
|
| iubhar |
yew |
Sgor an Iubhair - 'peak of
the yew' |
| lagan |
little hollow |
|
| larig |
a pass |
|
| laoigh (lui) |
calf |
Ben Lui - 'calf hill' |
| leac (leck) |
flat stone, slab |
|
| leacach |
stony slope |
|
| leathad |
slope, brae |
|
| leitir (letter) |
slope, side of a hill |
|
| loch, lochan |
lake, small lake |
Loch Lomond - one of Scotland's larger lakes |
| mam |
large, round or gently rising hill; a pass |
Mam Carraigh - a ridge travelled across between Bridge
of Orchy and Inveroran on the West Highland
Way |
| maol |
bare top |
Maol Chinn-dearg - 'bald
red hill' |
| mhanach |
monk |
Beinn Mhanach - 'monk
hill' |
| mheadhoin (vane) |
middle |
Beinn Mheadhoin - 'middle
hill' |
| meall |
a round hill |
Meall Dearg - 'red
hill' |
| mor |
large, great |
Ben More - 'big hill' |
| muileann |
mill |
|
| mullach |
top, summit |
Mullach nan Coirean -
'summit of the coires' |
| nead (nid) |
nest |
|
| nevis |
venomous or stormy |
Ben Nevis - 'venomous or
stormy mountain' |
| odhar (our) |
dun-coloured |
Stob a'Choire Odhair -
'peak of the dun-coloured corrie' |
| righ |
king |
Dalrigh - 'the king's field', the site of one of
Robert the Bruce's lost battles near Tyndrum |
| ros |
promontory, wood |
|
| ruadh |
red, brown |
|
| ruighe |
slope, run for cattle or shieling |
|
| sgorr, sgurr |
rocky peak |
Sgor Gaibhre - 'goat's
peak' |
| sron |
nose, point or spur |
|
| stob |
point |
Stob Ban - 'white
peak' |
| stuc |
pea |
|
| suidhe |
seat, level shelf on a hillside |
|
| tairbeart (tarbet) |
portage, isthmus |
Tarbet - a village on Loch Long next to a gap in the
hills to Loch Lomond |
| tigh |
house |
Tigh-na-sleabhaich - 'the house by the gullied slope'
(ruins on the old military road between Kinlochleven and Fort William) |
| tulach |
knoll, hillock |
|
| uisge |
water, river |
|
| vorlich |
bay |
Ben Vorlich - 'hill of the
bay' |
