Names of places and highland attire

[James MacMillan]

Through common usage, we will finally come to the "correct" spelling. Somehow we now have a standard spelling of sgian dubh. That wasn't true just a few short years ago.

Usage determines spelling.

It may well develop that we will have things something like this:

Argyle = Jacket and hose
Argyll = the town

As kilting, really isn't in the main stream yet, the linguists haven't paid it much mind. I have three hardback paper dictionaries in my place, and different publishing dates. All have wide variants on spelling as relates to the kilt.

As we wean ourselves away from the paper dictionary and towards the web, (which by usage, is more standardized) our relatively small numbers will be able to exert greater influence.

Look what we did with the box pleated kilt!

[slohairt]

Actually, we've always had a standard spelling of sgian dubh = sgian dubh! The other spellings (skean dhu, etc.) aren't variations, just bad Anglicisations.

[Galician]

In Latin alumni is pronounced ah-loom-nee, and alumnae is pronounce ah-loom-neye (rhymes with eye,) but they are usually mispronounced the same way in English, as are vertebrae (usually mispronounced as ver-te-bray instead of ver-te breye) and funghi (usually mispronounced fun-guy instead of fun-ghee.)

I beg to differ about the pronunciation of "alumnae" and "vertebrae." They are pronounced that way because that is the way "-ae" was pronounced in medieval Latin. It was only in the 19th century when English academics compared ancient Latin inscriptions to their Greek transciptions and theorized that they showed that a different pronunciation had been used by the ancient Romans than survived into the Middle Ages.

The "later" pronunciation is still that used for church Latin in Roman circles.

[slohairt]

Now, Jamie, I always believed Gallic to be the language of the Gauls, and Gaelic to be that of the Celts!

You are correct, Hamish. Gallic always refer to the Gauls and the French, to a lesser extent. I've seen other members here use "Gallic" in place of "Gaelic" (specifically for Scottish Gaelic), and I can only guess that it is being used as a phonetic rendering of Gàidhlig.

[macwilkin]

Usage determines spelling.

It may well develop that we will have things something like this:

Argyle = Jacket and hose
Argyll = the town

Not necessarily. My great-great grandmother's tombstone in Iowa lists her birth place as "Argyle, Scotland".

Regards,

Todd

[McClef]

It is spelt that way when it refers to Plymouth Argyle Football Club

Wiki states it is an archaic form - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argyll .

[Panache]

Now, Jamie, I always believed Gallic to be the language of the Gauls, and Gaelic to be that of the Celts!

sigh

I'm never going to be able to snatch that pebble from your hand at this rate!



Cheers

Jamie

[macwilkin]

It is spelt that way when it refers to Plymouth Argyle Football Club

Wiki states it is an archaic form - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argyll .

Hence, my point -- she was born in the mid 19th century after all.

T.

[Abax]

Not necessarily. My great-great grandmother's tombstone in Iowa lists her birth place as "Argyle, Scotland".

Stone masons (carvers), however, have been historically poor at spelling.

Abax

[DireStraitsFan]

Now, Jamie, I always believed Gallic to be the language of the Gauls, and Gaelic to be that of the Celts!

Gaul=Celt.

Celtic culture started in mainland Europe. I did a very long paper on the Celts in college, which dispelled a lot of myths for me. I was shocked, really. I thought a Celt was a hairy red headed man from the north of Britain, who played the pipes and wore a skirt.

Dig it, baby.

Peace.

edit:

This gets tricky when you start confusing languages with cultures. The two are not the same. Different Celts spoke different languages. All Indo-European though.