Tha tòrr air a bhith sna naidheachdan bho chionn ghoirid mun Chaledonian Sleeper agus mar a tha e gu bhith a’ stad ann am Birmingham a dh’aithghearr.
Dealbh sanasachd aig Caledonian Sleeper
Leugh mi na h-aithrisean sna meadhanan mu dheidhinn ach bha e follaiseach nach robh an luchd-naidheachd builleach a’ tuigsinn na tha gu bhith a’ tachairt.
Mar sin, seo rud beag a bharrachd fiosrachaidh mun Chadalaiche.
Tha dà thrèana ann gach oidhche a tha a’ dol eadar Alba agus Lunnainn agus dà thrèana a’ dol an taobh eile eadar Lunnainn agus Alba. Bidh iad a’ ruith gach latha den t-seachdain ach a-mhàin oidhche Shathairne.
Uill, nuair a chanas mi dà thrèana, ’s ann a tha mi a’ cialleachadh còig trèanaichean.
Tha an Highland Sleeper ann agus an Lowland Sleeper.
Tha an Highland Sleeper – Cadalaiche na Gàidhealtachd – car coltachd ris an Trianaid – tha aon trèana ann agus tha trì trèanaichean ann aig an aon àm. Tha trèana a’ fàgail a’ Ghearasdain gach oidhche, le trèana eile a’ fàgail Inbhir Nis agus trèana eile a’ fàgail Obar Dheathain. Tha iad a’ dol gu deas mar thrèanaichean fa leth agus a’ coinneachaidh ann an Dùn Èideann far am bi na carbadan gan cur ri chèile airson a dhol air adhart gu Lunnainn còmhla.
Bidh an Lowland Sleeper – Cadalaiche na Galldachd – a’ dèanamh an aon rud, ach a-mhàin nach eil ann ach dà thrèana. Tha aon trèana a’ fàgail Glaschu agus trèana eile a’ fàgail Dùn Èideann. Bidh iad a’ tighinn còmhla ann an Caisteal Tarrais agus a’ dol gu deas còmhla.
Mar sin, tha e simplidh gu leòr. Agus tha an caochladh a’ tachairt air an t-slighe gu tuath.
Tha suaicheantas a’ Chadalaiche a’ rìochdachadh nan còig trèanaichean seo – le trì puingean air a’ chabar-fèidh air aon taobh agus dà air an taobh eile.
Suaicheantas a’ Chaledonian Sleeper
Mar sin, dè bhios a’ tachairt le Birmingham?
Bidh Cadalaiche na Gàidhealtachd a’ stad ann am Birmingham. Cha bhi Cadalaiche na Galldachd a’ dol ann idir.
Roimhe seo, bhiodh cadalaiche na Gàidhealtachd a’ dol faisg air Birmingham, no tro Bhirmingham ach cha bhiodh e daonnan a’ dol air na h-aon loidhnichean tro na Midlands gus am biodh barrachd sùbailteachd ann a thaobh pathing. Ach bho seo a-mach, thèid e tro Bhirmingham gach turas agus stataidh gach trèana ann am Birmingham Eadar-nàiseanta.
Stèisean Birmingham Eadar-nàiseanta far am bi an Cadalaiche a’ stad
‘S e deagh rud a tha seo – ach dè mu dheidhinn daoine air a’ Ghalldachd a tha ag iarraidh a dhol a Bhirmingham?
Ged a tha trèana a’ Ghearasdain a’ dol tro Ghlaschu Sràid na Banrigh (Ìre Iosail) agus ged a tha Cadalaiche na Gàidhealtachd air fad a’ tighinn ri chèile ann an Dùn Èideann, chan fhaodar a dhol air bòrd ann. Tha mi a’ tuigsinn seo oir nam biodh e ro fhurasta an trèana a ghlacadh aig deas, tha cunnart ann nach biodh tiocaidean gu leòr air fhàgail airson daoine a bha airson an trèana a ghlacadh aig tuath. Tha e cudromach gum bi cothrom na Fèinne aig muinntir na Gàidhealtachd agus Obar Dheathain.
ACH faodar tiocaidean a chur air dòigh bho Shruighlea (no bhon Dàil Mhòr ann am prionnsabal – cha b’ urrainn dhomh tiocaid sam bith fhaicinn bhon Dàil Mhòr air-loidhne). Mar sin, ma tha thu airson an cadalaiche fhaighinn eadar Glaschu no Dùn Èideann agus Birmingham, chan fheum thu ach trèana fhaighinn gu Sruighlea agus tha trèanaichean ScotRail ann a tha a’ ruigsinn Sruighlea ann an deagh àm gus an cadalaiche a ghlacadh.
Am bi trèana na Gàidhealtachd a’ dol gu Lunnainn fhathast?
Bidh.
Cuine a bhios an trèana a’ ruigsinn/A’ fagail Birmingham?
Bidh i a’ fàgail aig àmannan gu math goireasach – 22:42 gu tuath agus 06:20 gu deas.
A bheil suidheachain ann no am feum mi leabaidh fhaighinn?
Tha an dà chuid ann. Tha leapannan gu math daor ach tha pris nan suidheachan gu math reusanta. Gabhaidh iad ri tòrr cairtean-rèile cuideachd.
Am bi an trèana air an uair mar as trice?
Tha trèana na Galldachd air an uair mar as trice – agus gu math tric bidh i tràth. Le trèana na Gàidhealtachd, bidh dàil oirre nas trice, ach cuimhnich air seo – ’s e Delay is Repay do charaid! Ma tha thu còrr is 30 air dheireadh, gheibh thu 50% den tiocaid shingilte air ais agus ma bhios tu còrr is uair a thìde air dheireadh, mar as trice, gheibh thu an t-airgead air fad air ais. Agus ma tha thu air trèana a bhios a’ ruighinn Birmingham tràth tràth sa mhadainn co-dhiù, is dòcha gum biodh dàil goireasach!
OK – mas e an Trianaid a th’ anns ann Highland Sleeper, à-mach à trèanaichean Inbhir Nis, a’ Ghearasdain no Obar Dheathain cò an t-athair, cò am mac agus an cò an spiorad naomh?
Tha Achd a tha ag amas air cleachdadh Cànan Soidhnidh Bhreatainn (BSL) a bhrosnachadh ann an Alba air beatha làitheil luchd-cleachdaidh BSL a leasachadh gu mòr, a rèir aithisg le BPAan air Comataidh Co-ionannachd, Chòraichean Daonna agus Ceartas Catharra Thaigh an Ròid. Dh’innis luchd-ùidh don Chomataidh gu bheil an Achd air BSL a dhèanamh nas … Leugh an corr de Fios naidheachd: Lagh Cànan Soidhnidh na bhuannachd air leth, ach tha dùbhlain ann fhathast
Thadhail buill de Chomataidh Chùisean Dùthchail is Eileanan Thaigh an Ròid air ceithir croitean anns an Eilean Sgitheanach air an deireadh-sheachdain mar phàirt den sgrùdadh aca air Bile na Croitearachd is Cùirt an Fhearainn. Bha a’ Chomataidh airson bruidhinn gu dìreach ri croitearan mu mar a bheireadh molaidhean a’ Bhile buaidh air coimhearsnachdan croitearachd. Thadhail … Leugh an corr de Fios: Comataidh Thaigh an Ròid a’ tadhal air coimhearsnachdan croitearachd air an Eilean Sgitheanach
Noèlia Díaz-Vicedo is the third member of the multilingual poetic partnership pulled together by Martin MacIntyre for his “A’ ruith eadar dà dhràgon” collection of poems in four languages, in which she provides the Catalan input alongside Ifor ap Glyn’s Welsh to complement Martin’s Gaelic and English. Noèlia is a member of the Association of Catalan Language Writers (AELC, Associació d’Escriptors en Llengua Catalana) which brings together writers from all of the Catalan speaking territories. She is, in addition, a distinguished academic (see also below) affiliated to the University of the Balearic Islands (Universitat de les Illes Balears).
While we’ve already managed to feature her two UK-based partners in our Extensions initiative, we have not yet been able to platform Noèlia in the same style, regrettably. In the meantime, while she has already provided Catalan versions of the documentaries for Ifor and Martin, we’re delighted now that she has provided the same service for our three other featured writers – Audrey West, Donald S Murray, and Christie Williamson. This means we now have five videos in total in our Catalan Selection among all our Other Tongues!
“The project ‘Island Voices’ is more than an educational tool or a literary collection of poetic voices. It is a necessary dialogue between cultures. It goes beyond understanding translation merely as transference between words. To translate the works of Martin McIntyre, Ifor ap Glyn, Audrey West, Christie Williamson and Donald Murray has allowed me not only to explore their processes of creativity but also to connect with their personal experiences and engage with their vision of the world. Languages are a form of communication and they allow us to approach other forms of thought. I am honoured to have had the opportunity to contribute to this wonderful project and bring these brilliant poets into Catalan.”
We’re delighted to have you in our company, Noèlia!
Noèlia’s academic bio:
Dr. Noèlia Díaz-Vicedo is a poet, academic and translator. She completed her thesis, awarded with the Premi Països Catalans by Institució Lletres Catalanes, at Queen Mary University of London on the poetry of Maria-Mercè Marçal entitled Constructing Feminine Poetics in the Works of a Late Twentieth-Century Catalan Woman Poet: Maria-Mercè Marçal published by MHRA (2014). She has translated The Body’s Reason (Raó del cos) by Maria-Mercè Marçal, translated from Catalan into English with Montserrat Abelló, Bilingual Edition, (Francis Boutle Publishers, 2014). She has also translated the books Terra de mai and Raó del cos into Castilian Diré tu cuerpo (Editorial Ultramarinos, 2020). She has also translated into English poems by Lola Nieto and Chilean poet Carmen García Palma and from English into Catalan poems by Canadian poet Peter Jaeger. She co-edited the literary journal Alba Londres. Culture in Translation (2011-2015). She has participated in the book A’ Ruith Eadar Dà Dhràgon, Corrent entre dos dracs translating Martin McIntyre’s poems into Catalan. She has published her poetry in various magazines and anthologies in Spain, Greece and USA. Her first collection of poems Bloody Roots/ Arrels sagnants (Bilingual Catalan-English) was published in 2017 by Francis Boutle Publishers. Her second collection Cercles (ex)cèntrics was published in 2023 by Edicions Tremendes. She is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Catalan Language and Literature and General Linguistics (University of Balearic Islands) where she researches on Contemporary Catalan and Comparative Literature.
Bha mi uabhasach fhèin fortanach is toilichte a bhith an làthair nuair a thàinig na Rèisean Tall Ships a dh’Obar Dheathain san Iuchar am bliadhna, a chiad uair às dèidh an tadhail mu dheireadh an sin ann an 1997. Ghlèidh mi àite-fuirich faisg air a’ chaladh bliadhna gu lèir ro làimh, cho luath’s a bha fios agam gum biodh iad a’ tighinn. Bha iad ann bho Dhihaoine gu Dimàirt, is seo an treas port nan rèisean às dèidh Le Havre agus Dunkirk, agus ‘s e seòrsa fèise moire a bh’ ann anns gach port. Bha Sgìre Obar Dheathain air a fìor ghlacadh le fiabhras Tall Ships, is barrachd is 400,000 luchd-tadhail ann!
‘S e Sail Training International a chuireas na rèisean air dòigh, comann charthannach a bheir taic do dh’fhoglam is trèanadh òigridh air bàtaichean-siùil, gus an sgilean beatha, sgilean prataigeach agus obair-sgioba a leasachadh. Feumaidh leth-cheud as a’ cheud den chriutha co-dhiù a bhith eadar 15 agus 25 bliadhna a dh’aois, is iad ag obair còmhla ris a’ chriutha eòlach. Bha buidhnean de dhaoine òga à Alba air siubhal a Dunkirk gus pàirt a ghabhal san cheum Dunkirk – Obar Dheathain den rèis, a thug sia làithean. Thàinig òigridh Nirribheach a dh’Obar Dheathain airson a’ chèim gu Kristiansand, an ath phort. Mar sin bha iad uile ann còmhla ri chèile airson na fèis. Chunnaic mi agallamhan leotha, agus iad uile air an dòigh ghlan a bhith air bòrd, ag ionnsachadh sgilean ùra agus a’ dèanamh càirdeas ri chèile. Partaidh mhòr a bha aig a’ chriutha, ùr no eòlach, cuideachd, chan ann aig an luchd-tadhail a-mhàin.
Alexander von Humboldt II
‘S e rèis chàirdeil a th’ ann, le dà chlas fairsaing de shoithichean, nas motha no nas lugha na 40m a dh’fhaid, ach co-dhiù 9.4m. Mar sin, bha bàtaichean tradiseanta iasgaich ann, a thuilleadh air na “longan àrda” clasaigeach, agus thàinig iad à air feadh an t-saoghail, bho Phearù gu Oman, bhon Phòlainn chun na Frainge, is bho Devon gu Sealtainn. Bha mu leth-cheud soitheach-siùil san rèis, agus iad uile ann an Obair Dheathain fad 4-5 laithean. Bha an caladh loma-làn dhiubh, sealladh drùidhteach is dìreach àlainn. Abair cothrom iongantach do luchd-leantainn shoithichean-siùil tradiseanta, leithid mi-fhìn!
Ged a bha na mìltean de dhaoine eile ann, cha robh thu a’ faireachdainn idir mì-chofhurtail. Bha rùm gu leòr ann san raon fharsaing shònraichte timcheall air a’ chaladh – bha na daoine a’ spaidsireachd mun chuairt air an socair ann an deagh shunnd, is an t-sìde tioram is blath. Bha faireachdainn làithean-saora ann, agus an luchd-tadhail dìreach toilichte a bhith ann, air an tarraing leis na bàtaichean sònraichte seo bho air feadh an t-saoghail. Bha fiù ‘s aon soitheach-siùil à Obair Dheathain fhèin ann, am Malcolm Miller, agus ùidh mhòr ann, mar a bhiodh dùil. Bha cuid dhiubh fosgailte airson tadhail, agus bha mise air bòrd trì dhiubh: an Shabab Oman II ana-mhòr, an Christian Radich a’ toirt gu cuimhne na seann clippers, agus an Wylde Swan beag. Bha gach seòrsa de bhiadh is ghreim-bidh ri reic san raon-tadhail fhada timcheall air an dà thaobh den chaladh, bùithtean-chiùird, teantaichean bhuidhnean carthannais is chomann, goireasan airson cloinne, agus àiteachan-coinneimh is cothroman-suidhe cuideachd.
Taobh a-muigh a’ chalaidh bha goireasan is dibhearsain gu leòr rim faighinn cuideachd – ann am meadhan a’ bhaile bha fèill-spòrs ann agus bothanan-fiosrachaidh de gach seòrsa, ceòl saor an-asgaidh fad an latha, agus bha na taighean-bidh, na taighean-seinnse is na bùithtean uile air an sgeadachadh gu freagarrach (pèint ùr agus flùraichean air feadh an àite) agus a’ tairgsinn stuth iomchaidh sònraichte. Deagh shunnd an seo cuideachd! Bha cuirm-chiùil mhòr ann gach oidhche ann am bathar-lann Peterson cuideachd, le luchd-ciùil ainmeil mar Deacon Blue no Tide Lines no na Kaiser Chiefs. Chaidh agam air tiocaid airson Tide Lines fhaighinn – consairt sònraichte math! Aon fheasgar bha taisbeanadh nan Red Arrows ann os cionn na tràghad, treat ris an robh fiughair aig sluagh mòr, ged a bha e rud beag ro sgòthach airson pàirt dheth.
Ach an rud sònraichte dhan mhòr-chuid dhinn, b’ e sin am Parade of Sail Dimàirt, is na bàtaichean ùile a’ fagail a’ chalaidh fear mu seach a dh’ionnsaigh a’ Chuain a Tuath, airson an ath chèim den rèis, a’ dèanamh air Kristiansand ann an Nirribhidh. Bha mise nam sheasamh aig an railing air Pocra Quay, agus a’ faicinn fìor mhath. Sa chaladh fhèin cha b’ urrainn dha na bàtaichean na siùil a chur suas, ach a-muigh air an abhainn bha siùil air cuid mhòr, sealladh brèagha a chòrd rinn glan. Thug e uairean a thìde gus an robh iad uile air falbh, le beannachdan sònraichte airson an t-siubhail air an toirt le glaodhaire do gach soitheach, beag no mòr, le riochdairean chreideamhan eadar-dhealaichte air a’ chidhe. Sealladh drùidhteach, ach bha sinn brònach gam faicinn a’ falbh.
Bha an tachartas gu lèir ag obair gu h-iongantach rèidh – meal a naidheachd dhan luchd-eagrachaidh! Agus meal a naidheachd do dh’Obar Dheathain cuideachd – cha robh clach gun tionndadh sa bhaile airson soirbheas tadhal nan Tall Ships a dhèanamh cinnteach. Bha fàilte uabhasach blath ann do gach neach-tadhail agus dha na criuthaichean, bhon sgioba mhòr shaor-thoilleach agus bho mhuinntir a’ bhaile – cha robh ach aodainn sona rim faicinn agus guthan toilichte rim cluinntinn sna h-agallamhan uile. Agus tha sinn an dòchas nach bi sinn a’ feitheamh ceart cho fada gus an ath thuras!
Aberdeen – the Tall Ships
I was incredibly fortunate and happy to be there when the Tall Ships Races came to Aberdeen in July this year, the first time since their visit in 1997. I booked accommodation close to the harbour a year in advance, as soon as I knew they were coming. They were there from Friday to Tuesday, the third port of the races after Le Havre and Dunkirk, and in each port it led to a kind of major festival. The Aberdeen area was gripped by Tall Ships fever, with more than 400,000 visitors!
It’s Sail Training International who organises the races, a charitable association which supports youth education and training on sailing boats to develop life-skills, practical skills and teamwork. At least 50% of the crew must be between 15 and 25, working alongside the experienced crew. Groups of young people from Scotland had gone ahead to Dunkirk to take part in the second leg of the races, Dunkirk – Aberdeen, which took 6 days. Young Norwegians came to Aberdeen for the leg to Kristiansand, the next port, so they were all there together for the festivities. I saw interviews with them and they were all thrilled to be on board, learning new skills and making friends with each other. It was a huge party for the crew too, new or experienced, not just for the visitors.
It’s a friendly race, with two main classes of vessel, those above and those below 40m overall length, though at least 9.4m long. Consequently there were traditional fishing boats there too, as well as the classic “tall ships”, and the vessels came from all round the world, from Peru to Oman, from Poland to France, and from Devon to Shetland. There were around 50 sailing-boats and ships in the race, and all in Aberdeen for 4-5 days. The harbour basin was packed full of them, an impressive and beautiful sight. What an amazing opportunity for fans of traditional sailing vessels, such as myself!
Although there were thousands of people there, you didn’t feel at all uncomfortable. There was plenty of room in the wide enclosed zone around the harbour – people were strolling around, relaxed, in a good mood, and the weather was warm and dry. There was a holiday atmosphere, with the visitors just delighted to be there, fascinated by these special vessels from around the world. There was even one sailing ship from Aberdeen itself, the Malcolm Miller, which of course attracted a lot of interest. Some ships were open to the public, and I got on board three of them: the huge Shabab Oman II, the clipper-like Christian Radich, and the small Wylde Swan. There were all kinds of food and drink on sale around the whole visitor zone on both sides of the harbour basin, craft stalls, tents with charities and associations, children’s activities and areas, and meeting-places and seating too.
Wylde Swan
Outside the harbour there was plenty of entertainment too – in the city centre there was a funfair, and interesting displays and information tents, free live music all day, and all the pubs, restaurants and shops were appropriately decorated (fresh paint and flowers everywhere) and offering lots of relevant special menus, products etc. A great atmosphere there too! There was a big concert every night in Peterson’s yard too, with famous musicians such as Deacon Blue, Tide Lines and the Kaiser Chiefs. I managed to get a ticket for Tide Lines – a brilliant night! One evening there was a Red Arrows display over the beach, a treat huge crowds were looking forward to, sadly spoilt somewhat by low cloud hiding part of the show.
But the most special thing for the majority of us was the Parade of Sail on Tuesday, with the ships all leaving the harbour one by one heading for the North Sea and the next leg of the race, to Kristiansand in Norway. I was standing at the railing on Pocra Quay and had a great view. They couldn’t raise the sails in the harbour itself but out on the river many did hoist at least some sails, a beautiful sight that delighted the crowd. It took several hours for them all to leave, each one, large or small, getting a special blessing via loudspeaker from representatives of various religious denominations on the quay. An impressive sight, but we were sorry to see them go.
The whole event went off amazingly smoothly – congratulations to the organisers! And also to Aberdeen itself – no stone was left unturned in the city to ensure the success of the Tall Ships. There was a wonderfully warm welcome for every visitor and crew-member, from the army of volunteers and the Aberdeen folk themselves – there were only happy faces to be seen, and delighted voices to be heard in the interviews. And now we hope we won’t have to wait quite so long for the next time!
The CIALL-supported Island Voices presence at NATECLA 2025 has paid immediate dividends, in the form of a new Farsi version of the “Multilingual Memories: Birmingham 1984” film looking back 40 years at the Industrial Language Training Service.
Evidently it struck a chord with conference participant Parnaz Pourshakibaee, who showed immediate interest in the theme, and responded with enthusiasm to the invitation to make a new version in her own language.
She also provided a full transcript of her voiceover narration, so enabling us to create another first – a Farsi Clilstore unit, incorporating full text with the video embedded so you can listen and read at the same time!
Currently affiliated with South and City College Birmingham, Parnaz teaches across multiple levels and begins a new role in September as an Assessor and Trainer of Foundation Studies at the same institution. With a background in TESOL and TEFL, and experience in translation and bilingual communication while working with Médecins Sans Frontières between 2010 and 2013, she values multilingualism and the importance of learners’ mother languages in effective cross-cultural communication and language learning.
Parnaz writes:
“My introduction to the CIALL project commenced with my attendance at the NATECLA conference 2025, where I had the fortunate opportunity to meet Sardul Dhesi and Harmesh Manghra. Through their kind introduction, I became acquainted with the CIALL project and their colleague Gordon Wells, who encouraged me to translate the introductory clip of ‘Multilingual Memories, Birmingham 1984’ into Farsi.
These multilingual colleagues shared their language memories, reflecting on and exploring how their mother tongue, alongside formal English, has shaped their identity and teaching practice, and why the preservation of heritage languages is so important. Their reflections on multilingualism and their nuanced understanding of students from diverse linguistic backgrounds resonated deeply with me, given my commitment as an EFL/ESL teacher and my experience as a bilingual Farsi-English speaker. Consequently, I was inspired to want to share these insights with the Persian-speaking community.
Through my small contribution in translating and narrating the film in Farsi, I reflected more than ever on the role of other languages in a multicultural society.
I believe that the ‘Island Voices’ project is more than merely an educational resource; it represents an environment in which multilingualism is celebrated as a valuable asset. The ‘Extensions’ section, and particularly the Birmingham film for an English urban context, illustrates how linguistic and cultural diversity is an integral part of life throughout the country, with valuable support from the tireless and ongoing efforts of linguists and other dedicated organizations.”
For our part, we’re very grateful for Parnaz’s informed and skilful engagement with our multilingual mission, and the addition of yet another language to our Other Tongues portfolio. We now have the Birmingham film in 15 different languages, with 8 female voices and 7 male. And we’re always interested in new contributions!
The Island Voices “Capture and Curation” approach is highly productive of new material in new languages to add to the original Hebridean focus on Gaelic and English, and it sometimes takes us to places where community language connections with our home territory may not always be immediately obvious. As we fill out new gaps which our CIALL-supported Extensions initiative has opened up, here are four new videos in Jamaican and Haitian Creole, adding to Caribbean-Hebridean links not often explored.
Audrey West, with Jamiekan ina Wielz, was our opening pioneer in taking our documentary plus interviews format beyond Scotland and into Wales, and also adding samples of poetic verse to the mix. Naturally, she followed that up later with her Jamaican voiceover of Ifor ap Glyn’s subsequent Welsh contribution. Here she completes the set with Jamaican versions of our documentaries on the three other writers so far featured – Donald S Murray, Christie Williamson, and Martin MacIntyre.
As Audrey’s own documentary illustrates, the Jamaican community presence in the UK is now of long standing. That includes the linguistic presence too, though widespread recognition of Jamaican speech as a fully functional communicative system perhaps remains elusive, with its rule-governed grammar blindly ignored by users of the “broken English” label. We congratulate Audrey on her determined promotion of her first language in a diasporic setting, and are thankful for the support of the Jamaican Language Unit at the University of the West Indies in helping to kickstart this aspect of our work.
Within a Caribbean context, the neighbouring Haitian Creole provides an interesting comparator. Here, Mavreen Masere adds to her first voiceover of Audrey’s documentary, with a Haitian Creole version of our retrospective sampling of England’s urban multilingualism:
Haitian Creole, while not commonly encountered in the UK, appears to have achieved wider recognition of its independent linguistic status than Jamaican. It has long been listed among the languages available for treatment through Google Translate, for example. Subtitling under its own name is also an option on YouTube.
By contrast, “Jamaican Patois” has only recently been added to Google Translate, and has yet to be made available for subtitling on YouTube. This is why we still have to label as “English” the YouTube subtitles Audrey has created in Jamiekan using the Cassidy-JLU orthography, even while Google Translate will happily accept text using the same spelling system, identify it with the title “Jamaican Patois”, and make a decent fist of translating it into other languages.
From a home turf Hebridean viewpoint, both these languages may provide food for thought for those concerned about continuing the use of Scottish Gaelic. As a fellow minority language in the UK, Jamaican may be considered a near neighbour facing some similar issues around inter-generational sustainability in an overall polity where English monolingualism is the unmarked norm. Plus, as suggested previously, processes of linguistic creolisation, which are part of the historic experience of both Jamaican and Haitian Creole, may now be worthy of closer attention from would-be Gaelic revivalists. They may be particularly pertinent for those inclined to heavily invest their hopes in “naturalistic” Gaelic “immersion” for learners who have a different first language, perhaps in an attempt to boost raw numbers of self-reporting speakers, irrespective of the surrounding cultural and community context in which their acquired additional competence might be exercised.
As I noted in my previous work on phonetics and morphology, urban broadcasters tend to be discarding features of Irish that are not found in English. Velar and palatal fricatives are being dropped in favor of the nearest English sound, for example, while nouns are frequently no longer morphophonetically marked for case, with eclipsis and lenition becoming optional. In this paper we make a compelling case that urban broadcast Irish is also significantly different in syntax, substituting subordinators with conjunctions that require the listener to intuit the relationships between clauses and rarely forming sentences that involve the nesting of embedded phrases and clauses.
These findings are appropriately hedged with all the necessary caveats for a small-scale initial study, of course. Nevertheless, they do clearly point to an issue in the Irish context which will surely ring bells for those with a Scottish Gaelic interest, for whom a similar contrast appears evident, and they prompt an important question. In a contact situation, what are the implications for the minoritised language of changing its structures, and adopting more and more features of the omnipresent majority one? It’s an easier question to pose than to tackle, but there are increasing signs that people involved in Gaelic medium education are questioning the nature of the language that their learners are producing. For all its sociolinguistic naivety, the phrase “’S fheàrr Gàidhlig bhriste na Gàidhlig sa chiste” (“Better broken Gaelic than buried Gaelic”) does roll off the tongue relatively easily as a soundbite slogan, but its immediately resonant appeal appears to diminish markedly in the face of the actual language practice that results from many current efforts to instil Gaelic competence amongst those learning it as a second language.
In contrast to the uncritical approach to “Gàidhlig bhriste” displayed by some self-assertive Gaelic learning enthusiasts, Caribbean language proponents have clearly rejected the “broken English/French” title, instead staking claims for the creation of new independent languages. Is that a route Gaelic revitalisationists might wish to tread? If the answer is “yes”, a second question follows. If not “Gaelic Creole” (“Cridheol”?) what name should be given to this new language? Conversely, if “no” – say because continuing adherence to recommended retro-vernacular standards is indeed preferred – what needs to be done differently to current approaches, so that the title “Gaelic” retains its standard meaning?
(In passing, if the Gaelic Creole claim is to be advanced, then Scottish speakers may wish to get in there quickly, before the Irish stake prior ownership! See the final question and answer in this recorded talk, which formed the basis for the Ó Broin chapter…)
Whatever the answer to those questions, it seems clear that the continued use over protracted time of different languages alongside each other ultimately demands some form of stable accommodation between them. Island Voices started out as a bilingual project, and has since become manifestly multilingual. From that point of view, we’re just delighted to have added further to our Jamaican Selection, and created a new Haitian Creole Selection, to sit amicably alongside our still growing video archive of mostly retro-vernacular 21st Century Gaelic – and many Other Tongues too!
The sonorous verse of Duncan Ban MacIntyre can now be heard on your phone any time you visit the Scottish Poetry Rose Garden in Glasgow’s Queen’s Park.
Friends of Queen’s Park invited Alan Riach and Allan MacDonald to mark his 300th anniversary last year, and they provided a remarkable open air music and poetry double act in the garden, presenting extracts both in the original Gaelic and in English translation.
Island Voices were on hand to film the event, and we’re delighted that visitors can now access the recording in situ through these displayed QR codes, and so get a taste again of a magical occasion.
Queen’s Park will be humming again with snippets of Moladh Beinn Dòbhrain…
Cur síos ag Seán Ó Con Ceanainn, as an Móinteach, Baile Chláir na Gaillimhe, ar an iománaíocht (na camógaí) agus ar an bpeil; ar bazaar na Faiche Móire an áit a casadh a bhean chéile air aimsir rástaí na Gaillimhe; a gcéad ghluaisteán, Baby Austin, i 1956, agus haicní spárálach a gcomharsan; sábháilt agus díol na móna; an saol pósta buil a mhuintir i gcomparáid le saol an lae inniu; damhsaíochaí, bannaí, ceol, agus a athair ag píobaireacht i Mionlach mar ar casadh a bhean air (máthair Sheáin); tithí ósta; saothrú páí agus ganntanas airgid; beatha; agus siopaí.
(Seán Concanonn from Montiagh (South), Claregalway, Co. Galway, discusses: hurling and football; Eyre Square bazaar, where he first met his wife, during the Galway Races; their first car, a Baby Austin, in 1956, and their neighbours’ economic hackney; saving and selling turf; married life sharing the family home in comparison to today; dances; bands, music, and how his father met his own wife while piping in Menlough; public houses; working wages and the scarcity of money; food; and shops.)
Part of the Taisce Bheo na nGael project in which the UHI Language Sciences Institute, together with Irish partners, record the natural speech of Irish and Scottish Gaelic speakers in their own communities with user-friendly equipment and techniques. Happy to host the videos on our YouTube channel!
A Word-linked transcript is available here (including an internal link back to Part 1 also): https://multidict.net/cs/12529
The CIALL-supported Island Voices presence at 
“My introduction to the 
