Category: Research

Who remembers we once mooted a MOOT?

Well, the idea of an Island Voices “Multilingual Open Online Teach-in” is now no longer, um, moot – for want of a better word. “Chan ann a h-uile latha a bhios mòd aig Mac an Tòisich”, mar a chanas iad, (“It’s not every day Mackintosh throws a party” – loosely) but its time has come.

“Talking Points” with Tormod

We’ve recently placed a whole series of “Talking Points with Norman Maclean” recordings on our YouTube channel, built on a merging of materials and ideas from the Soillse/UHI Language Sciences Institute projects Mediating Multilingualism and Saoghal Thormoid. In the last few weeks of the funded period for Mediating Multilingualism, linguists in universities in Scotland, India, and Jamaica discussed topics of common interest with UK-based community language speakers, stimulated by brief extracts from the final session of Saoghal Thormoid. And these discussions are now available to view.

It’s an experimental format, mixing subtitled Gaelic recordings with live English debate. The topics are sociolinguistic, covering Language Endangerment (Gaelic Trajectory?), Language Hierarchies (English Ascendancy?), and Language Contact (Bilingual Balance?). And they may raise just as many questions as answers, if not more. Just the thing then for the enquiring mind, and quite in the spirit of the “Teach-in” philosophy described in our 2019 post! In the end, we didn’t set up a separate online forum then, and we won’t now. There are perfectly good comment and reply functions on YouTube and here on WordPress for any questions readers or listeners may have.

YouTube Playlist

But to help provide a degree of focus or sense of direction – without closing down the options for diverging lines of thought and enquiry – we’ve put together a special “box set” International Island Voices MOOT playlist on YouTube that brings together the Talking Points material with some other key videos from our overall body of work which underpin and exemplify our multilingual approach.

Previews

By the way, we knitted some 2-minute Norman Maclean “highlights” into the recorded discussions, as an aide memoire for the longer extracts that were being discussed. If you want a quick taste of a topic, we’ve extracted them here, and you can take a quick look at any of them now, before choosing which full discussion to dive into for the wider treatment.

1. Gaelic Trajectory?	2. English Ascendancy?
3a. Bilingual Balance?	3b. Homecoming Postscript

Taking Part

There’s no start or stop date on this. The “Talking Points” participants are separated by up to ten and a half hours difference in time zones between India and Jamaica, so a simultaneous “launch” has not been feasible. And our geographical catchment is worldwide, so the approach is deliberately asynchronous – completely independent of any timetable. View the videos, ask questions, and make comments (which will be moderated) as and when you can and wish. Please be polite, and be prepared to be patient if waiting for responses.

Choosing where to comment is up to you. Specific queries about particular videos may be best posted under the relevant YouTube clip. But if your point or question is more general, then a comment here under this WordPress post may be the best place.

Binge-watching the whole playlist in one go is probably doable, if challenging, but perhaps not the best way of giving yourself time to think through issues that arise and about which you may have questions. A better approach might actually be to split up the longer discussion videos into smaller chunks – for which the “chapters” function in YouTube may well come in handy. If you take a look at the video description for any of these long clips you’ll find timed listings for each of the speakers, which you can click on to go straight to that particular point in the film.

And any time you catch yourself wondering which one’s Treebeard, it’s probably time for a break…

We’re pleased to have a receptive and supportive audience and readership, of course, but comments, questions and other feedback are always very welcome. Wikipedia tells us “Teach-ins are meant to be practical, participatory, and oriented toward action. While they include experts lecturing on their area of expertise, discussion and questions from the audience are welcome…”

Dear readers, whether you have questions or suggestions, the MOOT is open. We invite you to “unmute”!

International Island Voices MOOT: the YouTube Playlist

“Winta jos a ton ina spring ina di Outer Hebrides, we de pan Scotland wes kuos. Di priti plies dem mek yu memba se dem ailan ya suun fulop a piipl we lef dem yaad an kom pan alidie ina di at mont dem we suun riich, bot rait ya nou wan gruup a luokal piipl a go pan a chrip pan di Naatwes kuos a Ireland. Bak ina di diez,  dem wuda chavl bai waata an wuda go fram ailan tu ailan ina dis lang schring a komyuuniti we piipl ongl chat Gaelic. Bot nou-a-diez Benbecula ierpuot gi piipl wan iiziya an muo komfatebl wie fi go bout dem bizniz…” (Jamiekan)

“Mu dheireadh thall tha sinn a’ cur ar cul ris a’ Gheamhradh anns na h-Eileanan Siar, sa chuan pìos a-mach à taobh an iar na h-Alba. Tha na seallaidhean àlainn gar cuimhneachadh gum bi luchd-turais gu leòr a’ tighinn ann am mìosan blàth an t-samhraidh. Ach an-diugh fhèin tha sgioba de dh’Eileanaich a’ dèanamh an slìghe gu taobh an iar-thuath na h-Èirinn. Aig aon àm, b’ e bàta a bhiodh aca, a’ leum bho eilean gu eilean ann an sreath slàn de choimhearsnachdan Gàidhlig, ach tha port-adhair Bheinn na Faoghla a’ dèanamh gnothaichean nas fhasa dhaibh an-diugh…” (Gàidhlig)

“Tá an tEarrach ag teacht sna hOileáin Siar amach ó chósta thiar na hAlban. Cuireann na radharcanna áille i gcuimhne dúinn go mbeidh neart turasóirí ag triall ar na hoileáin seo sna míonna teo atá le teacht. Ach san am i láthair tá buíon oileánach ag imeacht ar thuras go cósta Iarthuaiscirt na hÉireann. Blianta ó shin is turas farraige a bheadh ann, ag imeacht ó oileán go hoileán i slabhra de phobail Ghaeltachta. Ach anois cuireann Aerfort Bheinn A Faoghla modh níos áisiúla taistil ar fail…” (Gaeilge)

“Winter is just turning to spring in the Outer Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland. Picturesque scenes are a reminder that these islands will host a steady stream of holidaymakers in the warmer months to come, but right now a team of islanders is heading off on a trip to the Northwest coast of Ireland. In earlier times the journey would have been by sea, hopping from island to island in an unbroken string of Gaelic-speaking communities. But now, Benbecula airport offers a more convenient means of travel…” (English)

Following his work on the Tobar an Dualchais Dijitaizieshan Senta, Hugh Campbell of the University of the West Indies Jamaican Language Unit has kindly voiced another Island Voices film – the “Gaelic Jorni” documenting the seminal linkage with Irish language speakers in Donegal.

As with his first film, this is part of the transnational “Mediating Multilingualism” project linking Scottish, Indian, and Jamaican universities. Congratulations also to the UHI IT team for adding Jamaican to the growing list of languages in which the university’s webpages are now available!

“Bhuail e mi nach eil cruinneachadh de sheanchas a tha a’ buntainn ri Sgìre nan Loch an àite sam bith, is gum bu chòir dhomh cuid aca a thoirt cruinn agus mar a bha sa chleachdadh bho chionn fhada an aithris. ‘S e bha nam amharc gum biodh iad ri làimh dha daoine òga a tha ag iarraidh an aithris aig a’ Mhòd, no aig a bheil ùidh ann am beatha anns an sgìre bho chionn fhada”.

Magaidh Smith explains how the need for a collection of traditional tales from the Lochs district motivated her to record some in the old style. They might be useful for young people entering the Mòd, or who are interested in the traditional life of the area. We’re delighted that she offered them to Island Voices to place online. They will also contribute to the Stòras Beò collection.

Here she retells the story of Calum Bàn, Tacksman of Laxay, from her own knowledge of oral tradition.

You can access a wordlinked transcript on Clilstore with the video embedded here: https://multidict.net/cs/10037

Here she brings back to Gaelic life a story from William Cummings’ edited collection “Family Traditions: John Macleod, 11 Melbost”.

You can access a wordlinked transcript on Clilstore with the video embedded here: https://multidict.net/cs/10036

Wahn shaat flim ina di Jamiekan langwij bout di Tobar an Dualchais (Well of Heritage) Dijitaizieshan Senta ina South Uist, ina di Outer Hebrides ina Scotland.

We were pleased to get Island Voices representation on the Digital Museum’s truly continent-spanning special event on International Mother Language Day this year. Starting in Bangladesh, where the movement began, the various sessions crossed Asia, Europe, and Africa, before finishing up with speakers from the Americas.

Gaelic was presented alongside Jamaican, and from that initial contact an exciting collaboration is growing up between the University of the Highlands and Islands Language Sciences Institute and the Jamaican Language Unit of the University of the West Indies Mona Campus. This is being developed through the enlargement of the inter-university Mediating Multilingualism project, which was already linking UHI with Indian partners.

The Jamaican Language Unit conducts research on the Jamaican language, and advocates for the recognition and officialisation of the language, and its teaching to native and non-native speakers. As part of Mediating Multilingualism it will oversee the creation of audio and audio-visual materials in the Jamaican language, the provision of transcripts, translations, and related lexicographic work, plus compilation of a 500,000-word corpus.

Test Clilstore units are now coming through, based on Island Voices documentary material, making use of the same Custom Wordlist function first tested out on Okinawan. Here’s an early sample, adding yet another language to our Other Tongues collection. The Tobar an Dualchais film was first made in Gaelic and English for Series Two Enterprise, with a Scots version following later. Many thanks to Hugh Campbell and the Jamaican Language Unit for this new production!

Hugh’s voiceover narration has been transcribed using the approved Cassidy-JLU orthography for the Jamaican language. Here’s the wordlinked Clilstore unit, with every word clickable for a Jamaican to English translation: https://clilstore.eu/cs/9897

Alasdair Macdonald talks to his daughter Kirsty. This follows on from the previous conversation Archie Campbell had with Alasdair for Stòras Beò nan Gàidheal.

This time Kirsty took charge of the kit and made the recording herself, capturing a fascinating father-daughter exchange in which more stories were re-told, many of them obviously old family favourites.

In this part, Alasdair recounts a number of tales recalled from his own childhood. Topics covered include hunting for rabbits, a near-drowning before the Baleshare causeway was built, youthful gun-handling, the making of seal oil, the use of horses for ploughing or to haul carts, and illicit fishing attempts with dynamite. These are followed by the recital of more traditional stories such as Cù Dubh Mhic a’ Phì (Àiridh na h-Aon Oidhche) and Isean Mhic Mhuirich.

A wordlinked transcript with embedded video is available on Clilstore via this link: https://multidict.net/cs/9723

In this part, Alasdair relates a story of fairy abduction to begin with, before hitting his stride with a series of anecdotes concerning local “characters” or family antecedents, including Iain Beag, Teàrlach Ruadh, Aonghas Ailean mhic Aonghaidh, and Ailean Heisgeir himself. From there the conversation moves onto deer-hunting escapades around Eaval (and how court appearances would not necessarily result in a poaching conviction), followed by discussion of grazing issues for both cattle and sheep. He finishes by describing traditional methods commonly used to make butter and cheese.

A wordlinked transcript with embedded video is available on Clilstore via this link: https://multidict.net/cs/9724

Pàdruig Morrison, PhD scholar, crofter, musician, and community activist from Grimsay, talks to Gordon Wells for the Stòras Beò nan Gàidheal project.

We’ve added a Gaelic subtitle option on YouTube for those that wish it, which can be machine translated into multiple other languages through “Settings”. Wordlinked transcripts are also available on Clilstore.

In the first part, he recalls his family history, including his grandfather’s celebrated recordings and their importance for the preservation and transmission of Gaelic culture, and his father’s love of singing and the continuation of tradition. His own Gaelic was nurtured in the extended family and community, with the strong support of his English-speaking mother. An early interest in music was well supported through Uist schooling initially, and then intensively in Edinburgh, where he found additional impetus for his Gaelic through church and university circles. Following his father’s death, he maintained close contact with his Grimsay home, to which he always intended to return.

A wordlinked transcript alongside the embedded video is available here: https://multidict.net/cs/9686

In the second part, Pàdruig makes some comparisons between Irish and Scottish traditional music scenes, drawing on his experience of postgraduate study in Maynooth, where he noted a common preference in rural more “Gàidhealach” areas for a steady swing in contrast with urban centres like Dublin or Glasgow. Now back home in Grimsay he is busy with his croft, in addition to pursuing a PhD. The maintenance of traditional crofting skills is important to him in times of heightened environmental awareness. He is also involved in debates around access to crofts and housing for young people, especially following Covid lockdowns. He is optimistic about developing the common interest of vernacular Gaels and learners in sustaining island communities.

A wordlinked transcript alongside the embedded video is available here: https://multidict.net/cs/9686 

Attentive listeners will have noticed occasional references to earlier films made in the Island Voices series, including some featuring a much younger Pàdruig, as well as his father! You can check back on these in the archives, particularly in the Series 2 Generations section.

Independent Gaelic consultant Kirsty Macdonald, from Claddach Illeray in North Uist, talks to Gordon Wells.

Patronymics (and a DNA test) reveal a long Gaelic-speaking lineage on her father’s side, while her mother first moved to Uist to learn the language, then marrying and settling down. From a family of teachers, Kirsty had a difficult relationship with education in her school years, but found her passion for Gaelic ignited when she left Uist to study, first at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, and then Edinburgh University.

Talking to Gordon, she also fleshes out some of her memories and thoughts recently published in her very popular article on “Getting closer to home from a journey away” in the West Highland Free Press, highlighting the treasures of Tobar an Dualchais, and the importance in her eyes of discussing and addressing the concerns of Gaelic speakers in the vernacular community – a topic of current debate.

YouTube “closed caption” videos are enabled here, so viewers have the choice of reading the Gaelic subtitles while they watch and listen. You can also, if you wish, get automatic machine translations of these into English and many other languages through the Settings menu.

A wordlinked transcript with embedded video is available on Clilstore via this link: https://multidict.net/cs/9629. 

This is part of the Stòras Beò nan Gàidheal project in which the UHI Language Sciences Institute with Sabhal Mòr Ostaig and Soillse, together with Irish partners, record the natural speech of Irish and Scottish Gaelic speakers in their own communities with user-friendly equipment and techniques. Alasdair MacDonald, Kirsty’s dad, is already on the Stòras Beò site, but Kirsty’s final words indicate there’s yet more to come from that quarter… Watch this space!