696: The Thousandth Letter 696: Am Mìleamh Litir
Litir shìmplidh sheachdaineach do luchd-ionnsachaidh le clàr-fuaime, tar-sgrìobhadh is eadar-theangachadh. A simple weekly letter to Gaelic learners with audio, transcription and translation.
Tha an litir bheag ag obrachadh leis an fhaclair. Tagh an taba ‘teacsa Gàidhlig’ agus tagh facal sam bith san teacsa agus fosglaidh am faclair ann an taba ùr agus bidh mìneachadh den fhacal ann. The little letter is integrated with the dictionary. Select the tab ‘Gaelic text’ and choose any word and the dictionary will open and you will see the English explanation of the Gaelic word.
Am Mìleamh Litir
Halo a-rithist, a chàirdean. Tha an Litir mhòr – Litir do Luchd-ionnsachaidh – air clach-mhìle a ruigsinn. Thòisich i ann an naoi ceud deug, naochad ʼs a naoi (1999), còrr is naoi bliadhn’ deug air ais. Tha am mìleamh tè a’ nochdadh an t-seachdain seo.
Tha am facal againn airson a dheich uiread de cheud inntinneach, nach eil? Mìle – coltach ris an fhacal ann an Cuimris, Fraingis, Laideann ... Tha dùil gun tàinig e bhon Laidinn. Ma choimheadas sibh air an fhacalmìle ann am faclair Gàidhlig, gheibh sibh dà chiall air – thousand agus mile. Chan e co-thuiteamas a tha sin.
Bha mìle aig na saighdearan Ròmanach – mille passus – mìle ceum. Ge-tà, cha bhiodh e co-ionnan fad na h-ùine. Nuair a bha na saighdearan sgìth, cha robh na ceumannan aca cho fada. Chruthaich an seanalair Ròmanach Agrippa slat-tomhais choitcheann. Bha an troigh Ròmanach stèidhichte air fad cas Agrippa fhèin. Agus bha còig troighean ann an ceum no passus.
Bha mìle – mar thomhas astair – aig iomadh dùthaich is cultar, stèidhichte air mìle nan Ròmanach. Ach bha i diofraichte ann an diofar àiteachan. Bha mìle Albannach na b’ fhaide na mìle Shasannach. Dh’fhalbh a’ mhìle Albannach nuair a thàinig Alba is Sasainn còmhla anns an aonadh. Tha mìle-mara eadar-dhealaichte oir bha sin o thùs stèidhichte air earrann de chearcall-thomhas na Talmhainn.
Chan eil e soilleir cò às a thàinig am facal thousand. ʼS dòcha gun robh e a’ ciallachadh ‘grunn cheudan’. Bha e anns an t-Seann Bheurla mar þúsend. Tha facal coltach anns na cànanan Gearmanach. Ma thèid sibh a Nirribhidh, cluinnidh sibh daoine ag ràdh tusen takk. Tha sin co-ionann ri ‘mìle taing’ ann an Gàidhlig.
Thuirt mi gur ann bhon Laidinn a thàinig ar facal fhèin. Ach a bheil sin fìor anns a h-uile h-àite? Tha cuimhne agam air turas a chaidh mi a chèilidh air bodach ann an Dùthaich MhicAoidh. Bha sinn a’ bruidhinn ann an Gàidhlig air caoraich. Chleachd esan am facal sùstan airson mìle. ʼS iongantach mura tàinig sùstan bhon t-Seann Lochlannais. Bha e clàraichte cuideachd ann an Gàidhlig Ghallaibh.
Co-dhiù, tha an t-àm agam falbh. Mìle beannachd leibh.
The Thousandth Letter
Hello, again, friends. The ‘big’ Litir – Litir do Luchd-ionnsachaidh – has reached a milestone. It started in 1999, more than nineteen years ago. The thousandth one appears this week.
Our word for ten hundreds is interesting, isn’t it? Mìle – like the word in Welsh, French, Latin ... It’s thought it came from Latin. If you look [up] the word mìle in a Gaelic dictionary, you’ll find two meanings for it – thousand and mile. That’s not a coincidence.
The Roman soldiers had a mile – mille passus – a thousand paces. However, it wouldn’t always be the same. When the soldiers were tired, their paces weren’t so long. The Roman general Agrippa created a standard measure. The Roman foot was based on the length of Agrippa’s own foot. And there were five feet in a pace.
Many countries and cultures had a mile – as a measure of distance – based on the Roman mile. But it was different in different places. A Scottish mile was longer than an English mile. The Scottish mile disappeared when Scotland and England came together in the union. A nautical mile is different because that was originally based on a section of the Earth’s circumference.
It’s not clear where the word thousand came from. Perhaps it meant ‘a few hundred’. It was in Old English as þúsend . There is a similar word in the Germanic languages. If you go to Norway, you’ll hear people say tusen takk. That’s equivalent to ‘mìle taing’ in Gaelic.
I said that it was from Latin that our own word came. But is that true in every place? I remember a time I went to visit an old man in the Mackay Country [North Sutherland]. We were speaking in Gaelic about sheep. He used the word sùstan for a thousand. I reckon sùstan came from Old Norse. It was also recorded in Caithness Gaelic.
Anyway, it’s time for me to go. A thousand farewells.
Am Mìleamh Litir
Halo a-rithist, a chàirdean. Tha an Litir mhòr – Litir do Luchd-ionnsachaidh – air clach-mhìle a ruigsinn. Thòisich i ann an naoi ceud deug, naochad ʼs a naoi (1999), còrr is naoi bliadhn’ deug air ais. Tha am mìleamh tè a’ nochdadh an t-seachdain seo.
Tha am facal againn airson a dheich uiread de cheud inntinneach, nach eil? Mìle – coltach ris an fhacal ann an Cuimris, Fraingis, Laideann ... Tha dùil gun tàinig e bhon Laidinn. Ma choimheadas sibh air an fhacalmìle ann am faclair Gàidhlig, gheibh sibh dà chiall air – thousand agus mile. Chan e co-thuiteamas a tha sin.
Bha mìle aig na saighdearan Ròmanach – mille passus – mìle ceum. Ge-tà, cha bhiodh e co-ionnan fad na h-ùine. Nuair a bha na saighdearan sgìth, cha robh na ceumannan aca cho fada. Chruthaich an seanalair Ròmanach Agrippa slat-tomhais choitcheann. Bha an troigh Ròmanach stèidhichte air fad cas Agrippa fhèin. Agus bha còig troighean ann an ceum no passus.
Bha mìle – mar thomhas astair – aig iomadh dùthaich is cultar, stèidhichte air mìle nan Ròmanach. Ach bha i diofraichte ann an diofar àiteachan. Bha mìle Albannach na b’ fhaide na mìle Shasannach. Dh’fhalbh a’ mhìle Albannach nuair a thàinig Alba is Sasainn còmhla anns an aonadh. Tha mìle-mara eadar-dhealaichte oir bha sin o thùs stèidhichte air earrann de chearcall-thomhas na Talmhainn.
Chan eil e soilleir cò às a thàinig am facal thousand. ʼS dòcha gun robh e a’ ciallachadh ‘grunn cheudan’. Bha e anns an t-Seann Bheurla mar þúsend. Tha facal coltach anns na cànanan Gearmanach. Ma thèid sibh a Nirribhidh, cluinnidh sibh daoine ag ràdh tusen takk. Tha sin co-ionann ri ‘mìle taing’ ann an Gàidhlig.
Thuirt mi gur ann bhon Laidinn a thàinig ar facal fhèin. Ach a bheil sin fìor anns a h-uile h-àite? Tha cuimhne agam air turas a chaidh mi a chèilidh air bodach ann an Dùthaich MhicAoidh. Bha sinn a’ bruidhinn ann an Gàidhlig air caoraich. Chleachd esan am facal sùstan airson mìle. ʼS iongantach mura tàinig sùstan bhon t-Seann Lochlannais. Bha e clàraichte cuideachd ann an Gàidhlig Ghallaibh.
Co-dhiù, tha an t-àm agam falbh. Mìle beannachd leibh.
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Litir do Luchd-ionnsachaidh
This letter corresponds to Tha an Litir seo a’ buntainn ri Litir do Luchd-ionnsachaidh 1000
Podcast
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