Online Gaelic Place-Names Database

[Lianachan]

Not quite sure where this belongs, so sticking it here.

The National Gazetteer of Gaelic Place-names, the culmination of 10 years of research by Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba, is now available (free and without registration) online. It includes historical information, local sources and sound files to help with pronunciation.

National Gazetteer of Gaelic Place-names

An excellent resource for SPNS members like me, and for anybody with even the vaguest interest in place-names.

[wullie m]

Lianachan, cannae get this tae work! typed in the name, then? This site was slated in yesterday's Tory press as costing £300,000. The road signs are a bit naff! wullie m

[Lianachan]

Don't like it? Don't use it. Are you asking if I've typed in "Lianachan"? I don't have to, I know what it means.

I'd prefer an overall place-name database, as that one just gives the Gaelic names for places - including the modern Gaelic names for places with non-Gaelic names (like Thurso), but it's a useful resource. And I'm all for the road signs in the Highlands & Islands. Deasachs can do as they please.

[wullie m]

I'll persevere with this, the fault will be mine. Interested in placenames, shockin the tripe builders call their wee schemes nowadays! Roadsigns? I was referring to those on the website, generally a good idea but the Gallaichs were less enthusiastic, as I recall. wullie m

[Crofter]

A very useful resource Lianachan, and very appropriate here to help interested members.

Is this you penny-pinching again, Wullie? Using the Tory press to confirm your views is a bit below the belt, even for you. Its not so long ago since you were advising us to steer clear of it, even suggesting “legitimate” sources of news Its a wonder the Tories don’t take you on to help them with their cuts.

Anyway I’m not biting, your bait is starting to go a bit off.

[wullie m]

Well if it isnae auld vinegar tits back at her antics! you must be a delight tae share a roof with. I don't have any prob's with this cash, although it was the headline in the Daily Mail. Whatever it cost, there were none of your dollars in it! And when did your name become Lianachan anyhow. Back tae yer Dwelly! wullie m

[PeterSandy]

Originally Posted by Lianachan

Not quite sure where this belongs, so sticking it here.

The National Gazetteer of Gaelic Place-names, the culmination of 10 years of research by Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba, is now available (free and without registration) online. It includes historical information, local sources and sound files to help with pronunciation.

National Gazetteer of Gaelic Place-names

An excellent resource for SPNS members like me, and for anybody with even the vaguest interest in place-names.

Great to hear that you are involved!
Given that Lianachan is a Lochaber place name have a look at Lochaber Place Names, a paper read by Colin Livingstone from the Black Fort on 6th April 1887 to The Gaelic Society of Inverness.
I concur with his pronunciation of Leven in Loch Leven. In my youth, I heard from the mouths of local Gaelic speakers that it is pronounced Lee'an.
If in doubt, listen to the way Hugh MacInnes, Mod gold medalist and father of a current Scottish history professor, pronounces Liobhan in the local song, Mo Gleannan Taobh Loch Liobhan. That also changes the generally accepted meaning as well.
Here is the relevant verse:

'Air an achadh bheag uaine chaidh lomadh le fal,
Bidh na gillean len camain a' stri ann;
'S chan eil buidheann an Siorramachd mhor Earra-Ghaidh'l
Tha cho clis ris na suinn taobh Loch Liobhann.'

Liobhann rhymes with stri ann.

Note also that Timothy Pont spells the name as Lyon as he does the similarly named lake in Perth-shire. Think in terms of the French pronunciation of Lyon.
http://www.nls.uk:8080/StyleServer/c...e&plugin=false