Stob Coire Sgreamhach: easier to climb for some than to pronounce
Do you know your Stob from your Sgurr?
More to the point, can you get your tongue around mountain names such as Sgurr nan Ceathreamhnan?
For Sassenachs, or even non-Gaelic-speaking Scots, help is at hand for outdoor fans trying to unravel the mysteries of Highland hill nomenclature.
Many walkers and climbers struggle to pronounce the names of some of the peaks with Gaelic names that, to English speakers, seem to bear little resemblance to the sounds you would expect from the collection of letters gracing their maps.
A port of call for guidance on hill names has always been the Munro Magic site, which has a handy pronunciation button for each of the featured hills.
But what about those other outdoor features that are not peaks but are well known outdoors landmarks, such as Coire an t-Sneachda, the name borne by not just the winter climbing playground on the northern flank of Cairn Gorm, but by at least four other corries across the Highlands?
Help is at hand from experts.
The Comunn na Gàidhlig, the Gaelic Development Agency with three offices across Scotland and a wealth of knowledge of the language that is used in the names of so much of the nation’s mountain scenery.
Puzzled walkers and climbers can send a request via the organisation’s website and the agency will upload a sound file to the site to enable readers to hear the name pronounced by a Gaelic speaker.
Coire an t-Sneachda. Photo: John Fielding CC-BY-SA-2.0
The CnaG said: “CnaG recognises the fundamental link between the Gaelic language and the mountains of Scotland.
“We also recognise that Gaelic names can present a challenge to those unfamiliar with the language. For these reasons we offer a simple resource through our website where a sound file can be requested and the end user able to hear the pronunciation of the name.
“This is not aimed at academics or linguists and we do not aim here to offer a local Gaelic pronunciation. It is our intention to offer a generic pronunciation suitable for the learner.
“This service is for the names of hills and mountain features such as lochans, corries and ridges. It’s not for settlements or towns.”
Anyone wanting a pronunciation is asked to provide the name and grid reference of the topographical feature they would like to hear and submit these via a form on the site.
There are already 10 pronunciations on the CnaG website, including the aforementioned Coire an t-Sneachda, the official sound of which might surprise even seasoned winter climbers used to tackling Aladdin’s Mirror or Vortex.
The service is available on the Comunn na Gàidhlig website.
Pronunciation of mountains can also be heard on the Munro Magic website.
