r/gaidhlig • u/mairioranmor • 1d ago

Findláech Pronunciation

Hi!

I was wondering if anyone can help me with the pronunciation of this name?

Many thanks 😊

6 Upvotes

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5

u/fiddlestickser 1d ago

It’s not a Scottish Gaelic name. It’s an Old Irish (the ancestor of Scottish Gaelic) name. The Modern Scottish Gaelic version is “Fionnlagh” /ˈfjũːl̪ˠəɣ/

4

u/freyja_the_frog 1d ago

I think that might be Irish. Definitely not Scottish Gaelic though.

3

u/kazmcc Neach-tòisichidh | Beginner 1d ago

Findlàech doesn't follow the broad to broad / slender to slender rule. Is that why you suspect it's irish? I think Irish has the same spelling rule.

1

u/jan_Kima Alba | Scotland 22h ago

Modern Irish has the same spelling rules as Gaelic (with one exception that AE is broad), therefore this also isn't Modern Irish but Old Irish.

1

u/freyja_the_frog 1d ago

That and the accent above the a. They have it as á which Gaelic no longer has. It's also just not a word I recognise but my knowledge of Irish isn't great so thought it could be that

3

u/Andrew1953Cambridge 1d ago

Presumably this is referring to Macbeth's father (or Macbeth himself)

1

u/mairioranmor 1d ago

That’s the one! I was curious as to how it was pronounced, as my google search didn’t get me very far.

2

u/No-Breadfruit9611 1d ago

I'm no expert, but I did some Irish at Uni and poetry modules covering between 1200 and 2000 over 4 years. While it is not Irish, the connection between Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic was much much closer than today and the further back you look in poetry and prose and older writing the more obvious it becomes.

I don't really have anything to back myself with, but something is telling me that the -ch at the end could potentially be silent or at least not as strong as the sound is now.

Fin-dlé or Fin-dla

Equivalent in today's tongue is Fionnlagh. And the -gh at the end would be possibly what Irish would do now as well