Window to the West 1
Uinneag dhan Àird an Iar 1
Professor Meg Bateman and John Purser wrote a book called Window to the West which was based on research they did about the perception/insight of the Gaels [the Gaelic way of seeing].
In this part of the lesson, we will look at a lecture given by Meg Bateman about this research and we will read an excerpt from the report Window to the West: Continuity of Form in the Highlands which was published in the book Rannsachadh na Gàidhlig 8 edited by Wilson MacLeod, Anja Gunderloch and Rob Dunbar.
Watch a clip from the presentation (08:08-09:42)
Why don't you have a go at this task! If you have a Gaelic-speaking friend, you could do this together. If you don't—no problem—you can have double the fun!
We've given you these question as a starting point, but you'll certainly have other questions and opinions. 😊
Read this passage from the beginning of the report.
Gaelic
Bho chionn grunn bhliadhnaichean a-nis tha mi fhìn is John Purser an sàs ann am pròiseact, 'Uinneag dhan Àird an Iar', eadar oilthigh Dhùn Dè agus Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, is sinn a' rannsachadh ealain na Gàidhealtachd.
Fhad 's a bhiodh ar co-obraichean a' cnuasachd ceist mar 'Ciamar a chunnacas am boireannach anns an dealbh "An Islay Woman" le càch?', bha sinne a' cnuasachd mar a chitheadh am boireannach fhèin an saoghal.
Tha sinn a' feuchainn ris na structaran smaoineachaidh a shònrachadh leis am biodh na Gàidheil tro na linntean a' faicinn an t-saoghail.
Chan eil sinn ag ràdh gu bheil feart sam bith riatanach do lèirsinn nan Gàidheal, ach, aig an aon àm, chan eil sinn ag iarraidh sealladh dùthchasach fa leth a leigeil seachad.
Ged nach rachadh mòran le Sapir agus Whorf san latha an-diugh nach gabh smuaintean eadar-theangachadh eadar cànain, tha e do-sheachanta gu bheil gach cànan a' daingneachadh dhòighean smaoineachaidh fa leth (Deutscher, 2011).
Mar eisimpleir, ma nì sinn coimeas eadar cha mhòr peantair sam bith bho thaobh a-muigh na Gàidhealtachd agus Uilleam Mac an t-Sagairt (1825-1910), Gàidheal à Cinn Tìre, chì sinn gu bheil an t-àite aig na daoine anns na dealbhan aigesan gu math eadar-dhealaichte.
Anns na dealbhan aig càch, tha na daoine faisg oirnn ann am meadhan an deilbh; anns na dealbhan aig Mac an t-Sagairt tha rudan mòra a' tachairt fad às—mòr do dhaoine, ach de bheagshùim do nàdar, agus tha na daoine gu math tric mar fhaileas air an dùthaich (faic, mar eisimpleir, 'The Emigrant Ship', 'The Coming of Saint Columba', no 'Running for Shelter').
An e gu bheil cultar na Beurla agus cultar na Gàidhlig a' riochdachadh an àite aig mac-an-duine san àrainneachd ann an dòighean eadar-dhealaichte?
English
For several years now myself and John Purser have been involved in a project, 'Window to the West', between Dundee University and Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, researching the art of the Highlands.
While our colleagues were pondering a question like 'How was the woman in the picture "An Islay Woman" seen by others?', we were wondering how the woman herself would see the world.
We are trying to define the thought structures with which Gaels through the ages saw the world.
We are not saying that any feature is essential to Gaels' perception, but, at the same time, we do not want to disregard a unique indigenous vision.
Although many would not agree with Sapir and Whorf today that thoughts cannot be translated between languages, it is inevitable that every language reinforces individual ways of thinking (Deutscher, 2011).
For example, if we compare almost any painter from outside the Highlands with William McTaggart (1825-1910), a Highlander/Gael from Kintyre, we see that the place/role of people in his paintings is very different.
In the paintings of others, the people are near us in the middle of the picture; in McTaggart's paintings, big things happen far away—big for people, but of little importance to nature, and the people are often a reflection of the country (see, for example, 'The Emigrant Ship ', 'The Coming of Saint Columba', or 'Running for Shelter').
Is it that English culture and Gaelic culture represent the role of humans in the environment in different ways?
It's well worth looking at 21A Duilleag Obrach where you will find more passages from the report.
We learned how to use naisgearan (conjunctions) with regular and irregular verbs at every level in the course so far and the reading passage shows that we can use conjunctions in all tenses.
We learned many times that each verb has two forms: an cruth neo-eisimeileach (the independent form) and an cruth eisimeileach (the dependent form), and you will remember that the conjunctions use different forms.
Look back at the reading passage again and you will see some new conjunctions.
| CRUTH NEO-EISIMILEACH | INDEPENDENT FORM |
| fhad 's ... | while … |
| ma… | if … |
| mar … | as … |
| ged … | although … |
| CRUTH EISIMILEACH | DEPENDENT FORM |
| mura … | if not … |
| mus … | before … |
| far … | where … |
| gus … | until … |
| FAIC! | SEE! (neo-eisimeileach) | FAIC! | SEE! (eisimeileach) |
| Chitheadh | Am faiceadh? |
| Would see | Would see? |
| Chan fhaiceadh | Nach fhaiceadh? |
| Wouldn't see | Wouldn't see? |
| CHITHEADH | AM FAICEADH |
| Fhad 's a chitheadh … | Mura faiceadh … |
| While … would see | if … would not see |
| Mar a chitheadh … | Mus faiceadh … |
| As … would see | before … would see |
| Ged a chitheadh … | gus am faiceadh … |
| Although … would see | until … would see |
| Nam faiceadh … ✅ | |
| if … would see | |
| Ma faiceadh … ❌ | |
| Do not use this, dear reader! |
It's well worth looking at 21A Duilleag Mìneachaidh where you will find more about conjunctions and verbs—dependent and independent.