+ see lesson content

Interest rates in the 1990s

Ìrean an rèidh anns na 1990an

Listen to a short excerpt from this recording.

Remember: you can change the speed in the settings.

There is a transcription available on the same page and further information on 10B Duilleag Obrach.

Remember: it doesn't matter if you don't understand the whole piece! Tha thu a' dèanamh fìor math—you're doing really well!

📕 And if you don't understand any words, try looking them up in your dictionary or the LearnGaelic faclair. 📕

In this recording from the BBC programme Prògram Choinnich , the finance expert Coinneach MacMhathain (Kenneth Matheson) is talking to Coinneach MacÌomhair (Coinneach Mòr) about the rise in the interest rate(s) back in the Nineties.

Listen to the recording again, grab a pen/pencil and some paper and answer these questions, if you can.

Carson a chaidh ìre an rèidh àrdachadh, a rèir Mgr MacMhathain?

Why was the interest rate raised, according to Mgr MacMhathain (Mr Matheson)?

Thug Coinneach MacÌomhair iomradh air dà eaconamaidh. Dè bh' annta?

Coinneach MacÌomhair (Kenny MacIver) mentioned two economies. What were they?

Agus seo dhut na freagairtean!

Carson a chaidh ìre an rèidh àrdachadh, a rèir Mgr MacMhathain?

Tha 'cus airgead aig a' mhòr-shluagh ga chleachdadh anns na bùithtean a' ceannach bathar'. Tha seo ri linn 's 'gu bheil grunn mhath dhe na buidheannan togalaich … as motha a tha san dùthaich, gu bheil iadsan air an suidheachadh aca fhèin atharrachadh, agus gu bheil iad a' dèanamh companaidhean poblach earranta (PLCs).'

The general public have too much money to spend in the shops buying goods. This is because a good number of the ... biggest building societies in the country have changed their status, and are forming public limited companies (PLCs).

Thug Coinneach MacÌomhair iomradh air 'dealbh … air dà eaconamaidh'. Dè bha e a' ciallachadh?

Mar a thuirt e, 'Eaconamaidh an fheadhainn aig a bheil an t-airgead, agus an uair sin an fheadhainn aig nach eil càil idir, tha iad a' dol a dh'fhulang air sgàth seo.'

As he said, 'The economy of those who have money, and then those who don't have anything at all, they are going to suffer because of this.'

Gaelic

Ma dh'fhaodte gun do mhothaich thu gun robh grunn eisimpleirean sa chlàradh far nach do chleachdadh cruthan ginideach.

'S e riadh (interest) cuspair a' chòmhraidh, ainmear fireann a bhios ag atharrachadh gu rèidh san tuiseal ghinideach.

Mar as àbhaist, 's e ìre (an) rèidh a chanar airson ‘interest rate’ ach thuirt an dithis sa chlàradh ìre riadh agus rate an riadh .

Bidh seo a' tachairt gu tric; bidh daoine a' bruidhinn gu neo-fhoirmeil, no a' leantainn riaghailtean rud beag nas laige airson cleachdadh an tuiseil ghinidich.

Thathas ag ràdh gum faic thu adhartas nuair a nì thu na h-aon 'mhearachdan gràmair' a bhios luchd-labhairt dùthchasail/fileantaich a' dèanamh—ann an cànan sam bith, fiù 's Beurla!

Tha rèidh cuideachd na bhuadhair a' ciallachadh 'flat, level, smooth', mar sin dh'fhaodadh ìre rèidh a bhith a' ciallachadh 'a flat level'—math dh'fhaodte gun robh buaidh aig seo air na thuirt iad sa chlàradh.

English

Perhaps you noticed that there were several examples in the recording where the genitive forms were not used.

The subject of the conversation is riadh (interest), a masculine noun which changes to rèidh in the genitive case.

Usually, it's ìre (an) rèidh that would be used for ‘interest rate’ but both people in the recording said ìre riadh and rate an riadh .

This happens often; people speak informally, or follow rules that are a little more lax for the use of the genitive case.

It has been said that you see progress when you make the same 'grammatical errors' that native speakers make—in any language, English included!

Rèidh is also an adjective meaning 'flat, level, smooth', so ì re rèidh could also mean 'a flat level'—perhaps this affected what they said in the recording.

Previous Next