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Còmhradh air crìonadh nan cladaichean
In our second community recording for Aire air Sunnd there are two new features. Firstly we’re very grateful to the Tobar an Dualchais project, and of course to the next-of-kin, for making a recording of Ruairidh na Càrnaich available for discussion in the same manner we used for “Còmhradh air Blàr Chàirinis“. This was a suggestion and request that came from the Comann Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath Gaelic group themselves, to which Flòraidh Forrest at Tobar an Dualchais responded immediately and most helpfully, going the “extra mile” to additionally commission a transcription of the recording, which has also been a great help in creating a Clilstore unit for the full YouTube clip. It was Ùisdean’s idea to pick this particular clip, in which Ruairidh talks about historical coastal erosion in North Uist, in a recording made in 1958. With climate change now such a “hot topic” it makes particularly interesting listening to hear how it was thought about and discussed in times gone by.
Secondly, we also experimented with a “hybrid” format for the meeting, with most of the participants meeting together in Sgoil Chàirinis, while a couple of others joined in on Zoom. Obviously, it’s easier to hold a conversation with people all in the same room together, though that does pose recording challenges, particularly when folk are quite naturally more likely to all talk at once, and you’re trying to use the ordinary everyday recording equipment we all now have to hand in our phones or laptop computers. So it was interesting to see how that would work with some people also joining in remotely. We’ve done some editing with the final recording to select “best bits” where the recorded conversation is clearest. So we have missed some parts out, but hopefully viewers will still get a good idea of how the discussion went, after listening to Ruairidh’s high quality audio recording in full.
We have again added Closed Caption subtitles as an optional extra, and these can be auto-translated into a wide range of languages, including English, from the original Gaelic, using the YouTube settings wheel. It may be worth bringing to the attention of Gaelic learners that you can also slow down the playback speed of the clip (without altering the pitch!) if there are any parts that you struggle to follow in real time.
Members and supporters of Comann Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath, the North Uist Historical Society, listen to and talk about Ruairidh na Càrnaich’s Gaelic discussion of Uist coastal erosion with John MacInnes, as presented on the Tobar an Dualchais website. Part of the Ideas Fund “Aire air Sunnd” project, in which the Universities of Aberdeen, St Andrews, and the Highlands and Islands team up with Island Voices to provide research support for well-being initiatives on the island.
The full details of the recording of Ruairidh na Càrnaich are as follows: Cunntas Air Crionadh Nan Cladaichean Ann An Uibhist A Tuath, Roderick MacDonald, (contributor), John MacInnes, (fieldworker), ref: SA1958.171.B4, the School of Scottish Studies Archives, the University of Edinburgh. Permission, which is gratefully acknowledged, has been granted for this use only.
The full transcript is also available as a Wordlinked Clilstore unit here – http://multidict.net/cs/11280 – and here – https://clilstore.eu/cs/11280.
Aire air Sunnd: Artefacts & Stories
The Aire air Sunnd Digital Fèis was a celebration of community heritage spread over two days in September 2022, held at the old Carinish School, now headquarters for Comann Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath, the North Uist Historical Society. Digital activities involved digitising artefacts from the community, recording stories, listening to Gaelic voices, and exploring heritage places through virtual reality. A cèilidh was also held with music and drama from young people of North Uist.
The fèis was held as part of the Ideas Fund “Aire air Sunnd” project, in which the Universities of Aberdeen, St Andrews, and the Highlands and Islands team up with Island Voices to provide research support for well-being initiatives on the island. The recordings in the video below were made by the St Andrews digitisation team, and can be viewed as separate items alongside several clips in English on the CEUT site.
This selection of Gaelic videos has been brought together in a single clip on the Island Voices YouTube channel to enable optional auto-translatable subtitling. This means that even if you have little or no Gaelic you can still listen to the original spoken descriptions while reading the subtitles – whether in Gaelic, or English, or another language – at the same time.
Another alternative for conscious learners of Gaelic who don’t want to use subtitles is to try this Clilstore unit, where video and scrollable transcript are available on the same page, with one-click access to dictionary translation of individual words: http://multidict.net/cs/11235 or https://clilstore.eu/cs/11235.
Còmhradh air Blàr Chàirinis
Probably most people in North Uist recognise the importance of the Gaelic language to the local culture, even if not all speak it themselves. But in the interests of “inclusion” there is an often-felt pressure on Gaelic-speakers to use English more and more, and Gaelic less and less. This can be true, perhaps even particularly so, in community groups with a mission to bring people together around a common interest – such as local history, for example.
This is one of the issues that Comann Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath are attempting to address in new ways through the Ideas Fund “Aire air Sunnd” project, in which the Universities of Aberdeen, St Andrews, and the Highlands and Islands team up to provide research support for well-being initiatives on the island.
Part of the Island Voices contribution is to enable the viewing of selected extracts from the Guthan nan Eilean collection in order to stimulate Gaelic discussion, reminiscence, and ideas, and perhaps the airing of questions and concerns, so creating a contemporary and accessible record of speakers’ thoughts, memories, and opinions. Recordings of these discussions can then be transcribed for wider dissemination to enable any and all interested community members to gain increased knowledge and understanding of local stories, customs, practices, and issues, without first requiring them to be voiced in English.
That’s the theory, at least. Now for the practice! Here’s a first attempt. What do you think? (You can turn subtitles on and off on YouTube, and select a wide range of languages – including English – into which to translate the original Gaelic.)
Members and supporters of Comann Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath, the North Uist Historical Society, view and discuss Norman Maclean’s telling of the Battle of Carinish.
The full transcript is also available as a Wordlinked Clilstore unit here – http://multidict.net/cs/11204 – and here – https://clilstore.eu/cs/11204.
Talk on Tormod
Island Voices Co-ordinator Gordon Wells was delighted to be invited to speak to the University of Arizona Celtic Linguistics Group recently (14th October) about Island Voices, with specific reference to Norman Maclean’s notable contribution to the project. Gordon’s presentation is available online, and includes lots of Island Voices screenshots with live embedded links so that anyone interested can explore the site further.
Here’s the abstract for the talk:
“Gordon’s presentation samples and contextualises some of the multi-faceted mainly Gaelic contributions by the multi-talented creative icon, Norman Maclean, to the “Guthan nan Eilean/Island Voices” online language capture and curation project. These include Norman’s final “Saoghal Thormoid” (“Norman’s World”) series of videoed conversations, recorded in April 2016, in which Norman spoke reflectively of his memories and impressions of bilingual life in Glasgow and the Hebrides from the middle of the Twentieth Century onwards. In addition to offering a vivid first-person voiced and experiential account of Gaelic life over a tumultuous period for the language, the Island Voices adherence to basic linguistic principles also pays dividends in relation to some initially unpredicted spin-off applications. These are discussed in conclusion.”
And here’s the recording of the talk on YouTube, including follow-up comments and questions from the group. Many thanks to the Celtic Linguists of Arizona!
And in a new departure for Island Voices, if you can’t find the time to watch the video, there is a Twitter thread which you can follow to get a quick slide-by-slide commentary on the main points. These also link back to the online PDF, and so to all the embedded webpages referenced if you want to dig deeper into the material at any point.
Gaelic voices on a roll
Looped Island Voices playlists will again be on display in Sgoil Chàirinis, North Uist, at the Comann Eachdraidh Uibhist a Tuath Digital Fèis for the “Aire air Sunnd” well-being project at the beginning of September.
As part of the event, there is a drop-in café where people can stop by for a chat, or simply sample some of the many local Gaelic voices that have been recorded over the years. Gordon Wells will be in attendance, ready to talk to anyone interested in how the collections were made, or who might like to add to the ever-growing archive of recordings.
And on the Saturday morning, Archie Campbell, who has been leading a series of Gaelic walks over the summer, will also be on hand for anyone who likes to chat over a cup of tea. Agus ‘s e a tha math gu bruidhinn! You can view the full programme for the fèis here.
It’s a digital event, so virtual attendance is also possible for those reluctant or unable to attend in person. You can find the event on Facebook. Likewise, the playlists are all accessible online. Use the live links in this bilingual poster, and you can start watching right away!
Community Playlists
A sharpening of focus on the vernacular Hebridean communities has become evident in some Gaelic sociolinguistic research in recent years. In this period, Island Voices has partnered with various related projects, and helped to spread news and discussion of findings and issues.
At the same time, a parallel interest in wider international comparators for the Gaelic context has also been broadcast through Island Voices channels.
Projects with close community links will be on display at the Stornoway conference on Rooting Minority Language Policy in the Speaker Community at the end of August. Series of videos will be viewable in Island Voices playlists, including “Stòras Beò nan Gàidheal”, “Saoghal Thormoid”, “Island Voices Series 1&2” and “International MOOT”.
And the playlists can be viewed remotely as well, with live links embedded in this PDF poster. This also includes additional information about the links between Soillse and Island Voices, and other collaborative research work with other universities in Scotland and internationally.
Under the Gaelic ASR Bonnet
Old Island Voices friend, Will Lamb, delivered some fascinating insights into the development of Automatic Speech Recognition for Scottish Gaelic in a recent seminar for the Soillse inter-university research network. In a step-by-step approach, he outlined the progress made so far, the current state of the art, and plans for further development to a local and international audience representing a range of languages in addition to Gaelic, including Basque, Friulian, and Maltese.
His talk was recorded, and you can view it on the Island Voices Videos YouTube channel:
Will has also made a PDF of his presentation available for anyone who wants to study it in detail. This includes live links to other online sites and resources for further background reading (or viewing).
Here at Island Voices we have, of course, been following the progress of this development closely for some time, and were very pleased to contribute substantially to its initial phases through the provision of our own collection of ready transcribed recordings, which Will generously acknowledges.
The benefit has been mutual, as the ASR project has in turn provided Island Voices with the impetus to develop the subtitling of our videos using the YouTube Closed Caption option. It was nice to see a sample Island Voices clip used in Will’s presentation, as well as one from the Ceòlas collection!
Island Voices Videos
Island Voices Audios
Island Voices - Guthan nan Eilean 