Tag Archives: Names

Wait…that didn’t sound like Jamie? Who is Seumas Ruadh?

Outlander Character Names in Gàidhlig

So, now that many of us have seen episode 101 of Outlander (crossing fingers that EVERYONE will be able to see it soon), we have had our first chance to really appreciate the Gàidhlig language use in the show. (See my previous blog posts for more about the Gàidhlig in episode 101).

I thought it might be useful to point out that the Outlander character names are different in Gàidhlig than in English. This means that when addressed in Gàidhlig, we will not hear the names to which we are all so accustomed.

To help, I have created the following cheat sheet. I am providing my own pronunciation guides, so I will apologize in advance for them not being up to Àdhamh’s standards. I hope to remedy that eventually but he’s a busy lad at the moment.

Update: Hey! Guess Àdhamh found a spare moment, or my representations were really bad. The post is now updated with his pronunciation representations.

This list will likely grow over time, but let’s start with the biggies for now.

 

Jamie :      Seumas //SHAMEuss/ sometimes Seamus Ruadh //SHAMEuss ROOa/

Colum:      Calum /colum/

Dougal:     Dùghall /doool/

Murtagh : Murchadh /MOORAchugh/ ch as “loch”/ This is a hard one. Here is a link to an audio clip. Note only the first part is Murchadh, the second part is a last name, MacBhriain.

Rupert:     Ràibeart  /RAAbursht/

Claire:       Sorcha /SAWRucha/

I hope this little list will help you pick out whom is being addressed in Gàidhlig! Happy viewing.

Updated 6/30/14 : So what is your ‘Official Outlander name’ in Gàidhlig?

Àdhamh Ó Broin (@an_comhghallach) has most kindly been running an Outlander Fan name translation service via Twitter. 😉  Just find your name below and then use your imagination to hear Àdhamh saying the following in his best ‘How to Speak Outlander’ voice:

 “Say it with me,  __insert your Gàidhlig name here__ . You now have your own official OUTLANDER name! Latha math leibh!”

As I see new names come across Twitter, I’ll add them here. If there is no pronunciation guide, then it is pronounced the same as English. Also, keep in mind that because some of our more modern names don’t truly exist in Gàidhlig, what is given here is an approximation using the equivalent Gàidhlig spelling for the English sounds.

Abagail /AHbagle/ – Abigail  ‘gle’ like in waggle

Àdailin /AHdaleen/ – Adeline

Alàna / / – Alana

Àlasan / ALison – Alison

Continue reading →

How to speak Outlander Lesson 4: Laoghaire and Geillis

In Lesson 4, Àdhamh is kind enough to introduce us to Nell and Lotte for lessons in how to pronounce some challenging character names. Hmm is that challenging as in ‘hard to pronounce’ or challenging as in ‘We love to hate them.’ I’ll let you decide. Either way proper pronunciation would be very helpful.

P.S. I see still more people I recognize from the LA event!