User talk:Akerbeltz/Tasglann 4

Template:Scottish Placenames

This has been nominated for deletion on the grounds that it is not being used..... "You are invited to comment on the discussion at the template's entry on the Templates for discussion page." Ben MacDui 10:00, 6 February 2011 (UTC)

Sorry - somehow I missed the actual discussion - I honestly don't know except that I think we just started using generic boxes rather than a template. No harm done I think. Ben MacDui 20:12, 26 February 2011 (UTC)

Whithorn

Akerbeltz, since you have something to do with these things, I wonder if you can tell me what the authority of Taigh Mhàrtainn is? Does this have an authentic continuity with pre-modern usage? In early/high medieval sources it is Futerna and [possibly] Rosnat, but Tigh/Tech Martain would make sense too as the house was dedicated to Martin of Tours. Deacon of Pndapetzim (Talk) 18:33, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

Hm all I can tell you in a hurry is that the source for all those three names is Iain Mac an Tàilleir (or rather a source). The taigh/tigh/techvariation is just spelling changes over the ages. Are you wanting to know where Mac an Tàilleir got them from? Akerbeltz (talk) 19:12, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

Tigh/Tech are just Old Irish and British forms supplied by me from witnesses for other like names. ;) Yes, I'd like to know where Iain Mac an Tàilleir got it from ... if you are able to tell me that, that would be great. :) I am just needing to know if it is a genuine form or made up; the *Tigh names for churches are quite old in Britain, but I've no idea if this one is. Regards, Deacon of Pndapetzim (Talk) 19:30, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

Not sure but I can ask him. He certainly doesn't make them up. As far as the taigh goes, that's down to the way the Old Irish declensions disintegrated. Tech used to be the nominative, tige the gentive and tig the dative... plus a few others. Modern Irish went with teach/tigh, Gaelic with t(a)igh. Akerbeltz (talk) 19:51, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

Cheers, that would be very useful! All the best, Deacon of Pndapetzim (Talk) 20:16, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

Did you e'er get the chance to ask about Whithorn?

On another point, on the article Islay the ogg file doesn't match the IPA. The article also lacks a Gaelic ogg. Since this is probably Scotland's most important island historically and since you do these things, could you remedy this? All the best, Deacon of Pndapetzim (Talk) 18:19, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

He hasn't I'm afraid. I listened to Ìle, which sounds fine to me, what do you think is wrong? I'm happy to do more oggs but i can't spot anything on the page which would require them except perhaps the name of the magazine? Which ones were you thinking of? Akerbeltz (talk) 18:23, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

Sad to hear ... it may actually be a matter of some importance. I did come across it in one source (@ p. 180), but it is far from clear why this is referring to Whithorn.

RE the IP; sorry, my mistake. There is a Gaelic one on the side (thought there wasn't one!). The problem was with the English one. He's saying it with the vowel in Scottish English bite rather than Scottish English eye ... I had been led to believe this is əi rather than aɪ. Deacon of Pndapetzim (Talk) 18:32, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

Not for the monoglot

I don't know if you saw my post at WP:ISLET, but Monro's Hebrides is now available. This has all the islands on Monro's 1549 list and attempts to identify them. Any suggestions for modern names based on the Latin and "Erische" are most welcome. Ben MacDui 19:39, 11 March 2011 (UTC)

Keith, Moray

Hi, could you look at this edit? Seems pretty doubtful to me but what do I know? Taing, --Thrissel (talk) 21:30, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

Had a go, what do you think? Akerbeltz (talk) 22:43, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

PS might make more sense to do a page on Gaelic in Moray rather than deal with it village by village, what say you? Akerbeltz (talk) 22:44, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

I guess I think 'Wow, fascinating!' :-)

Yes, that would seem better. My first idea was that it might be better still to incorporate it into a 'Moray' article, but we don't seem to have one, I mean one which would deal with Moray as a general term/historical area with changing boundaries, just ones for particular (former or current) political units... --Thrissel (talk) 01:17, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

Withers IS a good read. Well, a good book for data anyway. We could stick it into the Moray council area, it's broadly the same; I've done sections like that before, ===Gaelic in Moray/Skye/Mull etc. in the demographics section. Please feel free to move it there, the next few days I'll be a bit busy. Akerbeltz (talk) 02:01, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

Done. [1][2] --Thrissel (talk) 11:57, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

Great, mòran taing! Akerbeltz (talk) 13:52, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

'S e do bheatha/same to you! --Thrissel (talk) 17:39, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

Moving over a redirect

Saw your note on Mac's talk page, so I moved it anyway. Note that you don't need to be an admin to reverse a move, provided the redirect created by the original redirect created by the move has not been edited. --NSH001 (talk) 12:55, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

Ah. Ok, thank you very much - both for moving and for teaching me something new! Akerbeltz (talk) 12:58, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

Nire erabiltzaile orrialdearen itzulpena

Kaixo Akerbeltz! Zure erabiltzaile orrian euskaraz badakizula irakurri dudanez, euskaraz idatzi dizut. Nire erabiltzaile orrialdeko testua euskaratik Eskoziako gaelerara itzul al zenezaken eskatu nahiko nizuke. Eskerrik asko aldez aurretik. Ongi izan! - Euskalduna 21:40, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

About pronunciation of the word "Bonawe"

Hallo! Would you like to say me how to pronounciate the name of the hamlet of Bonawe? Which variant is the correct? [boneɪw] or [bonɔː]? And one another quation yet. How to pronunciate the Scottish Gaelic name of this settlement which is written by Englis as Bun Abha, [bʌn ʌbʌ] or [bʌn æbə] or any how else? I need this information beacose I want to write an article about Bonawe and its Furnase on my native language. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Blast furnace chip worker (talk • contribs) 19:28, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

Hiya. Well, how you pronounce it in English depends on the accent, there are some pretty radical difference between Scottish English and Southern English. In Scottish English it would be /bon'ɔː/ (stress on the second syllable). The Gaelic is easier ;) That's [pun'a.ə] in close transcription. Hope that helps. Akerbeltz (talk) 22:31, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

Way not write this careful information in the article Bonawe? What's wrong with a doing of this? Transcription of the word "Bonawe" in the article Bonawe will be very careful information for foreing people who is reading this article. And two quations yet.

Do you know what does mean the word "Bonawe"?

Is the pronunciation [boneɪw] acceptable (permissible) too? Is the pronounciation bahn-uh-way (I read this like [bʌn-ʌ-wei ]) correctly too? Are all these variants permissibles or not? Blast furnace chip worker (talk) 15:46, 29 March 2011 (UTC)

Answering on your talk page. Akerbeltz (talk) 17:01, 29 March 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for your exhaustive answer. It was interesting and careful information. Blast furnace chip worker (talk) 17:25, 29 March 2011 (UTC)

About Taynuilt

Hiya! It is me again. And by this time I want to ask you for help again. Some days ago I wanted to write an article about the village Bonawe. I didn't do that but I'll do that. But before do that I have to solve one new problem.

At present I am specializing in writing of articles about blast furnaces. That is why I took an interest in Bonawe, I fought Bonawe Furnace is located in Bonawe village. But it appears that Bonawe Furnace is located not in Bonawe but in Taynuilt. It seemed to me a bit strange that Bonawe Furnace is located in Taynuilt but have name "Bonawe Furnace". I have wrote an e-mail letter to the site http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/taynuilt/bonawe/ and they explained me the situation. As it has turned out, Bonawe Furnace is in Taynuilt, Bonawe Village is on the other side of Loch Etive. Originally both sides of the Loch were linked by a ferry and the area Bonawe referred to both sides. Well, now I am going to write an article about Taynuilt on my native language.

So, what do I want from you? I want you to help me with pronunciation of the word Taynuilt. My questions are

1. How to prononciate the word "Taynuilt"? Now I prononciate it as [tainuilt]?
2. How to prononciate Gaelic name of this settlement which is Taigh an Uillt?

There is no Atlas on my native language which contains information about such small settlement like Taynuilt is, so I need your halp. Thank you for your attantion and I am sorry for the trouble I am giving you. Blast furnace chip worker (talk) 18:36, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Hehe sure. The Scottish version Taynuilt is normally pronounced /tɛinəlt/, the Gaelic is /t̪ʰɤj ə n̪ˠɯiʎtʲ/ "the house of the stream". Best of luck with your essay! Akerbeltz (talk) 18:41, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for your answer. Now I need to have consult about spelling of the word Taynuilt on my native language with wikipidians from my country (who speak English professionaly) and then I'll start to write the article. Blast furnace chip worker (talk) 19:07, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

You're welcome. By the way, what IS your native language? Akerbeltz (talk) 19:47, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

I'd like ask you one quation before I'll answer your question. I think You are native (Scottish) English speaker or at list about this, so you have listened many variants and foreign accents of the English. Being taking account of my grammatical mistakes you have seen in my texts , can you conjecture where am I from? Is it posible to do that? Blast furnace chip worker (talk) 20:58, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Ufff... I would have guessed a Spanish speaking background but I'm not that good at this sort of thing ;) Akerbeltz (talk) 22:09, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Well, I am not from Spain. I cann't tell you where I live at present because of there is a Privacy policy in Wikipedia but I can tell you where I come from. My motherland is Ukraine (by Scotish Ukraine, by Gàidhlig An Ùcrain ) and my native language is Ukrainian (by Scotish Ukrainian leid, by Gàidhlig Ùcrainis). Blast furnace chip worker (talk) 09:33, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Arbroath

Hi, it occurred to me that it would be good if we had for the anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath the Gaelic pronunciation here, so I'd like to ask - shouldn't it be Obar Bhrothaig (rather than Obair), and is my guess at [ˌɔpəɾ ˈvɾɤikʲ] correct? --Thrissel (talk) 21:22, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Yes, should be Obar Bhrothaig /opəɾ'vɾo.ɪkʲ/ (o before hiatus is almost invariable round o. You almost had it though! Akerbeltz (talk) 21:26, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Wow, that was quick! Implemented, thanks! --Thrissel (talk) 21:41, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Hi, it's me again, this time with Ballachulish - would it be /ˌbaləˈxulɪʃ/ for en and [ˌbaləˈ (ə) ˈxɯ:lɪʃ] for gd? (Currently we have "pronounced Bah - lah - hoolish by incomers"...) --Thrissel (talk) 09:14, 8 May 2011 (UTC)

Yuck. /ˌbaləˈxulɪʃ/ or x~h seems reasonable for English, Gaelic is [baləˈxɯ:lˠ̪ɪʃ]. There's also [glan̪ˠəˈxɯ:lˠ̪ɪʃ] needed a bit further down. Maybe we should use the IPA infobox (see Skye) to keep the IPA for anything but the main name out of the main text, it gets a bit intrusive and we could add the others too, like /peɲəˈve.ɪɾʲ/ /ˈiaɲ ˈkʲʰalˠ̪ɪ/. Akerbeltz (talk) 10:34, 8 May 2011 (UTC)

Good idea, done. Added [glan̪valəˈxɯ:iʎ] by myself, please correct it if it's wrong. Thanks! --Thrissel (talk) 12:34, 8 May 2011 (UTC)

The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other

Thanks for your continuing input at Monro. I hope to add more to Hebrides and I will maybe try and prioritise the remaining queries.

I have noticed it is just the two of us at Talk:Scottish Highlands - the comparison with the 2006 discussion in the great pioneering days is interesting. I am beginning to think the 'pedia is a sort of Expanding Universe in which the expansion is created by the endless increase in new articles but the number of established editors is fixed or diminishing, leaving them spread over a wider and wider territory. Apparently special relativity does not apply and the expansion of space is not constrained by the speed of light. There may therefore come a time when we are each lost in our own vast empires with no means of contacting one another. Serves us right for working in the Αἱβοῦδαι on the Sabbath. Ben MacDui 18:55, 10 April 2011 (UTC)

You're very welcome! And you've hit the nail on the head about the waving. I fear for Wikipedia if more isn't done that gives meaningful support to bona fide editors. It's so easy to break Wikipedia and takes so long to fix and that's not right. Ah well... Akerbeltz (talk) 17:01, 13 April 2011 (UTC)

Biography of Edward Dwelly

What can you tell me about the biography of Edward Dwelly by Peter Berresford Ellis? --DThomsen8 (talk) 15:46, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

Chear free days

I am struggling to find anything that would provide a meaningful derivation for Eileanan Chearabhaigh. "Dusky islands", "Cheara's bay islands"? Any suggestions gratefully received. You might also enjoy a chuckle at the pronunciation note at Hugh of Sleat. Ben MacDui 09:09, 17 April 2011 (UTC)

<winces> thanks for mentioning that one. I'll think about Cearsabhaigh. Akerbeltz (talk) 18:13, 17 April 2011 (UTC)

Achetta zaldi

Hi! I think you will like this (if you haven't already seen it). I notice that the Euskara article on the Giara Horse, of which unfortunately I cannot understand one word, is entitled Achetta zaldi; the Dutch one is also under Achetta. I had thought that this achetta as applied to the Giara Horse was simply a mistake, as Sardinian dictionaries of the 19th century give achetu/acheta to mean a medium or small horse without specification of breed; but am coming to think that the distinction of breeds had just not developed at that time. Anyway, probably the article should be moved to Giara zaldi, as achetta is a near-obsolete word (not in sc.wikipedia), and the little horse is now called "Giara". But: imagine my pleasure at reading today that achetta derives from the old Spanish haca, and thus from "Hackney"!
Justlettersandnumbers (talk) 16:17, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Ya the dutch page also uses this name. I looked up both on the main Sardinian dictionary, both terms I think are equally vague. Giàra [3] just means "plateau/tableland" in Sardinian. Acheta/Achétu ("small horse") seems to be linked to àca (also "small horse") but also under the variant "vacheta" which looks more like the root for cow. Now there's any number of possible explanations... I'll check more sources but I'll also drop a note to the Basque teams, thanks for mentioning it! Akerbeltz (talk) 16:55, 25 April 2011 (UTC)

Well, I certainly don't want to attempt to comment on an article I can't read. But if the link from Giara horse to eu:Achetta zaldi is correctly made, then the name could perhaps be changed. The horse is today called Cavallino della Giara, and is named after the largest of the giare, the Giara di Gesturi, where it now mostly lives. I have now idea how recent or ancient that name is, but suspect the former. Achetta is not in common use today; I asked a Sardinian about it last night, and got only a blank look.Justlettersandnumbers (talk) 10:09, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

Looks like it is. I've added some info. Asking a Sardinian per se is tricky, Gallurese, spoken at the northern end, is technically a Corsican dialect rather than Sardinian. It's complicated ;) But by gum does "hackney" get around. Akerbeltz (talk) 11:42, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

Hackney carriage

Thanks for rewriting that bit on the place-name. It had seemed like something that had just been thrown in there without regard for the paragraph. Cheers. Derekbd (talk) 04:28, 1 May 2011 (UTC)

No probs, glad you're happy with it now! Akerbeltz (talk) 10:05, 1 May 2011 (UTC)

Paleosardinian

Hey Akerbeltz,

I just created a stub at Paleo-Sardinian language. I haven't had a chance to look at Ferrer 2010, who evidently believes there's a Basque connection, but it's been "synthesized" here. What do you think of the toponyms (end of article)? Is Paleosardo worth linking from Basque or Iberian? — kwami (talk) 23:35, 7 May 2011 (UTC)

There's a scathing evaluation of Ferrer somewhere, though I can't think of it just now. Paleo-Sardinian does look weird and non-IE but the Basque link has been tried and found to be wanting before. At a glance, it looks like the usual surface junk theory. He includes mando which is almost unversally seens as a Celtic loan these days. Akerbeltz (talk) 02:21, 8 May 2011 (UTC)

Single and double sonorant spellings in Scottish Gaelic

You deemed wrong and removed my assertion at Scottish Gaelic phonology that

... after the start of a word, ll nn rr spell the unlenited values and l n r the lenited values.

Could you explain how it's wrong?

The most compact description of the facts I can see says that the 'basic' spellings for the left side of the table are b c f d g ll m nn p rr s t, for the right side bh ch dh fh gh l mh n ph r sh th; but spellings with an double letter word-initially are illicit, and so the left side l n r are written singly word-initially and the two fall together.

Going by Scottish Gaelic orthography (which is, ruefully, organised so that generalisations are far from apparent), the only points of divergence I see are

• initial slender lenited n is said to be /n/, not /ɲ/, which contradicts the table that remains at Scottish Gaelic phonology currently!
• non-initial slender n is /n/ only after a front vowel, and /ɲ/ after a back
• non-initial slender r is /ɾʲ/

Was the last of these the focus of your objection? I would want to analyse the situation so that the lenited version of the slender R archiphoneme is /ɾʲ/, but that the slender R archiphoneme doesn't occur initially at all, i.e. it's broad even where spelled with a front vowel. 4pq1injbok (talk) 02:10, 20 May 2011 (UTC)

It's dangerous to refer to the phonetic values of lnr as "lenited" and "unlenited" for starters. Not every weak lnr is in a lenited position. You could talk of "strong" and "weak" but that would still leave the problem that the way you formulated that sentence, every single lnr would by default be weak, which isn't the case. After a back vowel, single slender n is realised as /ɲ/ for example (cuin(e) > /kʰuɲə/).

The two columns are broadly correct, however, any list of unlenited/strong sounds must include single lnr.

Good catch regarding the lenition of /ɲ/ on the GP page, I just corrected that. The layout isn't helping there...

Regarding R, even though it looks logical to a linguist, slender strong R is never /ɾʲ/ (i.e. rionnag /rˠun̪ˠak/ > mo rionnag /mə run̪ˠak/, NOT /mə ɾʲun̪ˠak/. In the case of strong/double r(r), the indication of slenderness at best has an effect on the vowel, never the consonant (anymore). The loss of the slender R is just too far back in history.

Hope that's a bit clearer :) Akerbeltz (talk) 09:56, 20 May 2011 (UTC)

Yeah, that helps; at least I know what your objection is, now. Thanks!

Is there at least a true statement to a similar effect that one might put there, without engendering more confusion than it clears? 4pq1injbok (talk) 02:18, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

You're welcome! It's not the most obvious of writing systems, even if it IS very regular. I've added something. I can add another statement on their lenited values but wouldn't that get too long and overlap with the Lenition article? Akerbeltz (talk) 10:52, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

Funee you should say that...

I am working on a new article about Funzie Girt dyke, which is apparently pronounced "[fin-ee girt]". In my first ever attempt to get to grips with IPA I have guessed /fɪɳi ɡɪrt/. Brickbats expected and corrections welcome. Ben MacDui 11:52, 21 May 2011 (UTC)

I'm assuming it's the (Scottish) English pronunciation you are wanting? I think you're close, I'd just tweak it to /fɪnji ɡɪrt/ because English doesn't really do true palatals, it usually just adds on a glide. I've just checked Chambers Scots dictionary and they also transcribe sequences like -lunzie as /nj/. Hope that helps - look forward to seeing it, it sounds bizarre :) Akerbeltz (talk) 12:24, 21 May 2011 (UTC)

Nice. The other spelling rang a bell, you know of the Muckle Reel of Finnigirt? Akerbeltz (talk) 12:30, 21 May 2011 (UTC)

Many thanks. I'm afraid I don't know the reel - is it played in your part or the world? Ben MacDui 14:04, 21 May 2011 (UTC)

You're welcome! I don't personally either, I just remember the name from a uni lecture cause it was so amusing. Akerbeltz (talk) 14:08, 21 May 2011 (UTC)

It has been suggested you may be able to help on a similar audio pronunciation issue - see Talk:Uí Ímair. Ben MacDui 18:04, 19 June 2011 (UTC)

Please see my comments in voiceless alveolar retroflex sibilant

Thanks. Benwing (talk) 21:37, 5 June 2011 (UTC)

It is still a redlink for you? I see the content. Benwing (talk) 01:05, 20 June 2011 (UTC)

it's good now! Akerbeltz (talk) 01:28, 20 June 2011 (UTC)

Lovari

Hello Akerbeltz,

This kind of comments are not OK. It was clearly not vandalism but a random editor not knowing how to create a new article and a disambiguation page. You have been around for a while and should know better than that. I have doubts myself that this Lovari character is notable enough to deserve its own article but this still does not make it "vandalism". Thanks, --Phagopsych (talk) 11:47, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

Yes it was. If you check the history, you'll see that it started out very politely with me helping the editor shift the content to a separate page on the artist. Which then got deleted under whatever rule for not being notable and a copyvio. The content since keeps re-appearing on the language page. So frankly, yes, I'm entitled to calling it vandalism and while I appreciate friendly notes regarding manners on Wikipedia, on this occasion I feel more than irked for being got at over loosing my patience over Wikipedia's endemic problem of IP junkies who cost more serious editors no end of timewasting.

Perhaps it would pay to check the history a little bit more carefully before chiding a regular editor over a spat with some IP nutter, at least if we want to keep the regulars moderately happy. Akerbeltz (talk) 11:58, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

OK, I understand. Have you considered asking for semi-protection? Thanks, --Phagopsych (talk) 15:54, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

Nah, it never really works. Most semi-protects come with a time-limit. Every now and then someone semi-protects Ignatius of Loyola and we have a couple of weeks peace, then it's back to vandal central. Until Wikipedia bars IP editing, not much hope - you'd be forever pestering an admin over a semi-protect and on that page, it's annoying but relatively low-level. Akerbeltz (talk) 16:28, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

Hello

Hello Akerbeltz

Your right my fault. Swedes and Norwegians were a bad example. I wanted to point out that language and ethnicity have not to mean the same.Wikisupporting (talk) 23:14, 3 July 2011 (UTC)

3753 Cruithne

"3753 Cruithne (/ˈkrɪnjə/, from Old Irish [ˈkrɪθnɛ]; Modern [ˈkrɪhnʲə] or [ˈkrɪnʲə]) is an asteroid in orbit around the Sun in approximate 1:1 orbital resonance with the Earth... Cruithne was discovered on October 10, 1986, by Duncan Waldron on a photographic plate taken with the UK Schmidt Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory, Coonabarabran, Australia...The asteroid is named after the Cruithne or Cruthin, a people of early medieval Ireland."

De ur beachd air? Se Albannach a tha ann an Waldron.--MacRusgail (talk) 14:10, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

User Dr.Marcu

Wouldn't take this editors comments too much to heart. They have a brief opportunity to learn how to conduct themselves constructively from the 'welcome links' I posted at their User Talk, but recent posts by them at Talk:Romani people appear deliberately provocative if not disingenuous. Unless they show a radical improvement in interactions with other eds. then their Wiki career will be short indeed. Best. RashersTierney (talk) 00:37, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

Well, yes and no. I'm not getting upset about it but irrespective of his accusations of being anti-Romani (which I find both sad and amusing for personal reasons), I don't think it's right to let such offensive behaviour get away unchallenged. I doubt I can change his views but I guess it's important to me that I made it known that I won't just take such accusations against any ethnicity.

But thank you for your note, much appreciated! Akerbeltz (talk) 01:17, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

Hatnote

Well spotted. I thought that issue was well and truly put to bed. Best. RashersTierney (talk) 11:56, 5 August 2011 (UTC)

LOL you're welcome - I've come to realise nothing on Wikipedia is ever well and truly put to bed, there's always a new eager beaver somehwere! Akerbeltz (talk) 12:48, 5 August 2011 (UTC)

Ell, Vaquero

Hi! Given your familiarity with etymologies and with things Scottish, could I ask if you might have time to take a quick look at Ell, where I cn-tagged two differing derivations of the word in England and Scotland, which have promptly been replaced by two different, and still differing, derivations? It seems counter-intuitive that the same word should have different origins on the two sides of the border. My uninformed guess is that all four are part of the story, but I don't have the skills to put them in order.

I wondered if you might also glance at Vaquero, where a rather tempting derivation from Arabic baqar, cow, or baqqār, cowherd, has been postulated as an alternative to the 'obvious' one from vaca. Thanks!
Justlettersandnumbers (talk) 10:03, 10 August 2011 (UTC)

Being the one who's done the replacement at Ell I'll butt in: I don't think there are two different derivations. The OED etymology says (in case you can't access it, it being subscription-only):

Etymology: Common Germanic: Old English ęln, strong feminine = Middle Dutch elne, elle (Dutch el), Old High German elina (Middle High German elne, modern German elle), Old Norse ǫln, alin (Swedish aln, Danish alen), Gothic aleina (? scribal error for *alina) cubit < Old Germanic *alinâ, whence medieval Latin alena, Italian alna, Old Spanish alna, Old Portuguese alna, French aune. The Old Germanic word (a compound of which is elbow n.) meant originally arm or fore-arm, and is cognate with Greek ὠλένη, Latin ulna, of same meaning.

As Middle English was a predecessor of Scots, I think it's the same root. Mostly I wanted to replace the unsourced claim that it came into Scots "from the Latin ulnia", as the two sources seem to me to imply that that was not the case. Nevertheless, I only cited the pages in such a way as not to be accused of OR. --Thrissel (talk) 18:52, 10 August 2011 (UTC)

FYI the Ell part was moved to Talk:Ell#Etymology. --Thrissel (talk) 15:36, 11 August 2011 (UTC)

What Thrissel said seems to make good sense to me, as you suggested yourself, why go for complicated if there's a simple explanation. Akerbeltz (talk) 00:42, 16 August 2011 (UTC)

Araba/Álava

Hi,

I'm pretty new to this, but regarding the Basque bowls page, I was under the impression that the official name for the province of Álava is Araba/Álava. http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2011/07/06/pdfs/BOE-A-2011-11606.pdf Thanks

Skkeo00 (talk) 00:34, 16 August 2011 (UTC)

Hiya, thanks for the message. Yes, that's the official name in Spain but that doesn't necessarily mean we use it on the English Wikipedia. We had a long debate last year and decided on a set of names we were going to use because virtually every page used a different spelling or convention. Have a look at Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Basque, that should explain how we came to that conclusion.

But pleased that someone else is taking an interest in the article, it was quite a difficult page to write! Akerbeltz (talk) 00:40, 16 August 2011 (UTC)

Disruption by some user

Sorry for intruding on your talk page. I just wanted to ask you whether you could move Catalan separatism back to Catalan independentism, as i can't undo this move, or if you could tell me where I can report these random and untempered changes by anti-Catalan/Basque/Galician users. The reason for me to ask you this is because I saw you have already reverted the same person. Thanks. Jɑυмe (xarrades) 20:10, 3 September 2011 (UTC)

Done, as this person clearly did not observe protocol in moving the page in the first place. At the very least they would have had to place a move tag and put it up for debate. Akerbeltz (talk) 20:30, 3 September 2011 (UTC)

Task force template

Do you know any friendly admins who would be able to edit the WP Scotland Template to include the task force's code? I've placed the code on the talk page but it might not get noticed for a while and it would very much help to get the code in as fast as possible. I've placed and admin-help tag on the talk page although I'm not quite sure that's how its meant to be used. JoshuaJohnLee ^{talk softly, please} 16:03, 6 September 2011 (UTC)

I'm fairly certain User:Ben MacDui keeps an eye on that page. Let's wait another couple of days and if nothing happens, we'll drop him a message. Akerbeltz (talk) 16:37, 6 September 2011 (UTC)

Nitpicking as aye

Are you sure Scotia can be called a Main article for Scottish Gaelic#Nomenclature, given the former deals with naming the country and the people but has no mention of naming the (Gaelic) language? --Thrissel (talk) 21:01, 10 September 2011 (UTC)

It's not ideal... if you know of a better tag, feel free. Akerbeltz (talk) 21:03, 10 September 2011 (UTC)

Thanks, I've given it a try. --Thrissel (talk) 22:11, 10 September 2011 (UTC)

Ah much better thanks, I'd forgotten about that one. Akerbeltz (talk) 16:32, 12 September 2011 (UTC)

About Queenshill

Hello! I need your help. I’d like to ask you about pronunciation of the name of the “Queenshill” wich is near Kirkcudbright. Scottish inventor James Beaumont Neilson lived there. His estate was at Queenshill. So, how to pronunciate this word? [kwi:n ʃɪl] or [kwiːnz hɪl] ? Which variant is correct? The quation may seem strange to you but it is realy incomprehensible. There are no article about Neilson in Ukrainian Soviet Encyclopedia or another modern Ukrainian Encyclopedia. Therefore there no mention of the “Queenshill” wich is near Kirkcudbright there. Great Soviet Encyclopedia has an article about Neilson so there is the mention about Queenshill on Russian language as Куиншил [kwi:n ʃɪl]. But Googlmaps reproduce Queenshill of different sites of Britain on Russian language as Куинсхилл [kwiːnz hɪl]. So wich variant is correct? I am sorry to trouble you. Blast furnace chip worker (talk) 20:10, 6 October 2011 (UTC)

Scottish English still isn't my forte but [kwiːnz hɪl] looks good to me. Akerbeltz (talk) 22:29, 6 October 2011 (UTC)

Thank you. I'll ask somebody else. Blast furnace chip worker (talk) 13:19, 7 October 2011 (UTC)

October 2011

I'll resist the temptation to send you a warning template. Just take this as a polite request to stick to commenting on the arguments rather than the people making them. "Ignorant" is a personal attack and continuing to do this is highly likely to get you blocked. Your call of course, but it it not only possible but highly desirable to disagree with people without insulting them. Take care, --John (talk) 03:09, 1 November 2011 (UTC)

I'd like to see you try justifying that in front of other admins. The sheer ignorance one can encounter was a general statement about Wikipedia which you can hardly construe as a NPA. And And just because you are ignorant of sources states that I suspect you are unfamiliar with the sources. It does not claim that you are ignorant overall. Check a dictionary. And as far as I read the NPA, ignorant is not on the list anyway. So overall nice try. Akerbeltz (talk) 10:30, 1 November 2011 (UTC)

clock (n.)

Surprising to me too, but this source would appear to support User Radbot's contention. RashersTierney (talk) 00:07, 9 November 2011 (UTC)

The OED is much more tentative about it. We could restore it but should that list have words on it which are "maybe" of OI origin? Thanks for pointing that out, let's take it to talk. Akerbeltz (talk) 13:37, 9 November 2011 (UTC)

Beurla Reagaird

Yes, that seemed highly unlikely to me as well. I am guessing that a naive user saw that fieldname and did not check his resultant output. (In software management, this is a familiar scenario.)
But, then again, Bolivia made absolutely everything there official, didn't they?
And with Scots Nationalists around, it is conceivable that they could say, "Let's do the same; we will only have to allow for 10 actual speakers."
Cheers, Varlaam (talk) 15:34, 17 December 2011 (UTC)

LOL true stranger things have happened but BR must be Scotland's best kept secret, I've been in Gaelic linguistics for over a decade and only came across it last year so I doubt any politician has heard of it ;) Akerbeltz (talk) 18:03, 17 December 2011 (UTC)

A decade of Gaelic linguistics? My hat's off to you, man.

I'm still struggling with something easy, Arabic.

Celtic languages hurt my brain. Ouch. Leave my brain alone, Celts and Gaels.

Varlaam (talk) 17:33, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

They're good fun. At least they write their vowels :b Akerbeltz (talk) 21:57, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

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Which is the twelfth?

Hi, I know the usual set of ten irregular verbs given in TYGs &c (abair, beir, cluinn, dèan, faic, faigh, rach, ruig, thig, thoir) plus of course there is bi, but which is the 12th? I suppose it can't be a defective one as there are more of those than just one. --Thrissel (talk) 21:27, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

there's bi and is (which is defective but in an irregular way; theab and faod for example are defective, but regular (i.e. dh'fhadadh, faodar etc are regular) but is/bu/b'/as/ (including the zero I guess) is irregular and defective. I guess you could argue either way. Akerbeltz (talk) 21:37, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

I see. Yes, it makes sense, it hasn't occurred to me that where the other defective verbs do decline they do so regularly. Thanks! --Thrissel (talk) 21:45, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

'S e do bheatha :) Akerbeltz (talk) 21:46, 29 December 2011 (UTC)