Wednesday 22 August 2012

Gaelic denonyms

Dunedin is Anglicised Gaelic word for Edinburgh (dùn Edeann, where dun = burgh), so it is more Gaelic than the original, yet folk from Dunedin are called Dunedinites. The Gaelic suffix for a demonym (the name of a person from a place) is -ach, where the ch group represents /x/, a voiceless velar fricative like in loch. This sound is present in German, but in English it was lost in Middle English. I think it is a shame as it is a fun sound nearly as much as the Xhosa/Zulu click or the Cymraeg (Welsh) double-el (voiceless lateral fricative). So someone from Dunedin could be a Dunedinnach!
This is not the only one that could be made to sound… well… awesome.
Whereas Albania comes from the Latin alba, meaning white or dawn, Albany comes from the Albion, the Latinised Gaelic word Alba, meaning Scotland. The demonym of Albany, NY, is Albanian —Albany, NZ, has none, unless you count mall-rat as a possible one. Albanian for Albany clashes with Albania's Albanians, so a cool solution could be the Gealic word for Scottish Albannach. However, given that most folk in Albany, NZ, are not Scottish, I am not sure it would work…