A NEW online thesaurus for Gaelic speakers interested in the historical environment has been created, with more than 4,000 terms included.
It is part of the effort to promote Gaelic in as many areas of Scottish life as possible, to save it from extinction as a relevant living language. But it will also afford the user an insight into the historical landscape through the language via which much of it was first defined.
Terminology relating to areas such as architecture, archaeology and history as well as place names for many historical sites is featured.
One example includes the English term "gallows mound", a natural or man-made earth mound on which a gallows was erected for executions. In Gaelic it is Cnoc a'Chrochadair.
The initiative has been launched as a joint project by Historic Scotland and the Royal Commission for the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, with financial support from Bòrd na Gàidhlig, the statutory language development agency.
Alasdair MacCaluim, Historic Scotland Gaelic language and policy officer, said: "The thesaurus is an invaluable aid for translators or anybody with an interest in reading or writing about Scotland's historical environment in Gaelic."
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