I NOTE with interest the controversy over the use of Gaelic/English signage (Letters, October 19 & 21). I see the word “culture” bandied about, whereas the prime, and surely the only function of road signs should be to specifically inform. This they cannot do if (like dual language signs) they are crammed with superfluous and essentially duplicated information. Ordinary drivers are not pilots, trained to take in and evaluate copious amounts of information in a short time-span (try driving through Fort William which is a sea of such signs).
If you must have Gaelic signs, by all means do so, but separately so that (like the admirable motorway signage) the relevant sign readily imparts the information any driver needs at a glance.
Has anyone asked the road safety organisations (Institute of Advanced Motorists, AA, RAC) for their views? I would be amazed if these organisations endorsed the use of dual-language signs. Accordingly, it is suggested that such usage becomes counter-productive in terms of promoting the Gaelic language.
A driver’s concentration should be focused on the carriageway with the minimum of distractions. Are there figures to show how many (if at all) drivers out there only speak Gaelic, and therefore rely on Gaelic signs?
Richard S G Nicoll,
157 Pappert, Alexandria.
MY letter about Gaelic provoked a predictable response). At the risk of confirming my status as master of the blindingly obvious I should point out that my detractors had to reply in English otherwise, as was graphically demonstrated in the road-sign illustration you used; 99 per cent of your readers and 100 per cent of visitors would not have a clue what they were talking about.
The same will apply to any new signage that PR companies will recommend to Police Scotland; 99 per cent of us have nothing to gain from it irrespective of how the word “police” has been Gaelicified (have I invented a new word or does it already exist for the myriad of other loanwords in current use by Gaelic speakers?). Cost and resources will be a factor in any rebranding of the police and to assume otherwise is naïve.
Contrary to Tom Johnston’s assumptions I and others don’t panic when we see bilingual road-signs but may rather muse on how the Gaelic morphed into its current English version, perhaps not best practice while travelling at 70mph. I have panicked however in the Gaeltacht in Donegal where the Thought Police only erect signs in Gaelic; very helpful, not. There are many Scottish place-names of Norse derivation, should we all wear winged helmets and woolly leg-warmers? Does it really matter what logo is on a copper's uniform when he is chasing you? Can Gaelic-speakers not read English? If not why not?
Being of Lowland Scots ancestry I have no personal ties to the Gaelic language or culture but wish no harm to those who do, yet to pretend that the majority of living Scots see it as a matter of priority is just that, pretence, tokenism. If it was a matter of choice would most Scots rather have a better NHS or more teachers than have their taxes spent road signs in Gaelic? The reality is, just as in Ireland, that despite the input of public funds to try to sustain it, that Gaelic is heading for the exit.
David J Crawford,
Flat 3/3 131 Shuna Street, Glasgow.
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