Place Names of Scotland-Level 1 – Online: 29 October 2024

This course will be taught in English; no knowledge of Gaelic or linguistics is needed. It offers an opportunity to learn about the relationship between language and place, culture and landscape within a Scottish context. The course will appeal to anyone with an interest in Scottish landscape, language and culture.

Topics to be covered include:

• The various languages of Scotland and their influence on place-names: Norse, Pictish/Brittonic, English/Scots, and Gaelic.
• How place-names operate from a linguistic perspective and how they are constructed, and how they evolve over time.
• Gaelic elements describing hills, mountains, rivers, and settlements and how they are applied to the landscape and how they appear on maps.
• The role of place-names within the Gaelic oral culture, in relation to folklore, stories and proverbs.
• How to research place-names yourself, including conducting fieldwork, archival research and linguistic analysis.
• The basics of the pronunciation of Gaelic.

The course will comprise seven weekly online sessions as informal presentations followed by opportunities for discussion.