Talk:Outer Hebrides/Archive 2

Gaelic names

There needs to be some explanation of the difference between Na h-Eileanan Siar and Na h-Eileanan an Iar (the parliamentary constituency name), both of which redirect to this page --Rumping (talk) 22:14, 2 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

As far as I know they both mean "western isles" and the former is referred to in the hat-note at the top of the article. Ben Mac Dui 11:37, 3 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

But why are they different? Has the translation changed? Incidentally, the Scottish Parliament constituency is now also Na h-Eileanan an Iar rather than Western Isles[1] and the council now seems to be using Na h-Eileanan an Iar in English to describe the islands, for example in this 2011 press notice [2]--Rumping (talk) 20:36, 5 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

And even more glaringly, no discussion at all of "Eilean Siar", despite the redirect from that term, and the numerous mentions of it in the context of the local authority. However, rather than being yet another translation, I think it's actually the genitive plural (i.e. "of the Western Isles", rather than "Western Isle", as might initially be suspected.) So just using "Eilean Siar" as a synonym for the group, or as a shorthand for the council, as I've seen in several places on the web (including the BBC) are probably both incorrect.

As for "Siar" vs "an Iar": as best as I can glean, both are indeed translatable as "Western", but I think have slightly different senses of "to the west" and "in the west", respectively. I would add this to the article, but it really needs at the very least some sort of fact-checking by someone who remotely knows what they're talking about. And come to that, a source. 77.97.15.55 (talk) 20:18, 15 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Missing Reference for Citation

Morris (2001) p. 416

Is cited but no corresponding reference is given. It seems like the reference might be "Pagoeta, Mikel Morris (2001). Europe Phrasebook. Lonely Planet. pp. 416. ISBN -X." based on a similar cited event given on the Scottish Gaelic page. Anyone able to confirm? Mahabhusuku (talk) 16:16, 20 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for pointing this out, and yes you are probably right. However I don't have this publication so rather than make assumptions I've replaced it with a revised ref. It is online, although I can't see an obvious way of retrieving the actual url - it is easy enough to find with a search. Ben Mac Dui 16:27, 21 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]