A’ faighneachd Mhic-Talla [Asking the Echo]: A corpus-based approach to vernacular classification of Gaelic songs

Abstract

Although Gaelic songs are an important facet to Gaelic cultural heritage, no study to date has systematically examined vernacular classifications of Gaelic songs. Due to this omission, digital archives may utilise foreign terminologies as descriptive metadata to classify Gaelic songs. These labels will influence how Gaels and non-Gaels interpret and understand Gaelic culture. Potential misrepresentations in archives can lead to a dilution of Gaelic culture. This study addresses this gap by utilising corpus linguistic methods to analyse adjectival and genitive constructions of the most common Gaelic word for song-poem, òran, and a dialectal variation amhran, while also observing vernacular categories in concordance of òran and amhran and traits of broader classification from the Gaels’ own narratives in the longest-running, all-Gaelic newspaper Mac-Talla (1892–1904). Forty-nine vernacular categories were observed along with various broader classifications such as melodic quality, age, taste, and bard. By engaging with Gaelic vernacular knowledge, this research aims to contribute to the discourse and development of culturally sensitive metadata for Gaelic songs in digital archives.