Gàidhlig / English
Clàdan

Clàdan

Posted by Edit on Thursday 2nd March

This week’s word is clàdan (pl. clàdain), one of many Gaelic words for ‘snowflake.’ Tiree is one of the places in which it was recorded for the Fieldwork Archive, and it is also mentioned that it has a particular local meaning. In Tiree, clàdan (or clàdan sneachda) would be used for the kind of snowflakes that appear at the end of winter or the beginning of spring when the weather is not so cold  – a clàdan would be wet and large enough to cover a penny.

As mentioned, there is a multitude of words in Gaelic for ‘snowflake’ and these words vary according to area. If you look at the words that have been collected for ‘snowflake’ in the Fieldwork Archive, you will see that bleideag is used in Lewis and Harris, clèideag in Uist and clòineag or lòineag in Skye and on the mainlaind in Ross-shire. Clàdan is used in Tiree and Coll, and also further south in Islay. Interestingly, a word which is similar to clàdan – clamhuinn – was recorded in Barra, which is geographically closer to Tiree than to either Lewis and Harris. The different words for snowflake may be viewed as a clear example of dialectal variation in Gaelic!

The particular meaning of clàdan mentioned above does not seem to be very common, however. It seems likely that clàdan mostly is used for snowflake in general.

There is more to read about words for snowflake in Gaelic in the article ‘Caochlaideachd Leicseachail agus “snowflakes” sa Ghàidhlig’ (in Cànan agus Cultar / Language and Culture, Edinburgh: Dunedin, 2010) by Roibeard Ó Maolalaigh.

Are you familiar with clàdan and its special meaning mentioned here? Which word do you use for snowflake yourself? If you have any knowledge or opinions on this matter, we would be happy to hear from you below or on Facebook or Twitter.
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