Gàidhlig / English
Tura-chadal

Tura-chadal

Posted by Edit on 27 April 2017

This week I am going to look at the word tura-chadal. It was collected in Tiree for the Fieldwork Archive, and refers to a phenomenon I witnessed on the train this morning: nodding off to sleep and waking up every five minutes.

This word seems to be rather uncommon but there are a few examples of it to be found: tur-chadal appears in Dwelly with the definition ‘slumber, dozing’ and ‘lethargy, drowsiness’. In addition, turra-chadal appears in MacBain’s dictionary, where it is suggested that the first part of the word comes from turraban or turraman, ‘rocking of the body’.

Turraban and many other forms of the word, such as turramaich, turradan and turraman, appear in Dwelly with the meaning ‘vibration, oscillation’ and also ‘nodding as in sleep’. According to the same source, a similar word – air thurrachdain – was used in Arran for ‘shaking’. In addition, there seems to have been an old Highland dance called Turraban nan tunnag, ‘the waddling of the ducks’.

If you have more information on tur(r)a-chadal or turraban, please let us know below or on our Facebook or Twitter pages!
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