An Litir Bheag 840

Tha an saoghal air a bhith ann an grèim galair. A bheil am briathrachas agaibh airson bruidhinn mu dheidhinn ‘Covid-19’ ann an Gàidhlig? An toiseach, a’ Ghàidhlig air virus. ’S e sin bhìoras le ‘bh’. Canaidh sinn a’ bhìoras airson ‘the virus’. Agus coronavirus? Uill, tha sin furasta – coròna-bhìoras. Coròna-bhìoras. Bidh sinn a’ bruidhinn air Covid-19 cuideachd. Agus bidh sinn a’ sgrìobhadh sin le ‘v’ seach ‘bh’.

Bidh sinn ag ràdh galar airson infectious disease. Nuair a tha e a’ sgaoileadh gu mòr, ’s e mòr-ghalar no galar-sgaoilte a th’ ann – an epidemic. Ach dè mu dheidhinn pandemic – nuair a bhios galar sgaoilte air feadh an t-saoghail? ’S e sin galar mòr-sgaoilte. Tha sin a’ dèanamh ciall, nach eil? Galar mòr-sgaoilte. Bidh gu leòr, ge-tà, a cleachdadh pandemic, mar a tha ann am Beurla. 

Agus infection? Uill, tha am facal fillte galar-ghabhail ann. Tha an ìre de ghalar-ghabhail ro mhòr an-dràsta. The rate of infection is too great just now. Ghabh e Covid-19. He caught or was infected by Covid-19. Tha gabhaltach a’ ciallachadh infectious. Tha an galar seo uabhasach fhèin gabhaltach. Tha na gnèithean ùra dhen bhìoras nas gabhaltaiche. The new strains of the virus are more infectious.

Bu mhath leam a-nise sùil a thoirt air na fuasglaidhean airson Covid-19. Tha dìonachd no ion-dhìonachd a’ ciallachadh immunity. Chan eil dìonachd – no dìreach dìon – on ghalar seo aig gu leòr de dhaoine fhathast. Aig a’ cheann thall, ’s e ion-dhìonachd sluaigh a bhios mar fhuasgladh dhuinn. Sin herd immunity, nuair a tha dìon on ghalar aig earrann mhòr dhen t-sluagh.

Tha dà dhòigh airson ion-dhìonachd sluaigh a bhith ann. Anns a’ chiad àite, le sgaoileadh a’ ghalair fhèin. Bhiodh gu leòr a’ tighinn beò, agus iad air an dìon. Bhiodh anti-cuirp aca. Anti-cuirp – antibodies. Ach le Covid-19, bhiodh mòran daoine a’ faighinn bàs.

’S e an dòigh eile – a’ bhanachdach. Vaccination no vaccine. Gheibh daoine snàthad leis a’ bhanachdach ann. Agus bidh am bodhaigean a’ cruthachadh anti-cuirp. 

Sin briathrachas feumail dhuibh. Bidh sinn beò an dòchas nach bi sinn feumach air, ach airson ùine bheag a bharrachd.

The world has been in the grip of a disease. Do you have the vocabulary to speak about Covid-19 in Gaelic? To begin with, the Gaelic for virus. That’s bhìoras with a ‘bh’. We say a’ bhìoras for ‘the virus’. And coronavirus? Well, that’s easy – coròna-bhìoras. Coròna-bhìoras. We also speak about Covid-19. And we write that with a ‘v’ rather than a ‘bh’.

We say galar for infectious disease. When it spreads a great deal, it is a mòr-ghalar or galar-sgaoilte – an epidemic. But what about a pandemic – when a disease is spread throughout the world? That’s a galar mòr-sgaoilte. That makes sense, doesn’t it? Galar mòr-sgaoilte. Plenty of folk, however, use ‘pandemic’, as it is in English. 

And ‘infection’? Well, there is the word galar-ghabhail.Tha an ìre de ghalar-ghabhail ro mhòr an-dràsta. The rate of infection is too great just now. Ghabh e Covid-19. He caught or was infected by Covid-19. Gabhaltach means infectious. This disease is particularly infectious. Tha na gnèithean ùra dhen bhìoras nas gabhaltaiche. The new strains of the virus are more infectious.

I would like now to look at the solutions for Covid-19. Dìonachd or ion-dhìonachd mean ‘immunity’. Not enough people are yet protected from the disease. In the fullness of time, it is ion-dhìonachd sluaigh that will be our solution. That is [means] ‘herd immunity’, when a large section of the population are protected from the disease.

There are two ways to achieve herd immunity. In the first place, with the spread of the disease itself. Plenty of people would survive, protected. They would have anti-cuirp. Anti-cuirp – antibodies. But with Covid-19, many people would die.

The other way is [with] a’ bhanachdach. Vaccination or vaccine. People [will] get a jag [needle] with the vaccine in it. And their bodies will create antibodies. 

That’s a useful vocabulary for you. We shall live in hope that we won’t need it, except for a short time ahead.