So, you're celebrating Samhain, but do you know how to pronounce it?

Never try to understand how gaelic words came to be spelled the way they are. That way madness lies.

For instance, bh is clearly a V as in Siobhan. GUESS AGAIN because mh is V in Niamh! It makes zero sense. I lived in Scotland for 8 years, during which time I learned the hard way to just smile, nod, and pretend everything is fine. (Presumably it has something to do with confounding the English, but I’m not certain on that theory)

3 Likes