An Ghaeilge i dteannta 24 teanga eile anois i saol na gcartlann / Irish joins 24 other languages in the world of archives

Niamh Ní Charra - Cartlannaí

(English version below)

Is cúis áthais dom a thuairisciú go bhfuil os cionn 200 téarma cartlainne a sannadh i nGaeilge níos luaithe i mbliana, anois ar fáil le téarmaí i 24 teanga eile i mbunachar Téarmaíochta Cartlainne Ilteangaí de chuid Chomhairle Idirnáisiúnta um Chartlanna [International Council On Archives (ICA)]. Is é seo an chéim dheiridh i dtionscadal a thionscain mé agus a chomhstiúir mé mar thoradh ar an obair leanúnach atá á déanamh agam ar chartlann Chonradh na Gaeilge anseo in Ollscoil na hÉireann, Gaillimh (OÉG). Cuireadh tús leis an tionscadal, faoi scáth OÉG agus Chartlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann (NAI) agus ar chuir An Coiste Téarmaíochta fáilte roimhe, i mí Feabhra 2020 sular cuireadh moill air mar gheall ar an bpaindéim reatha.
 

Cárta Ballraíochta ó Chartlann Chonradh na Gaeilge, OÉG G60/4/6/1

Sular chuir mé tús leis an tionscadal, labhair mé le Niamh McDonnell in NAI féachaint an raibh aon téarmaíocht oifigiúil socraithe acu. Cé go raibh téarmaí cartlainne aistrithe go Gaeilge ag NAI, ní raibh iontu siúd ach aistriúcháin, seachas téarmaí oifigiúla Gaeilge. Go deimhin, tá bailiúcháin chartlainne Ghaeilge ann ar fud na tíre agus bhí liostaí cartlainne á n-aistriú go Gaeilge ar bhonn ad hoc go dtí seo. Go dtí gur thosaigh mé ar a dtarraingt le chéile, agus ag aithint na faidhbe, níor aithníodh na neamhréireachtaí idir liostaí ó thaobh caighdeáin chartlainne de. Le tacaíocht ó OÉG agus NAI araon, agus i gcomhar le Niamh McDonnell, thug mé faoin bhfadhb seo a réiteach. Thosaigh mé trí theagmháil a dhéanamh leis an gCoiste Téarmaíochta. Go luath sa phróiseas chun catalógú a dhéanamh ar bhailiúchán aitheanta Chonradh na Gaeilge, thuig mé go raibh fadhbanna leis an liostú dátheangach mar gheall ar easpa téarmaíochta cartlainne oifigiúla sa Ghaeilge. Ar cheann de na gnéithe tábhachtacha de ghairm na cartlainne agus bailiúchán á chatalógú tá leanúnachas na teanga a úsáidtear. Is teanga álainn shaibhir í an Ghaeilge agus bíonn níos mó ná bealach amháin ann i gcónaí chun rud a aistriú, ach má tá téarma á úsáid, tá sé tábhachtach cloí le leagan amháin, agus d’uireasa téarmaí oifigiúla sa Ghaeilge, ní raibh sé sin indéanta. Tháinig fadhbanna chun cinn in áiteanna eile ina raibh an bhrí shonrach mar a bhain le comhthéacs na cartlainne á cailleadh. Sampla maith ab ea an focal “caomhnú” a chiallaíonn “preservation” nó “conservation”. Tá an t-idirdhealú seo an-tábhachtach i saol na cartlainne, agus tá soiléiriú againn anois ar na téarmaí i nGaeilge agus “caomhnú” a chiallaíonn “conservation” go sonrach agus “buanchoimeád” a chiallaíonn “preservation”.

Is é An Coiste Téarmaíochta an chomhairle teanga a chuireann téarmaíocht Ghaeilge ar fáil d’fhocail agus do choincheapa nua. Bunaíodh an Coiste sa bhliain 1968 agus bhí sé ina rannán den Roinn Oideachais ar dtús go dtí 1999, nuair a cuireadh faoi scáth Fhoras na Gaeilge é, comhlacht poiblí uile-oileáin a bunaíodh faoi Chomhaontú Aoine an Chéasta chun an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn. Tá thart ar 20 ball ar an gCoiste ó ollscoileanna, comhlachtaí stáit, comhlachtaí teanga, chomh maith le saineolaithe ar ábhair éagsúla, agus tagann siad le chéile uair sa mhí. D’aithin an coiste láithreach gur gá téarmaíocht chartlainne Ghaeilge a cheapadh go hoifigiúil, agus thacaigh siad go hiomlán leis an tionscadal.

Thar thréimhse roinnt míonna, thiomsaigh mé féin agus Niamh McDonnell, le cúnamh ó chomhghleacaithe in OÉG agus in NAI, os cionn 200 téarma cartlainne le cur faoi bhráid an choiste, mar aon lena sainmhínithe chun cabhrú leis an gcoiste a bhfíorchiall i gcomhthéacs cartlainne a thuiscint. Chuir mé liosta le chéile de na haistriúcháin go léir a cuireadh ar fáil go dtí seo, ag tarraingt aird ar théarmaí a bhfuil níos mó ná leagan amháin orthu agus cinn eile nach raibh leagan Gaeilge ar bith orthu. D’oibrigh mé ansin le Jenny Ní Mhaoileoin ag freagairt aon cheisteanna a bhí ag an gcoiste maidir le téarmaí áirithe (le cúnamh ó Niamh McDonnell), agus ag tarraingt aird ar aon aistriúchán nár tugadh slán an comhthéacs cartlainne go baileach ann.

 

Cuireadh an tasc i gcrích go luath i mí an Mhárta. Tá an acmhainn seo, i bhfoirm pdf agus i mBéarla-Gaeilge, i nGaeilge-Béarla agus i nGaeilge amháin, ar fáil anois le híoslódáil saor in aisce ar láithreán gréasáin ARA Ireland. (Is é ARA Ireland [Cumann Cartlann agus Taifead, Éire] an comhlacht gairmiúil do chartlannaithe agus bainisteoirí taifead in Éirinn).

Sa dara céim den tionscadal, d’oibrigh mé leis an Dr Luciana Duranti chun na téarmaí Gaeilge a chur leis an mBunachar Sonraí ICA ar Théarmaíocht Chartlainne Ilteangach, in éineacht le 24 teanga eile. Nascann an bunachar sonraí seo na téarmaí i ngach ceann de na 25 teanga le chéile, rud a ligeann don úsáideoir téarma a chuardach i dteanga amháin, agus an leagan i dteanga eile a fháil. Tá lúcháir orm gur ainmníodh mé mar riarthóir Gaeilge do bhunachar sonraí an ICA, agus tá cúpla mí caite agam ag cur na dtéarmaí nuashannta leis. Tá an obair sin críochnaithe anois agus tá an Ghaeilge go bródúil i saol oifigiúil na gcartlann. Mar riarthóir na Gaeilge, beidh mé freagrach as téarmaí a chur leis sa todhchaí, agus as téarmaí a cheadú ó aon duine eile ar mhaith leo cur leis.

 

Tá mé féin agus Niamh McDonnell an-bhuíoch dár gcomhghleacaithe sa dá institiúid as a gcabhair, do na hinstitiúidí féin as an tacaíocht a cuireadh ar fáil, agus do Jenny Ní Mhaoileoin agus do gach ball den Choiste Téarmaíochta as a gcuid oibre crua. Ina theannta sin, ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an Dr Duranti as a cúnamh. Táthar ag súil go n-úsáidfear na hacmhainní seo chun go mbeidh bailiúcháin Ghaeilge níos inrochtana agus go n-áireofar cainteoirí dúchais, agus le pobail teanga eile a spreagadh chun smaoineamh ar an rud céanna a dhéanamh. Táim an-bhródúil as an tionscadal seo a stiúradh agus a chur i gcrích. Is mór an onóir agus an phribhléid dom an obair speisialta seo a bheith curtha i gcrích agam ar mhaithe le pobail na gcartlann agus na Gaeilge araon.



Féach: Dr John Walsh i gcomhrá le Niamh Ní Charra

Irish joins 24 other languages in the world of archives

Niamh Ní Charra - archivist

(Leagan Gaeilge thuas)

I am delighted to report that over 200 archival terms designated in Irish earlier this year, have joined terms in 24 other languages on the International Council On Archives (ICA)’s Multilingual Archival Terminology database. This is the final stage in a project I instigated and co-led as a result of my ongoing work on the Conradh na Gaeilge archive here in National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG). The project, supported by both NUIG and National Archives of Ireland (NAI) and welcomed by An Coiste Téarmaíochta initially began in February 2020 before being delayed due to the current pandemic.

Membership card from the Conradh na Gaeilge archive, NUIG G60/4/6/1

Early on in the process of cataloguing the iconic Conradh na Gaeilge collection, I realised there were issues with bilingual listing due to the absence of official archival terminology in the Irish language. One of the important aspects of the archival profession when cataloguing a collection is the consistency in language used. Irish is a beautifully rich language and there’s always more than one way to translate something, but if a term is being used, it’s important to stick to one version, and without official terms in Irish, this wasn’t possible. Problems arose elsewhere where the specific meaning as it related to the archival context was being lost. A good example was the use of the word “caomhnú” to mean either “preservation” or “conservation”. This distinction is very important in the archive world, and we now have a separation of the terms in Irish with “caomhnú” specifically meaning “conservation” and “buanchoimeád” meaning “preservation”.

Before instigating the project, I reached out to Niamh McDonnell at the NAI to see if they had any official terminology. While the NAI had indeed translated archival terms into Irish, these too were simply translations rather than terms officially designated in Irish. In fact, Irish language archive collections exist all over the country and archival listings had been translated into Irish on an ad hoc basis, as needed. Until I started drawing them all together, and recognising the problem at hand, the inconsistencies between listings from an archival standards point of view had not been recognised. With the support of both NUIG and NAI, and along with McDonnell, I set about having this omission rectified. This began with reaching out to An Coiste Téarmaíochta.

An Coiste Téarmaíochta is the language council that chooses Irish terminology for words and new concepts. Founded in 1968, it initially was a division of the Department of Education until 1999, when it became part of Foras na Gaeilge, an all-island public body established under the Good Friday Agreement to promote the Irish language. It consists of approximately 20 members from universities, state bodies, language bodies and experts on various matters who meet on a monthly basis. The committee immediately recognised the need for Irish language archival terminology to be officially designated, and were fully supportive of the project.

Over a number of months, myself and McDonnell, with the assistance of colleagues in both NUIG and NAI, compiled over 200 archival terms to be considered by the committee, along with their definitions to aid the committee in understanding their true meaning in the archival context. I also listed all of the translations which had been provided to date, flagging terms which had received multiple translations and others where none existed. I then liaised with Jenny Ní Mhaoileoin answering any queries the committee had in relation to particular terms (with the assistance of McDonnell), and flagging any translations which came back which did not quite convey the archival context.

 

The task was completed in early March. This resource, in pdf form and in English-Irish, Irish-English and Irish only, is now available and free to download on ARA Ireland’s website. (ARA Ireland is the professional body for archivists and records managers in Ireland).

In the second phase of the project, I also liaised with Dr Luciana Duranti to have the Irish language terms added to the ICA’s Multilingual Archival Terminology Database, joining another 24 languages. This database links the terms in all 25 languages together, thereby allowing the user to look up a term in one language, and discover what it is in another. I am thrilled to have been designated as the Irish language administrator for the ICA database, and have spent the last few months adding the newly designated terms to it. That work is now complete and Irish proudly takes its place in the official world of archives. As administrator for Irish, I will be responsible for adding future terms, and approving submissions from anyone else who may also wish to have terms added.

Both myself and Niamh McDonnell are extremely grateful to our colleagues in both institutions for their assistance, to the institutions themselves for the support, and to Jenny Ní Mhaoileoin and all members of An Coiste Téarmaíochta for their hard work. In addition I would like to thank Dr Duranti for her assistance. It is hoped that these resources will be used to make Irish language collections more accessible to and more inclusive of native speakers, and encourage other language communities to consider doing the same. I’m very proud to have led this project, and to see it to completion. I am also honoured, and feel very privileged to have contributed something special to both the archival and the Irish language communities.

See: Dr John Walsh in conversation with Niamh Ní Charra