How to pronounce "Uisge Beatha"

by **Bonden** » Mon May 24, 2004 1:04 pm

Can anyone tell me how the correct pronounciation of the gaelic "Uisge Beatha" is. I have seen the following solutions: [ishker-vahr], [uish-gi], [oosh-ga beh-huh], [ooshka baytha] and [ushge bar]

Which one - if any! - is correct?
:?:

Best regards from Denmark

by **BruceCrichton** » Tue May 25, 2004 12:19 pm

Pronounced 'wishge ba' I think

by **Eightball** » Tue May 25, 2004 2:35 pm

The correct pronounciation of the Scots Gaelic "uisge beatha" is
ooshkie bayha.....the latin "aqua vitae" is pronounced aqua wee-ty.

by **Aidan** » Tue May 25, 2004 2:52 pm

We would pronounce it "wish-ga bah-ha" or "ish-ga ba-ha" - ach nil mo gailge go math anois.

by **Eightball** » Tue May 25, 2004 3:19 pm

Uisge beatha was abreviated to "uiskie" sometime in the 17th century. By 1715 it was termed "whiskie." "Whisky" first appeared around 1736.

by **PiHKAL** » Fri May 28, 2004 2:16 am

I am relatively new to the world of single malt Scotch, and I admit to not knowing the pronunciation of some of the more esoteric malts but...I'm more often embarrassed trying to communicate the name of the bottle to the person working at the liquor store than anything else. If it wasn't for online ordering, I don't think I could even stray as far as Bruichladdich.

Has anyone else had this problem? My guess is most cities don't have the bottles hidden behind the counter and one could simply pick the bottle they like and bring it to the cashier. Nevertheless, if I ask for one more bottle of Lagavulin (lag-ah-voohlin) only to be greated by the glazed over stare of an employee who has no idea for what I am asking...

by **Bonden** » Fri May 28, 2004 10:30 am

Help to pronounce whiskylabels:

http://www.dcs.ed.ac.uk/home/jhb/whisky/pronounc.html

You'll be able to impress a lot of people after visiting this site.

by **Matt2** » Fri May 28, 2004 10:44 am

PiHKAL, a good pointing finger (or stick) can come in handy as well.

How to pronounce "Uisge Beatha"

How to pronounce "Uisge Beatha"

I checked the book...

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