Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba (; "Gaelic Place-Names of Scotland") is the national advisory partnership for Gaelic place names in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba are based at

Sabhal Mòr Ostaig Sabhal Mòr Ostaig (; ) is a public higher education college situated in the Sleat peninsula in the south of the Isle of Skye, Scotland with an associate campus at Bowmore on the island of Islay. Sabhal Mòr is an independent Academic Part ...

on Skye.

History

Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba began as the Gaelic Names Liaison Committee, established in 2000 by the

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

to improve consistency in Gaelic names on their mapping products. The committee expanded to become the Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba partnership in 2006.

Functions

Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba research and agree on place names, using local knowledge, historical sources and the principles of the Gaelic Orthographic Conventions. These names are used by local councils, roads authorities and the Ordnance Survey for signs and maps. AÀA are also producing a National Place-Names Database. This database was launched in August 2010, and contains over 3000 entries.

Partnerships

The partners are Argyll and Bute Council, Bòrd na Gàidhlig,

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar for, gd, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, italic=no, Council of the Western Isles, paren=left; ) is the Local government in Scotland, local authority for ''Na h-Eileanan an Iar'' (the Western Isles, also known as the Outer Hebrides), one of the 32 co ...

, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Historic Environment Scotland,

, Scottish Natural Heritage, Scottish Place-Name Society, Highland Council, the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

, the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

and the University of the Highlands and Islands.

References

External links

Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ainmean-Aite na h-Alba Organisations based in Highland (council area) Scottish Gaelic language 2000 establishments in Scotland Scottish toponymy