- Tarbert (placename)
Tarbert is a placename in
Scotland , andIreland . Places named Tarbert are characterised by a narrow strip of land, oristhmus . This can be where two lochs nearly meet, or a causeway out to an island.Etymology
All placenames that variously show up as "tarbert", "tarbat" or "tarbet" in their anglicised form derive from either Irish "an tairbeart" in Ireland and
Scottish Gaelic "an tairbeart" in Scotland, both commonly translated as "theisthmus " today [Dwelly, E. "The Illustrated Gaelic-English Dictionary" 1901] .Both these words derive from two
Old Irish elements, "tar" "across" and a nominalised form of the verb "ber" "to carry" [MacBain, A. (1911) "An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language" Stirling. Eneas MacKay. 1982 edition by Gairm ISBN 901771686.] . The /ɾ/ in "tar" was assimilated to /ɾʲ/ as a result of being next to the historicallypalatal /bʲ/ in Old Irish, causing the change in spelling from "tar" to "tair-". So the literal translation would be an "across-carrying". The reason for this is that all tarberts are in fact located at or near oldportage sites.In English language spellings the first syllable "tar" has generally remained constant but the second syllable "bert" has variously been spelled as "bart", "bert" "bat", "bad" etc. [ [http://www.tarbert.info/tarberttext/historyt1.htm "Tarbert History: Who Named it, 'Tarbert'?"] Tarbert.info. Retrieved 13 September 2008.]
Examples
Places named Tarbert include:
cotland
*
Tarbert, Argyll and Bute the town at the northern end of theKintyre peninsula,Argyll
*Tarbert, Western Isles , a ferry port on the Isle ofHarris
*Tarbert, Jura , on the east coast of the island of Jura
*West Loch Tarbert , an inlet between North and SouthHarris
*East Loch Tarbert also by Harris in the Western Isles of Scotland
*West Loch Tarbert, Argyll in Argyll
*East Loch Tarbert, Argyll also in Argyll
* Glen Tarbert, betweenLoch Linnhe andLoch Sunart
* Tarbert Hill, above the town ofWest Kilbride
* Tarbert Bay, on the Isle of Canna
* Loch Tarbert, a sea loch on the Isle of Jura
* East Tarbert Bay and West Tarbert Bay on the Isle ofGigha Ireland
*
Tarbert, Kerry , a ferry port on the estuary of theRiver Shannon inCounty Kerry .ee also
*
Tarbet (disambiguation)
*Tarbat References
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