(Seo alt ónár bhfoireann nua Gaeltachta.  Is féidir an bunleagan as Gaeilge a léamh anseo.)

IF YOU SEARCH the new Irish dictionary, you will not find the Irish word ‘digitiúcháin’ there, but that is the word used by the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation as the Irish version of the word ‘digitalisation’ in its title.

In fact, on the  authoritative website tearma.ie, which is linked to focloir.ie, the website of the new dictionary, ‘digitiú’ is given as the Irish version of the word ‘digitalisation’.

Although there’s been some debate around whether ‘digitiúcháin’ should have been replaced with ‘digitiú’, the department has indicated it is satisfied with the translation.

When a query was sent to the department, after a few days this response came back:

“Rannóg an Aistriúcháin (Translation Division) in the Houses of the Oireachtas is the authority on Irish language legislation and the Official Standard and provides the Irish language versions of the Department’s titles.

“In this context and in keeping with established practice, the Translation Division provided the Department with the Irish translation of the Department’s title earlier this year.

“Rannóg an Aistriúcháin remains satisfied that this is the correct translation.”

There is a view that the debate prompted by the use of the word ‘digitiúcháin’ is a reflection of the health and vitality of the Irish language.

According to one expert who worked on the new dictionary who spoke to The Journal - but who did not wish to be named – debates on this theme often take place between lexicographers and neither side is entirely right. 

“You can create a term but then the question arises as to how likely it is that the general language community will accept it, apart from those working in the professional space and whether it adheres to standard style guides and things like that.

“It has long been common practice now that if there is a ‘signature’ there will be ‘signiúníochta’, that there will be things like ‘orfóir’ and ‘orfóiróircháin’.

“It is almost certain that the automatic development of nouns ending in ‘ú’ would lead to the addition of ‘cháin’.”

Not too long ago there was a controversy over the misspelling of the English word in the title and which was engraved on the brass plate outside the main door of the Department. The brass plate read ‘infastructure’ rather than ‘infrastructure’.

As a result of the English misspelling being brought to light, the brass plate (which had not been there for too long as the name of the department was not changed until this past January) was replaced with a new one with the offending word correctly spelled.

Stories in the Irish language media often feature signage with incorrect versions of Irish words, poor grammar or misspellings. It is also often clear that a machine translation was used to provide the Irish version of the sign and while the results of the same technology have improved over time, it’s more often than not that ‘translation’ results are strange.

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This is the plaque outside the newly refurbished Bishop Lucey Park in Cork City Centre.

An example of the lack of care by public bodies for Irish language signage is the brass plate hanging on the gate outside a public park in Cork city, a park on which the public authority, Cork City Council, spent €7m. Its English name is Bishop Lucey Park but on the brass plate the name used in the Irish text is ‘Páirc Easbaig Lucey’. According to Irish language experts, ‘Páirc an Easbaig Lucey’ or ‘Páirc Uí Luasa’ would be correct.

In response to a question, a statement from Cork City Council said that the matter had been referred “to the relevant personnel in Cork City Council, who are currently reviewing the issue” and committed to providing an update “once the investigation has been completed”.

In a statement from the Office of the Language Commissioner, it was stated that there was a 12% decrease between 2022 and 2024 in the complaints received by his office regarding signage but it indicated that it was “disappointing” that 23% of the complaints received in 2024 were related to signage.

“One of the biggest weaknesses seen with signage is that language needs are not taken into account when signs are being planned,” said the Commissioner’s spokesperson.

“A number of public bodies have developed guides to support their staff dealing with signs to ensure that a quality assurance process is involved in taking into account the language requirements in the development of signs.

“There is a specific chapter on signage in this Office’s Guidebook which is shared widely and frequently with the bodies.”

According to the information in this guidebook, public bodies are required to ensure that the Irish language on signage is accurate and if there were misspellings or other errors on Irish language versions of text on old signs, they were required to correct these by 1 March 2012.

The Journal’s Gaeltacht initiative is supported by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme