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Several linguistic obstacles impede the Gaelic learner trying to understand Highland landscape through place-names. It is easy enough to learn a basic vocabulary from the guides produced by OS, Scottish Natural Heritage and the National Parks. But the formation of place-names, using nouns and adjectives, and how both change in the genitive and the plural, can make understanding elusive.

The variety of definite article forms, like a’, an, an t-, am, na, na h-, nan and nam applied to the two genders of Gaelic nouns makes translation difficult. Misunderstanding is commonplace. A well-known angling guide to the lochs and rivers of Scotland includes 5 pages of entries for these 8 forms of definite article in alphabetical order. Of course, English entries are not listed under of, of the and the. Such a misunderstanding makes the guide hard to use and denies an area of potential interest to the reader.

Pronouncing the written word is often cited as another difficulty in understanding Gaelic. But in comparison to English, the language is more logical and consistent in its orthography. Once the spelling system is understood, it has very few sounds which are difficult to say. Instead of trying to learn pronunciation through lists of vowel and consonants combinations, this chapter uses some common generic place-names as examples. They are also used to illustrate points of grammar.