If I understand correctly you and Burl are saying that Callanish is a name used by the majority of people over a long period of time. Fair enough. Also, fair enough that it's not an Anglicisation, but Norse (if that's what Burl says, I'm sure there's something in it).

My main point remains. When you (as an English speaker) read the word 'Callanish' you come up with something that sounds like <i>kal-an-ish</i> (let's not quibble about where the emphasis goes - life's too short). If a Gaelic speaker reads the word Callanish with their Gaelic phonetical head on, it doesn't make sense. Granted all Gaelic speakers speak English, but that's not the point.

;-)#

It's hard to illustrate 'cos I don't speak Gaelic, but it's easier in the Welsh. In Welsh 'ph' doesn't work at all to make a 'f' noise, and a simple 'f' makes a soft 'v' noise. Phones are used by the majority of Welsh speakers, and if you hear a Welsh speaker referring to a phone in Welsh it sounds almost the same as the English word. However, it certainly makes no sense when written down in English.

For this reason the Welsh spelling of phone is 'ffôn' and telephone is 'Teleffôn'. I'd argue the validity of 'Calanais' on these grounds. Why shouldn't Gaelic speakers appropriate a prehistoric site that sits within a traditionally Gaelic speaking community? Surely that's all that the Vikings did.

Secondly, the use of the name Callanish is to some perceived as divisive, not in the context of the main site, but in the way it has been applied to the surrounding sites. I don't entirely agree with this perspective, but I sympathise with it. If a site has a perfectly good Gaelic name, why rename it with one that lends itself to pronunciation by monoglot English speakers? This is the other side of the coin I suppose.

I do like to bang on don't I.

K x