Home › Glossary › Letter B

Birlach

Dialect
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A dialect term for a small swirling gust or eddy of wind that lifts dust, leaves, or loose matter into a brief circular motion.

Detailed Definition
Birlach is a dialect word for a quick circular motion in the natural world. In verse, a birlach may gather ash around a gate, turn leaves in a lane, or trouble the surface of a burn. Because it is brief and localized, the word helps a poem catch change before it becomes weather. It may also serve metaphorically for a sudden confusion of thoughts, gossip, or memory that spins through a settled household.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Birlach” suits a turning, whirling movement: “The birlach leaves spun round the gate”; A poet can use “birlach” for water circling a stone: “In the birlach burn, the moon broke apart”; The word creates motion in a dance image: “Her birlach skirt swept sparks from the floor”; Repeated sounds can reinforce the term’s sense of rotation: “Birlach, birlach, the mill wheel answered”
Additional Notes
Birlach names a small, lively whirl, often of wind, dust, leaves, or water. The word suits brief, circular motion and can make a landscape feel animated. Related images include eddy, swirl, spiral, and gust.
Also Known As
Whirl Twirl Spin
Skip to main content