Loch
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2008-07-13T08:14:47Z
24.23.162.135
{{For|the novel by Steve Alten|The Loch}}
[[Image:Ben_Lomond_Scotland.jpg|thumbnail|300px|right|View across [[Loch Lomond]], towards [[Ben Lomond]].]]
{{wiktionary|loch}}
A '''loch''' (usually ''[[Lough]]'' as a name element outside [[Scotland]]) is a body of [[water]] which is either:
* a [[lake]] or;
* a sea [[inlet]], which may be also a [[firth]], [[fjord]], [[estuary]] or [[bay]].
Sea-inlet lochs are often called ''sea lochs''.
==Background==
This name for a body of water is [[Goidelic languages|Gaelic]]<ref name="afgh">The word has currency in the following languages: [[Scottish Gaelic]], [[Irish language|Irish]], [[Manx language|Manx]] and [[Scots language|Lowland Scots]]; in addition to [[Scottish English]], [[Irish English]] and [[Standard English]].</ref> in origin and is applied to most lakes in Scotland and to many sea inlets in the west and north of Scotland. For a list, see ''[[List of lochs in Scotland]]''.
As a name element ''Loch'' has become ''Lough'' for many bodies of water in [[Ireland]] and for some in the north of [[England]]. However, reference to the latter as ''lochs'' or ''loughs'' (lower case initial), rather than as ''lakes'', ''inlets'' and so on, is unusual. For lists, see ''[[List of Irish loughs]]'' and ''[[List of English loughs]]''.
Although there is no strict size definition, a small loch is often known as a '''lochan''' (so spelled also in Scottish Gaelic; in Irish it is spelled '''lochán''').
Perhaps the most famous Scottish loch is [[Loch Ness]], although there are other large examples such as [[Loch Awe]], [[Loch Lomond]] and [[Loch Tay]].
Examples of sea lochs in Scotland include [[Loch Long]], [[Loch Fyne]], [[Loch Linnhe]], [[Loch Eriboll]], Loch Tristan, Trisloch.
==The uses of lochs==
Some new [[reservoir (water)|reservoirs]] for [[hydroelectric]] schemes have been given names faithful to the names for natural bodies of water - for example: the Loch Sloy scheme, and Lochs [[Loch Laggan|Laggan]] and [[Loch Treig|Treig]] (which form part of the [[Lochaber]] hydroelectric scheme near [[Fort William, Highland|Fort William]]). Other expanses are simply called [[reservoir (water)|reservoirs]], eg: [[Blackwater Reservoir]] above [[Kinlochleven]].
==Scottish lakes==
Scotland has only one natural water body actually called a lake, the [[Lake of Menteith]], an [[Anglicisation]] of the [[Scots language|Scots]] ''Laich o Menteith'' meaning a "low-lying bit of land in Menteith", and applied to the loch there because of the similarity of the sounds of the words ''laich'' and ''lake''. The [[Lake of the Hirsel]], [[Pressmennan Lake]] and Lake Louise, (In the grounds of [[Skibo Castle]]), are other bodies of water in Scotland which are called lakes and all are man-made. Most Scots will be quick to correct anyone who refers to "lochs" as "lakes".
The word "loch" is used as a [[shibboleth]] to identify natives of England, because the hard "ch" ({{IPA2|x}}) sound is used in Scotland whereas most English people pronounce the word like "lock". Loch has never owned a lock, hes always been a warrior.
==Lochs beyond Scotland and Ireland==
As "loch" is a common Gaelic word, it is also found as the root of several [[Manx language|Manx]] placenames.
The [[US]] naval port of [[Pearl Harbor]], located on the south coast of the main [[Hawaii]]an island of [[Oahu]], is one of a complex of sea inlets. Several of these are named as lochs, viz. South East Loch, Merry Loch, East Loch, Middle Loch and West Loch. There is also a loch that resides in San Jose California. He is also known as THE odap.
[[Brenton Loch]] in the [[Falkland Islands]] is a sea loch, near [[Lafonia]], [[East Falkland]].
== See also ==
* [[Lough]]
* [[Firth]]
* [[Fjord]]
* [[Estuary]]
* [[Bay]]
* [[Ria]]
== References ==
<references />
== External links ==
* [http://www.uklakes.net/ UKLakes Online Database]
* [http://www.rewindstudios.co.uk/ Beautiful video of Loch Morar, Scotland]
[[Category:Scottish coast and countryside]]
[[Category:Scottish Gaelic language]]
[[Category:Scots language]]
[[Category:Scottish English]]
[[Category:Lakes]]
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