So I'm getting my clan crest tattooed on my arm, but have seen the clan motto written a few different ways. Was curious which was correct.

#1. I birn quil I se

#2. I burn quhil I se

#3. I birm quhil I se

Thanks for any and all help in this matter. (also and pronunciation help would be awesome also)

None of those options look like Gaelic. I suspect that they are all intended to be Latin, but I can't really make them out, since I don't know much Latin. It looks like "in __ and in itself" or something like that. Mottoes in Latin were very common. What clan is involved in this case? I might be able to find the motto if I knew.

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I'm not a native (or entirely fluent) speaker, so be sure to wait for confirmations/corrections, especially for tattoos.

The clan is Macleod of Lewes. I assumed these were gaelic. I have the Latin translation as Luceo non uro.

Supposed to mean" I Shine, Not burn."

thanks for your assistance.

According to some sites I found, that is the motto not only for Clan MacLeod of Lewes, but also Clan MacLeod of Raasay
(see this site for the latter: http://www.scotsconnection.com/clan_crests/MacLeod%20of%20Raasay.htm)

Frankly, what you found looks like gibberish, not having the intended meaning in either Gaelic or Latin, and part of it is basically just English. One of the reasons that mottoes were often in Latin was that, to be an educated, literate person, one generally had to read and write Latin, so a Latin motto would have seemed more appropriate than one in a vernacular language, although the Normans often had mottoes in Norman French.

If you want a Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) translation of "I shine, not burn" (keeping in mind that the clan may never have used the Gaelic version), you could use this

Deàlraichidh mi, cha loisg mi
I shine, I do not burn

There are a couple of things to note about this translation, however:

-- In case the structure confuses you, note that in Gàidhlig the verb normally precedes the subject.

-- Using the verb deàlraich for a person who is "shining" (as opposed to the sun or a light which is shining) is a bit out of the ordinary, since the idea is that the subject is putting out light, but then the situation is about the same in English, so I doubt anyone would misunderstand the expression. It may be that a native speaker wouldn't normally think to say it this way, and might opt for a more complicated construction, like "I am like a shining light". That would defeat the desire for something pithy for a motto, however, so I think the shorter expression here is ok. The same issue might arise with the verb loisg, since people do not normally burst into flames, but again I think anyone seeing the slogan would understand the imagery.

-- Gàidhlig does not have the simple present ("I shine"), so one has to use either the present progressive ("I am shining") or the future ("I will shine"). In phrases where Irish or English would use the simple present, Gàidhlig usually uses the future tense, especially in mottoes, slogans, and proverbs, so in a sense it doubles as a simple present for that purpose. This means that the translation could also be read as "I will shine, I will not burn", but the essential meaning would still be the same.

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I'm not a native (or entirely fluent) speaker, so be sure to wait for confirmations/corrections, especially for tattoos.

Thank you so much for your time. I will look into this further. Thanks for your help

I remember many requests for this kind of thing at the other place. Very often a clan motto would be in Latin as this was considered more impressive, if the motto isn't already in Gaelic then that is what the clan themselves have decided.

Sorry for necro-post but...
Gibberish? Are we forgetting that the Scots language exists? OP, I can assure you that what you have is not Latin, Gaelic, English or Gibberish, it's Scots which is a language related to English via its Germanic roots.
I don't speak Scots but "I burn quil/quhil I se" looks like it would roughly equate to "I burn while I see", "I burn, but I see" and other variations like that.

Lots of clan mottos are in Scots like Menzies' "Vil God I zal" which I think equates to "If God wills it I shall do it". Again, I don't speak Scots so don't take my word for it but at least I've solved the apparent mystery of what language you're talking about.

SeanBeag has a good point. I was thinking of it as gibberish Gaelic, but it might be a form of the early Scottish Inglis, the northern branch of Anglo-Saxon which developed into what is now called Scots, after influence from various sources, such as Norse, Gaelic, and Norman French (paradoxically, in the early years the term "Scots" was one of the terms used for Gaelic, along with "Erse", reflecting its origin in Ireland). Spelling of Inglis would have been as much in flux as it was in southern English dialects for many centuries, so perhaps what you have reflects one way of representing the sounds from a long way back. Like SeanBeag, though, I'm not well-versed in Scots, especially older forms (just some Burns poetry and a few songs in more modern Scots), so I can't tell you which of the versions you found may be "correct" -- if that's even the right term to use, since there wouldn't necessarily have been a "standard" form. In fact, perhaps all of the versions you have are local alternatives. In any case, though, it's definitely not Gaelic.

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I'm not a native (or entirely fluent) speaker, so be sure to wait for confirmations/corrections, especially for tattoos.

"quh" is something of a giveaway for Old Scots -- it's pretty much standard in early Scottish texts, representing what is thought to be a guttural form of the WH sound, approximating Gaelic CH somewhat. In the placename Balquhidder, it's now commonly realised as the WH sound ("balWHIDDer").

The word "quhil" is hard to interpret, though as it has many subtleties.

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A language belongs to its native speakers, and when you speak it, you are a guest in their homes.
If you are not a good guest, you have no right to complain about receiving poor hospitality.

Hi.
"I birn quhil I se" is Scots. Old Scots. Not Latin, not English, not Gaelic. It means, " I burn until I shine".
Hope this is useful.

M