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Edward Moore Kennedy (1932-2009) (Cuid a Dó)

Posted by róislín No Comments
Aug 29 2009

Cad iad na sloinnte eile i gcraobh ghinealaigh Uí Chinnéide?  What are the other surnames in the Kennedy family tree?  The English equivalents are given at the end of the blog.  Agus cárbh as na teaghlaigh?  Seo cuid acu, ar a laghad (here are some of them, at least). 

 

Mac Gearailt:  Ba é “Mac Gearailt” an sloinne a bhí ar sheanathair Éadbhaird, John Francis, ar thaobh a mháthar, Rose.  Tomás Mac Gearailt a bhí ar shinseanathair Éadbhaird agus b’as an mBrú, Contae Luimnigh é. 

 

Ó Murchú: an sloinne a bhí ar Philib, sinsinseanathair Éadbhaird agus athair a shinseanmháthar, Bríd, as Ráth na gCosarán, Contae Loch Garman. 

 

Ó hÍcí: an sloinne a bhí ar Shéamas, sinseanathair Éadbhaird agus athair a sheanmáthar, Mary Augusta.  B’as Contae Chorcaí é.   

 

Ó hAnnáin: an sloinne a bhí ar Mhícheál, sinseanathair Éadbhaird, ar thaobh a mháthar.  B’as Contae Luimnigh é. 

 

Mac an Choiligh nó Mac Colgan: an sloinne a bhí ar Philib, athair Rose Anna (sinseanmháthair Éadbhaird), as Contae an Chabháin.  As with many Irish surnames, one needs to know the family history to be certain which Irish original pertains, since the same English could be used for several different Irish surnames.    

 

No doubt there are many more géaga (branches) in this craobh ghinealaigh, so once again, this is just barr an chnoic oighir. 

 

So, how did you do figuring out leaganacha (versions) Béarla na n-ainmneacha seo?   

 

Mac = son = fils = fitz, so that gives us the “Honey Fitz” side of the family.

 

Logainmneacha: An Brú, Contae Luimnigh = Bruff, Co. Limerick; Ráth na gCosarán = Gusserane, with the “Ráth” (fort) element having disappeared. 

 

Ó Murchú [say: oh MUR-uh-khoo] Murphy; Ó hÍcí, Hickey; Ó hAnnáin, Hannon; and Mac an Choiligh [mahk un KHIL-ee], Cox, lit. “son of the rooster,” OR Mac Colgan [mahk KOL-ug-un], which can be Cox or, in a different lineage, and perhaps more typically, is Culligan or Quilligan or a variation of that.  The “Colgan” element most likely means “son of Colga,” a personal name based on “colg” (sword, blade, bristle, anger)

 

And just to review the “grands” and the “greats,” which we had worked our way several months ago:

 

seanathair [SHAN-AH-hirzh] grandfather, sinseanathair, great-grandfather, and sinsinseanathair.  Likewise, seanmháthair [SHAN-WAW-hirzh], sinseanmháthair, sinsinseanmháthair.  The prefix “sin” is always pronounced like English “shin” (the one you “bark”). 

 

You might have noticed that the letter “i” can disappear at the end of any of these words, or of “athair” and “máthair” themselves.  Examples would be the phrases “sloinne an athar,” “in ainm an Athar,” and “ar thaobh a mháthar.”  The loss of the “i” for “athair,” “máthair” and their compounds signals possession.  These phrases mean “the surname of the father,” “in the name of the Father,” and “on the side of the mother.

 

Nótaí

1) craobh [kreev or krayv] typically means “branch” but is used in the phrase  “family tree.”  Within the craobh, you have géaga.

 

2) The question “Cá as iad?” is more common in everyday conversations since it is in the present tense (Where are they from?).  “Cárbh as iad?” is the past tense form of the same question (Where were they from?) and is perfectly straightforward for this context.  And, of course, some speakers would say “Cá as dóibh?” for the present but the change to the “where” element (cá) would still apply for the past “Cárbh as dóibh?”

Mór? Críonna? or Sean? — Grandparents By Any Other Name!

Posted by róislín 8 Comments
Apr 9 2009

  I frequently get asked about the Irish word for “grandmother” or “grandma,” so children in Irish-American families can start using it as a pet name.  Sometimes the basic term “Grandma” has already been taken by one side of the family, so the other side may look for a different name, like “Nana” in English.  Most of the people who ask for this are the actual grandmothers, not the grandfathers, but in this blog, I’ll be an equal opportunity terminologist and assume that the male and female terms are of equal interest.  A Sheanaithreacha (grandfathers!) please take note!

   Let’s start with the formalities, “grandmother” and “grandfather.”  Most children don’t actually use these in talking with the actual grandparent but they’re useful in narrative and in general discussion.  There are three pairs of terms, each building on the words “máthair” (mother) and “athair” (father).  :

   seanmháthair, seanathair: based on the prefix “sean-“ (old)

   máthair chríonna, athair críonna: based on the adjective “críonna” (wise, prudent, aged).  Please note: despite the endearing bit of misinformation currently circulating on the Internet (sites will remain nameless), these terms do NOT mean “mother of my heart” and “father of my heart.”  Those phrases would be based on “croí” (heart), not “críonna” (wise).   

   máthair mhór, athair mór: based on the adjective “mór” (big, great).  I’ve mostly heard this term in Donegal. 

   For the more familiar terms, there are “Mamó” and “Móraí” for “grandma,” and “Daideo” for “grandpa.” 

   Using these words is one way that Irish words can be come part of a child’s life, and perhaps stimulate further study of the language later.   Needless to say, the terms can now grace mugaí (mugs), t-léinte (t-shirts), or léinte aclaíochta (sweatshirts, lit. “exercise shirts”). Or, for that matter, any other merchandise that allows you to send in customized text for printing. 

   One curious feature of all of these terms is that none of them are used to create the words “grandchild,” “grandson,” or “grand-daughter.”  So how do you do it?  Bhuel, ag bogarnach ar an aill sin (Well, hanging on that cliff), slán go dtí an chéad bhlag eile (goodbye until the next blog).   

 Bhur mblagálaí – Róislín

 
 

 

 

 

Lá na nAmadán – The Day of the Fools (April 1)

Posted by róislín No Comments
Apr 1 2009

As promised in the blog of an t-aonú lá is fiche de mhí an Mhárta (March 21st), we will honor Lá na nAmadán with an assortment of terms for fools. Be advised – it may take more than one blog to get through this!

The most widely used term is “amadán,” although in theory it should be reserved for male fools, since Irish has a word specifically for female fools.

Grammar note: with the definite article, “fool” becomes an t-amadán (the fool), with the prefixed “t.” “The fools” is na hamadáin, with both a prefix (h) and an inserted “i.”

Why, then, “na nAmadán” for the holiday, you might ask? Ceist mhaith (good question)!

The word “amadán” is a first-declension noun, which means its forms are:

an t-amadán (the fool, as the subject or direct object of a sentence)

na hamadáin (the fools, as the subject or direct object of a sentence)

an amadáin (of the fool, the possessive form) or just amadáin (of a fool)

Example: caipín amadáin, the cap of a fool or a “fool’s cap.”

But April Fool’s Day, aka All Fools’ Day, doesn’t celebrate just one fool, so we use the possessive plural form, na n-amadán (of the fools).

I’m not going to try to solve here ceist na n-uaschamóg (the issue of the apostrophes) for the English phrases. I will simply note that, i mBéarla (in English), we see “April Fool’s Day” (one symbolic fool representing the whole), “April Fools’ Day” (a plurality of fools), and “All Fools’ Day,” the latter being inherently plural and, hopefully, with the apostrophe following the “s.”

The Irish phrase literally translates as “the day of the fools” and is closer to the phrase “All Fools’ Day,” where we know we are dealing with the plural.

So back to the possessive plural form (“of the fools”):

na n-amadán, or if used in a phrase with upper-case letters, such as the name of a holiday or a title, say of a blog, na nAmadán. When the word is capitalized, the hyphen between the “n” and the “a” is no longer needed.

That wraps up most of the forms of the word you’ll ever need for male fools. Oops, one more, maybe, for a noun of direct address you would say “a amadáin” (O, fool!).

Please stay tuned for female fools and various specific types of fools.

Bhur mblagálaí, Róislín

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