Posts tagged with "aisteoir"

Harry Potter agus an Teanga Gaeilge? (ar leanúint)

Posted by róislín 3 Comments
Jul 20 2009

Cén fáth an bhéim seo ar Harry Potter?  Tá mé ag Azkatraz 2009 faoi láthair, comhdháil faoi na leabhartha, na scannáin, agus rud ar bith a bhaineanns le Harry Potter. Why this emphasis on Harry Potter?  I’m at Azkatraz 2009 at the moment, a convention about the books, the movies, and anything related to Harry Potter.

Seo na freagraí a théanns leis na ceisteanna a bhí sa bhlag deireanach.  Cén chaoi ar éirigh leat? (or, for lucht Dhún na nGall, Cad é mar a d’éirigh leat?, How did you do, lit. how did it succeed with you?)

1. Tá seisear mac ag na Weasleys (6)

2. Is é Hedwig an t-ainm atá ar ulchabhán Harry.

3. Scabbers atá ar fhrancach Ron.

4. Tá cúigear deartháireacha ag Ron Weasley.  Leis an fhírinne a dhéanamh, tá cúigear deartháireacha ag gach mac sa teaghlach. Actually, every son in the family has five brothers!

By the time this blog appears, I hope that some of you will have written in about your favorite characters or actors in the series.  Tá mé ag tnúth (looking forward to) le d’fhreagraí.

Was anyone wondering exactly what an “órchloch” is?  As a translation, it’s much more faithful to the original British version than the American version of Book 1.  I won’t exactly call the American version of Book 1 (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) a “translation,” but a lot of changes were made in the English to accommodate the American audience.  If you read the Irish version, keep in mind that it is translated directly from the British version. 

That should be major leid (clue).  The British title is Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, and an “órchloch” is a philosopher’s stone in alchemy.  “Cloch” is the basic word for “stone” and “ór” means “gold,” here used as a prefix.  Because of the prefix, “cloch” is lenited to become “chloch” and both “ch” sounds are pronounced with that German-Yiddish-Hebrew-Lallans “ch” sound, gutturally, i.e. in the throat.  Like “Achtung” or “Buch.”

If any readers are also Harry Potter fans, scríobh chugam más mian leat (if you wish) na leabhartha a phlé (to discuss)!  As Gaeilge, an méid is féidir (as much as possible)!

Harry Potter agus an Teanga Gaeilge? Ní fós!

Posted by róislín No Comments
Jul 18 2009

All the world’s a-buzz, once again, about Harry, so we may as well join the sluaite for this ábhar as well. Cá bhfuil na sé leabhar eile? Tá an chéad leabhar ar fáil sna teangacha Gaeilge, Breatnais, Laidin, agus SeanGhréigis, coimisiúnaithe ag Bloomsbury iad féin. Tá an dara leabhar ar fáil sa Laidin chomh maith, ach sin an méid. I was delighted when I learned that an Irish translation of Harry Potter had finally appeared, Harry Potter agus an Órchloch, but it was about seven years after the English version was published, whereas many other foreign language aistriúcháin (translations) had appeared within about a year of the English original. At this point, it is unclear if Bloomsbury intends to finish the series in the languages they commisioned. As the final stages of the series reach their conclusion (scannán amháin eile le teacht), it seems less likely that these editions will ever appear. I hope I get proven mícheart!

Meanwhile, how about na ceisteanna seo (these questions) for conversation starters?

1. Cé mhéad mac atá ag Mr. agus Mrs. Weasley?
a) ceathrar b) cúigear c) seisear d) seachtar

2. Cén t-ainm atá ar ulchabhán Harry?
a) Kempe b) Hedwig c) Wilbur

3. Cén t-ainm atá ar fhrancach Ron?
a) Ratataouille b) Scabbers c) Trevor

4. Cé mhéad deartháir (brother) atá ag Ron Weasley?
a) deartháir amháin b) ceathrar deartháireacha c) cúigear deartháireacha

5. Cén carachtar is fearr leat sa tsraith (series) leabhartha? ________ (do rogha freagra) (Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, srl.)

6. Cén t-aisteoir is fearr leat sa tsraith scannán? _____ (do rogha freagra) (Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Alan Rickman, srl.)

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Being a Gael-Mheiriceánach, Gael-Cheanadach, or Gael-Astrálach, or Any Other Nationality “as Gaeilge”

Posted by róislín 2 Comments
May 31 2009

We recently discussed the various ways to use the word “Gael-Mheiriceánach” to say something is “Irish-American” or “I am an Irish-American.” Let’s go global and discuss some more possibilities.

 

If you’re one of about 4.5 million Canadians with Irish ancestry, you could say, “Is Gael-Cheanadach mé.”  If you’re one of almost 2 million Irish-Australians, you could say, “Is Gael-Astrálach mé.”

 

Please keep in mind as you read this, that the main goal in today’s blog is to show how to say that one is an Irish-American, an Irish-Canadian, etc. It would take a book, or more, to thoroughly discuss Irish identity, including such terms as Gael-Mheiriceánach (Irish-American), Gael Meiriceánach or Éireannach Meiriceánach (American-Irish), náisiúnaigh Éireannacha (Irish nationals), Éireannaigh eitneacha (ethnic Irish), easaoránaigh (ex-pats), and what, if any, difference it makes if one is from an chéad ghlúin (first generation) or an tríú glúin (third generation). In fact, even the term “first generation,” regarding inimirce (immigration), is in dispute, since it can refer to either the immigrants themselves, or, more commonly in my experience, to the first generation born in the new homeland.  So the goal here is not to tell people how to self-identify themselves, but to give them the Irish vocabulary to say what they want to say about themselves. Requests welcome! Admittedly, some will give me pause to reflect, especially if I haven’t seen them used before.  Gael-Nua-Eabhracach for an Irish-New Yorker, srl.?

 

And here are a few more straightforward examples, i.e. unhyphenated, using some of terms from the previous places on Celtic place names and nationalities:

 

Is Éireannach mé. I’m an Irishman.

 

Is Breatnach mná í Catherine Zeta-Jones, agus ban-aisteoir iontach. Catherine Zeta-Jones is a Welshwoman and a wonderful actress.

 

Is Briotánach é Alan Stivell, agus cláirseoir den scoth. Alan Stivell is a Breton, and a top-notch harpist.

 

Ba Chornach é William Golding (1911-1993).  William Golding was a Cornishman.

 

Is Albanach é Seán Connery, agus sáraisteoir.  Seán Connery is a Scot and a great actor.

 

Is Manannach é an príomhcharachtar in The Manxman, scannán de chuid Alfred Hitchcock, ní nach ionadh. The main character in The Manxman, an Alfred Hitchcock movie, is a Manxman, not surprisingly. 

 

And for good measure:

Is Ceanadaigh iad Gordon Lightfoot agus Loreena McKennitt, agus sáramhránaithe. Gordon Lightfoot and Loreena McKennitt are Canadians, and great singers.

 

Is Astrálach í Nicole Kidman, agus ban-aisteoir iontach. Nicole Kidman is an Australian and a wonderful actress. I know, she has saoránacht dhúbáilte (dual-citizenship) and dúchas (heritage) Astrálach-Haváíoch-Mheiriceánach but that’ll be Á.B.E.

 

Pronunciation tips:

as Gaeilge: “in Irish.” Remember the preposition “as” has a “hard” s-sound, like “floss,” or “DOS” in computer lingo. Or like “Bossy the Cow” but not “a bossy boss,” at least in my English pronunciation. The vowel sound is “aaahh.” Although this word looks like the English “as,” it isn’t!

 

Chornach: when the sentence is in the past tense, the verb “is” changes to “ba” and the word Cornach changes to Chornach, meaning you have a double dose of pronouncing the Buch-Achtung-Chutzpah “ch” sound. 

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