Posts tagged with "as Gaeilge"

Bás Michael Jackson (1958-2009)

Posted by róislín 1 Comment
Jul 13 2009

Bhuel, tar éis a bheith ag smaoineamh faoi, after pondering the matter, I figured I may as well join the sluaite (hordes) ag scríobh faoi Michael Jackson. 

 

First stop, as usual, what else has been written about his death, as Gaeilge?  Can’t say I found mórán (much).  A cuardach Google limited to “Bás Michael Jackson” brought up 99 results, only one of which turned out to be in Irish.  How’d that happen?  An iomarca teangacha a bhfuil “bas” (gan síneadh fada) mar fhocal acu, go mór mór, an Fhraincis (see gluaisín thíos, for vocab help). 

 

Next stop, minus the word “bas,” to eliminate the French and other languages.  That brought me back to the móriomlán (grand total) of one result for “Bás Michael Jackson” as such.  Searching in the Irish version of Google didn’t seem to make any difference. 

 

Cúpla straitéis eile, a couple other strategies.  How about using the “gaelú” (gaelicization) of Jackson’s name?  But first, an explanation — names of celebrities and international figures are not usually gaelicized unless their bearer shows some precedent for doing so.  That’s generally true, even if they have Irish or partly Irish backgrounds.  Sampla gasta, a quick example, using Google hits as an admittedly rough frame of reference: “Bill Clinton,” 23,700,000 (ní nach ionadh); “William Clinton,” 356,000; “William Jefferson Clinton,” 320,000, but for “Liam Cliontún,” the gaelú of his name, the results were exactly tada, faic, a dhath ar bith – all Irish ways of saying “nothing.”  And that’s despite his dúchas Éireannach (Irish heritage).  Of course, I’m not saying here that no one has ever used the “Liam Cliontún” version of his name, just that it doesn’t show up in a Googlable manner.  If the results had been, mar shampla, “Bill Clinton,” 5, and “Liam Cliontún, 0, then I’d say, “completely inconclusive.”  But at 23 milliún+ to náid (0), I think we can safely say there’s no formal precedent for saying “Liam Cliontún” when referring to iaruachtarán na Stát Aontaithe (the former president of the United States), even if writing in Irish. 

 

For good measure, I even tried “Liam Clinton,” a hybrid version of the name, since some people are more comfortable changing their “ainm baiste” (given name) for use in Irish language classes or social contexts, but are less likely to adapt their surname, even informally.  “Liam Clinton” gave me about 155 hits, of which only a handful were actually about an tUachtarán, the president.  There are other Liam Clintons in the world who come up in the search, including one who was born in 2009.  And most of the presidential references were due to glitches in wording, which meant that “Wil-liam Clinton” (with word-break) would show up in my search for “Liam Clinton,” where “William Clinton” would not.  So much for that ascaill (avenue), or, to be more concise, sin sin (that’s that). 

 

There are some exceptions to not gaelicizing names, mar shampla, An Mháthair Treasa, possibly triggered by the expected translation of the honorific, and Criostóir Colambas.

 

So, now back to Mícheál Mac Siacais.  Did searching for the gaelicized version of his name bring up any abundance of commentary as Gaeilge?  Can’t say it did.  I found a móriomlán of one actual article and two brief fan commentaries. 

 

I also tried searching for “bás Mhíchíl (Mhícheál) Mhic Shiacais,” using the name in the genitive case (Mhic instead of Mac, etc.) figuring that anyone who cared enough about the ábhar (topic) to write about it in Irish might have gone ahead with the gaelú anyway.  Glantoradh (net result), one repeat hit.

 

OK, so this has gotten me through blag amháin eile without even getting up to my intended project, a capsúlbheathaisnéis* of Jackson, as Gaeilge.  So far, I’ve only gotten through whether or not it made sense to refer to him as Mícheál Mac Siacais (Mac Siac-Ó?).  So the capsúlbheathaisnéis will have to wait for blag eile, and will be forthcoming, more on the “forth-“ (sooner) side of things if I hear from readers that they are interested in the ábhar.  More on the farther side of “forthcoming” má chloisim (if I hear) tada, faic, a dhath ar bith uaibhse (from ye).   Even though my own musical taste is much more traidisiúnta, I’m happy to write about virtually any topic that is tráthúil (timely) agus i mbéal na ndaoine (being talked about).  But there are other topics looming large, tearmainn na n-asal (the donkey sanctuaries) agus an chéad scannán eile i sraith Harry Potter, mar shampla, so do let me know má tá suim agaibh!

 

Sin é – Róislín

 

*OK, OK, in the time-honored tradition of Gaeilgeoirí, especially those active before the general spread of World Wide Web and Internet usage, which brought online dictionaries and which I date to about 1994, I made up the word “capsúlbheathaisnéis.”  I find no precedent for it online.  But that is how new words get started.  Hint: beathaisnéis itself comes from beatha, life + faisnéis, information, i.e. biography.  I didn’t choose to say “beathaisnéis chapsúil,” since to me that would sound more like the life story of a capsule (say what?), from being part of sheet of plastic to being a tablet filled with medicinal powder.  Not real exciting – it would sound a bit like the booklets we used to have ar scoil (at school), like “The Story of a Coffee Bean.”  These  would cover the saolré (life-cycle) of the pónaire chaife (coffee-bean) from péacán (sprout) to cupán “iáva.”  Not that a pónaire chaife is really a pónaire, it’s really a síol (seed), ach sin scéal eile – Á.B.E.! 

 

Gluaisín [GLOO-ish-een]: an iomarca [un YUM-ark-uh], too many; a bhfuil … acu [uh wil … AHK-uh], that/which have; gan [gahn], without; go mór mór, especially; an Fhraincis [un RANK-is, silent “f”], the French language, scannán, film, movie; sraith, series (“th” is silent). 

 

Leideanna Fuaimnithe: faic [fwack], capsúlbheathaisnéis [KAHP-sool-VA-hash-naysh, silent “t”], uaibhse [OO-iv-sheh], beatha [BA-huh], faisnéis [FASH-naysh]. saolré [seel-ray], síol [sheel]

Logainmneacha Ceilteacha agus Náisiúntachtaí a Cúig: Celtic Place Names and Nationalities 5 – Brittany (Breizh / Bretagne) and the Bretons

Posted by róislín 1 Comment
May 19 2009

We’ve recently discussed the place names Albain, Éire, An Bhreatain Bheag, and Oileán Mhanann.  Today we’ll turn to Brittany.  Below you’ll find some examples of how to use the place name and how to indicate that a person or thing is Breton. 

 

One of France’s 22 régions, Brittany is called “An Bhriotáin” in Irish.  It is a feminine noun, so it has the lenition (softening and insertion of the letter “h”) after the initial letter “B.”  The “B” goes back to normal in other forms of this word, such as “muintir na Briotáine” (the residents of Brittany). 

 

Briotánach, a Breton or Breton person.  Like the terms “Éireannach,” “Albanach,” “Breatnach,” and “Manannach,” it can be made feminine, “Briotánach mná,” but, as I’ve previously mentioned, this form is rarely used.  The feminine form basically means “a woman Breton man.” 

 

an Briotánach, the Breton. 

 

Briotánach is also the adjective form, as seen in “spáinnéar Briotánach” (a Brittany spaniel). 

 

We can see the importance of the síneadh fada (long mark over a vowel) as we note that the word “British” in Irish is “Briotanach,” almost the same as “Briotánach,” except the vowel in the middle is short. 

 

Some phrases with the place name “an Bhriotáin” include:

 

sa Bhriotáin: in Brittany

 

go dtí an Bhriotáin:  to Brittany

 

Diúcacht na Briotáine, the Duchy of Brittany, a historical term (Dugelezh Vreizh or Duché de Bretagne).

 

Just speaking of Brittany reminds me of a crêpe dinner (an-bhlasta, very tasty) that I had at a restaurant called Au Petit Coin Breton i gCathair Québec (Quebec City) a few years ago, as part of the annual conference of the North American Association for Celtic Language Teachers (NAACLT).  Not only did an bhialann (restaurant) have wonderful food, but its atmaisféar (closest one can get to the word “ambiance” as Gaeilge) was an-Bhriotánach (very Breton) with maisiúcháin Bhriotánacha (Breton ornaments) and cultacha traidisiúnta Briotánacha (traditional Breton costumes).  Meas tú cén sórt crêpe a bhí agam ansin (What kind of crêpe do you suppose I had)?  Crêpe torc allta (wild boar crêpe)!

 

And speaking of crêpes, you might wonder “Conas a deir tú sin i nGaeilge (How do you say that in Irish)?”  The word “pancóg” has been used but really, it’s just as well to follow the practice in languages such as German, Portuguese, and Swedish and just call this food “crêpe.”  “Pancóg” implies a thicker, less crispy texture, a veritable flapjack!  And “pancóg Suzette faoi lasair” doesn’t quite have the same panache as “crêpe Suzette flambé,” at least in my opinion. 

 

We’re nearly finished this series of Celtic place names and identities.  Shortly we’ll start a series of hyphenated ethnicities, like Irish-American, but meanwhile, since there’s probably a higher proportion of people with Breton heritage in Canada than in the U.S., how about Briotánach-Cheanadach!

 

–  Bhur mblagálaí, Róislín

As Easy as “a hAon, a Dó, a Trí” – Na Maoluimhreacha i nGaeilge

Posted by róislín No Comments
Mar 19 2009

Quite a few of the basic Irish numbers from one to ten are recognizable if you know at least one other European language. In each case, the actual number is preceded by the single letter “a,” which here is the numerical particle. It has no actual meaning. It simply indicates that a “maoluimhir” (independent number) is coming up. It’s unstressed in pronunciation, like the “a” in English “about.”

 

The term “maoluimhir” in Irish refers to numbers not directly followed by a noun. “Maoluimhreacha” (plural) are used in telling time, phone numbers, arithmetic problems when spoken aloud, countdowns, bus or train routes, the abbreviation TG4 for the Irish language TV, raffle tickets, and bingo. We’ll eventually learn other forms of numbers for counting objects and people.

 

Seo iad na maoluimhreacha (here are the independent numbers):

 

a haon: Think of “un” or “uno.” Always be prepared for lots of vowel change when looking for European parallels to Irish words. Vowel change happens in many words that really are related, like Irish “tír” (land) and Italian “tèrra” (land).

 

But of course, it’s not just vowel change here. The basic number is “aon.” The numerical particle “a” causes the letter “h” to be prefixed, making “aon” look a lot less like “un/uno.” In capitalized words, like titles, the “h” remains lower case and “aon” is capitalized, as you can see in “teideal an bhlag seo” (the title of this blog). Before the streamlining of Irish spelling and punctuation which started in the 1950s, this used to be written “a h-aon” and I think it’s still useful today to recall that, since it indicates more clearly that the “h” is a prefix.

a dó: Not too far from “two,” “deux,” or “dos,” or even Hindi “do” (yes, Hindi is related because it’s Indo-European). Examples include “RTÉ a Dó” (an Irish television station) and “Séamas a Dó” (James II)

a trí: Not unlike “three,” “trois,” “tre,” “tres,” or “drie.” You could use this to indicate the region known as “Dublin 3,” which would be “Baile Átha Cliath a Trí” if spoken aloud. And by the way, only Dublin has post codes in the Republic of Ireland; so far, the rest of the Republic of Ireland manages with just the actual place names.  Post codes are used in the north of Ireland (as part of the UK post code system).

a ceathair: “quatre,” anyone? Example: “TG4,” spoken as “tee-gee a ceathair,” TG standing for Teilifís Gaeilge.

a cúig: Admittedly a stretch from “five” but think “cinq” or “cinco.” Example: iarann a cúig (a five iron in golf)

a sé: A near match to Esperanto “ses,” not to mention “sis” or Bulgarian “shest.” Very prevalent in Irish in the phrase “Nuacht a Sé” (the six o’clock news)

 

a seacht: Think “sette” or “siete,” and listen next time you go to an Irish dance lesson. Even if most of the instruction is in English, the basic footwork sequence of “sevens” and “threes” is often taught in Irish: A haon, a dó, a trí, a ceathair, a cúig, a sé, a seacht, A haon, a dó, a trí, Is a dó, a dó, a trí.” Those “a’s” really get swallowed here!

a hocht: Change just the first three letters and you’ve got the English equivalent, eight. Other languages follow suit: Italian and Norwegian “otto” and German “acht.” The Group of Eight (G8) in Irish? Usually written as G8 in Irish, which uses the same first letter, but said as “Grúpa a hOcht.” The “h” is inserted here for the same reason as with the number “one”: numerical particle “a” + h + number that happens to begin with a vowel.

 

a naoi: Swedish “nio” or Danish “ni,” mar shampla (for example). Example: “tairseach a naoi” (the 9 o’clock watershed, in broadcasting).

a deich: Think “decimal,” “deciliter,” or even “decimate” (the latter originally meant killing every tenth soldier if there had been a transgression). Example: spásáil chéim a deich? Hint: means the same as “spásáil phíoca” (pica spacing, in computese). Got it? Ten-pitch spacing!

Sin é! That’s it! A haon go dtí a deich as Gaeilge! One to ten in Irish!

Bhur mblagálaí, Róislín

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