Posts tagged with "costume"

A Zombaithe Go Léir, (Ná) Folaígí Bhur nAghaidheanna! (All You Zombies…!)

Posted by róislín No Comments
Oct 21 2011

(le Róislín)

I’m rather stupefied by all the cultacha zombaí for Halloween this year, so couldn’t resist a few more mix’n’match phrases.  Keep in mind that in all these cases, the word “zombaí” is functioning as an adjective, so it comes after the main noun.  In this case, unlike the previous costume match-up, which was completing the phrases in Irish, this one is simply linking the Irish to the English.  Tá súil agam go mbainfidh sibh sult as!

Colún A                                               Colún B

1)      dochtúir zombaí                        a) zombie grave-digger

2)      reiligire zombaí                          b) zombie doctor

3)      creatlach zombaí                       c) zombie prom queen

4)      *prombhanríon zombaí             d) zombie skeleton

5)      manach zombaí                         e) zombie convict

0)                                                          f) zombie monk

Yes, there’s one extra entry in English, just to mix it up a little.

As a result of all this zombaímháine, I wonder how the now-vintage Hooters song is doing these days (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LE0KpcP05I).  It inspired teideal an bhlag seo, pé scéal é.  I doubt this Halloween’s zombies paid much attention to its memorable line “All you zombies, hide your faces!”  I think they went more for the “Show your faces!” line!

By the way, it occurred to me post-blog last time that “stocamhoncaí zombaí” (a zombie sock-monkey, one of this year’s popular costumes) could equally well mean “a zombie’s sock-monkey,” that is, a toy sock-monkey belonging to a zombie.  To resolve that, I suppose one would have to determine whether zombaithe play with stocamhoncaithe.  If so, context would have to be the final arbiter of the exact meaning of the phrase “stocamhoncaí zombaí!”

SGF, ó Róislín

Freagraí: 1b, 2a, 3d, 4c, 5f

Gluais: aghaidh [sounds like aye, eye, or I; the “g” and “d” are silent], face (pl: aghaidheanna [AI-uh-nuh, with the “AI” like “aye,” “eye,” or “I”); banríon, queen; creatlach, skeleton; cultacha, costumes (pl. of culaith, costume, suit); folaígí! hide! (command form); máine, mania; manach, monk; *prombhanríon, prom queen – yeah, I sort of made that term up since it’s not really an Irish tradition; reiligire, grave-digger (cf. reilig, cemetery).  ”Convict,” if you’re interested in the Irish for the “place-holder” answer, would be either “daoránach” or “pianseirbhí.” 

Cultacha Samhna Móréilimh [best-selling] na Bliana 2010

Posted by róislín 1 Comment
Oct 31 2010

Here’s  some vocabulary you might enjoy for putting together the names of some of this year’s most popular Halloween costumes.  Some of these are specific trademarked figures, so please note I’m not actually recommending renaming the characters into Irish – just breaking the vocabulary down into its component parts.  Each name I’ve picked has two parts, so part of the name will come from Colún A and the other part from Colún B.  But the Colún A word isn’t necessarily first in the actual phrase in English.  Just to mix it up. 

Colún A                                                   Colún B.

1. solasbhliain                                      a. fhiáin            

2. beach                                                 b. haitéir

3. ar buile                                               c. seabhrán

4. fear                                                      d. Mario

5. deartháireacha                                e. damhán alla

Apparently, Lady Gaga was this year’s most popular pop culture costume for adults.  So I could have made her entry 6 in the exercise above.  But should we translate “Lady” in her name, especially since she’s a real person?  Mostly the word “Lady” seems to remain in English no matter what language she’s being discussed in.  But if you’re bound and determined to translate her name into Irish, you could use “bantiarna” (lady, as a title).  “Gaga,” though, would remain the same.  Honorific titles in Irish include the definite article (“the”), so you’d include “an” at the beginning (An Bhantiarna Gaga) just as you would for “an Dochtúir Ó Murchú” (Dr. Murphy) or “an tAthair Ó Murchú” (Father Murphy).   Or “an tAthair Ted.” 

The further question to me, though, is that every time Lady Gaga appears, she’s in costume, so which, if any, would be an chulaith Lady Gaga is aircitíopúla?  Or did this year’s Halloween shops offer dosaenacha feisteas Lady Gaga?  Caithfidh mé a admháil nár thug mé sin faoi deara!

Leid: is do pháistí is mó é uimhir a 2, go mór mór do thachráin

Freagraí: 1c. seabhrán, buzz (one of many words for “buzz” ach sin scéal eile); solasbhliain, light year; 2a. beach fhiáin, bumblebee (lit. wild bee); 3b. haitéir, hatter; ar buile (mad, lit. “on madness,” as in the “Poc” song); 4e. fear, man; damhán alla, spider;  5d. deartháireacha, brothers; Mario, Mario, ar ndóigh (sloinne ceart ar iarraidh ach tá an cheist sin seanphléite ar an Idirlíon, má tá suim agat ann). 

Nóta ar an bhfocal “bantiarna”: This is one of the few compound words for female occupations that don’t take their gender from the core word of the compound, in this case, “tiarna” (lord), which is masculine.  One other is “banaltra” (nurse), a word now considered “dated” but still in use and grammatically feminine.  The lenition of “b” to “bh” in the form “an bhanaltra” shows that it’s feminine.  The word “banaltra” is now typically superseded by altra, (an t-altra), which is a masculine noun.  In contrast, though, we have many examples of female occupational terms that are grammatically masculine, like banphrionsa (princess), bandia (goddess), banchliamhain (daughter-in-law), and bangharda (policewoman, a female garda).      

Nóta ar an bhfocal “culaith” (costume).  This also means “suit” in general: culaith [KUL-ee], costume; an chulaith [un KHUL-ee], the costume (lenited because it’s grammatically feminine); cultacha [KUL-tukh-uh], costumes.  Cf. culaith snámha or shnámha, bathing-suit; culaith bhréidín, tweed suit; culaith Aifrinn, Mass vestments, etc. 

Gluais: admháil, to admit, acknowledge; is aircitíopúla, most archetypical (from aircitíopúil); caithfidh mé [KAH-hee may], I must (also means “I throw, I spend, etc., but once again, sin scéal eile); cliamhain [KLEE-uh-win], son-in-law; dia, a god or deity; feisteas [FESH-tuss], outfit (n); prionsa (prince); tachrán [TAHKH-rawn], toddler; thug mé sin faoi deara, I noticed that (preceded by “níor” or “nár,” the phrase is negative)

Tuilleadh Téarmaí Oíche Shamhna

Posted by róislín No Comments
Oct 31 2009

An bhfuil culaith Oíche Shamhna agat?  Do you have a Halloween costume?

Má tá, cén sórt culaithe atá ann? 

An mbeidh tú i do vaimpír?  [un may too ih duh VAM-peer?]     

Beidh [bay] / Ní bheidh [nee vay]

 

For these questions, note that you’re literally saying something like, “Will you be in your vampire?” and the answer is either “will be” or “won’t be.”  It doesn’t mean inside your own “vampireness,” but is simply a way to link a noun or pronoun, in this case “tú” with another noun, in this case, “vaimpír.”  It’s very important to include the phrase “i do” (in your” for sentences like this; normally one can’t use the verb “tá” to link two nouns. 

 

The full answer to a question like this is:

Beidh mé i mo vaimpír (I will be a vampire, using “i mo” for “in my”)

or for the negative, Ní bheidh mé i mo vaimpír. 

 

But one might simply answer “beidh” or answer “Ní bheidh” and then say what you’ll actually be, like “Ní bheidh, beidh mé i mo chonriocht.”  (No, I’ll be a werewolf).  

 

Hmm, that would actually be a tricky (úúps!) costume to create, wouldn’t it?  How would people know you were a werewolf and not just a regular wolf?  Maybe a costume that was “leathchonriocht” agus “leathdhuine” (half werewolf, half human), a sort of “fráma reoite beo” (living freeze frame) in the act of “trasdul” (transition). 

Seo cúpla ceann eile:

An mbeidh tú i do thaibhse? [… ih duh HAIV-shuh, silent “t” and “b”]     

An mbeidh tú i do dhiabhal? [… ih duh YEE-uh-wul?

An mbeidh tú i do chat dubh? [… ih duh khaht duv?]

An mbeidh tú i do bhuachaill bó? [… ih duh WOO-ukh-il boh?]

An mbeidh tú i do phíoráid? [… ih duh FEE-ur-awdj?[

 

And of course, now that Halloween costumes for pets have become popular, we could have a series of questions like:

An mbeidh do mhadra ina chat dubh?  Will your dog [male] be a black cat?

An mbeidh do mhadra ina cat dubh?  Will your dog [female] be a black cat? 

 

Or, thinking of an adorable costume I saw on a “smutmhadra” (pug dog) the other day:

Tá an smutmhadra ina phuimcín  (if the dog is male) or Tá an smutmhadra ina puimcín (if the dog is female). 

 

Please do note the pronunciation of the first part of the compound word for “pug.”   The “u” is like the sound in English “put” or “book,” not as in “putt” (in golf) or “buck.”  And please keep in mind that the compound “smutmhadra” literally means “stump-dog” or “snout-dog”  The first element may look like English, but that is, in this case, sheer coincidence.

 

If you’re trying to put a culaith on your cat, I’d say, “Ádh mór!”  I’ve also seen costumes for pearóidí, but have never actually seen a parrot wearing one.  Tusa?    

 

And  “mar fhocal scoir” for this topic, all of these questions imply a temporary state.  That is, you’re not permanently a devil, even though you’re wearing a devil costume.  

 

If you’re truly and inherently a vampire or if your pug is truly and inherently a pumpkin, you’d use the linking verb and say “Is vaimpír mé” (I’m a vampire) or “Is puimcín é an smutmhadra sin” (That pug is a pumpkin).  The first of those sentences might be reasonably useful, depending on what kind of company you hang out with.  The second one is a stretch, at least as I understand eiseadh (existence).  Perhaps we should say, “Is smutmadra é an puimcín sin” [That pumpkin is (actually) a pug].  To me, that would suggest that some wizard had transformed a pug into a pumpkin and you were pointing this out, since most people would think the pumpkin was simply a pumpkin.  But if you wanted to imply that the pumpkin could be transformed back into a pug, you could say, “Tá an puimcín sin ina smutmhadra” (That pumpkin is a pug). 

 

Of course, if your sense of identity with your costumed persona is really strong, you could use the “is” verb as well.  But if you wanted to say “I’m a vampire tonight, but if you want to know my job, I’m a programmer,” you’d say: 

Tá mé i mo vaimpír anocht ach má tá tú ag iarraidh a fháil amach cén post atá agam, is cláraitheoir mé. 

 

Whatever you choose to say with the Irish verb “is,” remember that it is pronounced like “hiss” or “miss,” not like its English look-alike, “is,” which is pronounced “izz.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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