(le Róislín)
You might have been thinking it would be time to catch up on some of the other topics that have been hinted at during the course of the blog – the donkey sanctuaries (agus sibhse ag fanacht leis sin le fada, tá a fhios agam, a léitheoirí dílse), vigesimal counting (once traditional and still sometimes practiced in Irish), and the t-, h-, and n-prefixes, all alluded to in previous blogs. And, of course, the still-to-come fifth declension, since we’ve only gotten up to the fourth, so far.
But, while mulling over those possible topics, what to “mo shúile faoi iontas” should appear but an pionta beo seo. Bhuel, some sort of “beo,” is dócha. Duine beo i gculaith déanta as, hmmm … . An bhfuil a fhios ag duine ar bith anseo cad as a ndéantar cultacha mar seo? Pluis? Cúr-rubar? Nó an rud inséidte é? Ar chaith duine ar bith agaibh culaith mar seo riamh?
An Pionta Beo
Credit: PDPhoto.org
That’s probably enough questions to break down for one blog.
For any newcomers to Irish, “An bhfuil [wil] a fhios [iss] ag duine ar bith anseo,” means “Does anyone here know … (lit. is its knowledge at anyone here).”
Next we have a question that would be indirect in English (“…what suits like this are made of”). In Irish, the direct and indirect questions are the same in a case like this. I could ask a direct question, out of the blue, “Cad as a ndéantar cultacha mar seo?” Or I could lead in with an introductory clause and then ask the question, as in “An bhfuil a fhios ag duine ar bith anseo cad as a ndéantar cultacha mar seo?”
In English, of course, the word order would change for direct/indirect questions:
direct: What are suits like this made of? (what + verb + subject)
indirect: (Do you know) what suits like this are made of? (what + subject + verb)
So English speakers should resist any temptation to follow English indirect-question patterns to create the Irish sentence.
As for the word “culaith” (suit), some of its forms follow. It’s feminine, 2nd-declension, which tells us, up front, what some of its endings will be. But its plural, cultacha, as you may have noticed, is somewhat unusual, even within the 2nd declension.
culaith, a suit, a costume, sometimes “a dress,” though that’s usually “gúna”; culaith éadaigh, a suit of clothes
an chulaith, the suit
na culaithe, of the suit; sampla: praghas na culaithe seo
A few specific types of suits:
culaith bhréidín, a tweed suit (Why lenition of “bréidín”? Because it’s functioning as an adjective, describing a feminine noun.)
culaith Aifrinn, Mass vestments
culaith saighdiúra, a soldier’s uniform
cultacha, suits, etc.
na cultacha, the suits, etc.; sampla: na cultacha liatha
na gcultacha, of the suits, etc.; sampla: dathanna na gcultacha
How about these? Culaith spáis? Culaith snámha? An Fear sa Chulaith Fhlainín Liath? Ach, fan bomaite, seo blag trasatlantach agus tá ciall eile ag “flainín” trasna an locháin. So what exactly did Sloan Wilson mean by that title? Tuilleadh eolais faoin bhfocal “flainín” thíos.
Agus na hábhair eile (as a ndéantar culaith an phionta bheo)?
Pluis? This one’s a piece o’ cake: an phluis, the plush, na pluise, of the plush. No plural generally for this noun, but you could say “teicstilí pluise,” if needed.
Cúr-rubar? A clear-cut “comhfhocal”: cúr-rubar, foam-rubber, an chúr-rubair, of the foam rubber. Again, no plural, for most purposes.
Inséidte? Inflatable, based on the verb “séid” (blow), combined with the standard Irish prefix “in-“ for “-able/-ible,” as also found in words like, “inite” ([in-ITCH-uh], edible) and “inmholta” ([in-WOL-tuh], commendable).
Anyone care to venture some responses to these additional questions? Not that I have exact answers, so the assessment will have to wait till at least the next blog. Fáilte roimh mheastacháin.
Cé chomh hard is atá an pionta beo seo?
Cad é trastomhas (lárlíne) an phionta bheo seo?
Cad é imlíne an phionta bheo seo?
Cad é blas an phionta beo seo?
Cén sórt bróg atá ar an duine a bhfuil an chulaith seo air nó uirthi? Níl siad róshoiléir sa phictiúr.
It would be great to see some of your answers. Or if we could have a testimony from a Guinness-costume wearer about the experience. My costume-wearing antics include a dragon, a pumpkin (lámhdhéanta, a bhuí le mo mháthair), mactíre in “éadaí” (i gcraiceann) na caorach (agus éifeachtaí fuaime leis), and an alligator (rented for a children’s birthday party back i mbláth ré na léinte Izod, a bhfuil lógó ailigéadair orthu — and believe it or not, I wore that costume, ruball and all, out onto a rinc scátáil rollála. Choíche arís!) Ach ní raibh culaith Guinness orm riamh. Smaoineamh do Lá Fhéile Pádraig seo chugainn? But lots to do before then, so, idir an dá linn, sgf ó Róislín
Gluais: caith, wear, or, for full disclosure, also: wear out, throw, smoke, or consume, but presumably context rules; dílse, pl. of dílis, loyal; faoi iontas, wondering; feidhmeannach gnó, business executive; liath, gray/grey; trasna an locháin, across the pond
Maidir le “flainín”: come to think of it, that “flainín” part could be translated several ways. “Flainín” means “flannel,” but what does “flannel” mean? Trasna an locháin, it can mean what Americans would probably call a “washcloth” or a “facecloth.” A suit of washcloths. Nah! As slang, it can mean “a half-truth” or figuratively, “soft soap.” Hmmm, the 1956 movie was about a feidhmeannach gnó, wasn’t it? ‘Nuff said. Then there’s also “pleidhcí an fhlainín,” as Bearnaí Ó Doibhlin translated Kipling’s phrase, “flannelled [sic b/c UK] fools.” But their “flainín” was cricket-white, at least until the players become “dúramáin láibeacha” (muddy oafs), so we can disregard that aistriúchán for the moment. More on flannel and flannel(l)ing i mblag éigin eile, má tá suim agaibh ann. Focal an-suimiúil é “flannel,” ón mBreatnais ó dhúchas. .
As for Disney’s 1968 film about “an capall sa chulaith fhlainín liath,” mh’anam, sin ábhar blag eile agus eile aríst. Ní cuimhin liom cén fáth a bhfuil an tagairt don chulaith ann. Dath fhionnadh an chapaill? An siombail d’fheidhmeannach gnó é an capall? Do bharúil? An bhfaca tú an scannán?
Maidir le “caith,” yes, my question could also mean:
“Did you wear out a suit like this?” (how many parades would it take for this to happen?).
“Did you consume a suit like this?” (perhaps hallucinating that this was a dream come true, a larger-than-life pionta Guinness).
“Did you throw a suit like this?” Sort of a variation on the caber-tossing contests, b’fhéidir? They now have at least one variation, haggis-tossing, sometimes found at Highland Games. So why not a Guinness-costume-tossing contest? Gan an duine istigh, tá súil agam.
I could have just said “An raibh culaith mar seo ort riamh?” (lit. Was a suit like this ever on you?), since the verb “to be” + the preposition “ar” can also mean “to wear” (referring to an item of clothing).
Nóta do na daoine a chuireann(s) spéis i gcultacha flainín liath, seo suíomh daoibh, le halt a bhfuil an teideal “Iconic Clothing: The Gray Flannel Suit” air (http://asuitablewardrobe.dynend.com/2009/01/iconic-clothing-gray-flannel-suit.html).
And finally, nóta fuaimnithe faoi na focail “beo” agus “seo,” i bhfrása mar “an pionta beo seo”:
beo, alive [byoh], long “oh” sound, and “b” like the initial “b” of “beauty” (not “booty”)
seo, this [shuh], short vowel sound, like the “u” of “fun” or the “a” of “about;” not like the “-eo” of “beo”
Even though these two words are spelled similarly, they are pronounced quite differently. Cosúil le comhghraif, though not full-fledged, because of the different initial letters.
