Posts tagged with "Éireannach"

Rudaí Gaelacha, Rudaí Éireannacha

Posted by róislín No Comments
Aug 17 2011

(le Roislín)

We’ve recently discussed rudaí Francacha and a cluster of rudaí Ollannacha, rudaí Dúitseacha, agus rudaí Ísiltíreacha.  How about now cúpla rud Gaelach agus cúpla rud Éireannach?

And before we proceed with the interesting cultural “stuif,” let’s look at the structures in the paragraph thuas.

Rudaí is a plural noun (plural of rud, thing), so the adjective modifying it is also plural, shown for these adjectives by adding the “-a” ending: rudaí Francacha (as opposed to “rud Francach”, srl.).

In English, the noun “couple” is followed by a plural as in “a couple of books” or “a couple of people.”  Or, beagáinín more dramatically, the title of the Irish comedy by Frank and Malachy McCourt, “A Couple of Blaguards “  Or, a little farther afield,  “A Couple of Misfits,” the song sung Hermie the Elf and Rúdolf an Réinfhia Deargshrónach, in the Burl Ives TV special.  Not that they call him a “réinfhia deargshrónach” in the show, but, after all, this is a blag dátheangach.  And yes, I know, that that clár is a good couple of decades old (i.e. more like 4 or 5 decades old, not the “two” that a “couple” is supposed to represent), but they keep re-releasing it, mar sin, tá súil agam go bhfuil sé feicthe agaibh.  So, whatever the topic following “couple” in English, it’s plural (books, people, blaguards, misfits, etc.).

Blaguards and misfits?  Hmmm, sounds like ábhar blag eile to me, am éigin sa todhchaí!

Anyway, back to the word “couple,” this time in Irish, “cúpla.”  It’s followed by the noun in the singular, as in “cúpla duine,” “cúpla rud,” or “cúpla focal.”  If there’s an adjective following the noun, it simply follows suit.  Masculine singular noun, masculine singular adjective: cúpla bosca mór.  Feminine singular noun, feminine singular adjective (marked by lenition, where possible): cúpla cearc bhán (a couple of white hens).  If we weren’t dealing with the word “cúpla,” and just wanted to say “big boxes” or “white hens,” we’d have “boscaí móra” or “cearca bána,” each with the appropriate plural endings. 

Likewise:

cúpla rud Gaelach, a couple of Irish things (whatever the things might be)

cúpla rud Éireannach, a couple of Irish things (ditto)

For a couple of real-life examples, agus an stuif cultúrtha, and for good measure, ceistiúchán beag:

cúpla cnó gaelach, a couple of hazel-nuts (yes, literally the adjective means “Irish” but this is one of the two main terms for “hazel-nut” in Irish, the other being “collchnó,” which is more specifically related to the phrase for “hazel tree,” which is “crann coill”).  Note that “gaelach” here is lower-cased, since this is a generalized usage.

cúpla pas Éireannach, a couple of Irish passports

Here are some additional nouns that would typically be followed by either “Gaelach” or “Éireannach” – can you match them up?  Freagraí thíos. 

1.. punt (when it was i bhfeidhm, now just a historical reference)

2.. cló (remember “an seanchló”?)

3.. léann (as in an academic department at a university)

4.. blastán (for salad)

5.. bréidín baile (homespun tweed)

6.. peil (as opposed to “peil Mheiriceánach”)

7.. ceol (for music related to Irish tradition, including, but not limited to, singing in the Irish language)

8.. ceol (any music created by Irish people, any style)

9.. caife (one could probably make a case for either choice here, but since there’s an established precedent for this usage, I’d say, tradition rules)

10.. fonn tíre (= folk tune)

Bhuel, sin cleachtadh beag ar an ábhar seo: Gaelach vs. gaelach, Gaelach vs. Éireannach, firinscneach vs. baininscneach, uatha vs. iolra.  Go leor do bhlag amháin, déarfainn.  SGF, ó Róislín

Freagraí: 1. punt Éireannach,  2. cló Gaelach, 3. Léann Éireannach (Irish Studies), 4. blastán Éireannach,  5. bréidín baile Éireannach, 6. peil Ghaelach (note the lenition), 7. ceol Gaelach, 8. ceol Éireannach, 9. caife Gaelach, 10. fonn tíre Gaelach

Lá na Brataí (Flag Day) i Meiriceá

Posted by róislín No Comments
Jun 14 2010

Ceiliúrtar Lá na Brataí i Meiriceá ar an 14ú lá de mhí an Mheithimh.  Cad a dhéantar?  Paráidí in áiteanna (is fiú le rá Quincy, MA., Traoi (Troy), NY, agus Fairfield, WA), searmanais, canadh an amhráin náisiúnta, agus na bratacha iad féin curtha ar foluain. 

The Irish word for flag is “bratach.”  In the plural (na Bratacha), it can also mean “the Colors,” (regimental, etc.).  You might have noticed that to say “of the flag,” the ending changes to “-aí,” giving us “brataí.”  You might also have noticed that we use “na” in the phrase, not “an” for “(of) the.”  Both of these facts are clues that “bratach” is grammatically feminine.

This may be a bit of a surprise since learners of Irish are often told that “-ach” typically signifies a masculine noun (like Éireannach, Meiriceánach, Ceanadach, Oilimpeach, or oileánach).  And that is true.  There are many such masculine nouns, including virtually all nouns indicating nationality.  However, there is a distinct group of feminine nouns that also end in “-ach” and which have a different set of endings.  Besides “bratach,” we have “scornach” (throat) and “deilgneach” (chicken-pox), to name just a couple more examples that are feminine. 

These two sets of nouns could also be described in terms of the “declension” (noun category) to which they belong.  “Éireannach” is in the first declension; all first-declension nouns are masculine.  “Bratach” is second declension.  Over 99% of the nouns in the second declension are feminine.  There are three other declensions in Irish (third, fourth, fifth) but going into all of them will have to wait for another blog, in fact, probably another series.  If you’ve noticed all the abbreviations like “m1,” “f2,” or “m4,” used in many dictionaries, they tell you the gender (m/f) and declension (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).  That information then tells you what endings the noun takes when it is used in different functions in the sentence.  Except for the exceptions.  But then, the exceptions make the “riail,” don’t they? 

Getting back to “flag,” here are some of the main forms:

an bhratach, the flag (lenition or séimhiú, since it’s feminine singular)

na brataí, of the flag (no lenition, even though feminine, since it’s possessive; possessive ending)

na bratacha, the flags

na mbratach, of the flags (eclipsis or urú, since it’s possessive and plural). 

How does this differ from the masculine nouns ending in “-ach?”  Here’s a masculine example, from the first declension, deliberately picked to begin with the same letter as “bratach,” so the mutations are the same:

an Bostúnach, the Bostonian

an Bhostúnaigh, of the Bostonian

na Bostúnaigh, the Bostonians

na mBostúnach, of the Bostonians   

And by the way, for those of you up on your Irish insults, no snide comments here on anything connected to “bastún” (angl. “bosthoon”), please.  A reasonably polite translation of “bastún” is “lout.”  It has nothing to do with “Bostún,” the city, except a slight resemblance in pronunciation. 

Here are some other flag-related words and phrases:

crann brataí, flagstaff (lit. tree of flag, flag’s tree)

soitheach gan bhratach, flagless vessel

iompróir na brataí, flag-bearer

brateolaí, vexillologist

For a flag referred to as a tricolor, one can say, “bratach trí dhath” or “trídhathach,” or, for a specific reference (as in “The Tricolour”), “an Trídhathach” or “Bratach na dTrí Dhath.”  If one is speaking in Irish, the assumption will probably be that one is referring to “Bratach na hÉireann” (the Flag of Ireland), but, in theory at least, one could be referring to other tricolor flags as well, like those of Russia and India.   

Gluais: a chur ar foluain, to fly (a flag, as opposed to “eitilt,” which pertains to birds, planes, etc.); áit, áiteanna, place(s); ar an 14ú lá, abair “ar an gceathrú lá déag” (the –ú after the number stands for the adjectival ending used in creating most ordinal numbers in Irish; likewise, tríú, cúigiú, srl.), canadh [KAHN-uh, silent “d”], singing; ceiliúrtar, is celebrated; dath [dah, silent “t”], color; eolaí, scientist; searmanas, ceremony

Deir seachtar (7) i nGaeilge gur “Gael-Mheiriceánaigh” iad ach deir 2805, “I’m (an) Irish-American,” de réir cuardach Google

Posted by róislín No Comments
May 28 2009
Well, that should be an attention-getter!  Not that Google searches are “bun agus barr an scéil” (the be-all and end-all) of information gathering, but this search result does provide food for thought.  This article shows the results of searches limited by quotation marks, so only the phrase sought is reported.  In other words, the results don’t include, for example, all instances of “American,” only those preceded by “Irish-.”   
On May 24, in the entire cyber-universe searched by Google, a total of seven sources were found that used a statement with the speakers saying, in the first person, that they were “Gael-Mheiriceánach.”  This is a compound word based on “Gael” (an Irish person, mostly used now in a cultural sense) and “Meiriceánach” (American).  You can say:

 Is Meiriceánach mé. I am an American.

Is Gael-Mheiriceánach mé. I am an Irish-American (note m -> mh change after “Gael-“)

 “Gael-Mheiriceánach” can also be used as an adjective to say that a person, thing, or concept is “Irish- American,” as opposed to the person being an Irish-American.  For example, “Is nós Gael-Mheiriceánach é a bheith ag díol béigeal uaine le Lá Fhéile Pádraig a cheiliúradh” (It is an Irish-American custom to sell green bagels to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day).

To say “I am Irish (of Irish nationality), most people would say “Is Éireannach mé.”  A future blog will discuss the compound word “Éireannach-Mheiriceánach,” which is also in use, with a slightly different nuance from “Gael-Mheiriceánach.”   No “hits” at all were found searching for the phrase “Is Éireannach-Mheiriceánach mé” (I am an Irish-American) so, for current purposes, we’ll emphasize the word “Gael” to  express Irish-Americanness.  Very few people would officially label themselves solely as a “Gael” these days, but there are many useful related terms and phrases, such as:

Glór na nGael (www.glornangael.ie), lit. “The Voice of the Gaels,” a group dedicated to promoting the Irish language

Fíorghael, lit. “a true Gael,” a term typically used to mean an “over-the-top” Irish person, and, since 2005, a comic Irish-medium short directed by Macdara Vallely and produced by Zanzibar Films (www.imdb.com/title/tt0887139)

In this cuardach Google (Google search), there were only seven self-identifying statements of Irish-American ethnicity given in Irish but there were about 2800 where the speaker says “I am Irish-American” or “I am an Irish-American” in English.  Now juxtapose that with the fact that about 40 million Americans claim some Irish heritage.  Certainly, many millions of these may think of themselves as being Irish-American without necessarily saying so in a manner searchable by Google, but we can use the search as a rough benchmark of identity.  About one in every 5.5 million Irish-Americans bothers to say in a searchable manner and in Irish, “Is Gael-Mheiriceánach mé.”  And that’s assuming that the seven statements collected are actual facts about the speakers; they could just be statements created for other purposes, such as examples of grammar using the Irish verb “is.”  But with a sampla (sample) of seven, I’ll just go ahead and claim all of them for present purposes.

About 400 times as many people say, online and searchably, that they are Irish-American in English as say it in Irish.  That’s the 2805 as opposed to the seven!

Next comparison, na Franc-Mheiriceánaigh (French-Americans), who number about 11 million, about a quarter the number of Irish-Americans.  How many of these write online, searchably and in French, that they themselves are French-American, again as of May 24th?  172, including both the masculine and feminine forms.  That’s 24 times the number who proclaim their Irish-American identity in Irish. 

How many of these 11 million say they are “Franco-“ or “French-American,” writing online in English? 118.  So, when it comes to discussing identity, the French-Americans are much more likely to state their ethnicity in French than in English.  I know it’s a small sample and should be repeated on different dates and with different search engines for better accuracy, but nonetheless, the treocht (trend) is clear.  If anyone would like to rerun the search and report the results in the “comments” section, bheadh suim agamsa agus ag na léitheoirí go léir ann, tá mé cinnte (All the other readers and I would be interested, I’m sure). 

What does this tell us?  There are about four times as many Irish-Americans as French-Americans in the U.S. but they are far less likely to talk about their identity in Irish than the French-Americans are to discuss their identity in French.  Yes, I know–we all know–that French has been a much more accessible language than Irish for decades, perhaps centuries.  But, finally, perhaps we could say, it’s a good time to be learning Irish, talking about one’s identity in Irish, and generally giving the Irish language a cibearphróifil (cyber profile) that’s at least comparable to that of other languages.  So, chugam bhur mbarúlacha, le bhur dtoil.  So, send me your opinions, please.  And yes, one of these days, I’ll tackle the compound identities many of us have on this side of the lochán (pond). 

Pronunciation Tip a hAon: m -> mh (say: v): Remember that after the words “Gael” or “Éireannach” used as prefixes, there is softening (lenition) of the next consonant.  Traditionally, these words are written in Irish with fleiscíní (hyphens).  They used to be in English, as well, but that technicality seems to be dying out, as we see in phrases such as, “I am Irish American” or “He is African American.”  At any rate:

Gael-Mheiriceánach: GAYL-VER-ik-yawn-ukh (Irish-American)

Éireannach-Mheiriceánach: AYR-un-ukh-VER-ik-yawn-ukh (Irish-American)

Those identities would be opposed to the phrases “Gael Meiriceánach” or “Éireannach Meiriceánach,” which would mean “an American Irishman,” normally understood as an Irish person residing in the U.S.  Among other places, this distinction is carefully noted in the book, The Legend of Being Irish-American, edited by David Lampe, which includes “Irish-American” and “American-Irish” poetry.  Please note that in Irish there is no fleiscín (hyphen) or lenition in the phrases “Gael Meiriceánach” or “Éireannach Meiriceánach,” since here, “Meiriceánach” is the adjective, modifying “Gael” or “Éireannach.” 

Sometimes, looking around at printed English, I think that I’m one of the last people on earth who believes in the use of hyphens and apostrophes.  If you’re of the same mind-set, maybe you could send a comment and let me know you agree!  Our slogan, perhaps: Fleiscíní agus Uaschamóga Abú!, which could loosely be translated as “Up hyphens and apostrophes” or “Hyphens and apostrophes rule!”  Why are they important?  As the Irish example above shows, they can change meanings!

 Pronunciation Tip a Dó: The Irish verb “is,” while it may look like the English verb “is,” is pronounced differently; it rhymes with “hiss” or “miss,” while the English “is” rhymes with “fizz” or “quiz.” 

 Bhur mblagálaí – Róislín

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Logainmneacha Ceilteacha agus Náisiúntachtaí a Sé: Celtic Place Names and Nationalities 6 – Cornwall and the Cornish

Posted by róislín No Comments
May 22 2009

We’ve recently discussed the place names Albain, Éire, An Bhreatain Bheag, Oileán Mhanann, and An Bhriotáin.  Today we’ll turn to Cornwall.  Below you’ll find some examples of how to use the place name and how to indicate that a person or thing is Cornish.  Cornwall is called “Corn na Breataine” (horn of Britain) or sometimes “An Corn” in Irish. 

 

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

 

an Cornach, the Cornishman.  Cornach is also the adjective form.

 

 Some phrases with the place name “Corn na Breataine” include:

 

i gCorn na Breataine: in Cornwall

 

go Corn na Breataine: to Cornwall

 

muintir Chorn na Breataine: the residents of Cornwall

 

 In an interesting twist, the mineral cornwallite is “cornuaillít” in Irish, adapting the “-wall” suffix into Irish spelling. 

  

In a further interesting twist, the two main plant names that in English are designated as pertaining to Cornwall, Cornish heath and Cornish moneywort, lose the Cornish element in their Irish names, which are, respectively, “fraoch gallda” (lit. foreign heather – remember, the perspective is Irish here) and “pingin Dhuibhneach” (lit. penny from Corca Dhuibhne, a region in Co. Kerry).  I’ll let the Cornaigh and the Duibhnigh hash out the plant’s true origins among themselves – our concern here is terminology!

  

“Cornish hen,” the term I thought would be a “shoo-in” to exemplify Cornishness in popular culture and the lenition of feminine singular adjectives in Irish grammar, turns out to be a “shoo-out.”  The situation’s not straightforward at all.  One might think we’d simply use “cearc” (hen) plus “Chornach” (the feminine form of the adjective).  Mícheart (incorrect)!  First of all, this cearc goes by at least four other names (Cornish game hen, poussin, Rock Cornish hen, and Rock Cornish), thickening the plot considerably.  Secondly, it may refer to a specially bred chicken, slaughtered young and designed for one serving.  It isn’t a game bird and can be male or female, so isn’t always a “hen.”  Furthermore, the French word “poussin,” sometimes equated with “Cornish hen,” has two meanings in English, being the “Cornish game hen” in U.S. English and referring to an even smaller and younger bird in U.K. English.  So aside, from noting that the “Rock” element refers to Plymouth Rock, highlighting Cornish Rock’s American origin, I will respectfully bail out of this attempt to Gaelicize Cornish hens.  One might think that the Cornish hen was an indigenous breed, small in size to adapt to the rugged terrain in which it lived, like Kerry and Dexter cattle or Shetland ponies, ach ní mar sin atá sé (that’s not how it is).  Fascinating in their own right, those animals will be featured i mblag éigin eile. 

 

So what’s left to exemplify the adjective “Cornach” in context?  Our last place name feature added the tasty element of crêpes, the Breton specialty.  Although I don’t know of any North American bialanna (restaurants) specializing in Cornwall’s famous culinary creation, the Cornish pasty, we can at least offer the Irish name for it, pastae Cornach.  These pastries were stuffed with meat, potatoes and other vegetables.  They have a folded-over crust and were thus distinguished from pióga feola (meat pies).  Their shape supposedly made it safe for miners to eat their lunch, since they couldn’t always clean the coal dust, which might contain arsenic, off their hands.  According to tradition, the miners discarded the corner of the pastry, which they had touched with their fingers, saying it was for the “knockers.”  

 

 Yes, those are the same supernatural beings who loosely provided the inspiration for Stephen King’s The Tommyknockers.  They would warn miners of possible disasters, at least, one presumes, if you kept them well fed with pasty crusts.  One of these days, I’ll have to check King’s novel, to see if he feeds them properly!

 

And if you are in North America and want to sample pastaetha Cornacha (that’s the plural), you can find them at special events such as the Pasty Fest in Calumet, Michigan, and special church suppers in Cornish-settled parts of Pennsylvania, such as Bangor and Pen Argyl. 

 

 This finishes the series of Celtic place names and identities, at least for the modern period.  One of these days we’ll practice saying, “I am an ancient Gaul,” but for the immediate future, it will probably be more practical to work on phrases such as “Gael-Mheiriceánach” (Irish-American) or Gael-Cheanadach (Irish-Canadian) and to introduce such basics as “American” and “Canadian” in their unlenited forms.  Stay tuned!  – Bhur mblagálaí, Róislín

Logainmneacha Ceilteacha agus Náisiúntachtaí a Dó: Celtic Place Names and Nationalities – Ireland and the Irish

Posted by róislín No Comments
Apr 24 2009

  We recently discussed the place name “Albain” (Scotland) and now will turn to ”Éire” (Ireland)..  Here are some examples of the nationality, the place name, and related phrases:   

 

  Éireannach, an Irishman or person.  This can be made feminine, “Éireannach mná,” but, the same as my experience with “Albanach mná,” most people don’t seem to bother.  The feminine form basically means “a woman Irishman.”

 

  an tÉireannach, the Irishman.  Remember the lower-case “t” from “an tAlbanach”?  Same thing applies here.  There is no dash as there would be for a lower-case generic noun like “an t-éirí “(the take-off, or literally, rising).  Note how the use of the dash is governed by capitalization, not by what the word means, since the dash disappears in the phrase “an tÉirí Amach (the Rising, as in the 1916 Easter Rising).  The full name for this event is, of course, Éirí Amach na Cásca (the Rising of “the” Easter), where both the definite article and the prefixed “t” have disappeared.  Why?  Irish only uses one definite article per phrase, so “na” covers both “Éirí Amach” and “Cásca.” 

 

  Likewise, we say, “an tÉireannachas” (the Irishness, Irish characteristics) but “Éireannachas na nGael-Mheiriceánach” (the Irishness of the Irish-Americans), with no “t.”  Of course, with another angle, we could say “Gaelachas na nGael-Mheiriceánach” but the difference between “Gaelachas” and “Éireannachas” will have to be ábhar blag eile (the subject of another blog). 

 

  The forms of the place name are:

 

  Éire: used as the subject or direct object of a sentence

 

  Éirinn: used after most prepositions, be ready for prefixes! 

 

  Éireann  or hÉireann: the possessive or genitive case form, for phrases like Banc na hÉireann (The Bank of Ireland). 

 

Seo samplaí (guess what that means!):

                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

  Is Éireannach é an t-amhránaí Daniel O’Donnell.  The singer Daniel O’Donnell is an Irishman.  . 

 

  Tá mé ag dul go hÉirinn ar mo laethe saoire.  I’m going to Ireland on my holidays.

Same prefixing of “h” after the preposition “go” as we saw with “go hAlbain.” .

 

  Cá bhfuil Baile Átha Cliath? Tá Baile Átha Cliath in Éirinn, ach tá naoi “nDublin” i Meiriceá freisin.  Where is Dublin?  Dublin is in Ireland, but there are nine Dublins in America also.  The phrase “in Éirinn” used to be written “i nÉirinn,” (and sometimes still is), showing more clearly that the “n” of “in” is an addition to the basic form “i.”  As for the nine American Dublins, I think I’ll coin an acrainm (acronym) for all these future topics: Á.B.E (ábhar blag eile).  Of course, I’ll check the acronyms lists online to make sure that isn’t already in use, but it seems unlikely.  And if so, I’ll just add to its úsáid (usage).

 

  Gaeilge na hÉireann (the Irish or Gaelic of Ireland).  This phrase would most likely be used to contrast with “Gaeilge na hAlban.”  Normally, when speaking Irish, just to say “Gaeilge” is enough, without qualifying it.  Here “Éire” has been changed to the possessive form, “na hÉireann.” The ending is now “-eann.”  As with “na hAlban,” a lower-case “h” is prefixed, again, because, this word starts with a vowel and is possessive.  The word “na” here means “of the.” 

 

  As with the Scottish example, you might wonder, “Where did the ‘the’ come from?”  Same explanation as for “na hAlban.”  “The” isn’t used in the basic form of the country’s name, Éire, but is added for the possessive.  Remember “muintir na hAlban” and “muintir na hÉireann”?  More on the other Celtic place names and nationalities i mblag eile sa tsraith seo.. – Bhur mblagálaí, Róislín

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