Posts tagged with "fada"

Á, ÁI, AÍ, ÁÍ, (Not To Mention “Aghaidh”): More Irish Pronunciation Tips

Posted by róislín No Comments
Oct 28 2011

(le Róislín)

Don’t blink, or you might miss the various long marks (síntí fada) in the vowel sounds above.  Actually, it’s a lot easier to spot the long marks when the letters happen to be capitalized, rather than when they’re lower case: á, ái, aí, áí.  And actually it’s really just over the letter “i” that there’s ever much of an issue.  And that’s simply because in the Roman alphabet we typically “dot” the letter “i,” and, especially in a small font size, the síneadh fada (‘) can look just like the regular dot over the “i.”  In the traditional Irish font (an seanchló), the letter “i” was not dotted, and therefore there was never any doubt as to whether the “i” was “gairid” (short) or “fada” (long).  You might still see an seanchló used today for decorative purposes, signage and greeting cards, agus a leithéidí, but it hasn’t been used much for publishing since the 1950s-60s.

At any rate, a key point for distinction here is “ái” versus “aí.”  There aren’t too many words that actually have the third a+i combination, with both vowels long (áí), but there’s a good handful, at any rate.  Here are the pronunciations (á, ái, aí, áí) and some samples.

1) á: fairly straightforward, like English “aw” in standard Irish, and in the North, more like the short “a” (IPA /æ/) of typical American English “bat,” “cat,” “jazz,” or “rather,” or, for that matter like Irish “deas” or “geal.”  Sampla: Tá an lá go breá (ar ndóigh)

2) ái: occurs quite frequently in the following situations:

a)      many many verbal nouns, such as “fáil,” “gabháil,” “sábháil,” etc., and most new borrowings, like “surfáil,” “sciáil,” etc.

b)      plural (“common form”) or singular possessive of nouns normally ending in “-án,” with the “-á-“ changing to “-ái-,“ mar shampla:

cupán, na cupáin, dath an chupáin (cup, the cups, the color of the cup)

an spreasán sin, na spreasáin sin, hata an spreasán sin, (that worthless person, the worthless persons, or should that be “the worthless people?,” and, the hat of that worthless person).  As for why there’s a single word meaning “worthless person,” in Irish, sin scéal eile.  Whenever I’ve heard “spreasán,” it’s always in reference to a man, and it’s sometimes translated as “a big useless man.”  Among other places, it occurs in Harry Potter agus an Órchloch to describe Harry’s father from the viewpoint of Petunia Dursley.  To the Dursleys, James Potter was a “spreasán beag … chomh neamh-Dursleyúil lena bhfaca tú riamh.”

In pronunciation, the ”á” sound in the “-ái” cluster stays basically the same, but there’s a hint of an “ih” sound before the final consonant, especially if the words are pronounced really slowly (cupáin, KUP-aw-in, spreasáin [SPRASS-aw-in], etc.)

3) aí [ee]: as we’ve seen in the previous blog, can occur at the end of a variety of types of words:

rúnaí [ROON-ee], secretary

hataí [HAH-tee], hats (plural)

laí [lee], door-post

go mbeannaí Dia daoibh [guh MyAN-ee DJEE-uh deev], may God bless you (plural), which is a way to say “hello,” with the verb in the (infamous) modh foshuiteach

gealaí, as in “solas na gealaí” [SUH-luss nuh GyAL-ee], the light of the moon

One situation we didn’t discuss in the last blog was “-aíl” [eel] as a verb ending (as opposed to “-áil” [aw-il] which looks similar and is much more common).  Although the ending “-aíl” occurs less frequently than “-áil,” it does turn up consistently.  Examples include:

feadaíl [FAD-eel], whistling, to whistle, as in the seanfhocal, “Ní féidir le duine a bheith ag feadaíl agus ag ithe mine.”  (Aistriúchán thíos)

bradaíl [BRAD-eel], hacking, to hack

crannaíl [KRAN-eel], cranning, to crann (on the uilleann pipes)

portaíl [PORT-eel], lilting, to lilt (another music term)

4) áí [aw-ee or ah-ee]: this isn’t very common in Irish but does occur, as in the following:

páí, an alternate form of “pá” (pay)

láí, pl: lánta, a loy (type of spade and key weapon of destruction in J. M. Synge’s 1907 drama, The Playboy of the Western World).  Note how this word differs in accent marks, pronunciation, and pluralization, not to mention meaning (most important of all), from “laí, pl. laíonna.”

The “-áí” cluster also occurs in some non-Irish place names, such as “An tSáír,”Háítí,” and “Haváí.”  “Maui,” dála an scéil, as far as I can tell, remains spelled the same as in English, as it seems to in the other languages I checked online.  Interesting possibilities, nach ea, as to how one could gaelicize “Maui,” taking “Mí-eadha” (miaow) as a model, but, creid é nó ná creid é, I won’t even go there.  At least not yet, not unless we undertake gaelicizing every place name from Aachen (aka Aix-la-Chapelle, or anciently Aquisgranum) to Żywiec (sa Pholainn), of cervisial fame.  Cervisial?  Think Irish “coirm” (ale; as in “coirm cheoil,” translated as “a concert,” but literally “ale-music”).  Or, sa Bhreatnais, “cwrw” [KOO-roo].  Short of that, just think “cerveza” – they’re all related linguistically.

5) As for the word “aghaidh,” which means “face,” all of the consonants are silent, and it sounds pretty much like “aye,” “eye,” or “I” or, in IPA transcription, /ai/.  Of course, pronunciation guides are only as good as the reader’s interpretation of the comparisons made, so if your pronunciation of English “eye” leans more toward “ee” (Scots, etc.) or if your pronunciation of “I” leans more toward “oi” or “oy,” the sample won’t be as useful.  That’s why the IPA guide is also provided.  But if your pronunciation of the three words “aye,” “eye,” and “I,” is virtually the same (gotta love litriú aisteach neamhsheasmhach frithimfhiosach an Bhéarla, dontcha?), then you’re on the right track for pronouncing “aghaidh.”  It’s all vowel, mostly “aye/eye/I” but with a bit of breathy “ee” at the end, so, more or less like “aye-ee” (or “eye-ee” or “I-ee”).

As for why the consonants in “aghaidh” are silent, sin scéal eile, but the tip of the iceberg of an answer is that both Irish and English have silent consonants left over from a much earlier time when those consonants were pronounced.  For examples in English, we can simply look at words like “knife” or “right,” or the word “knight,” which has both the silent “k” and the silent “gh.”  Double silent whammy!

On that note, slán, but not “for aye,” Róislín

Gluais: aisteach, strange; an tSáír [un TAI-eer, silent “s”], Zaire; frithimfhiosach [FRIH-IM-us-ukh, note the “t” and second “f” are silent] counterintuitive; ithe, eating, to eat; ag ithe mine [egg IH-hyuh MIN-yuh], eating meal; min, meal (as in “min choirce,” oatmeal, or “min eorna,” barley meal, not “a meal,” like breakfast or dinner, which is “béile”); neamh-Dursleyúil, unDursleyish; neamhsheasmhach [NyOW-HASS-wukh], inconsistent

An Seanfhocal: You can’t whistle and eat (eat meal, ground grain) at the same time.  Croí na fírinne, nach ea?

Gluais don nóta tráchta don seanfhocal: croí, here “quintessence,” generally, “heart”

Oh, and btw, in case you’re wondering, how did this issue with the síneadh fada over the “i” come to my attention?  I had a student once who kept reading “níl” out loud as “NFL,” since the “i-fada” looked like an “f” to her in the small and slightly faded print of an old copy of “Buntús Cainte.”  Not quite the same as seeing the síneadh fada as a simple “ponc” but the same basic issue pertains – in the “seanchló,” there was no ponc over the letter “i.”

 

The Ins and Outs of Immigration and Emigration Terminology – Inimirce agus Eisimirce i nGaeilge

Posted by róislín No Comments
Jul 5 2009

We recently had a ceist (question) about some terms having to do with inimirce (immigration).  Seo samplóir téarmaí: 

 

port eisimirce, emigration port, mar shampla, An Cóbh, Contae Chorcaí.

 

port inimirce, immigration port, mar shampla, Filideilfia, Pennsylvania

 

A similar term is “longphort iontrála,” lit. ship-port of entry

 

That last term introduces “long,” the word for “ship.”  A few samples with “long” or its possessive form “loinge”:

 

lastliosta loinge, ship’s manifest (lit. “cargo-list of ship”)

 

Can you figure out what types of ships these are?  See clues below.

 

long chogaidh, long fhada, long Lochlannach, long sholais, cathlong, and lastlong

 

Getting back to the word “port,” it’s quite well established in Irish.  It shows up clearly in a variety of place names, such as Port an Dúnáin (Portadown), Port Láirge (Waterford), and Port Stíobhaird (Portstewart), to name just a few. 

 

Slightly disguised, it also appears in words and phrases like:

calafort, harbor, based on “caladh” (landing place, port) and “phort” (lenited form of “port”). Yes, the phrase is almost an athluaiteachas rófhoclach (redundant tautology) but no more so than “salsa sauce” (“salsa” meaning sauce) or “chicken pollo” (“pollo” meaning chicken).

Tollán Chalafort Bhaile Átha Cliath, Dublin Port Tunnel,

aerfort, airport, based on “aer” (air) and “phort” (lenited form of “port”),

Aerfort na Sionainne, Shannon Airport, and,

Aerfort Iarthar Éireann, Cnoc Mhuire, Ireland West Airport Knock, in County Mayo. 

 

And, by the way, if you’re talking about birds, that’s “imirce” (migration).  A migratory laborer, in the Irish context, is a spailpín, as immortalized in the folksong, “An Spailpín Fánach.”  That song, in turn, has lent its name to a gift shop specializing in Irish-language t-shirts, toys, and gifts, www.spailpin.com, located in the heart of the Conamara Gaeltacht, an Spidéal.  More formally, a migratory laborer would be called an “oibrí imirceach.” 

 

Leideanna (clues):

cogadh, war; fada, long; Lochlannach, Viking; solas, light; cath, battle; lasta, cargo

 

Leideanna fuaimnithe:

ceist [kesht], Cnoc Mhuire [knuk WIR-eh], eisimirce [ESH-IM-irk-yeh], long chogaidh [lung KHUG-ee], long sholais [lung HOL-ish], mar shampla [mahr HAHMP-luh].  A final note, to pronounce the word for ship, “long,” it may look just like the English word “long” (in length), but isn’t pronounced quite the same.  It’s closer to English “lung,” and probably best described as halfway between English “lung” and “long.” 

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

Back to the Top