Posts tagged with "Filideilfia"

Meaitseáil Na Téarmaí (Téarmaí Shéasúr na Nollag)

Posted by róislín No Comments
Dec 29 2011

(le Róislín)

fleasc na hAidbhinte

We’ve had lots of vocabulary lately, much of which might be new to many readers.  So how about a little review, matching the holiday concept or item to the holiday involved?  The holidays will be listed in Colún A and the items and concepts in Colún B.  And once again, for the dúshlán [doo-hlawn, silent “s”], there’s one more answer i gColún B than you’ll need do Cholún A.

In some cases, the answers have been specifically referred to in recent blogs.  In other cases, they fall in the category of “eolas ginearálta,” which will, of course, vary ó dhuine go duine.  Freagraí thíos.

COLÚN A COLÚN B
1. An Chéad Domhnach den Aidbhint a. féirín
2. An Dara Domhnach den Aidbhint b. túis
3. Féile San Nioclás c. brídeog
4. An Tríú Domhnach den Aidbhint d. paitíní
5. An Ceathrú Domhnach den Aidbhint e. an dara coinneal i bhfleasc na hAidbhinte
6. Oíche Nollag f. Paráid na nGeocach i bhFilideilfia
7. An Nollaig g. réinfhianna
8. Lá Fhéile Stiofáin h. mainséar
9. Oíche Chinn Bhliana i. an dath corcra
10. Lá Caille j. seaimpéin
11. An Chéad Luan den Bhliain Úr k. an dreoilín
12. An Nollaig Bheag l. lúchaireach
  m. coinneal an ghrá

1. An Chéad Domhnach den Aidbhint, i. an dath corcra (dath éide an tsagairt, dath an bhrat altóra, agus an dath atá ar chuid de na coinnle i bhfleasc na hAidbhinte)

2. An Dara Domhnach den Aidbhint, e. An dara coinneal (i bhfleasc na hAidbhinte)

3. Féile San Nioclás, d. Paitíní (clogs)

4. An Tríú Domhnach den Aidbhint, l. lúchaireach (joyful), ón bhfrása, “Bígí lúchaireach” (Filipigh 4:4, Gaudete i Laidin/ Rejoice / Be joyful)

5. An Ceathrú Domhnach den Aidbhint, m. coinneal an ghrá (sometimes the candle for this day has other names, but this seems to be the most standard)

6. Oíche Nollag, g. réinfhianna

7. An Nollaig,  h. mainséar

8. Lá Fhéile Stiofáin, k. an dreoilín

9. Oíche Chinn Bhliana, j. seaimpéin

10. Lá Caille,  f. Paráid na nGeocach [... nung YUK-ukh] i bhFilideilfa, le blianta fada anuas (ó 1901 go hoifigiúil ach i bhfad níos sine ná sin)

11. An Chéad Luan den Bhliain Úr, a. féirín

12. An Nollaig Bheag, b. túis (bronntanas ó dhuine de na Trí Ríthe)

An freagra breise: c. brídeog, an effigy of Naomh Bríd, sometimes an actual doll but usually a figure made of a sheaf of straw dressed in clothing or clothing stuffed with straw, carried from house to house for St. Bridget’s Day (2 Feabhra) by children, especially girls, or “biddy-boys.”

Gluais: brat altóra, altar cloth; coinneal, candle; corcra, purple; dara, second; dúshlán, challenge; éide, vestment; fleasc na hAidbhinte, Advent wreath; geocach [GYUK-ukh], mummer (nothing to do with “geocaching” or a “geocache,” by the way – that’s a sheer coincidence of spelling); grá, love; mainséar, manger; sagart, priest (éide an tsagairt [AY-djuh un TAHG-irtch, note the silent “s”]; seaimpéin [SHAM-payn], champagne; túis [toosh], frankincense

Frásaí Eile leis an bhFocal “Lochlannach”

Posted by róislín No Comments
Jan 20 2010

Recently we discussed various usages of the word “Lochlannach,” which can be translated in various ways, including “Scandinavian” and “Norse.”  It’s used for Norway Spruce (sprús Lochlannach) and for Swedish goosefoot (blonagán Lochlannach).  I promised at least one more example, tastily potable, if it can be found to exist!  That was before the géarchéim happened in Haiti.  Today, there was an iarchrith, so I may return to the subject, but for now, back to “an bheoir Lochlannach.”  So how would we know if it tastes good if it might not exist?  Lean ort ag léamh!  Read on!

 

First the legend, in brief, then the term.  Between about 1000 and 2000 years ago, depending on whether your version of the legend concerns Vikings/Danes or Picts, the recipe for “beoir Lochlannach” was well-known to a certain tribe.  However that tribe was defeated and almost entirely killed in battle.  The last marthanóir who knew the recipe refused to yield it up, leading to his death and the loss of the oideas (recipe).  For those of you who know the story, I’m deliberately leaving out the emotional tension of the story, to avoid spoilers. 

 

By the time the legend as we know it had evolved, this “beoir” had acquired mythical stature, as fantastic as the fountain of eternal youth or ambróise Oilimpeach.   It may well have continued to be produced in remote areas, but it didn’t evolve into a commercial product.  If you haven’t read the legend before, there are many versions online and in print, including Robert Louis Stevenson’s. 

 

Now, to the téarmaí.  There are at least two names in Irish for this beverage: beoir Lochlannach and leann fraoigh.  The latter is literally “ale of fraoch, heather.  In English, this beverage is generally referred to as “heather-ale,” not a “beoir” and not using any ethnic reference in its name.  “Beoir” normally means “beer,” though we’ll have reason to question that here, as you’ll see. 

 

I imagine all you grúdairí baile and *símeoirí out there might have something to say about using “beoir” for “ale,” which is normally “leann.”  I can only say that I didn’t invent the term, and that the second phrase, “leann fraoigh,” does use the word for “ale.” 

 

But there’s an interesting twist to this story. You can read more about the possible derivation of the use of the word “beoir” in this context at http://zythophile.wordpress.com/2008/07/23/heather-ale-scots-or-irish/. The author proposes that “beoir Lochlannach” isn’t really beer OR ale as we know it, but rather a sweet mead, which would be “meá” in Irish.  If you need to clarify it as being sweet, you could say “meá mhilis,” but I’ve never heard of a mead that wasn’t sweet, so that might be iomarcach (redundant). 

 

And of course, if the beoir/leann/meá (beer/ale/mead) is really Pictish, then we shouldn’t be using “Lochlannach” at all, but rather “Piochtach” or “Cruithneach.”  But scéal na bPiochtaí, nó scéal na gCruithneach, sin scéal eile.  Ábhar blag eile.

 

For the final assessment, we’re almost at the 25th anniversary of the commercial revival of heather ale.  You can check it out further and, if you’re in An Ríocht Aontaithe (UK, mainland only, the site says) order some at http://www.williamsbrosbrew.com/ which also has ales made with feamainn, péine, and caor throim (seaweed, pine, and elderberry).  The website http://www.beermenus.com/beers/fraoch-heather-ale lists pubs in Nua-Eabhrac, Filideilfia, and Siceagó that stock Fraoch Heather Ale. 

 

*Zymurgists.  Sadly, I can’t find any actual existing Irish term for zymurgy or its partner term, zymology.   But, to boldly coin a term where no one has coined before (fad m’eolais), we could have something like “símeoiracht” for the art or process of fermenting, based on “miotalóireacht,”  the art or process of metallurgy.  And we could have “símeolaíocht” for “zymology,” based on “miotaleolaíocht,” metallurgy as a field of study.  A parallel coinage would be “síomáis,” based on “zymase,” the enzyme which is the root of all these terms.  All these, and the word “enzyme” itself seem to be based on the Greek “zumē” (leaven).  But I’ll leave that to the blagálaithe Gréigise. 

 

Nótaí: géarchéim [gyayr-hyaym] crisis; iar-, post-; iarchrith [EE-ur-HRIH, silent c and t] aftershock; fraoch [freekh or frookh, depending on dialect] heather; fraoigh [free] of heather; grúdairí baile, home-brewers; fad m’eolais [fahd MOHL-ish] AFAIK.

 

Do watch out for the word “meá” since it has dhá chomhainm (two homonyms): “meá” (a scale, measure, or weight) and “meá” (fishing-ground).  All are pronounced the same, with the initial “m” like “mute” or “muse.”    

“Ga-sheol go Filideilfia nó go Detroit mé, a Scotty! Tá mé ag iarraidh an Taispeántas (Exhibition) ‘RéaltAistear’ a fheiceáil.”

Posted by róislín No Comments
Aug 4 2009

Tá a fhios agam go bhfuil daoine (agus b’fhéidir neacha eile!) amuigh ansin a bhfuil suim acu sa Ghaeilge agus sna cláracha agus sna scannáin RéaltAistear (Star Trek).  Faoi láthair tá an taispeántas i bhFilideilfia ag an Institiúid Franklin (www.fl.edu) agus i nDetroit ag an Detroit Science Center (www.detroitsciencecenter.org).

 

Seo cúpla frása ón seó, aistrithe go Gaeilge (or could I say “RéaltAistrithe” since the Irish word for “Trek,” aistear, is a cognate of “aistrigh,” which means “translate,” “transfer,” or “journey.”  “Ochlán” (groan), you say?  I don’t blame you – that was fíordhroch-chomhfhoclacht, really bad punning).  Pé scéal é:

 

1) “Ga-sheol aníos mé, a Scotty!”  Tá a fhios, tá a fhios, tá a fhios agam.  De réir an staidéir atá déanta ar an ábhar seo, ní dúradh go díreach mar seo é riamh, ach “Scotty, beam us up!,” srl.  Ach sin mar atá an frása sa phopchultúr agus is leor sin don chás seo. 

 

Astute observers may notice that I’m flying the face of the punctuation reforms in Irish over the last few decades, by adding a fleiscín between the words “ga” (ray, beam) and “seol” (send, sail, here lenited to “sheol”).  It makes the pronunciation clearer [gah-hyohl, silent “s”] and shows the components of the comhfhocal (compound word), since it is indeed a comhfhocal in Irish.  Being inflected, Irish traditionally hasn’t had quite the flexibility that English has for changing parts of speech around without adding suffixes or prefixes (“I’ll ‘friend’ you, etc.). 

 

Keeping the fleiscín also differentiates “ga-sheol!” (beam!) from Gasheol in World of Warcraft!  To boldly gaelicize Gasheol’s character type, he is an abhacshagart (dwarf priest), at least, fm’e (fad m’eolais, as far as I can tell).  That differentiation is helpful, at least for those of us who constantly search for how new Irish words are being used on the Idirlíon and have to wade through acrainmneacha (acronyms), comhtheagmhasachtaí bréige (flukes), and ainmneacha ar leith do charachtair (specific character names), which may or may not be related to the Irish term in question.  If anyone knows whether the WoW character is named after the Irish word or whether he does any beaming himself, I’d be interested to hear.   “Ga-sheol aníos Gasheol, a Scotty!”  Úúps, I’m commingling my réaltachtaí ailtéarnacha! 

 

One would be hard pressed to find a ready-made verb in Irish for the type of “beaming” Scotty does.  “Beam” as a transitive verb in Irish (spalp) is somewhat uncommon to begin with, and the meaning is more like “burst forth” or “pour out.”  One could always resort to the widely used verb ending “-áil” (as in páirceáil, péinteáil, and sciáil) and add it to “bíoma” to get a verb very similar to the English, but “ga-sheol” is the word that has been well entrenched in Irish-medium Star Trek fandom since at least 1996, when I first saw the term.   

 

I was going to do the “intelligent life” bit here, but it will have to wait for blag eile.

 

2) “Saol fada agus rath ort!” It may be a hard to prove a direct link, but this traditional Irish phrase certainly serves the purpose for “Live long and prosper!” (lit. long life and prosperity on you).

 

Some of the other phrases I had in mind will take up at least one more blog, so here’s a closer, hopefully straightforward:

 

3) “Dochtúir agus ní brícléir atá ionam,” a dúirt _____.  Cé a dúirt é sin?  Whoever sends the correct answer in first (via “comments”) will get to nominate another Star Trek catchphrase for translation here, or if you prefer, to send the phrase and your own translation in.  Of course, you could do that anyway!

 

Gluaisín agus/nó Fuaimniú: RéaltAistear [RAYLT-ASH-tcherr]; neacha [NYAKH-uh] beings; faoi láthair, currently; seó [note the long “ó”] show; abhacshagart [OWK-HAHG-urt, note silent “s”]; comhtheagmhasachtaí [KOH-HAG-wass-ukh-tee]; fíordhroch-chomhfhoclacht [FEER-GHROKH-KHOH-OK-lukht, congratulations – that was three prefixes in a row].

 

Nótaí:

ní dúradh [nee DOOR-uh], that’s “door” like the Scots “dour,” or probably the Scots “door” of the “hoos,” for that matter, i.e. not like the English “door” or “dower;” I’m trying to keep my pronunciation guide consistent, with “oo” as in “food” or “mood,” not as in “good” or “wood.”  Best practice, of course, is to listen to native speakers, as you’ll find on Transparent’s Word of the Day and their other programs.

 

sciáil [SHKEE-aw-il, don’t forget the slender “s” sound, like English, hmm, well, that “shkee” sound isn’t very common in American English. You’ll find it in Yiddish “Shkapeh” (worthless object).  You’ll also find it in some dialect or light-hearted English, like an ad I saw mentioned in a Ballybunion website that commented on the pronunciation “for all of your shkeeing needs” (skiing in Ballybunion? uisce-sciáil, b’fhéidir, ach sin Á.B.E.).  Also spotted in a humorous piece in the Independent (March 8, 2009) entitled “Whishkey on a Shunday.”  Perhaps, to “nutshell” it and take it back to standard Irish, the sound is like the Irish “sc” in “scian” (but not the way the Scots often pronounce their version of the word, as in “sgian dubh,” which is more like “skean” or “sgeen” with no “sh” quality).  So, nine lines to describe one non-standard English sound!  I hope I didn’t just make a “míol mór” (whale) from a “míoltóg” (midge), or as English has it, a mountain from a mole-hill, but if it is a mountain of detail, at least you can “sciáil” down it next time around (for words like sceach, sceadamán, scige, or sciúch, all of which have same “shk” sound. 

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.” 

The Many Meanings of “Oireachtas”

Posted by róislín 4 Comments
Apr 18 2009

  For the week of April 5 to 12, 2009, many Philadelphians probably saw more samples of the Irish language in the media than ever before in the city’s history.  Why?  This year, Philadelphia hosted the first Oireachtas Rince na Cruinne (World Irish Dance Championship) to be held outside Ireland or the U.K.  Over 6000 dancers attended, most accompanied by family members, bringing about 20,000 visitors to the city.

 

  In addition to highlighting the name of the event in Irish, the organizing body, An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha (www.clrg.ie) uses numerous Irish terms, even when its members are speaking English.  Key among these are “feiseanna,” (basically “festival” but CLRG uses it for regional competitions), ADCRG (Ard Diploma Choimisiúin le Rincí Gaelacha, with “ard” meaning “high”) and TCRG (Teagascóir Choimisiúin le Rincí Gaelacha, a Coimisiún-certified teacher).    

 

  The original meaning of “oireachtas” isn’t exactly “championship,” though; that would generally be “craobh” (literally, a branch).  An “oireachtas” is a gathering (business or cultural), or a deliberative assembly.  A related word is ”oireacht,” which historically meant an assembly of freemen or members of a tribe, gathered for deliberation; it could also mean a gathering or assembly in the general sense. 

 

  “Oireachtas” isn’t generally used now for everyday meetings.  Those could be “cruinniú,” (meeting, gathering) or a “tionól” (gathering, assembly, typically a large group of people, not just the handful that could constitute a “cruinniú”).

 

  “Oireachtas” is also the name of the legislature or national parliament of Poblacht na hÉireann (the Republic of Ireland) which has two houses, Dáil,  and Seanad.  There was also a predecessor, the Oireachtas in Saorstát Éireann (the Irish Free State, 1922-37.). 

 

  Yet another use of the word is “Oireachtas na Gaeilge,” a literary and cultural festival celebrating the Irish language and held in Ireland since the 1890s.  It is similar to two other Celtic events: in Wales, the Eisteddfod, which in revival dates to 1792, and in Scotland, Am Mòd Nàiseanta Rìoghail, run by An Comunn Gàidhealach, which dates to 1891.

 

  Finally, if you know anyone with the surname Geraghty, Gerrity, Gearty, or Gerty, they probably had a distant ancestor who was an “oireachtach” (advisor, assembly-man).  From “oireachtach” to “Gerty,” you might well ask!  Consider the possessive form, Mag Oireachtaigh (sometimes Mac Oireachtaigh), meaning “son of the advisor or assembly-man.”  The final “ch” has been softened to a vowel sound (-aigh, like “ee”) since we’re saying “of the advisor,” not just “advisor.”  The “ch” in the middle of the word may get softened or silenced when anglicized.  And often the full “mac” or “mag” sound (for “son”) gets shortened to just a “c” or “g” before vowels (as in “Keown” from “Mag Eoin”).  This results in names like Geraghty (with a silent “gh”) or Gerty.

 

Bhur mblagálaí – Róislín

 

 

 

 

 

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