Posts tagged with "ghost"

Cá Bhfuil Tú i do Chónaí? I “mBratach Mheiriceá,” AZ (!)

Posted by róislín 4 Comments
Jul 4 2011

(le Róislín)

Bhí mé réidh le níos mó a scríobh faoi na trídhathaigh a bhfuil ceithre dhath orthu, ach tháinig mé ar bheagán eolais faoin scáilbhaile, Bratach Mheiriceá, in Arizona agus shíl mé go mbeadh sé suimiúil blaigín a scríobh faoi.  Ciallaíonn ainm an bhaile “American Flag.”  Go teoiriciúil, d’fhéadfadh duine “Tá mé i mo chónaí i mBratach Mheiriceá” a rá, ach … (agus is mór an “ach” é)!

(Achoimre: So there’s this place in Arizona called “American Flag” …)

Leis an fhírinne a dhéanamh, ní raibh a fhios agam go raibh a leithéid sin d’áit ann go dtí go raibh mé ar lorg tuilleadh eolais faoi Bhratach Mheiriceá agus tháinig mé air seo. 

(… which I hadn’t heard of until now)

Bhunaigh Isaac Lorraine an baile sna 1870í.  Ba shirtheoir as Martinique é.  Thug sé an t-ainm  “American Flag Mine” ar an mianach a d’oscail sé ansin.    Agus as sin a tháinig ainm an bhaile.  Ní raibh sé riamh mór – b’fhéidir daichead duine nuair a bhí an mianach i mbarr a réime.  Ach bhí oifig phoist ann agus mar sin, ba bhaile é. 

(The name came from the American Flag Mine and at its peak, the town had about 40 residents.  Having a post office gave it official status)

Is scáilbhaile anois é.  Sa bhliain 1884 ní raibh ach cúig dhuine dhéag fágtha sa “bhaile.”  Dúnadh oifig an phoist sa bhaile seo ar an 16ú lá de mhí Iúil i 1890 agus d’imigh na daoine a bhí fágtha ina dhiaidh sin. 

(It’s been a ghost town since the 1890s)

Tá oifig phoist Bhratach Mheiriceá ina seasamh fós agus tá sí ar an National Register of Historic Places.  Níl a fhios agam an bhfuil Bratach Mheiriceá ar foluain taobh amuigh den oifig phoist sin.  Níl a fhios agam cén rialacha a bhaineann le taispeáint bratacha taobh amuigh d’oifigí poist atá buandúnta nó atá buandúnta ach ina láthair stairiúil.  Agus ar ndóigh ní raibh Arizona ina stát go dtí 1912.  Ba chríoch é agus ba oifigí poist críochacha a bhí san áit roimhe sin. 

(The historic post office still stands but I don’t know if it has a flag)

Duine ar bith ar an liosta seo atá ina chónaí sa chuid sin d’Arizona a mbeadh tuilleadh eolais aige nó aici faoin scáilbhaile?  Nó faoi oifig phoist Bhratach Mheiriceá?  Fáilte roimh nótaí tráchta!

(Anyone local to the area know anything more about it?)

Anois go bhfuil a fhios againn nach bhfuil duine ar bith ina chónaí ann anois, ba chóir ceist mar “Cé a bhíodh ina chónaí i mBratach Mheiriceá, Arizona? “ a rá (san Aimsir Ghnáthchaite).

(So I really should have put my initial question in the past habitual mood, that is, using “bhíodh” or “mbíodh, depending on the specific question)

Mh’anam nach mbíonn cuid de na logainmneacha suimiúil!  An féidir leat Béarla a chur ar na logainmneacha seo a leanas?  Ar ndóigh, is i mBéarla atá siad go hoifigiúil, mar atá “American Flag, AZ.”  Tá sé seo le haghaidh cleachtaidh le stór focal i nGaeilge!  Tá na háiteanna seo go léir i Meiriceá Thuaidh. 

(Unusual place names all over North America, and now you get to practice and test your eolas tíreolaíochta and your stór focal Gaeilge)

1)      Fírinne nó Iarmhairtí

Leid: stát: Nua-Mheicsiceo; iarainm na cathrach seo: Foinsí Uisce Teo

2) Éan i Lámh (nó b’fhéidir: Éan i nGlac)

Leid: stát: Pennsylvania.  Nóta tráchta: i gceantar na nAmanach

3)      Mala Mhoncaí

Leid: stát: Kentucky.  Nóta tráchta: Mh’anam!  Níor smaoinigh mé mórán faoi mhalaí moncaithe roimhe seo!

4)      Ordóg Thiar

Leid: stát: Wyoming.  Nóta tráchta: Is dócha go bhfuil “Ordóg Thoir” sa treo eile.  Hmmm, b’fhéidir nach dócha!

Agus ceann suimiúil i gCeanada:

5)      Hata Leighis

Leid: cúige: Alberta; ainm áitiúil: “An Hata”

And of course, there are plenty of logainmneacha suimiúla i nGaeilge that we can talk about in future blogs.  Just following up on the theme of Lá na Saoirse i Meiriceá (An 4ú Lá de mhí Iúil), of which Bratach Mheiriceá is key part.  So, with the upcoming blog log loaded, sgf ó Róislín  

Gluais: Amanach, Amish; ar foluain, flying, fluttering; bratach, flag; buan, permanent; críoch, territory; críochach, territorial; logainm, place name; scáilbhaile, ghost town (note: not based on “taibhse,” a ghost, but on “scáil,” which primarily means “shade,” “shadow,” “darkness,” but which can also mean “ghost,” especially in the sense of a reflection or image); sirtheoir, prospector; stór focal, vocabulary; tíreolaíocht, geography; trídhathach, tricolo(u)r; tuilleadh, more;

Freagraí: 1, Truth or Consequences, NM; 2) Bird-in-Hand, PA; 3) Monkey’s Eyebrow, KY; 4) West Thumb, WV; 5) Medicine Hat, Alberta

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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