Posts tagged with "Laidin"

Cúpla Teanga Eile (Cathú Dochloíte): Gearmáinis, Gaillis, Ollainis, Seicis, srl.

Posted by róislín No Comments
Aug 22 2009

Ah, well, this is still only barr an chnoic oighir.  But, cén dochar? 

 

I’ve picked some representative figures here to illustrate someone saying they speak a given language. 

 

Is mise Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.  Labhraím Gearmáinis.

 

Is muide Asterix agus Obelix.  Labhraímid Gaillis agus Laidin.

 

Is mise Vincent Van Gogh.  Labhraím Ollainis.

 

Is mise Franz Kafka.  Labhraím Gearmáinis agus Seicis.

 

Is mise Oivid.  Labhraím Laidin agus scríobhaim filíocht i Laidin.

 

Is mise Hóiméar.  Labhraím Gréigis agus scríobhaim filíocht i nGréigis.

 

Is mise Matsuo Basho.  Scríobhaim filíocht i Seapáinis i bhfoirm haiku.   

 

Is mise Adi Kavi Valmiki.  Labhraím Sanscrait.  Scríobh mé an Ramayana. 

 

Is mise Harry Potter.  Labhraím Béarla agus *Snathairtheanga.  Níl ann ach b’fhéidir seisear eile a bhfuil nó a raibh Snathairtheanga acu; ba de shliocht Salazar Slytherin an chuid is mó acu.

 

Fuaimniú agus Ciall: cathú [KAH-hoo] temptation; dochloíte [duh-KHLEE-tcheh] invincible, here “irresistible”; cnoc oighir [knok AI-irzh] iceberg; filíocht [FIL-ee-ukht] poetry; i bhfoirm X [ih WIRzh-im] in (the) form of X; de shliocht [djeh hlikht, note silent “s”] of the lineage / ancestry of, descended from

 

Snathairtheanga [SNAH-hirzh-HANG-guh], a tri-partite “comhfhocal,” consisting of “nathair” (snake) + teanga (tongue) + an initial “s” for the “siosarnach” (hissing).  Since lucht leanúna Harry Potter i nGaeilge are still waiting for the actual translation of Book 2 of the series to be done, I have coined this word in the interim.  J. K. Rowling’s term for “snake-speech,” parseltongue, doesn’t actually appear in Book 1, Harry Potter agus an Órchloch, so, so far there is no precedent.  At any rate, it seems to fit the bill, at least as well as Jean-François Menard’s “Choixpeau” (Sorting Hat) did for the French.  Who knows?  If Máire Nic Mhaoláin, who translated Book 1 into Irish, ever does Book 2, maybe she’ll go ahead and use this word!  Comparable compounds already in use for the same hissing language are “Fourchelang” (Fraincis), Serpentese (Iodáilis), Parselzunge (Gearmáinis) and Sisselspraak or Sisseltong (Ollainis). 

 

Nóta gramadaí: “cúpla” is followed by the singular in Irish: cúpla teanga, cúpla duine, cúpla cailín, cúpla blaigeard, srl.

An Bhfuil Gaeilge / Béarla / Fraincis / Rúisis / Sínis / Tliongáinis / Ceatsuais Agat?

Posted by róislín No Comments
Aug 17 2009

The recent discussion of language, whether Tliongáinis or Fraincis, suggests another popular topic among language learners – what languages do you know?  Any such discussion can range from the standard questions to those off “an bealach buailte” (the beaten track).  Sometimes I do think that the bealach “neamhbhuailte” will be pretty well “buailte” by the time I’m done with it though!

 

A key point regarding these questions is the traditional structure: An bhfuil Gaeilge agat?  Do you know Irish?  lit.  Is Irish at you?  This is the same basic structure used to show possession in Irish (cf. Tá carr agam, I have a car, lit. A car is at me).  Although I don’t hear it so much lately, this notion of “having” Irish also appears in English, in statements like, “I haven’t got the Irish.”  That’s what Fiona says at one point to her seanathair in the film, The Secret of Roan Inish, a film, which, by the way, has some great flashback scenes in Irish. 

 

As for the “the” in the phrase, “I haven’t got the Irish,” it was traditional to use the definite article with language names, at least with Irish itself.  I don’t hear that so much lately either.  If you do use the definite article, it will trigger lenition in many cases, as most language names are feminine (Béarla, for English, being one major exception).  For example: Fraincis, An Fhraincis; Sínis, an tSínis (that’s the s -> ts variation of lenition, Ceatsuais, An Cheatsuais, but An Béarla, srl. 

 

It is, of course, perfectly reasonable to ask, An labhraíonn tú Gaeilge?  Do you speak Irish? 

 

So, here are a few questions for starters.  Can you figure what the languages are?  In most cases, the ending that indicates a language name is –“is” or “-ais.”  If anyone wants to send in some answers, it would be interesting to see what other languages are spoken by lucht leanúna an bhlag seo. 

 

An bhfuil Gaeilge agat?                                        Tá / Níl

 

An bhfuil Spáinnis agat?                                      Tá / Níl

 

An labhraíonn tú Rúisis?                                     labhraím / ní labhraím

 

An bhfuil Béarla agat?                                          Tá / Níl

 

An bhfuil Caistílis (Spáinnis Chaistíleach) agat?       Tá / Níl

 

An labhraíonn tú Ceatsuais?                              labhraím / ní labhraím       

 

An bhfuil Svahaílis agat?                                     Tá / Níl

 

An bhfuil Laidin agat?                   B’fhéidir:       Tá Laidin agam ach ní labhraím í. 

 

And finally, since I can’t resist,

An bhfuil Tliongáinis agat?                     Tá, beagán. OR  Níl, níl Tliongáinis ar bith agam. 

Harry Potter agus an Teanga Gaeilge? (ar leanúint)

Posted by róislín 3 Comments
Jul 20 2009

Cén fáth an bhéim seo ar Harry Potter?  Tá mé ag Azkatraz 2009 faoi láthair, comhdháil faoi na leabhartha, na scannáin, agus rud ar bith a bhaineanns le Harry Potter. Why this emphasis on Harry Potter?  I’m at Azkatraz 2009 at the moment, a convention about the books, the movies, and anything related to Harry Potter.

Seo na freagraí a théanns leis na ceisteanna a bhí sa bhlag deireanach.  Cén chaoi ar éirigh leat? (or, for lucht Dhún na nGall, Cad é mar a d’éirigh leat?, How did you do, lit. how did it succeed with you?)

1. Tá seisear mac ag na Weasleys (6)

2. Is é Hedwig an t-ainm atá ar ulchabhán Harry.

3. Scabbers atá ar fhrancach Ron.

4. Tá cúigear deartháireacha ag Ron Weasley.  Leis an fhírinne a dhéanamh, tá cúigear deartháireacha ag gach mac sa teaghlach. Actually, every son in the family has five brothers!

By the time this blog appears, I hope that some of you will have written in about your favorite characters or actors in the series.  Tá mé ag tnúth (looking forward to) le d’fhreagraí.

Was anyone wondering exactly what an “órchloch” is?  As a translation, it’s much more faithful to the original British version than the American version of Book 1.  I won’t exactly call the American version of Book 1 (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) a “translation,” but a lot of changes were made in the English to accommodate the American audience.  If you read the Irish version, keep in mind that it is translated directly from the British version. 

That should be major leid (clue).  The British title is Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, and an “órchloch” is a philosopher’s stone in alchemy.  “Cloch” is the basic word for “stone” and “ór” means “gold,” here used as a prefix.  Because of the prefix, “cloch” is lenited to become “chloch” and both “ch” sounds are pronounced with that German-Yiddish-Hebrew-Lallans “ch” sound, gutturally, i.e. in the throat.  Like “Achtung” or “Buch.”

If any readers are also Harry Potter fans, scríobh chugam más mian leat (if you wish) na leabhartha a phlé (to discuss)!  As Gaeilge, an méid is féidir (as much as possible)!

Harry Potter agus an Teanga Gaeilge? Ní fós!

Posted by róislín No Comments
Jul 18 2009

All the world’s a-buzz, once again, about Harry, so we may as well join the sluaite for this ábhar as well. Cá bhfuil na sé leabhar eile? Tá an chéad leabhar ar fáil sna teangacha Gaeilge, Breatnais, Laidin, agus SeanGhréigis, coimisiúnaithe ag Bloomsbury iad féin. Tá an dara leabhar ar fáil sa Laidin chomh maith, ach sin an méid. I was delighted when I learned that an Irish translation of Harry Potter had finally appeared, Harry Potter agus an Órchloch, but it was about seven years after the English version was published, whereas many other foreign language aistriúcháin (translations) had appeared within about a year of the English original. At this point, it is unclear if Bloomsbury intends to finish the series in the languages they commisioned. As the final stages of the series reach their conclusion (scannán amháin eile le teacht), it seems less likely that these editions will ever appear. I hope I get proven mícheart!

Meanwhile, how about na ceisteanna seo (these questions) for conversation starters?

1. Cé mhéad mac atá ag Mr. agus Mrs. Weasley?
a) ceathrar b) cúigear c) seisear d) seachtar

2. Cén t-ainm atá ar ulchabhán Harry?
a) Kempe b) Hedwig c) Wilbur

3. Cén t-ainm atá ar fhrancach Ron?
a) Ratataouille b) Scabbers c) Trevor

4. Cé mhéad deartháir (brother) atá ag Ron Weasley?
a) deartháir amháin b) ceathrar deartháireacha c) cúigear deartháireacha

5. Cén carachtar is fearr leat sa tsraith (series) leabhartha? ________ (do rogha freagra) (Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, srl.)

6. Cén t-aisteoir is fearr leat sa tsraith scannán? _____ (do rogha freagra) (Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Alan Rickman, srl.)

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