Posts tagged with "lenited"

Pronunciation Follow-up to the “Cúig Fhocal gan Mhaith” Series

Posted by róislín No Comments
Jan 17 2012

(le Róislín)

The last few blogs have dealt pretty intensely with meaning and slight differences among comhainmneacha (synonyms).  Here we’ll look at a much more down-to-earth aspect of some of the same words – how to say them.  We’ll look at a few of the longer and more complex ones (tláithíneacht, neamhghontacht, m. sh.) but we’ll also look at some shorter, more basic words that illustrate some major points of Irish pronunciation, some from the blogs and others from general vocabulary.  Some samples will involve the widespread Irish phenomena of lenition (séimhiú) and eclipsis (urú), but we’ll also look such specific issues as lenited sounds in the middle or at the end of words and also some vowel sounds.  Like most blog-length approaches to this topic, though, this is just barr an chnoic oighir (or rinn an oighearchnoic, or the “bior” thereof, if you prefer).

I. Lenition (séimhiú, lit. softening)

Lenition of initial consonants occurs for over a dozen reasons in Irish, so I’ll just focus on a few here.  Lenition is generally marked by the insertion of the letter “h” after the initial consonant (cat becoming chat, m.sh.)

a. After the numbers 2 through 6, except for, well, na heisceachtaí (the exceptions)

Ceithre fhocal [KyEH-ruh OK-ul], four words

Cúig fhrása [KOO-ig RAW-suh], five phrases

Exceptions include some (but not all) units of measurement: ceithre bliana, sé seachtainí

b. Directly after some (but not all) prepositions, some, but not all of the time (a chapters’s worth of issues there!)

Gan mhaith [gahn wah], useless, lit. without good, but “gan tús gan deireadh” (the d and t resistance)

Compare: ó Bhéal Feirste (from Belfast; lenition) but “go Béal Feirste” (to Belfast; no lenition)

Nóta: I say “directly” here because the entire set-up changes if words like “an” or “mo” are present.  Blag eile!

c. Marking nouns that are “possessed,” either literally (Jimmy’s coat) or more abstractly (often involving compound prepositions like “de réir” or “os cionn”)

Let’s start with some real workhorse examples, not from the recent blog series: cóta Shéamais, seomra Shiobhán, iníon Mháire, madra Chaitlín.  Some basic examples of the compound preposition “os cionn” are os cionn an bhoird (above the table, normally “bord“) and os cionn an gharáiste (above the garage, normally “garáiste“)

Looking at our recent blogs, we don’t have to go any farther than the title of the series for “de réir“:

de réir Fhionntán Uí Thuathail [… IN-tawn ee HOO-uh-hil, note that the “f” of “Fhionntán” is silent, as are the “t’s” of “Thuathail”]

Note that if we didn’t include the surname, the spelling and pronunciation of “Fintan” would change  slightly: de réir Fhionntáin [… IN-taw-in, with the “taw” and “in” running together very smoothly], this means “according to Fintan.”  Likewise: de réir Mharcais [WAR-kish], de réir Mhatha [WAH-huh] (according to Mark/Matthew)

Lenition also occurs after “Uí” in surnames, which is also an aspect of possession, albeit very abstract:

carr Uí Thuathail [… ee HOO-uh-hil, as above], O’Toole’s car, the car of Ó Tuathail

Sráid Uí Chonaill [srawdj ee KHON-ill], O’Connell St.

Bean Uí Mhurchú [ban ee WUR-uh-khoo], Mrs. Murphy, lit. the wife/woman of Ó Murchú

There are many more situations in which lenition occurs, but that’s a sample, for now.

2. Eclipsis (urú, lit. eclipsing): adding a new initial consonant and obscuring the pronunciation of the original one

a. After the preposition “i” (in)

i gcrobhaing [ig-ROW-ing, the syllables more or less run together], in a cluster.  In this transcription, “row” is as in “row-boat,” not as in “a row” (the latter being the “row” often paired with “ruction,” thanks to Tim Finnegan)

i mbannaí [im-AHN-ee], bail, as in “ag dul i mbannaí air” (to go bail for him)

This also occurs, of course, with many place names, like

i mBaile Átha Cliath [im AHL-yuh KLEE-uh], in Dublin, with the middle word “Átha” basically swallowed into oblivion

i mBostún [im OST-oon], in Boston

b. With plural nouns in the genitive case, following the definite article “na”

tráth na gcomhainmneacha [traw nuh GOH-AN-yim-nyukh-uh], the time of the synonyms (“Synonym Time,” structured like “Tráth na gCeist” [… nuh gesht], which some of you may recognize from the popular quiz name)

This structure also occurs in many widely used phrases like “leabhair na gcailíní” and in a lot of place names like “Dún na nGall” [doon ung awl], Donegal, and “Baile na mBacach” [… nuh MAHK-ukh], Ballynamockagh (Co. Galway).  In the latter, the anglicized version reflects what has happened to the initial “b” of “bacach” – it has been eclipsed and only the “m” sound is pronounced.

III. Lenited sounds in the middle of a word

One good thing about this feature of Irish pronunciation is that it rarely changes.  Once a word has such a sound medially, it will usually remain intact no matter what other changes may happen at the beginning or the end of the word.  Here are some examples from the recent blogs:

diabhal [DJEE-uh-wul OR djowl], devil, with the “bh” approximating a “w” sound

le haghaidh [leh hai], for.  The “-gh-“ in the middle is silent, serving simply to give us an /ai/ sound for the vowel, pretty much the same vowel as in English “I,” “eye,” “my,” “pie” and “guide” (and now you can see why none of these English words is a good basis for a pronunciation guide).  In other words, “haghaidh” is pretty much like the English greeting “Hi!”  And btw, the vowel sound in this “le” isn’t at all like the French “le” (the) but it’s like the short “e” of “let” or “pet”

neamhghontacht [NYOW- γON-tukht] non-pithiness, probably not as commonly used as the positive form of this word, gontacht [GON-tukht], pithiness, but certainly there are possible usages, and it’s a nice example of four consonants in a row, due to lenition.  The final “-mh” makes the “-ea-“ vowel an “ow” sound (as in “cow,” or “ouch”).  The “g” of “gontacht” is lenited after the prefix “neamh-“ (non-, un-); linguistically, it is the voiced velar fricative that I’ve discussed elsewhere (Treoir don Treoir: A Guide to the Guide (for Pronunciation), Cuid a 2 (27 Iúil 2010), which is dedicated to the voiced velar fricative sound, and An Ghaeilge sa Leabhar _Galway Bay_: “Guilpín,” “Grá” agus Go Leor Eile (2 Mí na Samhna 2009), which discusses this sound in a few terms of endearment, such as “A ghrá!” and “A ghrá mo chroí!”

tarrtháil [TAR-haw-il], saving, bailout; the medial “th” is just pronounced “h”

tláithíneacht [TLAW-heen-yukht], mealy-mouthedness, soft-spokenness, wheedling, flattery, cf. tláith, weak; again, the medial “th” is just pronounced “h”

IV. Lenited sounds at the end of a word (usually very softened or silenced)

maith [mah], good, as in “gan mhaith” [gahn wah], without good (useless, etc.)

le haghaidh [leh hai], for.  We’ve mostly discussed this above, but note that the “-dh” of “haghaidh” is completely silent

V. Pronunciation of final “e’s” in Irish (as opposed to English)

In words like “déine,” the final “e” is never considered silent, although it may be barely audible or inaudible, if followed by another vowel.  For example, déine [DJAYN-yuh], austerity and déine an tsaoil [djayn yun teel], the harshness of life.  If one is articulating very carefully, the final “-e” and the “an” can be distinguished [DJAYN-yuh un teel]

VI. Which vowel is pronounced when there are two or three vowels in a row?

This could take several blogs to answer, but to pick just a few examples:

íobairt [EEB-irtch], sacrifice.  If one of the vowels has a long mark, only that one is pronounced.  Likewise,

Uí Thuathail [ee HOO-uh-hil], of O’Toole.  Again, just the long vowel of “Uí.”  Additional examples: déine, béal ([bayl], mouth, as in béalghrá), anróiteach [AHN-ROH-tchukh]

When neither vowel is long, the pattern sometimes has to be memorized, and there are noticeable variations:

deacair [DJAK-irzh], hard.  The “ea” is like English “bat” or “cat” (or like Irish bean, fear, or deas, but not like Irish “beag”).  The “ai” here is unstressed, because it’s the second syllable, so it’s not a very distinct vowel sound.  It could be considered a very short “short i” or almost a “schwa.”

mion- [min], mini-.  Basically a short “i” with the “o” mostly serving to keep the “n” broad.  Not like the “io” in “iontach” [EEN-tukh] or “iontas” [EEN-tuss], though.

In the case of “-ua” and “ia,” each vowel is pronounced, as in Ó Tuathail [oh TOO-uh-hil], crua [KROO-uh], diabhal [DJEE-uh-wul], and dian [DJEE-un]

Three vowels in a row?  Fadhb ar bith!  We’ve seen aoi [ee], a guest; faoi [fwee], under; and saoi [see], an expert, among others.

Bhuel, as noted above, that was just tip of the iceberg, but it’s a bit of a headstart.  If you have any specific pronunciation questions, please feel to write in.  SGF, Róislín

As Easy As “Pióg”: How To Say Kinds of Pies in Irish

Posted by róislín No Comments
Nov 12 2011

le Róislín

In the end, you’ll need to be your own judge as to whether this is really “as easy as pie,” but here at least are some tips for naming different types of pies.  And as two holiday seasons approach, Lá Altaithe (Meiriceá) and An Nollaig, what tastier topic?

So let’s look at the terms for five kinds of pie.  Keep in mind that in both Irish and British cooking,  “pie” is at least equally likely to refer to a meat or main-course pie as to a fruit or dessert pie.  So we’ll include a couple of types of pie you wouldn’t likely find in the US.

As usual in Irish, the main noun in the phrase comes first, so we’ll start with “pióg” in each case, followed by the type of pie:

1)      pióg + úll: this one is very straightforward (no changes!), pióg úll, because the word “úll,” describing the type of pie, begins with a vowel (so can’t take the séimhiú that might otherwise apply).  And we don’t really have to worry about the tuiseal ginideach since “úll” means both “an apple” and “of apples.”  If the apple pie is served hot, it’s “pióg úll the,” with the word “te” (warm, hot) changing to “the” [heh, since the “t” is silent; the vowel sound is like the short “e” of English “hen” or “help”].  The adjective “te” gets lenited because the noun “pióg” is feminine, much like you’d say “pióg mhór” or “pióg bheag.”

2)      pióg + meireang + líomóid: pióg mheireang líomóide.  You probably noticed that “meireang” takes séimhiú here, becoming “mheireang” [VERzh-ang] and “líomóid” gets the ending for the tuiseal ginideach, becoming “líomóide.”  Also, note the word order, literally “pie meringue lemon.”

3)      pióg + iasc: pióg éisc.  Can’t say this has ever been very typical i mo chistin féin, but if we’re going to serve it or say it, the word “iasc” ([EE-usk] fish) changes to “éisc” ([ayshk] of fish).  I’m not sure I’ve actually ever eaten pióg éisc.  Cad fútsa?  Sets me wondering, though, what would the Irish be for “starry-gazy” pie (I know, wrong Celts, since starry-gazy pie is actually Cornish, but the question still remains – would one call it “pióg philséar,” since that’s the type of fish involved, or would one say “pióg réaltóireachta,” since “réaltóireacht” means “star-gazing?”  An oiread sin ceisteanna, chomh beag leis an am! )

4)      pióg + stéig + duán: pióg stéige agus duáin.  The “st-“ cluster never gets lenited, so the first part of “stéig” ([shtayg], steak) stays the same, but the word does pick up the “-e” ending, like “líomóid” did (becoming “líomóide”), since they are both sa tuiseal ginideach.  “Duán” [kidney] is also sa tuiseal ginideach but the ending is formed differently since it belongs to a different category of noun (first declension, as opposed to “líomóid” and “stéig,” which are second declension).  “Duáin,” with the letter “i” inserted, means “of kidney.”  Not a typical example of bia Lá Altaithe, is dócha, but a good one to represent the meat pie aspect of Irish (and British) cooking.  In American English, a meat dish baked with a crust is usually called a “pot pie,” to distinguish it from “dessert” pies.

5)      pióg + mionra: pióg mhionra.  So what exactly is the “mionra” of “pióg mhionra?”  “Mionra” usually refers to meat that has been minced (feoil mhionaithe).  The meat can be mairteoil (beef), uaineoil (lamb), or turcaí, and I suppose some less common types of meats as well (oiseoil, mar shampla).  However, meat is actually an optional ingredient in most mince pies these days; their savory taste really comes from the geir (suet), combined with ingredients like úlla mionaithe, ciotrón or craiceann criostalaithe, rísíní, sabhdánaigh, and cuiríní.  Not to mention an brandaí.  Hmmm, geir agus brandaí, who da thunk it?  And why is the word “mionra” lenited here (becoming “mhionra” [VIN-ruh])?  Same reasons as we saw above – the word “pióg” is a feminine noun.

So, sin cúig phióg daoibh.  Ar ndóigh, tá na céadta cineál ann, barraíocht le bheith ag caint fúthu go léir anseo.  The key things to remember for describing them are that the word following “pióg” is usually lenited, because “pióg” is a feminine noun, and that the word describing the contents is usually in the genitive case (an tuiseal ginideach), since the pie is considered to be “of apples,” “of fish,” giving us “éisc” instead of “iasc,” and “stéige” instead of “stéig,” for example.

And in case you’re interested in “pi” of the sórt do-ite, i.e. the inedible type (π), the Irish word is simply “pí.”  It does have a plural, “píonna,” but I must admit that my relationship to “pi” is pretty rusty, and I’d be hard pressed to discuss the plurality of pi, even in English.  But should that topic come up i do chomhráite féin, there you have it. 

Meanwhile, cén t-ainm a bheadh air seo i nGaeilge?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

English: Pi Pie, created at Delft University of Technology, applied physics, seismics and acoustics
Deutsch: Pi Pie (π-Kuchen), hergestellt an der Technischen Universität Delft

“Pióg Phí,” is dócha.  

As for “piecharts,” one might think we’d use the full word “pióg,” as part of the compound, since, after all, “pie” is the basis of the term, but in fact, in Irish, the word is simply “píchairt” (pl: píchairteacha).  Perhaps because a final “-g” followed directly by the lenited “-ch” would be unusual, even in Irish. 

Bhuel, on that mouthwatering note, SGF – Róislín

 

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)!

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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