Irish Language Blog

(This was supposed to come out a few days ago; brón orm)

We all probably know the song about Rudolph.  But can you answer these questions about him in Irish?  Answers (“A”) given below, together with a short glossary.

1. Cén sórt fia é Rudolf?:  a) fia fionn (fia buí)  b) fia Baictriach  c) muscfhia  d) carabú

2. Cén dath atá ar shrón Rudolf?: a) rua  b) flannbhuí  c) flanndearg  d) dearg

3. An bhfaca tú riamh réinfhia deargshrónach?  a) chonaic  b) ní fhaca     

4. Dá bhfeicfeá réinfhia deargshrónach, cad a dhéanfá?  a) Ghlacfainn grianghraf de  b) Dhíolfainn le sorcas é  c) Ghlaofainn ar Dhaidí na Nollag le rá go raibh a réinfhia ar strae

5. Cén sórt pearsantachta atá ag na réinfhianna eile?:  a) deas  b) dána  c) mínormalach

6. Céard a dhéanann na réinfhianna eile?      

a) Bíonn siad ag súgradh le Rudolf.  b) Bíonn siad ag magadh faoi Rudolf.  

7. Ar lig siad do Rudolf a bheith ag súgradh leo?  a) lig  b) níor lig

8. Cén oíche a bhí ann?  a) Oíche Nollag  b) Oíche Chinn Bhliana

9. Cé a tháinig?  a) San Proinsias Assisi  b) San Críostóir  c) San Nioclás (Daidí na Nollag)

10. Cad a d’iarr sé ar Rudolf?  a) a shleamhnán a tharraingt       

b) báirseoireacht a dhéanamh ar na réinfhianna eile

11. Cén fáth a raibh solas breise de dhíth ar Dhaidí na Nollag?  a) ceo   b) báisteach 

12. Maidir lena shrón, cén sórt fia atá i Rudolf?  Is fia ______é.  a) bánsrónach  b) biorshrónach c) bolgshrónach  d) caolsrónach  e) clúmhshrónach  f) cruinnsocach (-socach, snouted, cf. soc snout)  g) deargshrónach  h) iomairshrónach  i) mucshrónach  j) sceadsrónach  k) sciansocach, and, breaking the pattern, l) gob-bhuí (gob, beak), defined below.  Note: Both of the liostaí are in ord aibítre, so you’ll need to search the English list for the Irish terms.  Answers below (B).  

Nose types: 1) bottle-  2) hairy-  3) knife-  4) narrow-  5) pig-  6) red-  7) ridge-  8)) round-  9) sharp-  10) spot-  11) white-  12) yellow-

13. An raibh fearg ar na réinfhianna eile gur roghnaigh Daidí na Nollag Rudolf?  a) Bhí, agus bhí siad iontach mioscaiseach ina dhiaidh sin  b) Ní raibh, bhí siad go deas

14. An ndéanfar dearmad ar Rudolf choíche?  a) Déanfar  b) ní dhéanfar

Freagraí “A”: 1d, 2d, 3 & 4 do rogha féin, 5b, 6b, 7b, 8a, 9c, 10a, 11a, 12g, 13b, 14b

Freagraí “B” (an cineál sróine): a-11, b-9, c-1, d-4, e-2, f-8, g-6, h-7, i-5, j-10, k-3, l-12

Nótaí: fionn, buí, fallow; dath, color; riamh [REE-uv] ever; grianghraf [GREE-un-γraf] photograph; dhíolfainn [YEEL-hin] I’d sell; go raibh X, that X was; mínormalach, abnormal; súgradh, playing; magadh faoi, making fun of; d’iarr, asked; tarraingt, pulling; báirseoireacht, scolding; breise, extra; roghnaigh, chose; mioscaiseach, spiteful; dearmad, forgetting

Here are some of the basic terms for this holiday season:

Oíche Nollag, Christmas Eve, but Oíche Lá Nollag, the night of Christmas Day

An Nollaig, Christmas (note the use of the definite article, “the” Christmas)

Lá Nollag, Christmas Day

Nóta 1: Irish doesn’t really have a separate word for “eve” to distinguish “the night before” from “night” in general.  With holidays, “oíche” is understood to have the sense of the English “eve,” as in Oíche Nollag and Oíche Shamhna (the eve of Samhain, Halloween, Samhain itself being November 1).  If you want to specify Christmas Night (December 25), you have to add the word “lá,” as in the phrase above.   

Nóta 2: When do we include the word “na” (of the) in Christmas phrases?  Mostly it’s in phrases that point to Christmas as a single distinct concept, like Daidí na Nollag (there’s only one Santa Claus, supposedly) and Mí na Nollag (December, “the” month of “the” Christmas”).  The more generic ideas, like “crann Nollag,” “cárta Nollag,” and “stoca Nollag,” generally drop the “na” part. 

Nóta 3: An Tuiseal Ginideach sa Fhrása seo: You’ve probably already noticed that when we say “of Christmas,” we drop the letter “i,” so “Nollaig” changes to “Nollag.”  That creates the genitive case of the word (i.e. the possessive form, to say “of Christmas”).  Having noted that, a Google search today indicates about 27,900 uses of “na” followed by the root form “Nollaig,” without making the change to the genitive case. 

Many of these are simply incorrect, at least if they’re Irish.  There is another possible layer of confusion, though, since a lot of those 27,900 examples are actually Gàidhlig (Scottish Gaelic), in phrases like “Oran na Nollaig” or “Miosachan na Nollag.”  I’m still a bit puzzled, since I understand the possessive form in Scottish Gaelic to be “Nollaige,” keeping that “i” and adding a final “e,” much like many Irish nouns (feis / feise), but it seems that even within Gàidhlig there are variations to the pattern, giving “àm na Nollaige” but “Latha Nollaig” and “Oidhche Nollaig,” for example.  But the intricacies of the Irish “ginideach” and the Scottish “gineamhuinneach,” I’ll leave for lá eile (or latha eile, if you will). 

So, the works: Nollaig Shona agus Athbhliain faoi Mhaise duit (to one person) or “daoibh” (for more than one).  [NUL-ik HUN-uh AH-gus AH-VLEE-in fwee WUSH-uh ditch / deev].  Conamara dialect speakers will probably write and say “dhuit” [γitch] and “dhaoibh” [γeev].  If those little gamma signs in the pronunciation guide are hard to read (they’re like a “v” with a little tail underneath), just keep in mind the pronunciation is guttural, deep in the throat, and lower down than the Irish broad “ch” (which you see in “ach” or “a chroí” and which sounds like the German “Buch” or “Achtung”).  Whatever féile you celebrate, I hope you’re having a good holiday season! 

Tá Hanukkah ag tarraingt chun deiridh ach tá grianstad an gheimhridh  ag tarraingt orainn, ar an Luan, an 21ú lá (say: an t-aonú lá is fiche) de mhí na Nollag.  Agus tá an Nollaig í féin sa mhullach orainn.  

The word “grianstad” breaks apart quite straightforwardly into “grian” (sun) and “stad” (stop), just as the word “solstice” does (sol + sistere, to stand still).  An ndéanfaidh duine ar bith agaibh aon rud ar leith Dé Luain chun an grianstad a cheiliúradh (to celebrate)?

An bhfuair duine ar bith agaibh ticéad sa chrannchur (lottery) le dul isteach i mBrú na Bóinne (Newgrange) i rith Shéasúr an Ghrianstad?  Más amhlaidh go bhfuair, nach ortsa atá an t-ádh!    

Generally there are about 30,000 iarrthóirí (applicants) in the lottery to gain access to the inside of Newgrange during the Winter Solstice season, which lasts for cúig lá. 

Tá cead ag fiche (20) cuairteoirí a bheith istigh sa Bhrú ag am amháin chun éirí na gréine a fheiceáil ón taobh istigh.  Mar sin faigheann caoga (50) duine ticéid agus is féidir leo comrádaí amháin a bheith acu.  Téann an chéad fiche duine isteach ar an chéad lá den séasúr, agus téann sé ar aghaidh mar sin go dtí an cúigiú lá.  Fiche duine in aghaidh an lae.  Nach ámharach na daoine iad!

Here are some pointers about the vocabulary used above:

ag tarraingt, pulling, drawing, dragging, towing, in phrases like “ag tarraingt chun deiridh,” drawing to a close, and “ag tarraingt orainn,” approaching (us)

deireadh, end (as in deireadh seachtaine) changes to “deiridh” after the preposition “chun”

faoinár súile [FWEE-nahr SOO-il-yeh] in the offing, lit. “under our eyes”

an gheimhridh [un YEV-ree] of the winter, cf. “geimhreadh” [GYEV-ruh]  (winter)

sa mhullach orainn [suh WUL-ukh OR-in] coming on apace, lit. “in the summit on us,” with no actual verb “coming”

an ndéanfaidh X? [un NYAYN-hee, lots of silent letters!] will X do / make?

ar leith [err leh] special, particular

an bhfuair X [un WOO-irzh] did X get? (from “faigh” (get), one of the 11 irregular verbs in Irish)

You might recall that the word “grian” is grammatically feminine, so we say “an ghrian” for “the sun.”  But when you make the compound word “grianstad,” the “stad” part determines the gender, so it’s masculine, giving us “an grianstad.”

When the whole word “grianstad” is possessive, as in “season of the solstice,” it picks up lenition, resulting in “ghrianstad.”  You might have seen this lenition marking possession  in phrases like “hata an bhúistéara” (the hat of the búistéara, butcher). 

Ironically, feminine singular nouns, which you’re probably used to leniting (bó / an bhó, muc / an mhuc, srl.) lose their lenition if they’re in the possessive.  Examples include “ruball na bó” (the tail of the cow) and “ruball na muice” (the tail of the pig).  The latter can also be a colloquialism for “everyone else under the sun.”  That will be, I think, ábhar blag eile, maybe for when I finally get around to writing an animal series, including the donkey sanctuaries, which I had threatened to start cúpla mí ó shin, and perhaps including the late Orla, allegedly the smallest cow in the world, whom I was lucky enough to photograph in 2000.  But first, we have Oíche Nollag, an Nollaig, Lá an Dreoilín, Lá Crosta na Bliana, Oíche na Coda Móire, and Lá Coille to deal with, and I might even stretch out this holiday stuff until Nollaig na mBan, aka Eipeafáine, is are finished for the year.  Catching my breath here!

There’s more to “grian,” though, than just “grian / an ghrian” and “grianstad” with its possessive “an ghrianstad,” in case that nice reversal of lenition was too straightforward for you!  The possessive form of “grian” itself undergoes a vowel change in the middle, so we have phrases like “éirí na gréine” (the rising of the sun), as used above, or “clog gréine” (sundial). 

an t-ádh [un taw, or, in the North, un tæ, with the vowel sound like “happy” or “cap”] luck, which in Irish, is “ort” (on you). 

cead [kyæd] permission, not to be mistaken with “céad” [kyayd] hundred. Síntí fada rule!

faigheann, get, gets (pronounced like “fie” + un)

an chéad [un hyayd] the first

aghaidh [ai} face; ar aghaidh [err ai] on(ward); in aghaidh an lae [in ai un lay] per day. “Aghaidh” is here transliterated as “ai,” rhyming with “eye” or “pie” or “aye” or “nigh,” which is why its pronunciation isn’t so easy to indicate.  Key thing though, it has more silent letters than letters that are actually pronounced.

ámharach [AW-wur-ukh] lucky