Irish Language Blog

(le Róislín)

muga beorach lán go béal

I’m sure lots of people have lots of thoughts about beer and ale at this festive time of year.  Probably most folks aren’t “declining” those nouns at the moment.  That’s “declining” as a grammatical term, of course, not literally turning down or rejecting.  But if you’re reading this blog, that’s what we’re in for.  It’s not so bad, really – it’s just specifying the subject and possessive forms in the singular and plural.  “Plural” quite likely sounds appealing at this point!  If you’re actually talking to your beer or ale (it can happen!) you would technically have one more set of forms, but the dea-scéal here is that while we do have a direct-address concept for these beverages (and all nouns, animate or inanimate), in the case of beer (hmmm! unintentional!), there’s no separate spelling or ending, just the routine lenition at the beginning of the word.

So let’s go ahead and decline these nouns, then double back and accept, imbibe, indulge in, or otherwise consume them!

beoir, beer, f5 (a 5^th-declension feminine noun so we decline it similarly to its cohorts, like cathair/cathrach or litir/litreach)
an bheoir [un VYOH-irzh], the beer
beorach [BYOH-rukh], of beer: buidéal beorach, canna beorach, muga beorach, ceaig beorach
na beorach [nuh BYOH-rukh], of the beer: blas na beorach (the taste of the beer), cúr na beorach (the foam of the beer)
beoracha [BYOH-rukh-uh], beers (again, we tend to say “bottles of beer,” “mugs of beer,” etc., but there are times when “beers” works!)
na mbeoracha [num-YOH-rukh-uh], of the beers
A bheoir! [uh VYOH-irzh], O, beer! (in direct address)
A bheoracha! [uh VYOH-rukh-uh], O, beers! (in direct address, plural; your context is as good as mine!)

Leann, ale, m3 (a 3rd-declension masculine noun so we decline it sort of similarly to its cohorts, like rud/ruda or droim/droma, although admittedly, the “-ta” plural ending isn’t very typical for this declension).  It is worth noting that “leann” isn’t declined like “ceann” or “peann,” which are 1^st-declension, or “beann” (regard) or “beann” (antler), which are both 2^nd-declension and declined accordingly
an leann, the ale (and of course, an leann dubh, the stout, i.e. stout porter)
leanna, of ale: buidéal leanna, a bottle of ale
an leanna, of the ale: blas an leanna
leannta, ales
na leannta, the ales
na leannta, of the ales

As for one likely accompaniment when discussing beoir, this one is probably fairly transparent, dare I even say it, clichéed: scidilí, which could either refer to an actual “cluiche scidilí” or imply the abstract (where skittles = pleasure).  Let’s not forget “dairteanna.”  Of course that’s not talking about edible accompaniments, for either beoir or leann.  That would more likely be brioscáin phrátaí (or to cut to the chase, not chaser, btw, just chase), Taytos.  “Criospaí,” can also be used, based on the word “crisps,” as opposed to “potato chips,” in both Irish and British English.  “Criospaí” may also occur with “ríse,” though, referring to the rice-based breakfast cereal.  What else might you munch?  Piseanna talún, peanuts aka ground-nuts, lit. here “peas of the ground.”  Céard eile?  Uibheacha picilte?  Cén sneaic* is fearr leatsa nuair a bhíonns tú ag ól beorach (at the drinking of beer)?

As for “an leann dubh” (stout), it doesn’t really need an edible accompaniment, does it?  After all, as they used to say, “There’s a sandwich in every glass.”  If there’s a “hunh?” factor there, bhuel, please hang on for blag eile.  Slán (dare I say “sláinte” there?) go fóill!  Sláinte, as well, anyway. – Róislín

*Maidir le hinscne an fhocail “sneaic”: it’s feminine, so technically we should have an initial “t” before “sneaic,” but I’m letting precedence rule here and going with the flow, which is to treat it as masculine and not add the “-initial “t”.  Fáilte roimh bhur mbarúlacha agus “incoming.”

Gluais: dubh, black; inscne, gender; rís [reesh], rice (ríse [REESH-uh], of rice); talamh, ground, land (talún, of ground, of land)

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.”