Irish Language Blog

(le Róislín)

After seeing so many Easter phrases, you might start to wonder why there are so many different forms of the same word.  Well, there’s the practical answer and the theoretical answer.

<a href="http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=6089&picture=easter-basket">Easter Basket</a> by Petr Kratochvil

Let’s start with the practical answer.  For “Easter” in Irish we have the subject form (An Cháisc, lenited because it’s a femi-nine noun) and the possessive form (Cásca or na Cásca), plus we have two possible plurals (Cáisceanna, Cáscaí, the former being more standard today).  The trickiest part to figure out, in most cases, is whether “Cásca” itself gets lenited, as often hap-pens.  That depends on whether the noun in front of it is mascu-line or feminine, singular or plural, and if plural, what the plural ending is.  So you don’t just have to know the grammatical gender of “An Cháisc” (feminine, ar ndóigh) but you also have to know the gender of any other nouns in your Easter phrase.

Let’s try some exercises, with phrases taken mostly from previous blogs in this series.  Which form of the word for “Easter” would you use in the following expressions?  Freagraí agus aistriúcháin thíos:

1. 1.. Inniu an _______________________
2. 2.. ubh ___________________________
3. 3.. coinín seacláide _________________
4. 4.. clog __________________________
5. 5.. uibheacha______________________
6. 6.. Domhnach _____________________
7. 7.. Máirt _________________________
8. 8.. ag cuimhniú ar na _________i m’óige
9. 9.. pónairí glóthaí ____________ (as contrasted with gnáthphónairí glóthaí, for all year round)
10. 10.. Aimsir na _____________________
11. 11.. cloig _________________________

And finally, a seanfhocal, since after all, ní sháraítear seanfhocal:

Ní dóichí an ________________ a bheith ar an Domhnach.

The theoretical-type answer to the original question (why so many forms?) is that Irish is an “inflected” language, more so than English but less so than, say, Latin or Russian.  That means  that words in Irish typically have a lot more forms, especially endings, than they do in English.  In English we have possessive forms (‘s) and singular and plural (almost always “-s”).  In Irish, on the other hand, there are several different plural endings and a number of irregular plurals.  Some of the typical plural endings are: -(a)í, -a, -(e)anna, -(e)acha, -ta, -te, with the forms in parentheses allowing for adjustments for vowel harmony (addressed in earlier blogs, if you want a review: http://blogs.transparent.com/irish/tearmai-an-tseasuir-nollaig-agus-hanukkah-and-some-vowel-harmony-to-boot/).  Other Irish nouns form their plurals by internal vowel change (fear/fir for man/men, the latter also using internal vowel change), and some are just idiosyncratic (bean/mná for woman/women).

And then there’s gender, as with nouns in other European languages but not most English nouns (with rare exceptions like “ship” as “she”).  This creates even more variety, because Irish typically uses with lenition with feminine nouns (like An Cháisc), but no lenition for masculine nouns till you get to an tuiseal ginideach, which is definitely ábhar blag eile.  Since lenition affects the first letter of the word, we see often see Irish words changing at the beginning and end, and sometimes in the middle as well (“internal vowel change”).

Perhaps you’re wondering if “Cáisc,” as such, is ever actually used?  The answer is well, casta (complicated).  I’d say “rarely” for most traditional phrases, with “Cáisc na nGiúdach” (Passover) being a major exception (if you’re surprised at that connection, check out the note below).  The word “Cáisc” changes substantially for the tuiseal ginideach (to “Cásca”), so “Cáisc” as such doesn’t show up in possessive phrases. “Cáisc” on its own is not the form most traditionally used.  Having said that, I’ve noticed in recent years that the phrase “Cáisc Shona duit!” has become widely used.  Traditionally, the phrase for “Happy Easter” was “Beannachtaí na Cásca ort!” (lit. the blessings of Easter on you!), and this is still widely used.  From the Google search viewpoint, the “beannachtaí” phrase is currently solidly in the lead (20,300 amas vs. 4,830 amas for “Cáisc Shona”) but the latter seems to be more and more popular, especially on the 100-ways-to-say-Happy-Easter-type sites.

Regarding eclipsis, the other main initial sound change in Irish, in theory there could be forms like “gCáisc” and “gCásca,” but in practice, they’re very rare.  Eclipsis would be a little more likely with the plural form, for example, if one were saying, as we did in a previous blog “stale chocolate Easter rabbits of Easters past” (coiníní seacláide Cásca stálaithe na gCáisceanna thart) from http://blogs.transparent.com/irish/diochlaontai-aris/ (24 Aibreán 2011).  But, as you might imagine, that example is not exactly your everyday expression (most chocolate rabbits don’t last long enough to become stale) and “Easter” in the plural eclipsed form isn’t very commonly used.

As usual, this is just the tip of the iceberg for all the aspects of creating Irish phrases and sentences, but at least it is a start.  The issues involved include grammatical gender (masculine, feminine), number (singular, plural), and case (an tuiseal ginideach), all of which are factors in some other European languages.  But Irish, like other Celtic languages, adds the unique factor of initial consonant mutation.  In Irish, there are two types of such mutation, lenition and, though not much for Easter itself, eclipsis, resulting in, well, lots of variety, lots of endings, lots of beginnings, and lots of choices to make as you speak Irish.  The exercises above were designed to illustrate some of those principles.

Conas a d’éirigh leat leis na frásaí thuas?  Go maith, tá súil agam!  Freagraí thíos.  SGF, Róislín

Nóta faoin bhfocal “Cáisc” agus “Pascha”: “Cáisc” is ultimately derived from Hebrew “Pesach,” which also gives us Latin “Pascha” and all the related words, like Pascua, Pâques, Pasg, etc.  The alternation of the letters “c” and “p” may seem surprising but it’s actually quite systematic (think “cos,” foot, and Latin, “pēs, pedis,” foot).  There are even more such connections between Irish and Welsh (“ceann,” head, and Welsh, “pen,” head).  It’s a much bigger ábhar than we have space for here, but perhaps sa todhchaí!

Freagraí agus aistriúcháin: 1. Inniu an Cháisc, Today is Easter. 2. ubh Chásca, Easter egg (lenition because “ubh” is feminine), 3. coinín seacláide Cásca, chocolate Easter rabbit, 4. clog Cásca, Easter bell (remember those flying French Easter bells that deliver candy? Also, “clog” is masculine, so no lenition), 5. uibheacha Cásca, Easter eggs (dropping the lenition of no. 2, since “uibheacha” is plural), 6. Domhnach Cásca, Easter Sunday, 7. Máirt Chásca, Easter Tuesday (lenition because “Máirt” is feminine), 8. ag cuimhniú ar na Cáisceanna i m’óige, remembering the Easters in my youth, 9. pónairí glóthaí Cásca, Easter jellybeans (as contrasted with ordinary jellybeans), 10. Aimsir na Cásca, Eastertide, 11. cloig Chásca, Easter bells (lenition because “cloig,” the plural of “clog,” ends in a slender consonant; same rule that gives us “fir mhaithe,” with lenition, but “buachaillí maithe,” no lenition), and finally, an seanfhocal: ní dóichí an Cháisc a bheith ar an Domhnach, as sure as Easter is on a Sunday.

Still wondering about those flying French candy-delivery bells?  They’re also discussed in http://blogs.transparent.com/irish/diochlaontai-aris/ and lots of French folklore sites.

(le Róislín)

Stretching from Céadaoin an Spiaire to Máirt Chásca, there are enough special days surrounding Easter to give a specific Irish name for each day of the week.  Since there are already several forms for each day, aside from Easter usage, let’s look at them grouped together in a chart.  That will enable us to focus on changes like initial mutation (séimhiú, urú), h-prefixation, and endings (an tuiseal ginideach)

Even for ordinary purposes, each day has at least two forms, one for the day as a subject or concept (like “An Luan,” Monday, lit. “the” Monday) and one used to say when something is happening (like “Dé Luain,” lit. “on the day of” Monday).

This chart has four columns, the first one giving forms that would rarely occur on their own.  For these, I have followed the linguistic practice of putting a réiltín in front of them.  It’s not that these forms are completely hypothetical (as we might find in historical linguistic reconstruction), it’s just that they would almost always be part of a two-word phrase, sometimes an even longer phrase.  From this “root,” we get the subject form (An Luan), and, by following genitive case rules, we get the preposition form (Dé Luain).  Hmmm, you might ask, why genitive case (possessive) rules when using a preposition phrase?  It’s because “Dé,” when preceding a day of the week, functions as a preposition but is really a noun.  This “Dé” comes from the word “dia” (note lower-case), which is an alternate word for “day” in Irish, now somewhat archaic, or, we could say, fossilized.  This process is much like what happens with “cois” in the phrase “cois na tine,” where “cois” (from “cos,” foot, leg) is really a noun but functions like a preposition, resulting in the meaning “by the fire” (lit. “at the foot of the fire”).

Some of the words in the chart will also be changed if they’re in a prepositional phrase starting with “ar an,” as in “ar an gCéadaoin” (lit. on “the” Wednesday).  Ulster Irish will have lenition in these cases (Chéadaoin).

Unlike “lá,” which seems to be unique in the Indo-European panorama of languages (except for Scottish Gaelic “latha” and Manx “laa”), the word “dia”/”dé” is a cognate to other European words for “day,” such as “dies,” “dydd,” “tag,” and even “day” itself (plus, less directly, “jour” from Latin “diurnus”).  So, somewhat unusually, the word “lá” isn’t used in the names of the days of the week.  But you probably noticed that already!

The “dia” form of “day” also shows up in the old spellings of the Irish words for “today” and “yesterday,” which are “indiu” and “indé.”

So here’s the chart.  Hope you find it helpful.  There are additional notes for three of the terms below.

1) Although it’s not often explicitly stated, “Dé” is not needed before “Déardaoin” because it’s already built into the word.  Having said that, a recent Google search brought up about 300 hits for “Déardaoin” with “Dé” in front of it!  Either the usage is changing, or these are all just slip-ups.  Bhur mbarúlacha, a léitheoirí?

2)  I noted last year (http://blogs.transparent.com/irish/?s=Eastertide) that I found no instances of “Máirt Chásca” being used online for “Easter Tuesday,” but, interestingly, this year I found three hits.  The three are duplicates (sigh!) and all refer to the founding of the Kilkenny branch of the Gaelic League in 1897.  However else the phrase may be used or not used, it’s interesting to note this designation as opposed to just saying “April 20^th,” which was the date of Easter Tuesday in 1897, if http://www.easterbunny.com/date-of-easter/easter-date-for-1897.html serves me right.  Go raibh maith agat, a Choinín Cásca!  An ceann ponc com, that is!

Of course, there is a long-standing tradition in both Irish and British writing of dating certain events by referring to a holiday, instead of a date, as in the réamhráite of “An Fear Eagair,” in Myles na gCopaleen’s parody An Béal Bocht being written on “Lá an Ghátair” [Day of Distress] and “Lá an Luain” [Day of Doom].  Or, more straightforwardly, the preface to C. S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength, dated “Christmas Eve, 1943.”  It’s not a practice I’ve seen used much in American literature.

As for the general significance of Easter Tuesday, as noted last year, I still see it listed as a public holiday in just one place, An Tasmáin.  There it is described as a “restricted public holiday currently observed by certain awards/agreements and the State Public Service (http://www.wst.tas.gov.au/employment_info/public_holidays).  Suimiúil!  A New Zealand site (http://www.principalskit.org.nz/support-staff/) discusses Easter Tuesday as a potential holiday for employees of New Zealand Educational Institute, but they must have served 10 years and they must incorporate it into their annual leave.  I don’t quite get that last bit, but I guess it doesn’t really matter.  Suffice it to say that Easter Tuesday may have greater recognition elsewhere than seems apparent in 21^st-century America.  Many American school districts simply make their Spring Break surround Easter and avoid all discussion as to whether the break has anything to do with Easter at all.

3)  There are plenty of references to the Wednesday before Easter being called “Céadaoin an Spiaire” (Wednesday of the Spy) in Irish, but for “Céadaoin Naofa” (the presumed form for “Holy Wednesday”), my search online turned up one questionable reference (in a very mixed-up hybrid site) and in dictionaries I found nothing.  As I understand it, the term “Spy Wednesday” has been changed to “Holy Wednesday,” but I simply don’t find much evidence of this usage in Irish and I also can’t find an exact year for the change.  Vatican II?  If it were that long ago, I’d expect to find more evidence of “Céadaoin Naofa” online.  Maybe I’m just barking up the wrong tree, but between Google searches, online dictionaries and hard-copy dictionaries, I usually find some evidence of what I’m looking for, vocabulary-wise.  Of course, I always try to build on what I’ve heard and read in everyday usage for years, but I do like to check these sources for more specific information.  Btw, I also found nothing under the old spelling, which would be “Céadaoin Naomhtha,” but of course, the formal date of the change, assuming there is one, might preclude that.  Hmmm.  Lenited and eclipsed versions of the above?  Amas ar bith!  (No hits) and no luck in dictionaries.  Sin sin go dtí an bhliain seo chugainn, is dócha.

And, last but not least, a bit of Google-based trivia that some of you may find amusing as I did.  When I tried searching for “Máirt Chásca” without comharthaí athfhriotail and without sínte fada, the first hit (of 7,360,000!) that came up was for the K-Mart in Chaska, Minnesota.  Wonders never cease!  On that bemused note, SGF, Róislín

P.S. Anyone still wondering about the phrase “Aimsir na Cásca”?  Why “weather”?  Answer: here it’s not “weather.”  “Aimsir” can mean “time,” “tense,” or “tide” in the sense of “time.”  So “Aimsir na Cásca” is “Eastertide.”

  We recently discussed the place name “Albain” (Scotland) and now will turn to ”Éire” (Ireland)..  Here are some examples of the nationality, the place name, and related phrases:   

  Éireannach, an Irishman or person.  This can be made feminine, “Éireannach mná,” but, the same as my experience with “Albanach mná,” most people don’t seem to bother.  The feminine form basically means “a woman Irishman.”

  an tÉireannach, the Irishman.  Remember the lower-case “t” from “an tAlbanach”?  Same thing applies here.  There is no dash as there would be for a lower-case generic noun like “an t-éirí “(the take-off, or literally, rising).  Note how the use of the dash is governed by capitalization, not by what the word means, since the dash disappears in the phrase “an tÉirí Amach (the Rising, as in the 1916 Easter Rising).  The full name for this event is, of course, Éirí Amach na Cásca (the Rising of “the” Easter), where both the definite article and the prefixed “t” have disappeared.  Why?  Irish only uses one definite article per phrase, so “na” covers both “Éirí Amach” and “Cásca.” 

  Likewise, we say, “an tÉireannachas” (the Irishness, Irish characteristics) but “Éireannachas na nGael-Mheiriceánach” (the Irishness of the Irish-Americans), with no “t.”  Of course, with another angle, we could say “Gaelachas na nGael-Mheiriceánach” but the difference between “Gaelachas” and “Éireannachas” will have to be ábhar blag eile (the subject of another blog). 

  The forms of the place name are:

  Éire: used as the subject or direct object of a sentence

  Éirinn: used after most prepositions, be ready for prefixes! 

  Éireann  or hÉireann: the possessive or genitive case form, for phrases like Banc na hÉireann (The Bank of Ireland). 

Seo samplaí (guess what that means!):

  Is Éireannach é an t-amhránaí Daniel O’Donnell.  The singer Daniel O’Donnell is an Irishman.  . 

  Tá mé ag dul go hÉirinn ar mo laethe saoire.  I’m going to Ireland on my holidays.

Same prefixing of “h” after the preposition “go” as we saw with “go hAlbain.” .

  Cá bhfuil Baile Átha Cliath? Tá Baile Átha Cliath in Éirinn, ach tá naoi “nDublin” i Meiriceá freisin.  Where is Dublin?  Dublin is in Ireland, but there are nine Dublins in America also.  The phrase “in Éirinn” used to be written “i nÉirinn,” (and sometimes still is), showing more clearly that the “n” of “in” is an addition to the basic form “i.”  As for the nine American Dublins, I think I’ll coin an acrainm (acronym) for all these future topics: Á.B.E (ábhar blag eile).  Of course, I’ll check the acronyms lists online to make sure that isn’t already in use, but it seems unlikely.  And if so, I’ll just add to its úsáid (usage).

  Gaeilge na hÉireann (the Irish or Gaelic of Ireland).  This phrase would most likely be used to contrast with “Gaeilge na hAlban.”  Normally, when speaking Irish, just to say “Gaeilge” is enough, without qualifying it.  Here “Éire” has been changed to the possessive form, “na hÉireann.” The ending is now “-eann.”  As with “na hAlban,” a lower-case “h” is prefixed, again, because, this word starts with a vowel and is possessive.  The word “na” here means “of the.” 

  As with the Scottish example, you might wonder, “Where did the ‘the’ come from?”  Same explanation as for “na hAlban.”  “The” isn’t used in the basic form of the country’s name, Éire, but is added for the possessive.  Remember “muintir na hAlban” and “muintir na hÉireann”?  More on the other Celtic place names and nationalities i mblag eile sa tsraith seo.. – Bhur mblagálaí, Róislín