Irish Language Blog

(le Róislín)

September will always be remembered, at least for lucht labhartha na Gaeilge i Meiriceá, as the “9/11” month.  While there could be a solid month of blogs on the topic of “ionsaithe 11 Meán Fómhair,” this blog will look just at the terms for the day itself.  Perhaps some upcoming blogs can address other aspects of the tragedy.

For American English-speakers, it’s quite natural to refer to the event as “9/11” (“nine-eleven”).  One reason is that the American system for writing dates as numerals is “month-day-year,” so 9/11 is September 11^th.  In Britain and Ireland, and probably other countries (do thírse?), the system is “day-month-year.”  So saying “9/11” as “nine-eleven” to mean “September 11^th” isn’t really logical from the international viewpoint; “9/11” would be “November 9^th.”  A second reason is simply that American English is especially likely to seek out the shortest way to say anything, as seen in the infamous and humorous  “Y’up yet?” dialogue (the answer is “M’up” and so it continues) or the penchant for company slogans like “Gotta hava Wawa” or company names like “Shop n Bag” (no apostrophes even, and that’s official – I just checked their website).    

So the most frequently encountered ways to say “9/11” in Irish are not like the typical English, which is simply with the digits, but with the full name of the month, which is “Meán Fómhair.”  This also has a more traditional ring in Irish, which, as a language, I don’t find to be as abbreviation- and acronym-laden as English is – ní fós, ar a laghad.  What one typically sees in Irish is either:

11 Meán Fómhair (11 September), or

an 11ú Meán Fómhair (the 11^th of September, with “ú” standing for the word “aonú” as used in phrases like “an t-aonú lá déag” or “an t-aonú capall déag”, meaning “the 11^th day” or the “11^th horse,” respectively).  The “-ú” is basically like the English “th.”  . 

Is there any other day of the year that is commemorated so specifically in a numeric fashion?  July 4^th is firmly entrenched as an American holiday, but it’s not generally called 7/4, at least afaik.  I also don’t recall the date of John F. Kennedy’s assassination being referred to as 11/22.  “Where were you on 11/22?” doesn’t sound familiar although I see a limited application of it online, usually including “/63” at the end, for the year.  Likewise for 12/7 (Pearl Harbor).  Or, trasna an locháin, could one say “ar 17/3” (which for Americans would be “ar 3/17”) in discussing Lá Fhéile Pádraig? 

I think the prevalence of “9/11” over “September 11^th” in English has to do with the 24/7- OMG-L8R culture in which we’re living today.  Sometimes it seems we go for giorrúcháin and acrainmneacha for their own sake rather than for any major savings of linguistic effort (“oh-em-gee” has just as many syllables as “Oh My God,” though admittedly it’s more logo-like, when used for a TV show).

At any rate, whatever the exact reasons, Americans tends to refer to the event most commonly as “9/11.”  The numbers have become a noun in their own right.  So we can say sentences like “9/11 was …” or “on 9/11.” 

Certainly there are times when one might say, “September 11^th” or “on the 11^th day of September” in English, but they tend to be in a more formal register.  Or, they could be less specific, refering to any “September 11^th.”  “9/11” as a frása is inextricably linked to 2001.  “9/11” is also very eye-catching as a graphic for headlines, TV program titles, and so on, and so seems to dominate the media, at least the print side of it.

In Irish, on the other hand, most references I see do specify the month (Meán Fómhair), perhaps to avoid any seeming ambiguity with “9/11” being interpreted as “November 9^th” (the 9^th day of the 11^th month, i.e. 9 Mí na Samhna).

When one says in English “nine eleven,” it’s simply eerie how the date echoes the phone number Americans are trained to call in emergencies, 911 (“nine one one”).  Perhaps not a comhtharlú at all.  At any rate, in my recollection the two number patterns (9/11, 9-1-1) sorted themselves quite quickly.  I recall once, a little under ten years ago, referring to the NY event as “nine-one-one” (i mBéarla) and quickly realizing that it just didn’t sit right on the tongue that way. 

Of course, if one literally wants to say “nine-eleven” in Irish, one can.  It’s “a naoi a haon déag.”  But when I Googled that, the only result I got was the score for a sports game.  Separating the phrase to “a naoi” and “a haon déag” brings up a hopelessly large number of websites about uimhreacha in Irish in general, and so was completely inconclusive.

And conversely, I’m sure the phrase “9/11” could be heard among Irish speakers as “a naoi a haon déag,” especially those i Meiriceá, since “nine-eleven” is what’s heard on the media so often.  And it wouldn’t surprise me to hear a nearly full-fledged Irish sentence with the English pronunciation of “9/11” embedded in it, since Ireland, like most bilingual cultures is full of code-switching (like “Cá raibh tú ar nine-eleven?”).  Given that I’ve heard English words or phrases like “hit” (“an chéad hit a bhí acu,” describing a band) and “guilt complex” peppering the Irish of some of the cainteoirí Gaeilge is líofa, nothing really surprises me as far as blending languages. 

While there’s much more that could be said about 9/11 (aka 11 Meán Fómhair aka an 11ú Meán Fómhair), this is at least the tip of the iceberg.  More thoughts to follow.  SGF, ó Róislín

Gluais: do thírse, your country; ionsaí, attack (pl: ionsaithe, attacks); líofa, fluent

As with the other recent capsúlbheathaisnéisí for McCourt, Jackson, and Thomas-Ellis, I will not attempt here to cover the wide realm of activities for the late Seanadóir Edward Moore Kennedy, but simply to touch on the Irish connection highlights.  The world has already expressed its comhbhrón, with statements pouring in since the Senator’s death was announced shortly before meán oíche last night (as I write this).  Among the sentiments expressed so far, which I have gaelicized here, are: “mothúchán mór bróin” (Máire Mhic Giolla Íosa, Uachtarán na hÉireann), “cara mór d’Éirinn” (An Taoiseach Brian Ó Comhain), “cara mór liom agus d’oileán Éireann go léir agus dona mhuintir” (Daniel Rooney, Ambasadóir Meiriceánach), “an seanadóir is mó inár linne” (Barack Obama, Uachtarán na Stát Aontaithe), and “déanfar mairgneach air, ní amháin i Meiriceá ach i ngach ilchríoch” (Gordon Brown, Príomh-Áire na Ríochta Aontaithe).

The Kennedy family’s Irish connections are well-known, but it might be suimiúil to see just how deeply entrenched they are.

Probably the best known link is to the Kennedy Family Homestead, which is located i mBaile Uí Dhonnagáin, which is near Ros Mhic Thriúin, i gContae Loch Garman.  If you’ve ever followed the history of President John F. Kennedy’s visit to the area (i mí an Mheithimh, 1963), you’ve probably seen all those names in their anglicized versions.  And note that the differences are not usually so extreme (for example, we have Galway for Gaillimh and Ballymore for An Baile Mór), but for the three place names above, there are quite a few changes.  Do you recognize them? 

Baile Uí Dhonnagáin is Dunganstown. Urú (B -> mB) is added after the preposition “i”  Other points are that “baile” is a separate word, as usual, not as a suffix like (-town), that Uí replaces “Ó” for the possession form of “Ó Donnagáin,” and finally, that the “Ó / Uí” is dropped anyway in English.

And where is Baile Uí Dhonnagáin?  Near Ros Mhic Thriúin.  This place name has even more points of difference from the English than Dunganstown, since the two versions of the place name really say two different things.  Ros Mhic Thriúin means “the wood of the son of Treon.”  The English is “New Ross,” presumably to distinguish it from other rosanna, such as Ros Beag (Rossbeg) and Ros Treabhair (Rostrevor).  “Ros” can also mean promontory, isthmus, point, bluff, or burial ground, so don’t be surprised if the other place names aren’t consistently “woods.”  “Mhic” replaces “mac” to show possession and likewise, Thriúin is for Treon.  

Finally, while most Irish county names are pretty clear-cut and recognizable (like Dún na nGall / Donegal), Loch Garman bears no resemblance to its English counterpart, Wexford.  The name “Wexford” is from the Viking period and isn’t an anglicized spelling of the Irish version.  A similar linguistic leap occurs with Port Láirge (Waterford).    

The Dunganstown farm was the homestead of Pádraig Ó Cinnéide (ca. 1823 – 1858), sinseanathair Éadbhaird and the site is now open to the public (www.kennedyhomestead.com).

So now we’re out of space to discuss Ted Kennedy’s other Irish forebears, including Hickeys, Murphys, Fitzgeralds, Hannons, and Barrons, and this topic will continue for another blag nó dhó.       

Fuaimniú: Éadbhard [AYD-ward]; Uí [ee]; comhbhrón [koh-vrohn]; mhic [vik]  

Nóta (8/19/09 7:09 ET) I just replaced the middle section of this text since the parts originally in columns didn’t turn out as I expected.  I hope this layout is more soléite. 

Since there are between cúig mhíle agus sé mhíle teanga in the world, we could keep this thread going ar feadh i bhfad (for a long time).  But let’s just pick a few more well-known ones, and maybe a few less commonly taught.  Of course, if anyone wants to write in and suggest a few more, ceart go leor by me.  I’m not sure if the teangacha eachtardhomhanda, like Tliongáinis or the far less well documented Amtorais (ón phlainéad Amtor / Véineas) have ever been included in the 5 to 6K count, but with a lamháil earráide of míle, I guess it doesn’t really matter that much. 

Here are more ceisteanna samplacha and some additional frásaí for the freagraí:

An bhfuil Fraincis agat?                                      

Tá, ach tá mo chuid Fraincise meirgeach.

An bhfuil Catalóinis agat?                                  

Tá, beagán.

An labhraíonn tú Sínis?                                       

Ní labhraím, ar an drochuair.

An labhraíonn Yu Ming Sínis sa scannán Yu Ming Is Ainm Dom?                   

(www.atomfilms.com/film/name_yu_ming.jsp)    

Labhraíonn sé Sínis sa tSín ach labhraíonn sé Gaeilge in Éirinn.  Síleann cúpla duine go bhfuil sé ag labhairt Sínise nuair atá sé ag labhairt Gaeilge! 

An bhfuil Gaeilge na hAlban agat?                   

Tá.

Cén teangacha a labhraítear sa scannán Ag Damhsa le Faolchúnna?                          

Labhraítear Sioux agus Pawnee, agus ar ndóigh, Béarla.

An labhraíonn tú Astacais?                                

Ní labhraím. 

An bhfuil Volaifis agat?                                       

Níl, ach tá sí ag cuid mhór ceoltóirí ón tSeineagáil, mar shampla Youssou N’Dour agus Thione Seck, gan a bheith ag trácht ar trí mhilliún, cúig chéad míle cainteoir eile.

An bhfuil Íogbóis agat?                                       

Níl, ach tá sí ag idir trí mhilliún déag agus ocht milliún déag cainteoir, Chinua Achebe (údar Things Fall Apart) ina measc.

An labhraíonn C-3PO Amtorais?           

Is dócha.  Sílim go bhfuil gach teanga ag C-3PO, níos mó ná sé mhilliún modh cumarsáide, pé scéal é.  

Fuaimniú & ciall: i bhfad [ih wahd]; eachtardhomhanda *[AKH-tur-γOH-un-duh]; lamháil [LAWV-aw-il] margin; meirgeach [MERzh-ig-yukh] rusty, and yes, that idiom is used i nGaeilge as well; ar an drochuair, unfortunately; labhraíonn [LOW-ree-un], labhairt [LOW-irtch]; labhraítear [LOW-ree-tcher] are spoken; gan a bheith ag trácht ar, not to mention; C-3PO, an uimhir 3 mar “uh trzhee” i nGaeilge, instead of the normal “three” as in English “threepio”; cumarsáid, communication.